Integrating biochar and native vegetation to maximize ecosystem services and their return-on-investment in a storm water management facility

在加拿大和北美大部分地区，市政当局在法律上要求所有新的开发项目建设雨水管理设施（SWMF），在排入下水道系统并最终排入自然水体之前，将所有社区径流水积聚起来。住宅开发SWMF减少了高达80%的污水流量和对邻近社区的污染。然而，由于SWMF流出之前没有处理进一步的下游进入，污染物捕获SWMF水转移到自然生态系统。人们发现，这对下游环境、市政当局及其公民产生了各种负面影响。在全球和个别情况下，生物炭和生物多样性降低了向下游转移的污染水平。该项目有三个问题关于生物炭应用在重建生态系统中的最佳水平：生物炭的水平如何最大限度地提高原生植被建立的成功率;它是否也最大限度地抑制入侵物种;以及这是否与植物和土壤中的土壤有机碳，氮和/或磷储存相关，以显着减少下游污染物水流。该项目的成果将提供重要的信息，需要创建协议和指导方针，以最大限度地提高从城市系统提供的水质，以保护自然水体和加拿大下游。这项研究是相关的工业合作伙伴，从研究的结果将指导他们的设计SWMF，以最大限度地减少成本和最大限度地发挥生态功能的设施。这项研究的结果也将适用于所有加拿大北方生物群落SWMF和其他新兴的省和地区法规。

Across Canada - and much of North America - municipalities legally require all new developments to constructstorm water management facilities (SWMF) that accumulate all neighbourhood runoff water prior to drainageinto sewer systems and eventually natural water bodies. Residential development SWMFs reduce landscapewater flow and contamination into neighbouring communities by up to 80%. However, because SWMFoutflow is not treated prior to farther downstream entry, pollutants captured in SWMF water is transferred tonatural ecosystems. This has been found to have a variety of negative impacts on downstream environments,municipalities and their citizens. Globally and individually biochar and biodiversity have reduced pollutantlevels transferred downstream. This project has three questions about the optimal level of biochar applicationin rebuilt ecosystems: what level of biochar maximizes native vegetation establishment success; does it alsomaximize invasive species inhibition; and is this correlated to soil organic carbon, nitrogen and/or phosphorusstorage in the plants and soils to a level that can significantly reduce downstream pollutant water flow. Theoutcomes of this project will provide vital information needed to create protocols and guidelines to maximizethe water quality delivered from urban systems to protect natural water bodies and Canadians downstream.This research is relevant to the industrial partner as results from the research will guide their design of SWMFto minimize the cost and maximize the ecological function of such facilities. Results from this study will alsobe applicable across all Canadian boreal biome SWMF and other emerging provincial and territorialregulations.