Permaculture topics for a school Botany project?

Hi! I have to research something for a project in my botany class, and I'd like to do something that ties in with permaculture. I can't really think of much though. Most of my ideas have been more in the Environmental Science arena. . . . Can anyone help me?

How about the benefits of weeds. There's lots of good info here on them and in books such as "Weeds Guardians of the Soil by Joseph Cocannouer". People at your school may be interested to hear what these plants can do for them and they will probably recognize the common weeds in your area.

Hi, Annah! Are we talking book research, or lab research? If it's lab research, there are plenty of claims about plant compatibilities or incompatibilities listed in public databases such as http://pfaf.org that have not been scientifically verified ... depending on how much time you have to work with. If you have 3 months, you could study plant compatibilities with fast-growing plants; if you have 6 months, you could study fall crops; and if you have 9 months, you could do a comparison of various sheet mulching materials for their break-down times and nutrient values.

Need some more info:

What level is that class? High School, Com. college, University, Grad School

How much time do you have?

What is the specific assignment? Paper, Project, presentation, speech,


Ideas that could work at any levels:

Compare and contrast of plants grown in a poly culture vs. monoculture.
Benefits of no till approach.
Exploring the relationship between mycelium network and plant health.
Effects of biodiversity, or lack there of, on the ecosystem.
Mimicking natural succession through support species and chop and drop.

Permaculture is such a huge topic that you really have the information for breadth or depth of whatever you choose to pursue.