Determining a plants worth?

[Ganoderma]

The main topic here is self-contained or at least self-sustained "ecosystems" or just systems.

Are there any current systems for determining what a plant is worth in respect to food and energy to get it? There are probably many. What I am hoping to find is some kind of resource(s) to find out things like how much oxygen to co2 various plants use, nutrient requirements, fruit yields at different measurements etc.

I am trying to think along the lines of self-sustained living and am very curious as to what yields are best for suited conditions such as no light, or recycled waste etc. I am coming here with very little knowledge about it but am hoping to spark a discussion about self sustained living through plants, animals, fungi, bacteria.

I am thinking along the lines of “permaculture” but am aimed more towards an indoor setting and perhaps enclosed. Things like using spent plant waste for mushroom medium spent mushroom medium for earthworms and other soil/waste decomposers, using that for fertilizers for plants. Trying to find a decent cycle to start with and improve on.

There was a section on Daily planet on discovery channel a couple years ago that did this (a university in the US). They had fish, mushrooms, earthworms, and plants al going from each other. The very basic idea was the fish waste and water went into feeding the plants, the plants waste went to the mushrooms (I think they were using button mushrooms), the mushroom waste went to earthworms and a combo of earthworm and plant waste was made into fish food. This system was far from self sustained as they brought in much outside water and had a fair bit of electrical equipment. But this is the sort of thing I am very interested in learning about.

But there are also worries about gasses and water. Mushroom s often produce extremely high co2 concentrations when starting to fruit. So much so that in a semi sealed area a person may run into large problems. With plants also eating up oxygen at night and giving out co2 (at night) this could be devastating. Even if it can be worked out in the day when the plants do the opposite and provide oxygen.

This will hopefully turn into an experiment of mine when we build our school. I am planning on building a separate building that will serve as the experiment area.

Is anyone here at all interested in this topic? Ideas, experiences, comments etc.

Some links that are at least a little relevant.

Aqua Culture: http://www.championtrees.org/topsoil/bioponics.htm
http://www.townsqr.com/snsaqua/page2.htm

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast09apr_1.htm

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast01jun_1.htm


Off topic but interesting:
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/004559.html

[Ganoderma]

I will be starting up an experimental aqua culture setup in the next couple months. Still looking into species of fish and plants to grow. The idea is simple, have the "aquarium" sitting on the ground with a pump up to a pvc pipe which is where the plants will grow hydroponically (medium not decided). It will then run down by gravity and onto a slanted board covered in lava rock to achieve some biological filtration. I am hoping the plants will serve as a mechanical filter but am hoping it does not clog up too much. I may add some filter material if it does get too thick.

Any ideas/thoughts? I am having a hard time deciding fish, but it is for certain they need to be vegetarian and grow fast. Plants will be decided after the fish sp. has been so i can more closely provide the proper food requirements for the fish.