Growth Chambers
Growth chambers, or plant growth chambers, are designed for plant growth experiments under laboratory conditions. They are capable of creating atmospheres and climates that are required for plant germination and growth. Humidity, temperature, and light can be adjusted for the observation of the growth of a plant specimen.
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Why Use Growth Chambers
Researchers use growth chambers to study plants under controlled environmental conditions. The data collected helps pathologists fight diseases and guides geneticists in the development of sturdier food crops.
When studying plants in their natural environment, it is impossible to control all of the factors that can influence the outcome of an experiment. Growth chambers allow scientists to control all of the variables to be able to see the specific causes for the changes in a growth pattern.
Without growth chambers, variables outside of a team’s control can significantly influence the results of an experiment. An extra moment of sunlight or air composition can cause dramatic variations in growth results.
A concern of agricultural scientists is the continuing loss of farmable land. In the future, many countries will face food and resource shortages unless improved production methods can be perfected. This problem, combined with a lack of skilled labor, climatic change, and the growing world population, may lead to a future food crisis.
Growth chambers allow researchers to develop high grain products that use less land and produce more food. They also help determine what regions of the world produce the best types of certain crops.
Growth Chambers and Food Production
Future food production will take a global approach to meet growing demand. Certain nations will grow food for the sole purpose of exportation while importing others. We have seen the beginning of this approach over the past 50 years, a trend that should continue.
Growth chambers allow researchers to create the climates of other nations and adjust those conditions for different times of the year. The accumulated data can provide guidance for other countries to make adjustments to match more productive methods.
In the past, scientists would develop a new type of crop that they believed could survive a shorter growing season. They tested it in the real world. If it did not survive, it meant years of wasted work.
Growth Chambers and Simulating Conditions
Growth chambers can simulate a variety of conditions that can influence the success or failure of a new plant. They can adjust and revise the genetic structure of a specimen to be able to endure new conditions. In many instances, they can take plants to the extreme to predict conditions that would cause future failure.
This type of research saves time, is more efficient, and can produce a vision of the types of environmental conditions that climate change will produce. Researchers can adapt to changing climatic patterns, unpredictable conditions, and other variables. Water shortages, in the past, were devastating and catastrophic to food production, which led to starvation and famine. With growth chambers, and watching weather patterns, scientists can prepare for the changes and help people adjust.