De-icing salt movement in structural soil cells and its implications for urban tree performance

该项目旨在了解土壤细胞中除冰盐积累对城市行道树健康和恢复力的影响。城市树木作为绿色基础设施具有重要的功能价值，是城市可持续发展的重要贡献者。加拿大各地的市政当局和私营企业投入了大量资源，将大型树木引入城市地区，以改善环境质量，吸引经济投资，提高生活质量。然而，城市街道对树木的生长来说是极其恶劣的环境。在这个NSERC Engage资助的项目中，瑞尔森大学将与行业合作伙伴DeepRoot Canada Corp.合作，一家总部位于温哥华的景观和雨水设计公司，对除冰盐的影响以及雪融后的相关水冲洗过程进行了深入的调查，调查对象是沿着皇后码头大道种植的伦敦悬铃木（Platanus x acerifolia）树木，皇后码头大道是多伦多著名的街景，最近通过土壤细胞技术恢复了活力，以提高树木的存活率和增强养护措施。我们将收集皇后码头树木的土壤、环境和生物特征数据，并在瑞尔森城市林业实验室进行分析，目的是（1）测量土壤细胞中的除冰盐浓度;（2）隔离盐浓度和土壤停留时间对树木状况的影响;（3）评估春季用水冲洗土壤以稀释和去除土壤中的盐残留物的维护实践。该项目为完善城市街道树木种植方法和结构土壤单元设计提供了一个机会，这将为DeepRoot Canada Corp.和加拿大更广泛的园林绿化行业带来新的实践和相关的生产力。

This project seeks to understand the effects of de-icing salt accumulation in soil cells on urban street tree healthand resilience. City trees have considerable functional value as green infrastructure, and are sited as vitalcontributors to urban sustainability. Substantial resources are invested by municipalities, and private industry,across Canada to introduce large-growing trees into urban areas to improve environmental quality, attracteconomic investment, and to enhance quality of life. City streets, however, are exceedingly harsh environmentsfor tree growth. In this NSERC Engage-funded project, Ryerson University will work with industry partner,DeepRoot Canada Corp., a Vancouver-based landscape and stormwater design company, to conduct a robustinvestigation of the impact of de-icing salts, and the associated process of water flushing, post-snow melt, onthe Londonplane (Platanus x acerifolia) trees planted along Queens Quay Boulevard, a prominent Torontostreetscape that was recently revitalized with soil cell technology to improve tree survival and augmentmaintenance practices. We will collect soil, environmental, and biometric data from Queens Quay trees andanalyze them at Ryerson's Urban Forestry Lab with the objectives of (1) measuring de-icing salt concentrationsin soil cells; (2) isolating impacts of salt concentration and soil residence time on tree condition; and, (3)evaluating the maintenance practice of water flushing the soil in the spring to dilute and remove salt residue inthe soil. This project serves as an opportunity for refining urban street tree planting methods and structural soilcell design, which will result in new practices and associated productivity for DeepRoot Canada Corp. and thebroader landscaping industry in Canada.