Turfgrass

Michigan Turfgrass Industry Research Priorities

 

Water Movement and Nutrient and Pesticide Fate

  • Surface water quality
    • Phosphorus loading in surface waters.
    • Phosphorus movement off established turf areas.
    • Nitrate movement in established turf.
    • Assessment and tracking tools for nutrients and pesticides.
    • Nutrient and pesticide BMP’s.
  • Water Quantity, Land Use, and Climate Change
    • Integrating turfgrass areas into land-use planning.
    • Assessing and maximizing carbon sequestration in turfgrass systems.
    • Cool season turfgrass adaptation to potential climate change in Michigan.

Turfgrass Physiology

  • Abiotic Stresses
    • Plant-microbial interactions
    • Plant responses to insects
    • Developing new management strategies to deal with fungicide resistance, especially for dollar spot and anthracnose
  • Tolerance of Abiotic Stresses
    • Water (Drought/Salt/Flooding)
    • Temperature (Heat/Cold)
    • Light (Quantity/Quality)
    • Wear (general wounding and traffic)
    • Winterkill stresses (ice encasement, hypoxia or anoxia, spring freeze/thaws, crown hydration)
    • Responses to stresses relevant to climate change (carbon dioxide levels and others)
  • Physiological responses to chemical treatments
    • Plant growth regulators
    • Other exogenous chemicals to improve abiotic and biotic stress tolerance

Integrated Pest Management

  • European chafer and Japanese beetle management.
  • Irrigation programming
  • Fertilizer programming
  • Refining soil testing recommendations for turfgrass systems
  • Weather-based IPM systems.
  • Tools & templates to implement IPM programs.
  • Management of Fairy Ring.
  • Granular pesticide alternatives to liquid (spray application) of pesticides (efficacy and environmental impact and fate).
  • Subsurface irrigation and fertility of sand-based putting surfaces.

Education, Job Training and Career Development

  • Develop strategies to meet current labor shortages & supply labor for future growth:
    • Migrant issues.
    • Recruitment of women and minorities.
    • Workforce training.


Updated September 2021

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