CUERE Seminar:Dr. Katalin Szlavecz
Friday, April 14, 2017 · 2 - 3 PM
UMBC
Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education
Spring 2017 Seminar Series
presents
Dr. Katalin Szlavecz
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
The Johns Hopkins University
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
The Johns Hopkins University
“The soil ecosystem in urban vacant lots”
Friday, April 14, 2017
2:00 PM
TRC 206, UMBC
2:00 PM
TRC 206, UMBC
Abstract
The
approximately 14,000 vacant lots in Baltimore City are an important feature of
the urban landscape. Given their potential for beneficial reuse, many stand to
provide important health and urban ecological benefits to city residents.
Vacant lots are unpaved and thus their soils have a great potential to provide
an array of ecosystem services, such as reducing runoff, supporting vegetation
and sequestering carbon. To test how plant biodiversity mediates such ecosystem
services, the Baltimore Wildflower Project was initiated in 2013. Keeping
species richness constant, functional and phylogenetic diversity of herbaceous
vegetation was manipulated on 25 vacant lots. We explored the connection
between above- and belowground biodiversity by assessing community structure of
the soil micro- and macrofauna beneath the plant communities. Additionally, we
collected data on site history and analyzed the soil physical and chemical
properties. In general, parcel-to-parcel variability of both biotic and abiotic
data was high. Species composition was typical of an early successional
community. Soil organic matter, pH, nutrient and metal contents varied among
parcels, however proximity mattered. Parcels closer together were more similar
than far apart in abiotic properties, such as Na, K, Ca, Si, and Zn
concentrations, indicating similar age or management. After one year of plant
community establishment, these abiotic factors as well as location and age of
vacant lots might be more important to soil fauna recovery, than vegetation
structure. Future monitoring will reveal if linkages between above- and
belowground communities change over time.
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Parking policy
Parking passes for off-campus guests in the TRC lot are required at the cost of $4.00 per car. Parking passes may be picked up and paid for (cash only) before seminar by stopping by the CUERE office in TRC 102 /105 and seeing a staff member. Please contact us at 410-455-1763 with any questions regarding logistics.
View our web site at http://cuere.umbc.edu
Parking policy
Parking passes for off-campus guests in the TRC lot are required at the cost of $4.00 per car. Parking passes may be picked up and paid for (cash only) before seminar by stopping by the CUERE office in TRC 102 /105 and seeing a staff member. Please contact us at 410-455-1763 with any questions regarding logistics.
View our web site at http://cuere.umbc.edu
