Factors Impacting the Health of Roadside Vegetation

Details

• Creators:
  Trahan, Nicole A. ; Peterson, Curt M.
• Corporate Creators:
  University of Northern Colorado, Psychology Department
• Corporate Contributors:
  Colorado. Department of Transportation. Applied Research & Innovations Branch ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Air Pollution Conifer Pathology Deicing Chemicals Drought Drought Stress Foliar Injury Heavy Metals Leaf-level Gas Exchange Magnesium Chloride Pathology Pinus Contorta Pinus Ponderosa Plant Nutrition Plants Seed Germination Seed Viability Sodium Chloride

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  CDOT-DTD-2005-12
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Colorado
• Edition:
  Final Report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Colorado Department of Transportation. Applied Research & Innovations Branch
• Abstract:
  This study provides an ecological impact assessment of factors affecting the health of roadside vegetation in the state of Colorado including potential biotic and abiotic plant stressors and deicer applications. Across eight field sites, an evaluation was completed for foliar injury, physiology by leaf-level gas exchange, salt exposure, long-term drought stress, nutrient availability, pollutant exposure, disease, and insect damage in roadside lodgepole (Pinus contorta) and ponderosa (Pinus ponderosa) pines. These measures were compared with conifers away from the roadside environment in the same location in the winter/spring and summer/ fall of 2004.Additionally, a controlled assessment of the impacts of sand/salt and magnesium chloride deicers on foliar injury and leaf-level gas exchange in saplings of P. ponderosa and P. contorta was performed. Seed germination and viability in response to various commercial deicers was also evaluated in native Colorado plant species. Generally, roadside conifers exhibited significant foliar injury and needle loss compared to their off road counterparts, while roadside plant tissues and soils exhibited elevated levels of sodium, magnesium, and chloride. Injury to the tree crown correlated most strongly with levels of chlorides in older needle foliage(R2 = 0.696, p < 0.0001). A significant depression of leaf-level photosynthesis rates was observed in roadside trees during the winter deicing season but not during the subsequent growing season. Roadside and off-road trees did not evince any difference in long-term drought stress as demonstrated by pre-dawn leaf tissue water potentials.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8d63c4eb027804d4b020a36f104ae497137f6ea6f4e5a7c6ae62bca6534570fe80711c3755e52fef099042d479a263419edef1cebb3b4f688429ada2effbcd51
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/93064/dot_93064_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.86 MB ]