Schmithals Anja, Kühn Norbert
Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
PLoS One. 2017 Feb 6;12(2):e0171533. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0171533. eCollection 2017.
In recent years, North American prairie vegetation has served as a design model for highly attractive, low-cost and low-maintenance plantings in German urban green spaces. Where mixed-planting techniques, gravel mulch toppings and non-selective maintenance techniques such as mowing are used, prairie plantings are considered to be cost-effective alternative design concepts for public green space management. In this study, we investigated the establishment success of different mixtures of prairie species plantings on two sites with different soil conditions: topsoil and topsoil with graywacke gravel topping. We documented significantly higher average mortality rates on gravel mulch sites in the first year after establishment. Further development of mortality was not significantly different between sites. Weed species were always more numerous on topsoil sites and had an obvious effect on the visual impact of the plantings. The mulch created an effective barrier for wind-dispersed germinators. Soil temperatures down to 30 cm were significantly higher on gravel mulch sites throughout the year, stimulating more vital plant growth and a prolonged growing season. Our results emphasize the importance of considering these kinds of practical issues during the planning process as they are critical to the success or failure of the design.
近年来，北美草原植被已成为德国城市绿地极具吸引力、低成本且低维护种植的设计典范。在采用混合种植技术、砾石覆盖层以及诸如割草等非选择性维护技术的地方，草原种植被视为公共绿地管理中具有成本效益的替代设计理念。在本研究中，我们调查了在两个土壤条件不同的地点（表土以及覆盖有砂岩砾石的表土）种植不同混合比例草原物种的建植成功率。我们记录到，建植后的第一年，砾石覆盖地的平均死亡率显著更高。不同地点之间死亡率的进一步变化并无显著差异。表土上的杂草种类总是更多，并且对种植的视觉效果有明显影响。覆盖层对风力传播的萌发植物形成了有效的屏障。全年砾石覆盖地30厘米深处的土壤温度显著更高，促进了更旺盛的植物生长以及更长的生长季。我们的结果强调了在规划过程中考虑这类实际问题的重要性，因为它们对于设计的成败至关重要。
