(Press-News.org) As the implementation of green roofs increase, a University of Cincinnati pilot study examined which plants best thrive on the Southwest Ohio region's roofs during the dry, hot conditions of summer.
That research, by UC biology student Jill Bader and Ishi Buffam, assistant professor of biology, identified a North American (and Ohio) native plant – nodding wild onion (Allium cernuum) and a European sedum (Sedum acre, also known as goldmoss sedum) as suited to survive and thrive on the region's green roofs.
Their research will be presented in a paper titled "Ohio Native Plants On a Green Roof: Evaluation of Survival and Impact on Stormwater Runoff" at the CitiesAlive 2012 conference, sponsored by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Oct. 17-20 in Chicago.
"Our research will help inform the design of green roofs specific for this region, and therefore increase their chances of being successful, and being adopted in Midwestern cities. There are many potential benefits to green roofs, including building energy savings, extension of roof life, reduced air and noise pollution, creation of environment for native birds and insects and, of course, reduced storm water runoff," said Buffam.
Bader and Buffam tested four Ohio native plants and one sedum to see which was the most likely to survive on an extensive green roof in the late summer of 2011. All plants were tested under two conditions: dependent on rainfall only and receiving regular watering. The testing took place at the Cincinnati Center for Field Studies in Harrison, Ohio.
All plants receiving regular watering survived.
However, heath aster (Aster ericoides), flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollata) and lanced-leaved loosestrife (Lysimachia lanceolata) did not survive when receiving rainfall as their only water source.
When receiving only rainfall, the nodding wild onion (A. cernuum) and the goldmoss sedum (S. acre) were stressed but survived.
All of these plants were selected for testing because their natural habitat is prairie or meadow, where exposure to full sun and dry conditions are typical.
According to Bader, "We tested the plants because one of the most critical choices for the success of a green roof is the choice of plant species. The environment on a rooftop is characterized by severe drought, elevated temperatures, high light intensity, high winds and the layer of soil for the plants is generally shallower than it would be for plants in typical settings."
In fact, a contributing factor in the success of S. acre and A. cernuum to survive was shallow root systems, paired with characteristics that allow them to efficiently use water during hot, dry conditions. In the case of A. cernuum, it's a bulb which can store water for later use by the plant, and in the case of S. acre, it's the relatively thick foliage and CAM photosynthesis. (CAM photosynthesis is an adaptation by plants living in arid conditions that allows stoma or tiny pores in the foliage to close during the day in order to retain moisture but opening at night in order to complete part of the photosynthesis process.)
Bader and Buffam added that environmental conditions vary widely by geographic regions in North America. There are hundreds of eco-regions in North America, and that demands study of which plants work best in each region.
In addition to testing which Ohio native plants could best survive on an extensive green roof, Bader and Buffam also tested the impact of plant species to reduce water runoff, one of the important functions of a green roof. (In other words, which of the tested plants best retained water, such that the water was absorbed vs. running into the sewer system.)
In this preliminary test, the native species receiving moisture only from rainfall (vs. regular watering) retained 51 percent of rainfall on average, but there was no significant difference among the species in their abilities to absorb water and reduce total runoff quantity. Those plants receiving regular watering retained 44 percent of rainfall on average.
INFORMATION:
This pilot study was supported by UC's Julia Hammler Wendell Scholarship Fund, Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Program and Cincinnati Center for Field Studies at Miami Whitewater Forest, a research station partnership between the University of Cincinnati and the Hamilton County Park District.
Native plant fares well in pilot green roof research study
2012-10-15
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
New research reveals more about how the brain processes facial expressions and emotions
2012-10-15
NEW ORLEANS — Research released today helps reveal how human and primate brains process and interpret facial expressions, and the role of facial mimicry in everything from deciphering an unclear smile to establishing relationships of power and status. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2012, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.
Facial mimicry — a social behavior in which the observer automatically activates the same facial muscles as the person she is imitating — plays ...
Bacterial protein in house dust spurs asthma according to NIH study
2012-10-15
A bacterial protein in common house dust may worsen allergic responses to indoor allergens, according to research conducted by the National Institutes of Health and Duke University. The finding is the first to document the presence of the protein flagellin in house dust, bolstering the link between allergic asthma and the environment.
Scientists from the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and Duke University Medical Center published their findings in people and mice online Oct. 14 in the journal Nature Medicine.
"Most people with asthma ...
Penn researchers find new way to mimic the color and texture of butterfly wings
2012-10-15
PHILADELPHIA — The colors of a butterfly's wings are unusually bright and beautiful and are the result of an unusual trait; the way they reflect light is fundamentally different from how color works most of the time.
A team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania has found a way to generate this kind of "structural color" that has the added benefit of another trait of butterfly wings: super-hydrophobicity, or the ability to strongly repel water.
The research was led by Shu Yang, associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Penn's ...
WSU finds missing link between mental health disorders and chronic diseases in Iraq war refugees
2012-10-15
DETROIT – Wayne State University School of Medicine researchers may have discovered why people exposed to war are at increased risk to develop chronic problems like heart disease years later. And the culprit that links the two is surprising.
Beginning in the mid-2000s, WSU researchers interviewed a random sample of 145 American immigrants who left Iraq before the 1991 Gulf War, and 205 who fled Iraq after the Gulf War began. All were residing in metropolitan Detroit at the time of the study. Study subjects were asked about socio-demographics, pre-migration trauma, how ...
School-wide interventions improve student behavior
2012-10-15
An analysis of a school behavior strategy—known as School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS)—found that these types of programs significantly reduced children's aggressive behaviors and office discipline referrals, as well as improved problems with concentration and emotional regulation. The study, conducted by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, is the first randomized control trial to examine the impact of SWPBIS programs over multiple school years. The results were published October 15 in the journal Pediatrics ...
Companies should use caution when using unpopular puzzle interviews
2012-10-15
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 15, 2012 -- In today's tough job market, more job-seekers could be facing interview questions like this: Why are manholes round? Or how many barbershops are there in San Francisco?
New job-hunters need to be prepared for these "puzzle interview" questions, says SF State researcher Chris Wright, even though they may consider them to be unfair or irrelevant.
"I always give graduating students two primary suggestions. Expect the unexpected and be aware that you might get an off-the-wall question like this," said Wright, associate professor of psychology ...
Medication beliefs strongly affect individuals' management of chronic diseases, MU expert says
2012-10-15
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Nearly half of patients taking medications for chronic conditions do not strictly follow their prescribed medication regimens. Failure to use medications as directed increases patients' risk for side effects, hospitalizations, reduced quality of life and shortened lifespans. Now, a University of Missouri gerontological nursing expert says patients' poor adherence to prescribed medication regimens is connected to their beliefs about the necessity of prescriptions and concerns about long-term effects and dependency.
MU Assistant Professor Todd Ruppar found ...
Higher-dose use of certain statins often best for cholesterol issues
2012-10-15
CORVALLIS, Ore. – A comprehensive new review on how to treat high cholesterol and other blood lipid problems suggests that intensive treatment with high doses of statin drugs is usually the best approach.
But some statins work much better for this than others, the review concluded, and additional lipid-lowering medications added to a statin have far less value. And medications, of course, should be considered after first trying diet, weight loss and exercise.
The review, published in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy, examined the range of treatment options for "dyslipidemia," ...
Climate negotiations relying on 'dangerous' thresholds to avoid catastrophe will not succeed
2012-10-15
The identified critical threshold for dangerous climate change saying that the increase in global temperature should be below 2 degrees Celsius seems not to have helped the climate negotiations so far. New research from the University of Gothenburg and Columbia University shows that negotiations based on such a threshold fail because its value is determined by Nature and is inherently uncertain. Climate negotiators should therefore focus on other collective strategies.
Presenting their results in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Astrid Dannenberg, ...
No fear: Why teens are likelier to take gambles
2012-10-15
A new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers and their colleagues finds that adolescents commonly take more risks than younger children and adults because they are more willing to accept risks when consequences are unknown, rather than because they are attracted to danger, as often assumed.
Adolescents have the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases and criminal behaviors of any age group, and even drive faster than adults. The death and injury rate of adolescents is 200% greater than for their younger peers, according to research cited in the study.
Ifat ...