Ecological Engineering Vegetated roofs show better performance as biodiversity attributes are increased --Manuscript Draft-Manuscript Number: Article Type:
Research Paper
Keywords:
urban ecosystems, biodiversity, performance, natives, microcosms
Corresponding Author:
Natalia Cáceres Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales y Sustentabilidad José Sanchez Labrador S.J. Universidad Católica de Córdoba -CONICET Córdoba, Córdoba ARGENTINA
First Author:
Natalia Cáceres
Order of Authors:
Natalia Cáceres Federico O. Robbiati, Dr. Emmanuel C. Hick Mario Suárez, Dr. Evangelina Mattof Leonardo Galetto, Dr. Lelia Imhof, Dr.
Abstract:
Urban ecosystems like vegetated roofs contribute to both the cooling service and the resilience of socio-environments by providing ecosystem functions. We hypothesized that increasing biodiversity attributes in the arrangements of the potential species that can be used in vegetated roofs will improve their performance in the semiarid region of Central Argentina. We aimed to: (i) determine functional traits for the selected species to characterize different arrangements for the evaluation of the experimental treatments; (ii) evaluate their performance in microcosms arrangements comparing biodiversity attributes (from monocultures to combined species, life-forms, and functional traits), and (iii) evaluate the relationship among the best performer arrangements, the cooling service at the substrate level, and the provided ecosystem services. We expect those treatments with higher biodiversity attributes (combinations of species from ≥2 life-forms and ≥2 different functional groups) will show better performances than simpler ones for cooling services. Plant diversity attributes as indicators of ecosystem functions of eight species corresponding to different life-forms ( Sedum acre , S. lineare , S. reflexum , Phyla nodiflora , Glandularia x hybrida , Grindelia cabrerae , Eustachys distichophylla , and Nassella tenuissima ) were evaluated through a trial using 22 microcosmos’s treatments during a 12-month period. A principal component analysis was performed to detect species functional groups according to leaf (leaf area, specific lead area, and leaf dry matter content), and height traits. Likewise, plant performance parameters (survival dynamics, monthly coverage, and growth increments) were evaluated. A performance index was used to rank the best treatments and to relate the cooling service with substrate temperature. Species were clustered into three functional groups. After the selected period, all treatments reached over 86% survival rate. Eight treatments showed the best performance using a combined index that includes plant coverage, growth, and the variation coefficient of each treatment. All of them showed reductions in substrate temperatures with respect to the non-vegetated module. Although some of the monoculture treatments ( S. acre ; P. nodiflora , and E. distichophylla ) reached comparable values for the cooling service, our recommendation is to select those plant mixtures combining species, lifeforms, and functional groups because they also contribute to a wide spectrum of ecosystem services in urban environments.
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