PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #26: Soil Ecology I.
Tuesday, August 6. Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC

The effect of activated carbon and three soil media on the growth of three perennials.

Rich, Elizabeth^*,1, ¹ Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

ABSTRACT- Norway maples (Acer platanoides) appear to suppress growth and diversity of native species in the understory in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It has been postulated that this is, in part, a function of allelochemicals produced by the maples. Activated carbon is used experimentally to adsorb allelochemicals, but care must be taken to control for the secondary removal of nutrients by activated carbon. In greenhouse experiments, excess nutrients are often added to compensate for this possible nutrient loss. However, in the field and under other conditions where nutrients are limited, the addition of activated carbon can negatively affect the growth of plants. This experiment was designed to determine the concentration of activated carbon in different soil media that would inhibit the growth of specific native plants. I varied the amounts of activated carbon mixed into three types of soil: potting soil, forest soil, and potting soil with forest soil inoculation. I will address the effects of three activated carbon levels and a control on the growth of three native understory perennials, Aster cordifolius, A. divaricatus and Solidago caesia.

KEY WORDS: activated carbon, soil nutrients, understory