UTILIZING COOL-SEASON GRASSES IN A NATIVE MID-ATLANTIC FLOWER VISITOR SUPPORTING MEADOW MIX AND TESTING ITS SUITABILITY FOR SOD PRODUCTION by John Kaszan A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Plant and Soil Sciences Summer 2020 © 2020 John Kaszan All Rights Reserved UTILIZING COOL-SEASON GRASSES IN A NATIVE MID-ATLANTIC FLOWER VISITOR SUPPORTING MEADOW MIX AND TESTING ITS SUITABILITY FOR SOD PRODUCTION by John Kaszan Approved: __________________________________________________________ Erik Ervin, Ph.D. Professor in charge of thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved: __________________________________________________________ Erik Ervin, Ph.D. Chair of the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences Approved: __________________________________________________________ Mark Rieger, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Approved: __________________________________________________________ Douglas J. Doren, Ph.D. Interim Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education and Dean of the Graduate College ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I owe the deepest thanks to my advisor, Erik Ervin, for giving me the opportunity to develop and pursue this research and helping me make the transition from a horticulturist to a scientist. I would also like to thank Sue Barton for taking the time to share her experiences in meadow establishment throughout her years of work in the field. The flower visitation portion of this research would not have been possible without the guidance and reassurance of Debbie Delaney, who’s passion for flower visitors helped reveal my own interest in plant-visitor interactions. I also owe my thanks to Andrew Adams for his frequent assistance with tasks at the establishment of this project and throughout. Lastly, Laura Sweeney, who would often ask, upon being told about my progress on this thesis, “you’re still not finished that thing?”, thank you for being my special person and a constant pillar of support. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... xi ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ xiii Chapter INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 1 BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR MEADOWS WITHIN THE MID-ATLANTIC ............................................................................................... 6 Rising Interest and Challenges for Meadow Establishment in the Mid- Atlantic ............................................................................................................... 6 The State of Grassland, Meadow, and Savanna Ecosystems in the Mid- Atlantic ............................................................................................................... 8 Plant Selection and Seed Selection ................................................................... 10 Site Preparation ................................................................................................ 14 Calculating Seeding Rates ................................................................................ 15 Sowing .............................................................................................................. 21 Establishment and Management Practices ....................................................... 23 Meadow Ecosystems and Flower Visiting Insects ........................................... 26 Past Attempts at Creating Wildflower Sod ...................................................... 29 Concluding Remarks ........................................................................................ 32 2 EVALUATING COOL-SEASON GRASS MEADOW ESTABLISHMENT 33 Research Objectives and Hypotheses ............................................................... 33 Materials and Methods ..................................................................................... 34 Plant Selection ............................................................................................ 34 Meadow Seed mixes ................................................................................... 34 Calculating Seeding Rates .......................................................................... 38 Site Preparation .......................................................................................... 39 Sowing ........................................................................................................ 39 Site Monitoring and Data Collection .......................................................... 40 Site Maintenance ........................................................................................ 43 Results .............................................................................................................. 43 Germination and Coverage ......................................................................... 43 Spontaneous Vegetation ............................................................................. 48 Community Composition ........................................................................... 53 iv Discussion ......................................................................................................... 56 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 60 3 EVALUATING FLOWER VISITATION IN A CONSTRUCTED COOL- SEASON GRASS MEADOW ......................................................................... 61 Research Question and Hypothesis .................................................................. 61 Materials and Methods ..................................................................................... 61 Results .............................................................................................................. 64 Discussion ......................................................................................................... 69 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 76 4 UTILIZING COOL SEASON GRASSES TO DEVELOP A MEADOW SOD .................................................................................................................. 77 Research Objectives and Hypothesis ................................................................ 77 Sod Development in a Greenhouse Setting ...................................................... 78 Materials and Methods ..................................................................................... 78 Greenhouse Sod Treatments and Sowing ................................................... 78 Sod Tray Evaluation ................................................................................... 81 Results .............................................................................................................. 82 Discussion ......................................................................................................... 86 Sod Development on Plastic ............................................................................. 89 Materials and Methods ..................................................................................... 89 Seed Mixes ................................................................................................. 89 Soil and Establishment ............................................................................... 92 Transplant and Data Collection .................................................................. 93 Results .............................................................................................................. 94 Discussion ......................................................................................................... 96 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................... 100 Appendix A SPECIES FOUND WITHIN THESE SEED MIXES AND THE ATTRIBUTES THAT BROUGHT ON THEIR INCLUSION ...................... 112 v Cool-Season Grasses ...................................................................................... 112 Forbs ............................................................................................................... 115 Warm-Season Grasses .................................................................................... 122 B WEATHER DATA AND SUPPLEMENTAL INPUTS ................................ 124 C ANOVA TABLES .......................................................................................... 168 vi LIST OF TABLES Reproduction of Table 4 from Shirley, 1994, Restoring the Tallgrass Prairie. Metric conversions are my own. Seeds per kilogram rounded to the nearest hundred. ............................................................................. 20 Fescue dominant seed mix: seeding rates of all species within the fescue mix with total weight of PLS per plot. ......................................... 36 Non-fescue seed mix—seeding rates of all species within the non- fescue mix with total weight of PLS per plot. ......................................... 37 Complete list of all occurring species that were not part of the seed mix in the first year of the spring plots (Spring Y1), second year of