Performance of native plants on pre-grown vegetation mats for green roof applications.

随着温室气体排放和能源成本的上升，绿色屋顶在北美越来越受欢迎。绿色屋顶有许多众所周知的好处，包括缓和建筑温度、减少雨水径流和增加碳封存。Xero Flor是加拿大最大的绿色屋顶公司之一。Xero Flor提供了一种独特的预先生长的垫状屋顶系统，可以卷起并应用于现有的屋顶结构。虽然这种即时绿色屋顶已在北美其他地方安装，但Xero Flor尚未在加拿大大西洋地区建立客户基础或可识别的形象。尽管没有绿色屋顶产业，但在加拿大新斯科舍省哈利法克斯的圣玛丽大学校园里发现了一个由国家资助的绿色屋顶测试设施。这个由杰里米·伦德霍尔姆博士设计的设施，在研究生长在绿色屋顶上的本地植物的功能方面取得了重大进展。该合作项目旨在促进圣玛丽大学绿色屋顶测试设施的学者和Xero Flor的行业顾问之间建立独特的合作伙伴关系。分两个阶段，我们将在哈利法克斯郊外的一个生产设施中测试Xero Flor Mat系统的发芽率、覆盖率和对杂草的敏感性。在第二阶段，我们将在哈利法克斯地区市政当局现有的屋顶上安装与本地植物一起种植的Xero Flor垫子。我们的研究目标包括在Xero Flor Mat系统上测试本地新斯科舍省植物物种，并评估使用土壤微生物，特别是菌根真菌等土壤改良剂种植绿色屋顶植物的效用。到目前为止，还没有研究考察绿化屋顶性能和地下因素之间的相互作用。

Green roofs are increasingly popular in North America as greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs rise. There are many well known benefits associated with green roofs including moderating building temperatures, mitigating stormwater run-off and increasing carbon sequestration. Xero Flor is one of the largest green roof companies operating in Canada. Xero Flor offers a unique pre-grown mat roof system that can be rolled up and applied to an existing roof structure. While this instant green roof has been installed elsewhere in North America, Xero Flor has not yet established a customer base or recognizable profile in Atlantic Canada. Despite the absence of the green roof industry, one nationally-funded green roof testing facility that has been in operation in Canada is found on the campus of Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This facility, designed by Dr. Jeremy Lundholm, has made significant advances in studying the function of native plants growing on green roofs. This collaborative project seeks to foster a unique partnership between academics working at Saint Mary's University Green Roof Testing Facility and industry consultants from Xero Flor. Over two phases, we will test the germination rate, percent cover and susceptibility to weeds of the Xero Flor mat system in a production facility outside of Halifax. In the second phase, we will install Xero Flor mats grown with native plants on a pre-existing roof within the Halifax Regional Municipality. Our study objectives include testing native Nova Scotian plant species on Xero Flor mat systems and evaluating the utility of growing green roof plants with soil amendments such as soil microorganisms, particularly mycorrhizal fungi. To date, no studies have examined the interaction between green roof performance and belowground factors.