visit to usda greenroof

UMBC roof update

Looking good! A long way since install in June (click link)!

Also check out the functioning weirboxes through the door near the Patapsco Hall residence hall on the left below, and through their transparent lids on the right below.  Once the transducers are added we will begin data collection!

Calculating leaf area

We have been exploring a new way to calculate leaf area, an important measure used to predict ecological functions.  Traditionally, leaves are laid flat and pushed through a machine.  This was not possible for our plump sedum leaves, so we measured their volume and will estimate area using this information along estimates of avg leaf height and equations for the area of a cylinder (S. sexangulare) or and ellipse(S. album). Here are some pics from the great plant leaf massacre and the tedious counting and measuring of leaves:

propagation by seed

 







It was difficult, but I had to remove the Sedum that had started to grow in my "control" platforms.  This is evidence that Sedum can and will propagate by seed in Md. Check out the root mass on even the small plants!

double pollinators

Back in Baltimore

So I returned to Baltimore sort of panicked when I noticed the dark stems of some of the Sedum album (see pic), but was reliably informed that this is probably not a pathogen.  More likely the darkness is natural fall color perhaps related to the plant's waxy cuticle.

last stop Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburgh

The Phipps Botany In Action outreach training weekend was informative and a great way to meet and compare notes with other women scientists.  I left feeling very impressed by the work everyone is doing and feeling much more hopeful than usual.
I was also pretty impressed with the plans for the Center for Sustainable Landscapes building at Phipps.  Click on the link or see below for the living building plans.

Bus stop by roofscapes

next stop, Philadelphia ASCE conference on low impact designs

The above text is a link to the conference that's sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers...
This is one of the best conferences to attend in order to get the most up-to-date info on the state of greenroof research.

catching up after touring the east coast megalopolis

First stop NYC, where there rain made a number of good stormwater pictures possible

irene

We squeaked by with no Irene damage, but it was a lot of rain.  150+L of runoff from each platform.  Sorry to report that the greenroofs didn't really help much (5-10L of storage) with this storm.  They may have done a little better if we didn't have a small stormright before the 5 inches arrived.

skink

these guys are all over the greenhouse.  I have only caught one on my platforms though.... They are really blue on the tail, but they don't like their pictures taken.

substrate moisture probe

We accidentally got too close to a moisture sensor when sampling for roots yesterday.  This was nice for showing how embedded the sensors have become, though.

Splashguards!

Some  people use vinyl blinds on their doors, but it is a little known fact that they also funnel water into rain gauges quite nicely.  One pack of 10 cost $10 ro so. Seriously, after visiting several JoAnns in search of thin sheets of plastic for this purpose, the blinds came in really handy.  I suspect vinyl flooring might also work.

The trick is that the loops velcro together in the back so that they can be removed easily for cleaning.  For example, like when we found a grasshopper living (and pooping) in one of thegauges (B4) today. I would have included a pic of this as well, but the camera conked out.

yellow leaves

The Sedum kamptschaticum has been showing some signs of stress.  First, we were wondering if the slow release fertilizer burst in these high temps we were having, but at least this was not confirmed from a spot test of runoff conductivity (the logic here is that the fertilizer would increase salinity which can be measured as conductivity) We measured a range of 0.23-0.7mS....within an acceptable range. It may be drought stress.  The second pic reveals that we might also be having some mockingbird stress.  Something seems to be cutting some stems...

more sabotage- wasps!

Nothing about research is certain.  Now we think we know why platform "b2" has been giving us some confusing data....

umcp solar house

There is a modular greenroof on this year's entry in the DOE solar decathlon competition.  I am trying to put together some good stats on this roof with respect to water storage....

sedum album just greening up now

praying for rain

 

look at the drought carnage:

Wish I knew what this guy is eating:

umbc roof cont'd

Thanks to Citiroof, another fine greenroof got installed this week on the new Patapsco residence Hall addition. With the generous support of UMBC officials, the installation of monitoring equipment will soon follow (will post more about this in the future).  The previous post details the earlier stages of the installation.  Here below you can see the roof before and during planting as well as during and after watering. 

umbc greenroof!

the arrival and distribution of the substrate:

     
This photo (left) shows the tpo layer (extra thick!) and the tpo slip sheet and the materials arriving.












it all started with
the arrival of the crane:

in full swing

lots of color and flowering.  Can't believe the Sedum album are flowering even though they are still red.

roots sampled May 20

Three step process demonstrated by Kelsey Farrish (thanks Kelsey!!!)

First select a random spot to sample: 

next, insert sampling device (go Orioles!)

remove sample, repeat (and repeat and repeat):

sedum species

Plants from Emory Knoll Farms, photo credit: Jonathan Moore

interesting roofs in the greater DC metro area

 Kudos to the DC nationals for having a greenroof
on their stadium (see right)!





and to this elementary school in Rockville (below).
This is a living roof installation.  Note how the
modules are covered when the white slips around
the edges are removed.

nested rain gauges installed

May 13... just in time for all the rain :)
Note how the runoff from the smaller gauge spills into the larger one at high intensity

vote for city neighbors hamilton

They want a greenroof on their school.
Check out their video (click on link)
Okay so the voting is over and another school got it, but this video is still awesome!

almost flowering

Sedum sexangulare has filled in quite a bit over the past two months and is getting ready to flower. They are a lot different compared to the photo I took in Feburary.

pollen on the roof

It actually clogged the rain gauges.  Only on the black roof, though. No, that is not dust; this is also after a 0.5 inch rain- before this there was a yellow film coating the roof.
?Greenroofs as allergy mitigators???? Hah!

proposal seminar!

Here's a link to the proposal seminar I gave as part of the University of MD (College Park)'s Plant Sciences department

spring break in georgia!

Through an amazing collaboration with the vanIersel lab, we have been measuring plant physiological responses to dought specifically changes in CO2 exchange. Graphs will follow soon, but in the meantime check out these super fantastic plant chambers full of Sedum album and kamtschaticum. Of course they are being monitored continuously for water content and weight change as well, and the data can be accessed remotely. Many many thanks to the vanIersel lab for their interest in this work and for being great hosts!!!

greenroof in illinois collapses (click link)

phipps botany in action program

I am incredibly happy to post that I have been deemed a "botanist in action" by the Phipps Conservatory (link provided) in Pittsburgh. I am looking forward to heading up there this fall to meet other cool researchers and learn how to be better at outreach and education. I am also very happy about the extra funding they will provide for my upcoming trip to Georgia to conduct some plant photosynthesis/ water use studies.  More on all this soon.

schmutz from our black roof

This amount of deposition clogged our rain gauge on our control black roof in less than 3 months. Without testing I can only imagine that it is a combination of deposition and roof decomposition.

If we got this much accumulation from our 16 square foot experiment, imagine how much would be expelled from a roof that was to scale. In all fairness, some media and organic matter was also observed in gauges on our greened platforms, but not to this extent.

snow is melted!

and sedum sexangulare is already getting warmed up.
I really like the orange coloring. This species should be the first to flower in the spring. I am looking forward to both the flowering and the warmer weather!