An Experiment Assessing the Potential for Compost-Amended Lawn Topsoil to Inhibit Storm Quickflow

Urbanisation creates immense challenges for the environment due to increasing impervious surface coverage enhancing quickflow discharge in the catchment. This makes increasing surface infiltration and soil water retention in urban areas a matter of high importance. Lawns, forming a substantial fraction of suburban space, are a potentially useful medium in this regard. Four lawn test plots were constructed by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) to examine the usefulness of increased topsoil depth and organic matter content (using compost) in improving soil characteristics and limiting quickflow discharge from lawns. Results indicated each lawn met TRCA-recommended soil guidelines, but the addition of compost did not produce discernable decreases in quickflow discharge, although infiltration rates were substantially increased. However, several limitations to the TRCA experiment were identified. A critique and a set of recommendations for experimental design improvement are included and explored.

Author dc:creator

• Porteous, Daniel Philip

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Bello, Richard

• Environmental science

Statement dc:rights

• Author owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10315/33456

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:yorkspace.library.yorku.ca:10315/33456