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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2022, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (2): 52-61.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2021207

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Effects of different trampling intensities on three species of warm season turfgrass

Qiang XING1,2(), Jun QIN1, Yong-hong HU1()   

  1. 1.Urban Horticulture Research and Extension Center,Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden,Shanghai 201602,China
    2.School of Life Science,Fudan University,Shanghai 200433,China
  • Received:2021-05-10 Revised:2021-07-07 Online:2022-02-20 Published:2021-12-22
  • Contact: Yong-hong HU

Abstract:

Turf in open public parks can meet the needs of urban residents for recreational fitness, disaster mitigation and enhance the public health and safety and quality of life of urban residents. Lawns are subject to traffic of various kinds, especially foot traffic, and trampling causes both direct mechanical wear and indirect soil structure damage due to compaction. Resistance to trampling is the key factor determing the performance and service life of lawns. In this paper, three turfgrasses commonly used in Shanghai, namely Zoysia japonica ‘Belair’, Paspalum vaginatum ‘Sea Isle 2000’, and Cynodon dactylon x Cynodon transvaalensis ‘Tifdwarf’, were selected for evaluation, and an experiment involving exposure to different simulated trampling intensity and frequency during turfgrass peak growth from May to September was set up. At the end of the simulated trampling exposure a multivariate analysis of data on turfgrass wear resistance, soil compaction resistance and recovery ability was carried out using a multi-index membership function method. Under light trampling, the performance of the three turfgrasses ranked: Z. japonica ‘Belair’>P. vaginatum ‘Sea Isle 2000’>C. dactylon×C. transvaalensis ‘Tifdwarf’, and light trampling was beneficial and improved the quality of the lawn. Under moderate trampling the performance ranking was Tifdwarf>Sea Isle 2000>Belair. Tifdwarf showed the strongest resistance to trampling and was able to tolerate 80 simulated person-passes of intermittent trampling during the growth period from May to September. Under severe trampling Tifdwarf hybrid Bermudagrass showed resistance related to its fast daily growth and associated recovery ability. The study of the trampling resistance capacity of turfgrass species not only provides a theoretical basis for the development and utilization of trampling-resistant turfgrass needed in the large number of parks and green spaces being constructed in the current urbanization process, but also can be used to evaluate the carrying capacity and support long-term maintenance of parks and green spaces in the future.

Key words: urban, public park, turfgrass, traffic resistance, root system, turf quality