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Introduction

    For our research project for the Environmental Science Summer Research Experience for Young Women we manipulated the mold levels in hopes to decrease the levels of iron. We investigated the effect of mold on the iron levels in the Back Woods of Roland Park Country School. The high levels of iron and low levels of mold led us to question the health of the plants. This is because plants need iron in order to survive. Consequently, it was hard to believe that the plants were unhealthy when the iron levels were so high. We discovered that the low mold levels led to the unhealthy plants since mold serves as a supplier of iron to the plants. Plants absorb the iron through the action of the mold delivering the nutrients to the plants. This dependant relationship between the roots of a plant and the long filaments of the fungi in the soil is called Mycorrhizae.  This term refers to the structures formed by both the root cells and the hyphae from the fungus (Campbell and Reece, 2002).  Plants need iron in order to produce the chlorophyll that captures the light energy (Worms Way, 2007).  Hence, it is critically important for the filaments of fungi to deliver the iron to the plant’s roots so that they can be healthy (Worms Way, 2007).  However, in the 2007 Environmental Science Summer Research Experience Biota Survey (E.S.S.R.E 2007), it was found that iron levels were extremely high while mold levels were extremely low.  Additionally, the survey found few plants growing in the area.  Based on this information, we suspect that the low levels of mold are preventing plant life from getting enough iron for photosynthesis.  We believe that if mold levels increased then the iron level in the soil would decrease. As a start to our research, we took many soil samples. We performed serial dilution, soil extraction, and ferric iron testing on the soil samples that were collected from each quadrant. 

      If you have an area with unhealthy plants or are simply interested in looking at the relationship between iron and mold, this experiment is for you!