Université de Montréal
M.Sc. candidate
Supervisor: Danielle Dagenais
Jacques Brisson
Start: 2023-09-05
End: 2025-05-30

Project

Impacts of saline runoff on the vitality of urban trees
Stormwater tree pits can effectively capture and store runoff from streets and sidewalks, reducing the risk of flooding during light and moderate precipitation events (Carlyle-Moses et al., 2020). However, the impact of runoff on the health and growth of trees planted in this phytotechnology is not well known, particularly in cold climates where de-icing salts (usually NaCl) are used in winter. Salt concentrations are high in runoff and soils during winter and early spring, followed by a gradual decline to negligible amounts during summer and autumn (Géhéniau et al., 2015). Thus, while trees are generally affected by salt exposure during the growing season, they may be less affected when exposed during dormancy in winter and spring. My research, which includes a field experiment (18 young trees) and a mesocosm experiment (288 tree seedlings), will investigate how the health and growth of several tree species are affected by variability in the timing and amount of NaCl received via runoff. The experiments aim to determine whether tree health and growth are affected by exposure to NaCl prior to the growing season, and how tolerance to salt stress differs between tree species.

Keywords

urban forest, Stormwater, Tree health, Durable development, Forêt urbaine , Eaux pluviales, Développement durable , Santé des arbres , Sel de déglaçage, Deicing salt