Wetland Roofs as an Attractive Option for Decentralized Water Management and Air Conditioning Enhancement in Growing Cities—A Review

Zehnsdorf, Andreas; Willebrand, Keani C. U.; Trabitzsch, Ralf; Knechtel, Sarah; Blumberg, Michael; Müller, Roland

doi:10.3390/w11091845

Cited by 18 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We estimate that 45% of CG species prefer dry soils compared to 27% of conventionally used garden plants. Interestingly, a high proportion of CG species also prefer wet habitats, such as riparian margins, where some of those species could be useful for wetland roofs as a measure to recycle grey water whilst mitigating the urban heat island effect (Wang et al, 2022;Zehnsdorf et al, 2019). CG species also require, on average, fewer nutrient inputs than the average conventional gardening species.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Putting conservation gardening into practice

Munschek

Witt²,

Kaltofen³

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Conservation gardening (CG) is the widespread planting of urban green spaces with declining native plant species and the transformation of the gardening industry into a socio-ecological conservation tool. However, information on which plants are amenable, what conditions they require, and where they can be purchased remains scarce and not readily available. Using Germany as an example, we demonstrate a workflow that synthesizes such data. We synthesized the Red Lists of all 16 federal states in Germany, and text-mined a comprehensive platform for garden plants, as well as multiple German producers of native plants. We summarize all available data via a user-friendly app (https://conservation-gardening.shinyapps.io/app-en/), allowing gardeners to retrieve region-specific lists of CG plants, as well as corresponding planting and purchasing advice. We found that a median of 845 plant species are red-listed across federal states (ranging from 515 to 1,123), with a median of 41% of species amenable to CG (ranging from 29–53%), totalling in 988 CG species. 650 (66%) of these are already available for purchase. We found that many CG plants are drought-tolerant and require less fertilizer on average, with implications for long-term urban planning and climate adaptation. Together with gardening experts, we present purchasable CG balcony plants for each federal state, highlighting that CG can happen now and also for people without gardens. Our analysis suggests plant extinction risk could potentially be reduced by a median of 29% across Germany if CG were widely implemented. Our study highlights a considerable potential for CG to initiate transformative change to help bend the curve of biodiversity loss.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Putting conservation gardening into practice

Munschek

Witt²,

Kaltofen³

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, in Scandinavia, they were used to make roofs waterproof by stacking bark and turf (so-called grass or sod roofs; Thuring and Grant 2015). Today, different types of extensive and intensive green roofs exist, even including wetland roofs (Zehnsdorf et al 2019). All can provide a range of ES.…”

Section: Figure 53mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nature-based solutions and biodiversity: synergies, trade-offs, and ways forward

Knapp,

MacIvor

2023

Nature-Based Solutions for Cities

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…High evapotranspiration and a negative climatic balance in the summer months meant that there was the need to replenish a large amount of water in the WR. According to Zehnsdorf et al [30], helophytes transpire much more water than the terrestrial plants that are usually used on green roofs. The expected evapotranspiration rate should vary between 3.5 and 3.7 mm per day on an annual basis [31] and can reach values of around 50 mm per day in a hot summer period for the common reed Phragmites australis and the common club-rush Schoenoplectus lacustris [32].…”

Section: Weather Conditions Of the Growing Seasonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative, Qualitative and Thermal Aspects of Rainwater Retention on Wetland Roofs

Karczmarczyk,

Baryła,

Szejba

et al. 2023

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Wetland roofs (WRs) are a multi-functional green infrastructure measure to mitigate the negative effects of climate change. The present work advances knowledge in the field of WRs by analyzing the performance of rainwater management, focused on water sufficiency, water quality and cooling potential. Automatic monitoring, covering weather conditions, temperature and the conductivity of WR water, and the amount of outflow into retention tanks, was supported with automated sampling of water for laboratory analysis of BOD5, phosphate phosphorus, suspended solids, electrical conductivity (EC), redox potential (Eh), color and pH. From April to September 2022, a precipitation deficit of 395.45 mm and a negative climatic water balance of 267.91 mm were observed. It was necessary to fill up the system several times in order to maintain water at the assumed level. In most cases, the values of EC observed during the monitoring period were higher than those reported for rainwater. Continuous monitoring of EC in the wetland was a useful tool for the observation of operating activities in the system; however, it was not sufficient for system control. BOD5 values did not exceed 6 mg dm−3 and were lower than reported for urban rainwater retention reservoirs. Suspended solids values did not exceed 27 mg dm−3. Color varied between 0 and 101 PtCo, with the highest values noted in July and the beginning of August. The pH value ranged between 7.28 and 8.24. The Eh varied between 155 and 306 mV, with lower values associated with the filling up of the wetland. Peak values of PO4-P were observed between the end of July and the beginning of September 2022, with a maximum concentration of 232 µg dm−3 utilized by the wetland within one month. Monitoring of the water and air temperature showed a thermal buffering effect of the wetland. The results of the research, conducted during the growing season, allow for better management of rainwater on the roof. However, there is a need to expand the scope of the analyzed water quality parameters. Although there are several limitations to the analysis, the present study partially fills the existing knowledge gap and may generate further interest in this topic among researchers and decision-makers.

show abstract

Wetland Roofs as an Attractive Option for Decentralized Water Management and Air Conditioning Enhancement in Growing Cities—A Review

Cited by 18 publications

References 29 publications

Putting conservation gardening into practice

Putting conservation gardening into practice

Nature-based solutions and biodiversity: synergies, trade-offs, and ways forward

Quantitative, Qualitative and Thermal Aspects of Rainwater Retention on Wetland Roofs

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About