TURFGRASS AND THE ENVIRONMENT (WAS NCERA192)

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0232294
• Multistate No.: NCERA-_old221
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2011
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2016
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
500 S LIMESTONE 109 KINKEAD HALL
LEXINGTON,KY 40526-0001

Performing Department
Plant and Soil Sciences

Non Technical Summary
Turfgrass is the preferred ground cover for lawns, parks, cemeteries, recreational areas and utility areas like roadsides. The turfgrass seed industry is the 2nd largest seed industry in the US, and much of the nations sod production is incorporated as part of a crop rotation system with food crops in order to reduce pest issues. Turf industry stakeholders indicate a need to identify and address environmental issues related to turfgrass production and management, including water, chemicals, greenhouse gas emissions, and sustainability. The work is important due to the vast acreage (> 50 million acres) and economic impact (>$40 million annually) and employs greater than 500,000 persons in the care and maintenance of turf (Morris et al., 2005). In Illinois for example, there are nearly 1.54 million acres of turf with 936,000 acres of home lawns, 61,600 acres of golf courses and driving ranges on the more than 635 golf courses, and 23,000 acres of sod or turf production (Campbell, et al., 2001). Environmental degradation and reduced economic impact, including jobs and manufacturing, could occur if environmental issues are not addressed through collaborative research and outreach. The technical feasibility is high, there are several dozen engaged scientists in the region who want to collaborate on environmental issues of turfgrass. The advantages for conducting the work as a multi-state effort are 1) provides necessary interdisciplinary expertise, 2) affected watersheds and ecosystems across state boundaries, 3) synergistic activities can be developed as individual states have unique resources, and opportunity to compete for national grants is strengthened, 4) better mentoring of new faculty, 5) the general public will be better informed by a group effort. The project will evaluate novel turfgrass species/cultivars, individual cultural inputs and holistic management systems to meet the goal of sustainable management through the use of reduced or alternative management requirements including underutilized renewable resources like composts. The core focus of these studies will assess the effect of reduced water, nutrients, mowing and pesticide inputs. Anticipated impacts will include more sustainable management practices and informed regulations that better preserve and protect the environment.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
213	2130	1140	100%

Knowledge Area
213 - Weeds Affecting Plants;

Subject Of Investigation
2130 - Turf;

Field Of Science
1140 - Weed science;

Keywords

annual bluegrass

poa annua

herbicides

plant growth regulators

turfgrass

weeds

Goals / Objectives
Objectives: 1.Investigate the impact of turfgrass on the environment with respect to water quality, genetically modified organisms, invasive species, nutrient, pesticide and pollutant fate as well as the potential for managed turfgrass areas to function as a soil carbon sink. 2.Reduce current cultural inputs typically used to manage turf. Specifically in the areas of novel lower-maintenance turf species, water conservation, reduced nutrient requirements, alternative to synthetic pest control products, and the utilization of remote sensing to determine cultural needs. 3.Research the availability and use of biological, landscape and industrial-waste materials to be recycled in turf areas. 4.Develop a comprehensive program of best management practices through collaborative research and transfer results to industry and academics via web outreach and cooperative education. Outcome: Suppression and reductions in annual bluegrass populations in recreational turf areas. Impact: Improved persistence and performance of more desirable turf species and less money being spent disease control, irrigation and fertilizer needs on this less persistent species. a. Milestone: Field screening of commercially available industry standard annual bluegrass suppression/control products will continue in 2011. The emergence of novel chemical products will be assessed for their efficacy and safety when applied to turf areas as early as 2011.

Project Methods
In addition to standard herbicide efficacy and other Poa annua management trials on golf course fairways and greens as well as other turfgrass areas, we have collected Poa annua from local golf course greens that differ in color (dark green and light green) and seedhead production (low and high, respectively). These differing Poa annua "biotypes" are being evaluated in field and greenhouse experiments for their response to both plant growth regulators and herbicides used for Poa annua management. We have detected differences between the biotypes in their responses to these chemical treatments and we have begun laboratory experiments examining the behavior of the plant growth regulators and the herbicides in the biotypes to explain the differing responses.

Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:The primary audience for this work is professional turf grass managers in the golf, sports turf, and landscape turf industries. However, some of the information could be used by non-professionals managing home lawns. Efforts to communicate this information included field days, extension publications, training sessions, and presentations at professional meetings Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?2016 Turfgrass Field Day Turfgrass Short Course Kentucky Turfgrass Council Annual Meeting How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?See above What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Two new products for annual bluegrass control were evaluated. One was withdrwan from the market and the second is waiting registration by the EPA. We evaluated several management approaches for nimblewill, bermudagrass, goosegrass and crabgrass in turf. The findings are being used in recommendations for Kentucky turf management professionals as well as for homeowners.

Publications

Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:The primary audience for this work is professional turf grass managers in the golf, sports turf, and landscape turf industries. However, some of the information could be used by non-professionals managing home lawns. Efforts to communicate this information included field days, extension publications, training sessions, and presentations at professonal meetings. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?2015 Turfgrass Field Day Turfgrass Short Course Kentucky Turfgrass Council Annual Meeting How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?See above What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue the projects underway and work to complete the work on annual bluegrass biotypes.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A focus in turf weed management was completion of the graduate work of Alex Williams on annual bluegrass biotypes and the behavior of a plant growth regulator, flurprimidol, in turf grass species. A second focus was applied weed management studies and trials were initiated with two new compounds that show promise for use in Kentucky. I also collaborated with Gregg Munshaw in the areas of inclusion of clover in turf, mowing height/crabgrass control interactions, and homeowner weed control product testing.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Sparks, B., Munshaw, G., Williams, D., Barrett, M., Beasley, J., & Woosley, P. (2015). Preplant Cultivation Techniques and Planting Date Effects on White Clover Establishment into an Existing Cool-season Turfgrass Sward. HortScience, 50, 615-620.
• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Plant growth regulators and herbicides for management of Poa annua impact of biotypes and behavior of flurprimidol in turfgrass species. 2014. A.P. Williams. University of Kentucky.

Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience:The primary audience for this work is professional turf grass managers in the golf, sports turf, and landscape turf industries. However, some of the information could be used by non-professionals managing home lawns. Efforts to communicate this information included field days, extension publications, training sessions, and presentations at professonal meetings. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?2012 Turfgrass Field Day Turfgrass Short Course Kentucky Turfgrass Annual Council Meeting How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?See above What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue the projects underway and work to complete the work on annual bluegrass biotypes.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A focus in turf weed management was completion of the graduate work of Alex Williams on annual bluegrass biotypes and the behavior of a plant growth regulator, flurprimidol, in turf grass species. A second focus was applied weed management studies and trials were initiated with two new compounds that show promise for use in Kentucky. I also collaborated with Gregg Munshaw in the areas of inclusion of clover in turf, mowing height/crabgrass control interactions, and homeowner weed control products

Publications

Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience:Turfgrass managers, pest management professionals, extension professionals, homeowners Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?I graduate student was brought into the progrtam and a second one continued their work in turfgrass. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Throough field days, presenatations at professional meetings, and web site postings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The experiments will be continued.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Initial work was done on setting up the experiments. A gradaute student project was initiated on annual bluegrass management.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Brabham, Chad, et al. "Indaziflam herbicidal action: a potent cellulose biosynthesis inhibitor." Plant physiology 166.3 (2014): 1177-1185.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Weed Control for Kentucky Home Lawns. 2013. G.C. Munshaw, M. Barrett, and J.D. Green. AGR-208.

Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/12

Outputs
Target Audience: The major target audience reached was professional turf managers. These include golf course superintendants, lawn care professionals, and sports turf managers. We also reached county extension agents and academics working in turf management. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Information generated in this project were communicated at field days, workshops, short courses, and at local meetings for turfgrass managers. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The results have been communicated through field days, workshops, short courses, a monthly newsletter, and presentations/abstracts at professional conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We will finish our research on Poa annua biotypes and publish the results in refereed journals. We wil continue evaluation of new mamangement tolls for this and other weed problems in turf.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Our major activities have been conducted under objective #4. As part of a graduate dissertation project, we have identified biotypes of Poa annua that respond diffrentialiy to management treatments. We are investigating the physiological basis for these diffrences at the presnt time and will publish our findings later this year. We have continued our evaluation of new products for management of Poa annua and have communicated these results to turfgrass managers.

Publications