Urban Naturalization for Green Spaces Using Soil Tillage, Herbicide Application, Compost Amendment and Native Vegetation

Jaime Rojas,Amalesh Dhar,M Naeth

doi:10.3390/land10080854

Abstract

Naturalization is a new and promising ecological approach to green space development for urban environments, although knowledge is sparse on techniques to implement it. We evaluated naturalization of eight native trees and shrubs, with site preparation (tillage, herbicide) and soil amendment (compost rates) treatment combinations at six sites in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Soil texture improved with all compost rates, and acidity, electrical conductivity and total carbon increased, especially with 100% compost. Soil nutrients generally increased with compost then declined within a year. Plant species with highest potential for use in urban green spaces were Picea glauca, Symphoricarpos albus and Rosa acicularis. Herbicide was the most influential site preparation treatment, positively increasing survival and growth of planted woody species, while negatively lowering non-native species cover and increasing noxious weed cover. Soil amendment with compost influenced cover not species richness, with high compost amendment reducing vegetation cover across sites, and increasing individual plant size. This study suggests amendment of soil with compost and appropriate site preparation can positively influence naturalization of these woody species for urban green spaces.

Highlights

Urban environments have consistently grown in importance as biomes for the human race
Electrical conductivity increased with percent compost, generally declining a year after compost application
Values were higher than desired with 100% compost amendment at 5.6, but declined to 2.5 within a year

Summary

Introduction

Urban environments have consistently grown in importance as biomes for the human race. In 1950, urban dwellers comprised 29.4% of the world population, which increased to 51.6% by 2010 and is projected to increase to 67.2% by 2050 [1]. This projection increased the complexity of providing urban ecosystem benefits for nature and people in cities [2]. Urban green spaces (public and private gardens, parks, other green infrastructure) provide a variety of ecosystem services, including biodiversity, microclimate mitigation and storm water management [3,4,5,6] and aesthetic value for socio-cultural aspects (human health and wellbeing) [7,8]. Years of research have been focused on land reclamation, ecological restoration and plant establishment, knowledge is sparse on how to reintegrate native ecological components into urban green spaces

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