Water scarcity and its effects on plants in urban and agricultural landscapes will be the focus of a plant water workshop at UQ Gatton next week.
UQ`s Centre for Native Floriculture will host the October 10 workshop which will feature keynote addresses by Professor Roger Kjelgren of Utah State University.
Professor Kjelgren is a Fulbright Scholar working with the Centre for Native Floriculture for six months. He is an internationally recognised expert on water-efficient plants and heads the Centre for Water Efficient Landscaping at Utah State University.
Utah has a high altitude arid zone environment and relies upon increasingly erratic seasonal snowfall for fresh water.
Professor Kjelgren said the extended drought in South-east Queensland had increased the need to develop new systems for water conservation. Introducing systems designed for the urban landscape, where population numbers are at their highest, would ensure that maximum water savings were achieved.
Professor Kjelgren has focused his research on discovering ways to conserve water in irrigated urban landscapes. He is particularly interested in "quantifying water use of shade trees and the production of drought-adapted plants for low water urban landscapes”.
He collaborates with colleagues specialising in remote sensing and social aspects of natural resource allocation. As a result, Professor Kjelgren has been able to quantify irrigated landscape water demand and potential water savings at a city-wide scale.
In conjunction with these physical measurements; Professor Kjelgren has also examined social attitudes and behaviours regarding urban landscape water conservation.
The workshop will address issues directly affecting people living in Queensland. It will include two presentations by Professor Kjelgren.
The first lecture at 9am is entitled: “Urban horticulture & water policy in Utah and the arid intermountain west”.
The second lecture at 1pm is on: “Estimating water use of urban shade trees for water conservation in irrigated landscapes.”
The workshop will be held in Lecture Theatre 106 in the Natural and Rural Systems Management Building (#8117). RSVPs or queries can be directed to Margaret Cover at the Centre for Native Floriculture, telephone (07) 5430 1551 or email: m.cover@uq.edu.au.
Media inquiries: Susanne Schick - UQ Gatton Campus (07 5460 1229, 0409 265 587).
