Theses and Dissertations from UMD

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

Browse

Filters

20151

Settings

Author: search.filters.author.Barton, Elizabeth TaussigSubject: search.filters.subject.nutrient

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A Comparison of Organic Matter Amendments for Use in Extensive Green Roof Substrates
    (2015) Barton, Elizabeth Taussig; Lea-Cox, John D; Cohan, Steven M; Plant Science and Landscape Architecture (PSLA); Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Organic matter is important for water retention and nutrient availability in green-roof systems. Yet few quantitative green-roof studies provide data for various sources of organic matter (OM). Coconut coir (CC), rice hulls (RH), SmartLeaf® (SL), and mushroom compost (MC) were used as green roof substrate amendments. The effects of OM on water-holding capacity, nutrient availability and plant establishment were measured. Growth of Phedimus kamtschaticus was greater with MC or SL compared to CC or RH. Substrate moisture and nutrient availability were significantly affected by OM source during an 8-month rooftop experiment and a 6-month growth chamber study. Coconut coir showed high moisture retention, low nutrient availability and low aboveground biomass, indicating that nutrient availability is crucial to successful plant growth and establishment on a green roof. Composted materials such as MC and SL that have higher levels of available nutrients, promote better growth than unprocessed materials like RH and CC.