Understanding benefits of sustainability, including those of green roofs and living walls is part of the effort Breaking Ground Contracting is conducting with the 'Green' building project. Over time, biodiversity data will be collected and published as part of ongoing research.
As part of a baseline floristic survey, pedestrian transects were conducted across the site in the spring of 2011, during construction. Site visits were conducted in January, February and March. The site is relatively small and generally covered with impervious surfaces such as asphalt and concrete. Adjacent lots include a warehouse, a parts supplier store and Interstate-10.
Though surveys have been completed for wildlife and trees, the data below focuses on herbaceous material existing on the site.
Importantly, though most herbaceous plant species have leafed out and can be identified, continual assessment will proceed through the summer. Ultimately we suspect the biodiversity of both wildlife and plants will significantly increase with the addition of the project's living walls and green roof. Interestingly, site contains thirteen different plant families (herbaceous plants) with the Asteraceae family being represented by more species than any other family. Araliaceae and Lamiaceae are both also represented by more than one species on-site. There are at least a total of nineteen different herbaceous plant species onsite.
Analysis of the biodiversity data will be ongoing and updated regularly here for educational purposes.
The BGC Site floristic herbaceous survey indicated the presence of the following plants (not including trees):
Rubiaceae family
Galium hispidulum
Smilacaceae family
Smilax glauca
Asteraceae family
Senecio spp.
Bidens mitis
Solidago arguta
Eupatorium capillifolium
Taraxacum officinale
Geraniaceae family
Geranium carolinianum
Anacardiaceae family
Toxicodendron radicans
Lamiaceae family
Lamium amplexicaule
Stachys floridana
Caryophyllaceae family
Stellaria media
Violaceae family
Viola sororia
Araliaceae family
Centella asiatica
Hydrocotyle umbellata
Poaceae family
Paspalum laeve
Oxalidaceae family
Oxalis corniculata
Lauraceae family
Cinnamomum camphora
Phytolaccaceae family
Phytolacca americana
The photos below are representative of the herbaceous plants encountered onsite.
 |
| Smilax, Senecio, Toxicodendron, Geranium |
 |
| Lamium, Senecio, Stellaria |
 |
| Bidens, Viola |
 |
| Bidens, Viola, Senecio |
 |
| Stellaria |
 |
| Stellaria, Centella |
 |
| Stellaria |
 |
| Stellaria, Senecio, Paspalum |
 |
| Senecio, Solidago, Geranium |
 |
| Senecio, Oxalis, Geranium, Paspalum |
 |
| Cinnamomum, Galium, Stellaria |
 |
| Eupatorium, Galium |
 |
| Eupatorium, Solidago, Galium |
 |
| Galium |
 |
| Galium, Phytolacca |
 |
| Hydrocotyle, Senecio, Paspalum, Galium, Stellaria |
 |
| Oxalis |
 |
| Stachys, Galium |
 |
| Taraxacum |
No comments:
Post a Comment