Getting Down to the Roots of Sorghum Halepense’s Metabolic Rate

Abstract

We conducted this experiment to see if the change in temperature would have an effect on the metabolic rate of Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense). It is an invasive species and it typically grows in the spring and summer. To do this we heated the plant to 30 degrees Celsius and cooled it to 10 degrees Celsisus and recorded the CO2 levels after five minutes during each trial. We also had a control group, where we left the plant in room temperature and recorded the CO2 levels as well after five minutes. We redid each of the trials five times. With the data we have collected, this experiment is proving our hypothesis right. As the temperature increases, the amount of CO2 released is greater than it is in cooler temperatures.