How Light Pollution Affects Four Aspects of Early Scarlet Globe Radishes (Raphanus sativus)
Category
High School
Department
Undeclared
Student Status
High School
Research Advisor
Karisa Boyer
Document Type
Event
Location
Student Center Ballroom
Start Date
10-4-2025 2:00 PM
End Date
10-4-2025 4:00 PM
Description
Light pollution is excess light at night, typically from urban areas, that is spilled into the sky and can not only impact the ability of people to view stars but influence human and ecological behaviors. This experiment was conducted to examine the effects of blue LED light pollution on the average leaf length, plant height, stem thickness, and the discoloration of the radish leaves. This is because the agricultural effects of high levels of light pollution are understudied. This research was conducted by creating a dark environment with curtains under a grated table in a greenhouse and dividing the underside into four sections, each having two gardening buckets with six seeds. The experiment was carried out over a 40 day period post germination, with measurements taken every third day. Data for the plant height, stem width, and leaf pigmentation were not statistically significant, though leaf pigmentation data had a p-value slightly above 0.05 (p=0.07878). Leaf length data were statistically significant (p=0.00001), with the group set at 40 lux blue light pollution having the longest leaves, which indicates that higher intensities of blue light pollution can negatively impact the growth of plants and have economic significance in the field of agriculture with lower quality plants.
How Light Pollution Affects Four Aspects of Early Scarlet Globe Radishes (Raphanus sativus)
Student Center Ballroom
Light pollution is excess light at night, typically from urban areas, that is spilled into the sky and can not only impact the ability of people to view stars but influence human and ecological behaviors. This experiment was conducted to examine the effects of blue LED light pollution on the average leaf length, plant height, stem thickness, and the discoloration of the radish leaves. This is because the agricultural effects of high levels of light pollution are understudied. This research was conducted by creating a dark environment with curtains under a grated table in a greenhouse and dividing the underside into four sections, each having two gardening buckets with six seeds. The experiment was carried out over a 40 day period post germination, with measurements taken every third day. Data for the plant height, stem width, and leaf pigmentation were not statistically significant, though leaf pigmentation data had a p-value slightly above 0.05 (p=0.07878). Leaf length data were statistically significant (p=0.00001), with the group set at 40 lux blue light pollution having the longest leaves, which indicates that higher intensities of blue light pollution can negatively impact the growth of plants and have economic significance in the field of agriculture with lower quality plants.
