Identifying plant biofilters using predictive phylogenetics

在某些地区，室外空气受到附近工业活动的严重污染，因此可能不是新鲜空气的良好来源。植物可以提高室内空气质量，但相对较少的植物物种已被确定为有效的空气质量增强剂。这限制了室内景观设计师的设计机会。洛建筑师事务所要求提供一份比目前科学文献所提供的更广泛的植物物种清单。我们将使用生态信息学数据库和系统发育工具的组合来预测性地识别在清洁室内空气方面相对有效的植物。我们希望我们的系统提供了一个框架，为加拿大建筑，室内设计和景观美化公司未来的室内花园的设计。此外，该列表将确定需要更多研究的植物，并可能在室内景观公司和学术界之间产生新的合作伙伴关系。

In some regions, outdoor air is heavily polluted by nearby industrial actvities and therefore may not be a good source of fresh air. Plants can enhance indoor air quality but relatively few plant species have been identified as efficient air quality enhancers. This limits the design opportunities for indoor landscape architects. LOH Architects has asked for a more extensive list of plant species than is currently offered by the scientific literature. We will use a combination of ecoinformatic databases and phylogenetic tools to predictively identify plants that are relatively efficient at cleaning indoor air. We expect our system provide a framework for the design of future interior gardens by Canadian architectural, interior design and landscaping firms. Furthermore, this list will identify plants for which more research is required and may generate new partnerships between interior landscaping firms and academia.