General
Landscape
Roadside Management
Design and Planning
Soils Research
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Healthy soils are the key to healthy plant material. This research studies the interactions of soil and plant species to improve soil structure, improve vegetation establishment, and reduce erosion and sediment loss.
Soils Resource Evaluation, II, 2008
This research project is in progress. The final report will be posted when it becomes available.
This study is a follow-up project to Soil Resource Evaluation I and evaluates vegetation, soil and erosion control between comparison trials, new treatments or materials and controls.
Use of Native Plants and Mycorrhizal Fungi for Slope Stabilization, 2007
This research project is in progress. The final report will be posted when it becomes available.
This project assess the benefits of using commercial mycorrhizal inocula as a substitute for indigenous soil microbes while simultaneously investigating the preferred application method.
Soils Resource Evaluation, Part I, 2005
The purpose of the project is to more efficiently evaluate barren road shoulders and rights-of-way for plant growth limiting conditions, and to generate effective treatments to reestablish revegetation on barren, erosive sites.
GENERATION OF WATER-STABLE SOIL AGGREGATES FOR IMPROVED EROSION CONTROL AND REVEGETATION SUCCESS, 1998
This project summarizes the mechanism of water-stable aggregate formation and concludes that sustained vigorous plant growth is essential to maintenance of soil structure. Plants contribute to water-stable aggregates by adding carbon materials to soil that are decomposed by soil microbes. Sustainable, vigorous plant growth, however, is difficult to achieve on degraded soils from which topsoil has been removed by construction or erosion. Laboratory incubation experiments using prospective amendment materials indicated that widely differing N release patterns occur. Given the large total amounts of N per ha that are associated with adequate plant growth and cover, the use of amendments with slow N release rates is encouraged, so that the N applied to the site is retained in the soil until it is incorporated into plant tissue.
Native Shrub Germination Relative to Compost Type, 2005
This report presents the design and results of the seventh primary experiment completed by the VEMS research project. The goal of this project is to compare the effects of different compost treatments on water quality and the establishment of native shrubs.
The Effects of Topsoil Reapplication on Vegetation Reestablishment, 1994
This report presents the design and results of the seventh primary experiment completed by the VEMS research project. The goal of this project is to compare the effects of different compost treatments on water quality and the establishment of native shrubs