The effect of drainage height on plant-species composition on a semi-arid green roof system

IF 16.4 1区化学 Q1 CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Accounts of Chemical Research Pub Date : 2021-09-20 DOI:10.1163/22244662-bja10025

Har’el Agra, Hadar Shalom, O. Bawab, G. Kadas, L. Blaustein

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Green roofs are expected to contribute to higher biodiversity in urban surroundings. Typically, green roofs have been designed with low plant diversity. However, plant diversity can be enhanced by controlling resource availability and creating distinct niches. Here we hypothesize that by using different drainage heights during the short plant-growing season in a semi-arid green roof system we can create distinct niches and plant communities. Our experiment took place at the University of Haifa, north Israel. We tested three different heights of drainage outlet: 10 cm under the surface of the substrate (Low), 1 cm under the surface of the substrate (Medium) and 3 cm above the surface of the substrate (High) on plant species-composition in green-roof gardens. Grasses cover was higher in High and Medium drainages while forbs cover was higher in Low drainage. Species richness was the highest in Low drainage while diversity indices showed the opposite trend. We conclude that by changing the height of the drainage we can create different niches and change species composition in a short time period of one growing season. This way we can create more diverse green roof communities and enhance biodiversity in urban areas, particularly in semi-arid regions.

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排水高度对半干旱屋顶绿化系统植物种类组成的影响

绿色屋顶有望提高城市环境的生物多样性。通常，绿色屋顶的植物多样性较低。然而，植物多样性可以通过控制资源可用性和创造不同的生态位来增强。在这里，我们假设在半干旱的绿色屋顶系统中，通过在短的植物生长季节使用不同的排水高度，我们可以创造不同的生态位和植物群落。我们的实验在以色列北部的海法大学进行。我们测试了三种不同高度的排水口:基质表面下10厘米(低)，基质表面下1厘米(中)和基质表面以上3厘米(高)的植物物种组成。中高排水区牧草盖度较高，低排水区牧草盖度较高。物种丰富度在低流域最高，多样性指数呈相反趋势。我们认为，通过改变排水高度可以在一个生长季节的短时间内创造不同的生态位并改变物种组成。通过这种方式，我们可以创建更多样化的绿色屋顶社区，增强城市地区的生物多样性，特别是在半干旱地区。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Accounts of Chemical Research 化学-化学综合

CiteScore

31.40

自引率

1.10%

发文量

312

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： Accounts of Chemical Research presents short, concise and critical articles offering easy-to-read overviews of basic research and applications in all areas of chemistry and biochemistry. These short reviews focus on research from the author’s own laboratory and are designed to teach the reader about a research project. In addition, Accounts of Chemical Research publishes commentaries that give an informed opinion on a current research problem. Special Issues online are devoted to a single topic of unusual activity and significance. Accounts of Chemical Research replaces the traditional article abstract with an article "Conspectus." These entries synopsize the research affording the reader a closer look at the content and significance of an article. Through this provision of a more detailed description of the article contents, the Conspectus enhances the article's discoverability by search engines and the exposure for the research.