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.

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    Biosolids and Compost For Urban Soil Restoration and Forestry
    (2022) Keener, Emily Cathryn; Pavao-Zuckerman, Mitchell A; Environmental Science and Technology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Elements of urban soil quality such as compaction and low organic matter are underexamined, important challenges to urban afforestation. In this Beltsville, Maryland field experiment, I examined biosolids and compost as amendments to improve soil quality and planted tree survival in a degraded urban proxy soil and identified correlations between soil properties and tree survival. Organic amendments increased organic matter content, decreased bulk density, and had no effect on tree survivorship compared to controls. Effects on soil were more profound and lasting with compost than with biosolids. Soil organic matter and bulk density were correlated with tree survival early in the study and microbial respiration was correlated with tree survival throughout the study. High tree mortality was driven by transplant shock, limiting insights from tree response data. This study highlights the importance of soil quality and good planting practices in future research.
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    Ecological Values and Ecosystem Services of Natural Forests: A Study of Prince William Forest Park, Virginia
    (2010) Dawson, Allen; Sullivan, Joseph; Plant Science and Landscape Architecture (PSLA); Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Abstract The Urban Forest Effects (UFORE) model developed by the USDA Forest Service quantifies the ecological benefits of urban forests. UFORE has been used to analyze many urban areas, including National Park land in Washington, D.C., but has not been applied to natural forests. We conducted a UFORE analysis of Prince William Forest Park for species composition and individual tree characteristics including tree height, DBH, canopy architecture, and general tree health, collecting data during the 2007 field season. The results show that the park contains over 6,287,000 trees and these trees store 394,000 tons of carbon with an annual net sequestration rate of 12,300 tons. This forest also abates 414 tons of air pollution annually. These results quantify and affirm to policymakers and the public the value and ecological importance of the forests managed by the National Park Service surrounding metropolitan Washington, D.C.