Program Description
Overview and Objectives

The College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Science has adopted an Ecological Paradigm as a framework to address the complexity of social, environmental and economic issues facing Ohio’s agriculture and natural resource managers. The core of this concept provides an integrative framework for innovative interdisciplinary teamwork. The process behind this development has been very substantial, engaging hundreds of faculty, students and the College’s stakeholders over almost a decade, and represents a milestone adapting the teaching, research and outreach mission of the Land Grant University to the broader social, economic and environmental context of today. In particular, we are re-inventing programs to recognize that the vast majority of Ohioans live in either urban or suburban settings, with a decreasing proportion of our people directly involved in farming, even though agriculture is a top ranking economic force in the State. Therefore, it is vital that we develop a process of engagement that spans this diversity of population, requiring novel approaches and in particular, new partnerships, connections, and synergisms within and outside the University. To address this challenge, we have established an initiative that will build a novel model of engagement around the concept of urban and suburban landscape ecosystems with emphasis on participatory research and learning.

We have chosen this approach not only because these areas are where most people live, but where many conflicts occur. It is our hypothesis that a broad, interdisciplinary approach based on the understanding of social, economic, and health issues as part of the larger whole of intensely human dominated ecosystem will be an excellent framework for the development of innovative research and educational programs and creative public forums. This interdisciplinary initiative brings together experts from the Colleges of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Science, Biological Science, Social and Behavioral Science, Public Health, Education, Architecture, and Engineering, Agriculture Technology Institute, and Extension from within the Ohio State University and from the lawn and landscape industry, non-profit organizations, botanical gardens and arboretums, local government (utilities, waste management and city planning departments), and educational institutions to build a strong holistic approach to urban and suburban landscape research and education. We will focus our approach on a novel participatory learning model in which we will engage the university, undergraduate educational institutes, K-12 students, lawn and landscape providers, neighborhood development firms, urban planners, and homeowners in specific projects by combining the academic expertise with the real-life experiences of our stakeholders. To undertake this revolutionary approach, we propose the following specific objectives:

1. Develop and promote ecosystem-based urban landscape planning, establishment, and management approaches that are economical and sustainable, thus reducing the size of the ecological footprint of the urban ecosystems (i.e., dependence on other ecosystems)

2. Develop and evaluate new ecologically sound technologies, tools, and products

3. Conduct a National Survey on the extent of alternative lawncare and landscape management practices, products and services used

4. Organize a National Brainstorming Workshop in ecological landscaping.

5. Build partnerships to develop the Ohio State University campuses as model living ecological landscapes for research and learning

6. Initiate an Interdisciplinary Seminar Series and Course Curriculum in ecologically-based residential and commercial landscape management and establish an ecological landscape professionals program

7. Establish model ecocity projects in collaboration with neighborhood building firms.

8. Develop effective K-12 educational programming in urban landscape ecology

9. Build neighborhood institutions fostering a positive change in urban landscaping

10. Establish a website containing a discussion server and interactive exhibition enabling public to design their own virtual ecological landscape on the Internet

11. Develop Training Tools (e.g. Videos) for urban landscape professionals

12. Initiate an Ecological Landscapes Fact Sheet Series

13. Initiate an Ecological Landscapes Open House

14. Initiate an Ecological Landscapes Tour

Academic/research excellence in Urban and Suburban Landscapes

Concerns about the environment and health hazards associated with the use of chemical pesticides caused the passage of the Food Quality Protection Act that has led the US EPA to remove most organophosphate and carbamate pesticides from “residential use.” In recent years, attitude of urban and suburban residents towards these inputs has changed due to increased awareness, heightened media coverage and education in public schools about environmental issues. This perception has resulted in the formation of several environmentalist movements and anti-pesticide lobby groups in the USA and Canada. These movements have been so strong that several city and local governments have enacted ordinances to restrict the so-called “cosmetic use” of pesticides and “artificial” fertilizers in urban environments.

While the overuse and misuse of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers can have a negative impact on the environment, the banning of effective chemicals (especially newer, low-impact pesticides) will have a major impact on the ability of tree and lawn care companies and homeowners to effectively manage urban landscapes with the current expectations. Landscape maintenance is a major industry, employing thousands of manufacturers, distributors and workers. We ask: “Can we develop attractive, healthy, and non-polluting urban and suburban landscapes that have long-term sustainability?” With the termination of the Research arm of TruGreen-Chemlawn, the last significant green industry research effort to develop management programs for the maintenance of lawns and landscapes has been lost.

To address these emerging landscape needs, an interdisciplinary team was formed. This team, the “Urban Landscape Ecology Program” (ULEP) comprises of more than 30 faculty from 6 different colleges and includes representatives from non-profit organizations and green industry. Our goal is to capture the essence of changing public attitudes and to develop new technologies and ecosystem approaches to urban landscape planning, establishment and maintenance. ULEP views an urban/suburban landscape at four interacting spatial scales: individual homeowner landscape, the neighborhood landscape, the city or exurban landscape, and the ecoregion containing these and other land uses. ULEP is using the science of ecology to design, establish and maintain ULEP has developed a conceptual model in which ecological design serves as a basis for the landscape plan to develop sustainable and socially acceptable urban landscapes. Ecological principles used in the design and management of landscapes include:

• Biodiversity through plantings and connections among plantings

• Sustainability through efficient carbon and nutrient cycling through intact and functional food webs and effective soil and water conservation (including storm water management)

• Bioshelters and solar village concepts

• Compatibility among different landscape themes/management systems

• Ecosystem level approaches to weed, pest, and disease management

• Use of locally adapted plants or plant assemblages including alternative ground covers, conservation of predator, parasite, and antagonistic communities for pest control

• Promotion of mycorrhizal and endophytic microbial symbioses

• Building of soil and plant health concepts and carbon sequestration

• Reduced nutrient and pesticide run-off and air pollution

• Edible landscape plants as a means to connect humans with the environment

ULEP researchers have been developing ecosystem-level approaches to landscape management through understanding and management of the ecological complexity and enhancing the use of biological control. Our research shows that high quality turf lawns can be established and maintained with minimal inputs if biological control and proper cultural practices are adopted. For example, our research indicates that endophyte containing varieties of perennial ryegrass and fescues are more drought tolerant, express resistance to insect pests, due to the production of a range of toxic alkaloids by the endosymbiotic fungi, and such plant stands have competitive advantages over weed populations. Simple cultural practices like mowing height and frequency can have a major influence on the health and sustainability of lawns. We have found that the levels of major ergot alkaloids including ergonovine, ergocristine and ergocriptine significantly increase with increased mowing height from 1 inch to 3 inches (Salminen & Grewal, 2002, 2003). Also the use of mulching mowers (rather than bagging of clippings) can reduce or often eliminate the need for fertilizer inputs.

Although insects can reduce the vigor of turfgrass plants, only rarely do we make the connection between this damage and other ensuing problems such as disease or weed invasion. In fact, we tend to think of weeds, insects, and diseases as separate and independent concerns in turfgrass management and current research and extension approach reflects this way of thinking. We found that lawns infested with insects such as billbugs or white grubs are more prone to weed (large crabgrass, dandelion, and black medic) invasion and establishment than insect-free lawns. We have also demonstrated that entomopathogenic nematodes can serve as effective alternatives to chemical pesticides for the control of most turfgrass pests (Grewal et al., 2004). Thus, the unifying nature of our investigations now provides a template for a more holistic and systems oriented approach to managing turfgrass pest problems.

Pest problems of trees and shrubs can also be minimized through a better understanding of ecological interactions in ornamental landscapes (Herms et al., 1984). For example, fertilization of woody plants is a widespread management practice, based in part on the rationale that it will enhance pest resistance by increasing plant health. However, our research has shown that fertilization often aggravates pest problems by suppressing production of natural plant defenses (Herms and Mattson, 1992; Herms, 2002). On the other hand, we found that mulching with composted yard waste (which represents the second largest component of municipal solid waste) generated patterns of microbial activity and nutrient cycling similar to those in natural forests, thereby increasing plant growth, but without the negative effects on insect and disease resistance caused by inorganic fertilizer (Lloyd 2001; Herms et al., 2002; Lloyd et al., 2002) This indicates that mulching with composted yard waste can restore ecological processes to degraded soils in ornamental landscapes, thereby enhancing the health and appearance of ornamental plants, while decreasing the need for fertilizer and pesticide applications, all while diverting a valuable natural resource from landfills. Other, more long-term, studies have concentrated on evaluation of resistant woody ornamental plants, suitable for Ohio landscapes.

Recently published research on urban park trees and city street trees, and their health and longevity in the managed landscape, has shown a correlation between sucessional status and life expectancy in urban conditions. That is, some ornamental trees that we consider most desirable may not be suitable for some urban installations. This information is useful to the nursery production industry as well as to landscape designers. The landscape plantings represent the only urban permeable surfaces and are remedial to rooftops and paving. Implementing water management into landscape design is critical to surface water quality and recharging sub-surface aquifers. The use of bioswales—vegetated basins to filter runoff from pavements and roofs—is another area in which OSU researchers are setting new standards for landscape development. Working with campus Physical Facilities, local municipalities and developers, we are installing designed wetland landscapes that reduce volume and velocity of urban storm runoff, while opening a new palette of landscape treatments and plant associations.

The social ramifications of developing an ecosystem approach to landscape management are enormous. The idea of a well-mowed and tidy lawn is now ingrained in our cultural psychology, and has profound affects on mental and physical health of the urban and suburban population. A recent study conducted in Peoria, Illinois on a random sample of people from suburban communities, designed to measure the effects of untended lawns on their homeowners, revealed that homeowners who were not allowed to maintain their lawns experienced many symptoms of psychological abnormality, including depression, suicidal tendencies, child abuse and other forms of violence, anorexia, bulimia, societal withdrawal, poor sexual function, in addtion to such symptoms as increased ulcer formation, blood pressure, and more susceptibility to cancer (Smeldagas, 1995). Another study funded by the National Science Foundation reveals that informal neighborhood institutions are one of the most important factors in encouraging lawn chemical use and overuse (Robbins, 2002, 2003). “Neighbors’ expectations” are uniformly more significant to chemical users than other criteria. This study also discovered that application of chemical inputs in lawns was greater among higher income and educated consumers—those who profess concerns about environmental quality and the relationship between water quality and health. Therefore, we need to target the segment of the population that is inclined to more readily adopt environmentally- and ecosystem-based landscape management practices.