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EXTENSIVE GREEN ROOF SUBSTRATE COMPOSITION: EFFECTS OF PHYSICAL PROPERTIES ON MATRIC POTENTIAL, HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY, PLANT GROWTH, AND STORMWATER RETENTION IN THE MID-ATLANTIC.

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dc.contributor Lea-Cox, John D
dc.contributor Cohan, Steven M
dc.contributor Digital Repository at the University of Maryland
dc.contributor University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
dc.contributor Plant Science and Landscape Architecture (PSLA)
dc.creator Griffin, Whitney
dc.date 2015-02-05T06:30:43Z
dc.date 2015-02-05T06:30:43Z
dc.date 2014
dc.date.accessioned 2022-05-20T08:38:17Z
dc.date.available 2022-05-20T08:38:17Z
dc.identifier https://doi.org/10.13016/M24G8R
dc.identifier http://hdl.handle.net/1903/16059
dc.identifier.uri http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/CUHPOERS/117609
dc.description While green roof (GR) systems have gained popularity as storm water management tools, more emphasis has been applied to studying performance aspects, including stormwater retention. Of particular importance is the substrate layer in which the vegetation grows, which contributes the majority of stormwater retention capabilities. This research investigated many aspects of GR substrate performance, including component durability and component effects on hydraulic conductivity, matric potential, and plant growth. Several commercial substrate blends were tested for durability against successive freeze/thaw cycles with before and after-treatment granulometric distribution analyses. All substrate blends showed significant (p<0.05) particle degradation after 30 freeze-thaw cycles, compared to German (FLL) guidelines. The hydraulic conductivity and matric potential of three experimental GR substrates with increasing volumetric proportions (10%, 20%, 40%) of organic matter (OM), were determined using the HYPROP© method, which extends the traditional measurement range for soils. However, the high porosity of GR substrates resulted in tensiometer water column cavitation near -30kPa. Further studies with the same experimental substrates and OM ratios included both growth chamber studies to rigorously quantify the effects on plant growth and evapotranspiration and outdoor platform experiments to determine effects of OM content on stormwater retention. Growth chamber studies with Sedum kamptschaticum showed that increasing substrate OM increased plant root and shoot biomass. Consecutive periods of water stress showed no differences in evapotranspiration between planted substrate OM treatments levels, but greater water loss was noted from the planted treatments compared to unplanted controls (p<0.05). Substrate volumetric water content (VWC) during the stress periods reached 5% VWC for all planted treatments and all dry-down periods, highlighting differences in plant-available water between these and the laboratory results. While outdoor platform studies showed no effects of OM content on stormwater retention, increasing organic content increased plant canopy coverage (p<0.05). It is likely that differences in retention will be more defined over time as the system matures. Stormwater retention data represented the second growing season for the experimental platforms; given the effects of organic matter on plant growth, analysis of three- or even five-year retention will likely better predict the effects of organic matter on stormwater performance.
dc.format application/pdf
dc.language en
dc.subject Plant sciences
dc.subject Soil sciences
dc.subject Civil engineering
dc.subject eco roof
dc.subject Green Roofs
dc.subject living roof
dc.subject sedum
dc.subject Stormwater
dc.subject substrate
dc.title EXTENSIVE GREEN ROOF SUBSTRATE COMPOSITION: EFFECTS OF PHYSICAL PROPERTIES ON MATRIC POTENTIAL, HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY, PLANT GROWTH, AND STORMWATER RETENTION IN THE MID-ATLANTIC.
dc.type Dissertation


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