Performing Department
Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
Non Technical Summary
Turfgrass is widely grown for golf courses, lawns, parks, athletic field, commercial grounds, cemeteries and highway right-of-ways. The most recent estimate of US land coverage suggests that 1.9% of the US is covered by these turf areas - of which home lawns is the largest component. Turfgrass is a major component of managed landscapes and provides many functional, recreational, commercial, and aesthetic benefits, which include supporting biodiversity, controlling erosion, reducing dust, dissipating solar heat, providing safety for athletic and improving quality of life. That said, the management of turfgrass is viewed by some as a waste of resources - water, fertilizer, energy, and labor. Turfgrass managers, owners of landscapes, and turfgrass researchers all have an interest in finding more economical, less energy intensive, and more environmentally sensitive ways of managing turf areas. The development of products and cultural practices that offer more sustainable ways of managing turf will benefit everyone who manages and uses turf areas in their daily lives, and can improve the image of managed turf in the eyes of the general public.An area of turf management that has not been considered by researchers - and has only recently began receiving more attention by those in the production agriculture community - is that of soil health management. In its simplest terms, this means managing soils (using natural and/or synthetic fertilizers, soil cultivation, and irrigation techniques) to improve the quality of the soil in which all plants grow. By treating the soil as a living system, and doing everything possible to improve and maintain its health, it appears that the health of the plants growing on a healthy soil will likewise be enhanced. One of the problems encountered in conducting research in the area of soil health is defining what a healthy soil is - and developing reliable, repeatable, easily used and economical tools for evaluating and measuring soil health. One test that appears to be quite reliable for measuring soil health is that which measures soil respiration - the release of carbon dioxide from the soil system. Just as humans and other animals release carbon dioxide as a part of everyday life, the living organisms in the soil (bacteria, fungi, small insects, etc.) similarly release carbon dioxide. Soils that are healthy and vibrant will support higher populations of these small microorganisms - and will release higher amounts of carbon dioxide than will a soil that has fewer organisms living in it (and could be considered a less healthy soil). The ability to evaluate and identify healthy and unhealthy soils - as evidenced by their higher respiration rates (carbon dioxide evolution) - can allow turf managers and home owners alike to implement management practices to improve the quality and health of the soils in their lawns and other parts of the landscape.The first goal of our research will be to identify those parameters or indicators of a healthy turf soil (in addition to soil respiration, as described above) - and to find ways of reliably measuring and defining those indicators. Once we feel comfortable with our abilty to identify healthy vs. unhealthy soils, we can then evaluate products and practices to improve soil health. Products might include natural organic fertilizers, compost and compost teas, humic acid soil amendments, and microbial soil inoculants. There are numerous products sold today that CLAIM to improve soil health - but their effectiveness has never been tested or confirmed. These products are often expensive to use, so it is important that consumers understand what their value might be when they are used on lawns and landscapes.Similar to testing products for their effects on soil health, we would like to compare the effects of traditional lawn/turf management practices (which rely on the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides) with natural/organic turf management practices. No research to this point in time has compared turf management programs and their effects on soil health - although claims are made that traditional lawn care is "bad" for soil health and natural/organic lawn care is "good" for soils. As with the testing of products discussed previously, organic/natural lawn care is expensive - so it is important that research be conducted to confirm (or deny) the claims that it is "better" for the environment and soils than the generally less-expensive traditional lawn/turf management programs.Finally, it is our goal to publicize the findings of our research via instruction of future turf and landscape managers at the university level, public Extension presentations, instruction to Master Gardeners who will work with the public, workshops and talks to professional turfgrass managers, and through our websites and blogs devoted to presenting horticultural information to the public.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
20%
Applied
60%
Developmental
20%
Goals / Objectives
Goal 1: Assess methods of quantifying and measuring soil health in turfgrass systems, and identify practical, cost-effective methods for determining soil health for the turfgrass practitionerObjectives:Conduct a literature review of the scientific knowledge regarding soil health assessment of urban (anthropogenic) soils - especially of managed turf systemsIdentify practical means for defining and quantifying soil health in managed turf systems and determine their applicability and value for use by turfgrass practitionersMake progress in addressing common questions regarding soil health management in turf systems:Does enhancing/increasing soil health increase turf quality?Does optimizing soil health increase or decrease turf management costs?Do practices (and products) used to enhance soil health in turf systems increase or decrease inputs of nutrients, water, pest management products, and labor?Can optimization of soil health increase the ability of turf systems to sequester carbon?Can an understanding of/measurement soil health allow for more precise use of nitrogen in turf systems?Does the additional cost (adding another soil test parameter to routine soil testing) of measuring soil health result in quantifiable benefits to consumers - and thus justify the recommendation that it be routinely practiced?Goal 2: Share gains in turfgrass soil health knowledge with the following audiences:in undergraduate turf management course (taught every fall semester)at annual state turfgrass (RMRTA) conference and regional green industry conference (ProGreen)via workshops at the international golf course management (GCSAA) and sports turf management (STMA) conferencesMaster Gardener trainingtrade journal articles and Extension Fact SheetsCSU turf website and state horticulture blogObjectives:Provide professional and lay practitioners with information on turf management practices and products that can enhance soil health and, possibly, turf health100% of all students in HORT341 will learn about the concepts of soil health and how those concepts can be applied to everyday management of lawns, golf courses, and sports turfAt Extension presentations (conferences, Master Gardener training) 80% of surveyed attendees will improve their understanding of soil health managementOf those attending presentations on soil health management for turf systems, 10% will attempt to incorporate testing for soil health and/or management for increased soil health into everyday turf management programsGoal 3: Develop a cost-effective system for evaluating the use of experimental and commercially available fertilizers and amendments (natural organic fertilizers, compost teas, humic acids, biostimulants) and other heavily marketed on soil health and turf quality of managed turfgrass systemsObjectives:Evaluate products and practices for both agronomic effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, allowing consumers to determine whether or not their use makes agronomic and/or economic senseTo be able to answer the basic, frequently asked questions:Can the use of this product or practice measurably improve soil health?Does the use of this product or practice justify their (often) high cost?Present findings on efficacy of soil health management products in Extension presentations, via refereed and trade publications, and on the CSU turf websiteGoal 4: Compare integrated systems (turf species, fertilizer, water, mowing, pest management inputs - both traditional/synthetic and natural/organic) for their potential to provide turf of acceptable quality for home owners, sports turf managers, and golf course superintendents, and other lay and professional turf managers.Objectives:To develop natural/organic turf management options for lawns and professionally managed turf systems that are effective (result in acceptable quality turf), practical (in terms of cost, labor), and sustainable (long-term effectiveness; reasonable long-term costs)To be able to offer homeowners and professional turf managers tested, effective options for natural/organic turf management (fertilizer programs, pest and soil health management tools)To compare natural/organic turf establishment and management programs with traditional management systems - effectiveness, consumer satisfaction, cost, sustainability, and effects on urban soil health
Project Methods
Measurement of Soil HealthThere are many published methods for the measurement of soil respiration and for the determination of N mineralisation including long-term aerobic incubation, in situ field methods, and others (Haney et al., 2008; 2012). These methods are either too time consuming and laborious for commercial labs to perform at a cost effective price or are not adequate for predicting N mineralisation. The 7-day anaerobic N mineralisation method is considered the best biological indicator of potentially available N and is commonly used to compare new N-mineralisation testing methods.The Solvita Soil Respiration System (Solvita) is a new tool to evaluate soil microbial respiration rates in an efficient and cost-effective manner, without the need for reagent handling and long incubation periods. Solvita was designed as a complete procedure to quantify the relative differences between varying types of compost by measuring the amount of CO2 evolved in a short time period. The amount of CO2 evolved is interpreted as an indication of the completeness of active degradation, also called a maturity index. In composts and manures, Solvita has been used in combination with other indices to determine compost maturity and C and N mineralisation. Measured CO2 using Solvita has been strongly correlated with anaerobic N mineralisation (r2 = 0.82). Results indicate that the Solvita Soil Respiration System can be used to rapidly assess soil respiration and relative N mineralisation potential in any given soil and is considerably faster and easier to perform in a laboratory setting than the anaerobic N mineralisation test.We will evaluate the use of the Solvita system for measuring treatment effects on field turfgrass systems. Treatments could include:Fertilizer type (synthetic vs natural organic)Application of humic acids, composts, compost teas, molasses, seaweed extracts and other commonly used (but never evaluated for effectiveness) amendments on turf systemsCommon management practices (clipping addition/removal, core cultivation, mowing height, irrigation frequency, etc.) and their effect on soil respiration and healthTurf species (native vs. introduced) and mixed swards of grasses and legumesOrganic management systems compared to traditional turf management regimesOther Data CollectionAll research would include the collection and analysis of standard turf system data:Quality (color, density, uniformity)Establishment rate (for new studies)Rooting depth and weight (when appropriate)Drought resistance (visual, and using soil moisture measurement - TDR)Stress, using normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)Routine soil fertility testingDissemination of Research Findings and ImpactResults will be presented in the introductory turf management course, Master Gardener training, Extension presentations to lay and industry groups; an evaluation tool will be used to measure short-term (immediate) impact of introducing the topic of soil health to these audiencesInformation will be presented on the CSU turf website; Google Analytics will document "hits" and other associated data related to visits to the websiteSuccess stories will be documented and publicized as individuals and/or companies begin to successfully incorporate the concepts of soil health management into their turf management programs