An upcoming feature we plan to include in our app is a section highlighting cultural and historical stories. One in particular we were excited to learn about is Lepidodendron, or “scale trees”, which existed in present day central Ohio during the Carboniferous period 360 million years ago.
This fossil tree will appear as a hidden easter egg, which users would be able to discover while exploring campus. It will be accompanied by a visualization of what a section of the tree is believed to have looked like based off fossil records, as well as an estimation on the present net value of ecosystem service values. Cumulative ecosystem service values are included for this particular tree because we thought it shares important insight on the years of living matter that existed in order make the coal we use today. It was also interesting to compare this number to current market prices, and consider what it means for there to be such a stark difference in values.
A last reason we chose to include this specific fossil plant is because of Ohio’s unique relationship with coal– according to the US Energy Information Administration, coal currently fuels a whopping 58% of net electricity generation in Ohio, showcasing just how much we rely on fossil plants such as Lepidodendon.