The Effects of Green Roof Plant Establishment Methods on Environmental and Ecological Benefits to Urban Areas
Start Date
7-8-2026 10:45 AM
End Date
7-8-2026 11:00 AM
Location
ALT 207
Abstract
Green roofs offer a plethora of different ecological and environmental benefits to the urban areas in which they are present. They not only provide aesthetic benefits as well as pollen and nectar for pollinators, but also improve water retention and offer increased energy efficiency to the buildings they sit atop through evaporative cooling and by being a natural insulator layer. These benefits are all thanks to the plants that make up these green roofs. There has been much research done on the benefits provided by green roofs, but to our knowledge, there has not been studies done on how establishing these plant communities’ effects those benefits. In Malmö, Sweden, our collaborators set up long-standing green roofs using three different methods: cuttings, plugs, and vegetated mats, and with different mixes of plant communities. It was found that the plots with plugs had the greatest overall aboveground and belowground biomass. Plugs also contained the greatest amount of soil bulk density, but mats contained the greatest amount of soil organic matter. This suggests that the way in which you establish green roof plant communities does have an impact on their benefits. Increased soil bulk density can improve energy efficiency as well as water retention; likewise, plant biomass can have the same effects as well as improve the aesthetic benefits and materials for pollinators.
The Effects of Green Roof Plant Establishment Methods on Environmental and Ecological Benefits to Urban Areas
ALT 207
Green roofs offer a plethora of different ecological and environmental benefits to the urban areas in which they are present. They not only provide aesthetic benefits as well as pollen and nectar for pollinators, but also improve water retention and offer increased energy efficiency to the buildings they sit atop through evaporative cooling and by being a natural insulator layer. These benefits are all thanks to the plants that make up these green roofs. There has been much research done on the benefits provided by green roofs, but to our knowledge, there has not been studies done on how establishing these plant communities’ effects those benefits. In Malmö, Sweden, our collaborators set up long-standing green roofs using three different methods: cuttings, plugs, and vegetated mats, and with different mixes of plant communities. It was found that the plots with plugs had the greatest overall aboveground and belowground biomass. Plugs also contained the greatest amount of soil bulk density, but mats contained the greatest amount of soil organic matter. This suggests that the way in which you establish green roof plant communities does have an impact on their benefits. Increased soil bulk density can improve energy efficiency as well as water retention; likewise, plant biomass can have the same effects as well as improve the aesthetic benefits and materials for pollinators.
