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Sustainable Grazing to Control Phragmites australis in WetlandsIn many regions of North America, land managers are using herbicides to control the invasive grass Phragmites australis. While herbicide control is often effective, it is labor, cost, and energy-intensive and often results in impacts to non-target native plants. Now, Marine-Estuarine-Environmen-tal Science major Jennifer Brundage is studying how to control this grass in a sustainable way – through grazing by goats.

Phragmites australis is found in wetlands throughout temperate regions of the world. While native genotypes exist in America, Eurasian genotypes have been spreading widely in the Chesapeake Bay watershed for about 200 years. Phragmites typically replaces diverse natural marsh plant communities with monocultures. “This grass is usually controlled with herbicide, which can have damaging environmental impacts,” Jennifer explains. As an alternative to these harmful methods, she is conducting research using goats to eliminate the grass in an environmentally and economically sustainable way.

Using Grazing Instead of HerbicideJennifer’s study, “Prescribed Grazing as a Means to Control Common Reed in Maryland Wetlands,” is one of the first of its kind in the U.S.– only one pub-lished study has been conducted in North America previously, which used goats, sheep and cattle to control Phragmites populations in New Jersey. Jenni-fer is expanding on this past work. “I am taking their research to the next level by studying whether this grazing has any negative effects on nutrient cycling,” Jennifer explains. Nutrients are a leading cause of impaired water quality in the Chesapeake Bay, and this study will examine whether grazing can be a sustain-able means of reaching the Chesapeake 2000 Bay Agreement goals for reduc-ing invasive species without endangering goals for water quality. While grazing is a common management tool in Europe for restoring biodiversity, this goes against prevailing wisdom in the U.S., especially for wetlands.

Goat Grazing in BeltsvilleJennifer conducts her research at a Phragmites patch at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. The patch has been randomly divided into four grazed and four ungrazed plots. Goats, which use less land than cattle, have had proven results in past research. Jennifer moni-tors changes in the vegetation, soil nutrients, and groundwater nutrients. USDA staff care for the animals and monitor their health. After she gathers her re-sults, Jennifer hopes her findings will encourage land managers in the Chesa-peake Bay region and elsewhere to use sustainable grazing practices for con-trolling invasive species, rather than environmentally-damaging herbicides. She also hopes that future ENST graduate students will be interested in continuing and expanding on her study.

w w w . e n s t . u m d . e d u

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL S C I E N C E & T E C H N O L O G Y College of Agriculture & Natural Resources


Ecological Technology DesignEnvironmental HealthSoil and Watershed ScienceNatural Resources Management

Soil and Watershed SciencesEcological Technology DesignWetland Science

Undergraduate Program Graduate Program

ATS- Promising Wastewater Treatment MethodIn David’s four-year study entitled “Towards an Autonomous Algal Turf Scrubber”, he uses a computer interface to examine ways to better design ecologically-engi-neered wastewater treatment systems. One such system is the Algal Turf Scrub-ber (ATS) system, a complex community of benthic algae and invertebrates culti-vated in a turbulent aquatic environment. The ATS, which exploits algae’s natural ability to metabolize excess nutrients, offers unparalleled performance in the re-moval of nutrients and pollutants from wastewater and polluted waterways. Cur-rently, several ENST faculty along with researchers in the USDA Agriculture Re-search Laboratory are preparing to install a number of ATS in relatively remote locations around Maryland, as a way to test their ability to mitigate nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in impacted waterways. David’s laboratory-scale project could prove that ATS can work without human input. “My research could lead to a system where these remote ATS units can operate autonomously, by controlling and optimizing their own operational parameters for maximum treatment poten-tial,” David explains. In addition, these constructed ecosystems could save on the cost of installation and make this treatment system competitive with other technol-ogies. Currently, it’s estimated that it cost about five dollars per pound of nitrogen removal when the treatment system is operated manually.

How Do ATS Work?The efficiency of the ATS as a waste treatment technology is directly related to the rate of algal growth - the faster the algae grow, the greater the pollutant uptake rate. “The rate of algal growth is controlled by limiting factors, including light, nu-trients, and turbulence,” David explains. “The computer-based system that I’m de-veloping monitors the ATS ecosystem metabolism and automatically takes action on one of the limiting factors, like turbulence, as mitigated by volumetric flow rate through the ATS to maximize the metabolism at the minimum input energy.” This system allows David to study the behavior of the combined techno-ecosystem on multiple levels.

Interdisciplinary Approach to Solving Manmade ProblemsDavid’s study is a perfect example of how environmental science may be integrat-ed in the search for ecological solutions to manmade problems. In this case, David combined ecological engineering, techno-ecology, and ecology. “My research en-capsulates one form of ecological engineering—attaining engineering goals by le-veraging ecological principles,” says David. “At the same time, I am looking at the behavior of the combined techno-ecological hybrid by forming the kernel of ex-ploratory work into the brand new field of eco-robotics.”

Water, the world’s most precious resource, will soon get a breath of fresh life thanks to graduate student David Blersch’s research into wastewater treatment methods. An ecological engineering graduate student in the Department of Envi-ronmental Science and Technology (ENST), David is designing a new computer-based system that will treat wastewater via an algal turf scrubber treatment. The fi rst system to operate autonomously without human interference, the algal turf scrubber, promises to cut operational expenses of water treatment - and strip pollutants and harmful nutrients from water.

Cutting-Edge Computer System as Wastewater Treatment Method






Cutting-Edge Computer System as Wastewater Treatment Method

Professor Paul Leisnham, a native New Zealander or ‘Kiwi’, brings his latest research on mosquitoes and human health from ‘down under’ to Maryland. Human-induced environmental changes, such as land use modifi cation and climate change, have been linked to the reemergence of major diseases carried by mosquitoes, and offer classic examples of how disrupted ecosys-tems adversely affect human health.

Mosquitoes and DiseaseMosquitoes are the most medically important insects. They transmit some of the most serious diseases worldwide, including malaria and dengue. These diseases cause millions of deaths worldwide, drive cycles of poverty, and contribute to dra-matic socio-economic disruption. Dr. Leisnham has explored the ecological, so-cial, and economic mechanisms by which invasive mosquitoes can invade new ar-eas and expose human populations to an increased risk of disease. One result of Dr. Leisnham’s research is that disturbed New Zealand wetlands appear to be a source of invasive mosquitoes to neighboring urban areas.

Native and Exotic Mosquitoes in MarylandDr. Leisnham is currently studying the interactive effects of climate change, land use, and invasive species on mosquito communities in Maryland. He hypothesiz-es that human-induced land use and climate changes erode natural ecological processes that prevent the invasion of exotic mosquitoes, and that the erosion of these processes can lead to increased mosquito numbers. Dr. Leisnham’s re-search is the first of its kind to examine the interaction of these environmental pressures on mosquitoes, and Maryland is an ideal location to do it. The Eastern United States has experienced successful invasions of exotic mosquito species that transmit a range of human and animal diseases, including West Nile virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis. Moreover, Maryland consists of a patchwork of differ-ent land uses and will experience considerable climate change in the coming years. Dr. Leisnham’s research will seek to understand how native and exotic biodiversity affect the invasion success (or failure) of exotic species across environmental con-ditions that change with land use and climate, including temperature, hydrology, and food resources.

Research Benefits: Help control and manage key mosquito species of public health importance.

Identify human populations at particularly high risk from mosquito-borne disease.

Increase our understanding of important processes helping or acting as a barrier to the invasion of exotic organisms.

Shed light on how fundamental interactions between species change of environ mental gradients.

Human Modification and Mosquito Invasions: Linking Ecosystem and Human Health







Covering building exteriors with vegetation has increased in popular-ity due in part to a desire to conserve energy and improve the envi-ronmental performance of buildings.

Placing living vegetation in close proximity to building surfaces:

Cools them by reducing their solar heat load,

decreases their demand for electric power,

slows storm water runoff,

provides wildlife habitat,

quiets urban noise levels,

filters city air pollution and mitigates the urban heat island effect.

While research on the thermal and hydrologic benefits of green roofs in NorthAmerica has been accelerating, research on these types of benefits for green walls has lagged. If green wall technology and its commercialization are to ex-pand in North America, then research that quantitatively assesses these ben-efits is needed. As an immature industry there is also a need to identify plant varieties that exhibit better thermal and hydrological properties.

Green Wall Experiment UnderwayResearchers in the Ecosystem Engineering Design lab of the Environmental Sci-ence and Technology Department are conducting experiments in Maryland to quantify the energy balance of green walls, green roofs, and vine canopies to determine how much effect they have on the surface and indoor temperatures of buildings. In addition the engineers are quantifying how much green walls can reduce the ‘urban heat island effect’ and how much less water runs off a building site that is covered by a green wall.

The ecological engineers will develop mathematical models, based on their ex-periments, that can be used to design green buildings and estimate energy sav-ings. Vegetation of a green wall cools a building by reflecting solar radiation and by transforming absorbed solar radiation into water vapor via transpiration. As part of their research the ecological engineers will measure the reflectance and transmittance of vine species used on green walls, which will provide critical in-formation for quantifying the differences among plant species on their ability to cool buildings.

Thermal, Hydrological, and Growth Properties of Green Wall Designs







Thermal, Hydrological, and Growth Properties of Green Wall Designs


Professor Stephanie Lansing has been researching low-cost anaerobic digesters in Costa Rica in order to try to bring this benefi cial and cost effective technology back to Maryland farmers. Her current research is fo-cused enhancing the benefi ts of these systems, which includes renewable energy production, fertilizer creation, and sharp reductions in wastewater pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and noxious odors. A digester can add value to manure, which is often viewed as a waste and not a resource.

What Is Anaerobic Digester?In a low-cost digester, wastewater flows through an enclosed tubular polyethyl-ene bag. This environment has little to no oxygen and is optimal for microorgan-isms that use the wastewater as a nutrient source to produce methane-biogas. This biogas can be used directly for heating or cooking, or can be used to pow-er an electric generator. During the digestion process, solids, organic matter and pathogens are drastically reduced while nutrients are retained, resulting in a high-value liquid fertilizer that is safer for the environment.

Where Are Anaerobic Digesters Located?Low-cost anaerobic digestion is a proven technology in developing countries, with 10 million low-cost digesters in India, China, and Latin America. The approximately 100 agricultural digesters in the United States are capital and management-inten-sive systems. With an average cost of $1.0 million, these digesters are inaccessi-ble to medium and small-scale farmers. Due to capital requirements, the U.S. EPA recommends digester installation for herds with more than 500 cows, which puts this beneficial technology out of the hands of 94% of Maryland dairies which have less than 200 dairy cows. With low-cost digesters these dairy farmers, as well as swine and poultry facility operators, could greatly benefit from the environmental and economic benefits of anaerobic digestion.

Anaerobic Digester Benefits Include:

Renewable energy production in the form of biogas

Wastewater treatment with a large decrease in organic pollutants

Creation of a fertilizer that is high in dissolved nutrients

Large reductions in noxious odors

Capture of methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more powerful than CO

Increased plant uptake of nutrients receiving digester effluent

Reduced runoff of nutrients into surrounding waterways when digester effluent is used

Low-cost Anaerobic Digesters in Costa Rica







2

Professor Ray Weil and his team of graduate and undergraduate re-search assistants have been studying how an Asian vegetable used by no-till farmers in Brazil can help solve some of Maryland’s most vexing environmental problems.

What Are Cover Crops? Cover crops are plants grown to improve the quality and productivity of the soil, to fight global warming by increasing the amount of carbon sequestered from the atmosphere, and to protect water quality by preventing the loss of sediment and nitrogen from the land. The team is developing new cover crops, such as the forage (Daikon) radish, that can provide all these benefits to the environ-ment and society while also directly benefiting the farmer.

The roots of this unique cover crop can substitute for fossil- fuel intensive deep tillage by the process of “biodrilling” which alleviates soil compaction. The for-age radish can help save the Chesapeake Bay by capturing huge amounts of excess nitrogen from deep in the soil profile in the fall. It then releases this plant nutrient in early spring so less fertilizer needs to be applied.

Multiple Benefits of Cover Crops The forage radish dies when temperatures fall below 25 F, so unlike other cov-er crops, no chemicals or tillage is needed to kill it. The research has developed a system in which this cover crop can suppress weeds so thoroughly that it caneliminate the need for the herbicide spray normally used to kill weeds beforespring planting. This system may be of particular interest to organic farmersbecause it allows no-till planting without herbicides, although cultivation or otherweed control will be needed later in the season. If the forage radish biomass isremoved before it freeze-kills in mid-winter, it may also help remediate soils sat-urated with phosphorus from years of over-manuring. For veggies, it may help prevent plant disease. Future research Dr. Stephanie Lansing proposes that the biomass may even be suitable for on-farm digestion to produce methane gas for heating and electricity generation.

Forage Radish Has Been Shown To:•Alleviatesoilcompaction-saveenergyandcostof deeptillage•Suppressweeds-saveonherbicides/cultivation•Enhanceseedbed-savetimeandplantearlierinspring•Buildorganicmatter-improvesoilquality•ReleaseNearlyandincreasetopsoilfertility-saveonNandotherfertilizers•Reducenitrateleaching-savetheBayfromeutrophication•Controlerosion-saveoursoil•Reducerunoff -conserverainwater

New Multi-Purpose Cover Crop to Enhance Environmental Quality







New Multi-Purpose Cover Crop to Enhance Environmental Quality







Hapludult, redoximorphic feature, lithologic discontinuity – while these terms for soil sound foreign to most, a talented team of University of Maryland students know them well. In fact, the students, members of UM’s Soil Judging Team, can describe, characterize, classify, and interpret a soil in 60 minutes.

What is Soil Judging?Unfamiliar to many, soil judging contests take place every year at colleges across America. And it is much more than collecting various soil samples; it is a process that involves immense knowledge of soil properties, to accurately gauge morphological features found throughout the soil profile. During a soil judging contest, soil judgers are given a strict time limit to describe the characteristics of a soil profile. They must identify the color, texture, consistency, structure, and other properties of each soil horizon. Students are also asked to make interpretations about the soil, such as its classification, its parent material, its suitability for different land uses, and its water holding properties. “I love how when you step into a five-foot pit, you are immedi-ately transported back hundreds of thousands or even millions of years,” says soil judger Sam Bosco, Natural Resource Management major. Sam is fascinated by the different factors of soil formation and how the land has changed over time. Soil sci-entists have calculated that in some cases it takes more than 500 years to form one inch of topsoil.

Soil Judging – Perfected at the University of MarylandThere are more than 70,000 types of soils in the United States. One place to learn about all of them is the Department of the Environmental Science and Technology at UM, which offers a Soil and Watershed Sciences major for graduate and under-graduate students. “Soils are complex ecosystems that exist right under our feet and most people never notice them,” says soil judger Amanda Garzio, Environmental Sci-ence and Policy major. Amanda is interested in soils because soils are unique and diverse. “Soils are an underappreciated aspect of our lives, which provides us with food, feed, and living space.” Indeed, soil science is a key factor in food production and agriculture, and is at the forefront of environmental issues such as land use, soil contamination, ground water quality, and waste disposal.

Soil Judging- Experience for LifeSoil judging can not only look great on your resume, but it can also teach you life-skills you would never think you could learn in a five-foot-deep pit. “During the con-test, I learned about time management and when to stop dwelling and move on,” Sam says. “I also learned a lot about trusting people, and on the contrary, I learned about trusting my own judgment.” Since it takes numerous people to complete the soil judging contest, students must work together quickly and share soil knowledge effectively because a few seconds can make a difference. “I now can look at a soil profile and describe many of its characteristics and properties without anything but my own knowledge and experience,” Amanda says.

Soil Judging - Perfected at the University of Maryland


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prescribed grazing

goat grazing

control phragmites australis

sustainable grazing

e n s t

phragmites patch

herbicide control

phragmites populations