Kudzu Plant: Source Of Ozone Pollution?

(AP)  Kudzu, the Southern vine that makes Chia Pets of trees and telephone poles, may have yet another unwelcome characteristic: air pollution.

Researchers believe kudzu is releasing ground-level ozone, contributing to smog, breathing difficulties and global climate change.

"If we're right, then it'll be one more big reason to dislike kudzu," University of Virginia researcher Manuel Lerdau said of his preliminary findings.

The fast-growing plant covers an estimated 11,580 square miles in the United States, primarily in the Southeast. Annually, the vine adds 200 square miles to its domain.

Lerdau and fellow researcher Jonathan Hickman of the State University of New York at Stony Brook said they do not have enough data to state with certainty that kudzu warrants a major effort to curtail its growth. They are hopeful of presenting more definitive findings next year.

Kudzu produces two key ingredients of ozone: Its leaves emit a volatile organic compound called isoprene into the air, and its roots convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonium, some of which can leak into the soil where it is converted by bacteria into nitric oxide.

In the presence of sunlight, isoprene and nitric oxide mix together to make ozone.

While many plants contribute to ozone pollution, it appears that kudzu works faster and produces larger quantities.

The native of Japan and China was introduced in the United States in 1876 as an ornamental plant at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. It was widely touted as a way to control soil erosion, and during the 1930s and 1940s the Civilian Conservation Corps planted vast amounts of the vine.

By 1953, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recognized that kudzu was spreading too rapidly and removed the vine from its list of recommended cover plants.

If the researchers' suspicions prove true, the science could have implications for public policy and the government might want to start attempting to halt the vine's unchecked growth, Lerdau said.

[rf35]

I too wonder how this plant is a harm to us in the US but not it''''s native countries? Am I missing something here? :-)
Posted by epeales at 10:03 AM : Dec 05, 2007

In its native regions, something eats it or competes with it, thereby controlling its growth. The climate, soil nutrients, etc. may also serve to slow it down. This happens with imported animal species, too. Someone figures that critter X eats pest Y so let''s move critter X across the country where we want to get rid of pest Y. Critter X no longer has critter Z preying on it in this new location and the population goes nuts, becoming a bigger problem than pest Y was. Scientists will then introduce critter Z into the new area, starting the cycle all over again.

[tucano2]

This plant is excellent for the production of bio-fuels.

[rikedoid]

There is always agent orange.

[epeales]

I too wonder how this plant is a harm to us in the US but not it''s native countries? Am I missing something here? :-)

It''s sounds to me to be a "grand" idea somebody came up with to receive "GRANT" money to research a vine!

What''s next the "Study of Bird Poop and How it is Destroying our Lungs" due to the incineration of the concrete when the sun warms both the concrete and the droppings together it omits a huge amount of prianinol causing not only the ozone threat but stupidity in high paid scientist! :-) Can I get a loan? LOL!

Well it sounded good to me! If they can come up with a story why can''t we? :-) LOL! Hmmmm, I do need to get those proposals together for that money! LOL!

[gallega-2009]

Has the great confrontation of kudzu and honeysuckle already occured? In my imagination I always expected the two plants to duke it out and annihilate one another. Has the kudzu emerged victorious over honeysuckle? We''re doomed if we don''t call in the Roundup.

[jamesho1]

I stand in awe at the scientific accumin of Spectrum!

[rf35]

Unfortunately, ground ozone is a major component of smog. It doesn''t help the ozone layer.

[bigteks]

Maybe it''s God''s way of replenishing the ozone layer.

[rushman71]

It''s the end of the world as we know it....and I feel fine.............

[griking]

Yeah, lets blame the kudzu because we all know that a vine has to be the source for the ozone layer and that it couldn''t possibly be caused by humans and our own pollution.