Susanna and I assisted with Kelly Ksiazek’s
experiment that had two main questions. The first: does adding live versus
sterilized prairie inoculum increase mycorrhizal fungal relationships and
promote plant growth. The second: do native prairie plants function better as
green roof organisms than traditional sedum species in terms of growth and
green roof services provided.
We set up a grid of forty trays filled with soil
substrate on the Quinlan Life Science terrace. Life prairie inoculum was added
twenty trays and sterilized prairie inoculum to the remaining twenty trays. The
inoculum was collected from a local prairie, half of which was sterilized to
kill all bacteria and fungi.
Of the forty trays, ten were planted with sedum
species, ten with prairie species mix A, ten with prairie species mix B, and
ten remained unplanted as the control group. The ten trays of sedum were
ordered from the green roof distributer and re planted in the experimental
trays. Prairie mixes A and B contain different species of native prairie
plants, grown in a greenhouse before planted in the trays. The control trays
contain live and sterile inoculum but no plants.
Over the course of the summer we took
measurements of plant growth, substrate temperature, soil stability, and soil
carbon content. For the plant growth data, we measured month to month the
individual plant’s max height, tray coverage area, and flower and fruit number.
To measure the tray substrate temperature we inserted a thermochron in the center
of each tray. These thermochrons were calibrated to take a temperature reading
every hour for an extended period of time. Soil stability was measured using
the soil slake test procedure. Soil carbon content was measured by ashing the samples
in a muffle furnace. Future soil samples will be measured using the Flash soil
carbon and nitrogen analyzer.
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