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Abstract Detail



Ecology

Hoch, Jessica [1], Palmer, Matthew [2], McGuire, Krista  [3].

Soil fungal assemblages, plant-microbial mechanisms, and ecosystem services on New York City green roofs.

Green roofs are a way for cities to mitigate environmental stressors, such as heatwaves and droughts. However, these environmental stressors subject green roof vegetation to challenging conditions for growth and survival, affecting the ability of green roof systems to deliver critical ecosystem services. For this reason, many green roofs in the northeastern United States are planted with non-native Sedum species. Much of green roof research has focused on engineering and infrastructure; however, recent studies have highlighted the link between green roof vegetation selection and ecosystem service delivery. Despite their crucial role in plant growth and survival, especially in harsh conditions, there has been little research on plant-associated soil fungi in green roof systems. Furthermore, the response of green roof plants to heat and drought is not well-documented and the effect of soil microbial communities on these plants is entirely unknown. This project seeks to characterize soil fungal community composition on green roofs across New York City and to assess how different combinations of green roof plant species (Panicum virgatum, Solidago nemoralis, Sedum tetractinum) and root-associated microbial assemblages respond to isolated and simultaneous heat and drought treatments. To characterize soil fungal community composition, we surveyed 30 green roof systems planted with either Sedum species or with a mixed-vegetation palette (i.e. wildflowers, grasses, and succulents). Concurrently, we conducted a greenhouse experiment in which plants were grown from seed in green roof media inoculated with different microbial communities. We established soil microbial communities in the greenhouse pots with field-collected soil from Sedum and mixed-vegetation green roofs, and with commerical green roof media autoclaved as a control. Using Illumina sequencing of the fungal ITS region, we found that mixed-vegetation and Sedum green roofs had distinct soil fungal communities (ANOSIM; p<0.0001). Survivorship of P. virgatum and S. nemoralis differed significantly among each treatment (p<0.001) in contrast to S. tetractinum, which displayed high survivorship across all treatments. Stomatal conductance (gs) for P. virgatum was significantly higher compared to S. nemoralis and S. tetractinum at peak stress. gs for S. nemoralis was significantly higher when grown in mixed-vegetation green roof soil (p<0.0001). These results suggest that soil microbial communities as they relate to plant survivorship and ecophysiology are critical components of green roof ecosystem function.


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1 - Columbia University, Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology , 1190 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY, 10027, USA
2 - Columbia University, Ecology, Evolution, And Environmental Biology, 1200 Amsterdam Ave., Mc 5557, New York, NY, 10027, United States
3 - University of Oregon, Institute of Ecology and Evolution , 5289 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403, USA

Keywords:
plant-microbial interactions 
community ecology
green infrastructure 
mycorrhizal fungi
ecosystem services 
urban ecology.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P, Ecology
Location: Grand Ballroom - Exhibit Hall/Mayo Civic Center
Date: Monday, July 23rd, 2018
Time: 5:30 PM This poster will be presented at 5:30 pm. The Poster Session runs from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Posters with odd poster numbers are presented at 5:30 pm, and posters with even poster numbers are presented at 6:15 pm.
Number: PEC025
Abstract ID:907
Candidate for Awards:None


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