Speaker Name: Aaron Luttman (aluttman at clarkson dot edu )
Speaker Afiliation: Clarkson University
Abstract: In order to engage in photosynthesis, leaves need to absorb both carbon dioxide and water.
Water is absorbed from the ground through the root system, but carbon dioxide must be absorbed directly into each leaf through pores in the surface called stomata. When these pores open, more CO_2 is absorbed, which is good for photosynthesis, but water is also lost, which is bad for photosynthesis. Thus each leaf must regulate its stomata so they take in enough CO_2 without losing too much water. This is a problem, because leaves have no brain to direct their stomata about what to do. It turns out that the opening and closing of the stomata can be observed and recorded on video, and mathematical methods for analyzing video can be used to describe the patterns that occur. In this presentation, we will show leaves in the act of "breathing" and demonstrate some of the mathematics used to analyze the breathing patterns.
Target Audience: This talk is aimed at anyone with an interest in applications of mathematical image processing to botany. The background required is really only a basic understanding of photosynthesis. Calculus III is a plus, but it is definitely not required.
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