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The performance of outdoor plants in living walls under hot and humid conditions

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Abstract

The use of living walls has been increasing around the world due to their several benefits. However, studies of suitable plant species for living walls, particularly in extreme climates, are quite limited. This study examines the performance of 12 plant species used in two living wall systems: a felt-pocket and a planter in a tropical climate in Thailand. All plants were monitored across wet and cold seasons for plant height, visual quality, thermal performance, and carbon sequestration. The findings show variations in plant performances across the 12 plant species. Increases in plant growth were observed for all plants except for herbaceous and succulent plants, which were less tolerant to wet conditions. Smaller plant increments resulted in poorer thermal properties and less potential for carbon sequestration. The planter system had a higher amount of carbon contents than the felt-pocket system due to its higher plant density. Over 6 months, living wall systems sequestered carbon, with averages of 48.2 g C·m−2 for the felt-pocket system and 166.7 g C·m−2 for the planter system.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Biodiversity-Based Economy Development Office (Public Organization)—BEDO—under the Research Grant for Climate Change No. 38/2560. The experiments conducted in this study comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sasima Charoenkit.

Appendices

Appendix 1: plant health and survival rates of 24 plant species in the felt-pocket system and the planter system

Plant species

February 2018

March 2018

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Felt-pocket system

 Cuphea hyssopifolia Humb

0/0

0/0

1/0

1/0

2/1

2/1

4/2

4/2

 Alternanthera bettzickiana (Regel) G. Nicholson

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Portulaca oleracea L.

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Ligustrum sinense Lour. cv. Variegatum

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Phyllanthus myrtifolius (Wight) Müll.Arg.

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

1/0

2/0

2/0

2/0

 Lantana camara L.

0/0

0/1

0/1

0/2

0/3

0/3

0/3

0/3

 Arachis pintoi

1/0

3/0

4/1

4/2

4/2

4/2

4/2

4/2

 Portulaca grandiflora

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Heterocentron elegans (Schltdl.) Kuntze

0/0

0/0

0/0

4/0

5/0

5/0

6/0

6/0

 Coleus atropurpurrus Benth.

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Aerva sanguinolenta (L.) Blume

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Asystasia gangetica (L.) T. Anderson

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Convolvulus sabatius Viv

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don.

0/0

0/1

0/2

0/2

0/3

0/3

0/4

0/4

 Plumbago auriculata Lam.

0/0

0/0

1/0

2/0

2/0

3/0

3/0

4/0

 Melampodium divaricatum

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Ruellia tuberosa L.

0/0

0/0

1/0

2/0

2/0

3/0

3/0

4/0

 Ophiopogon jaburan (Siebold) Lodd.

0/0

4/0

4/0

5/0

6/0

6/0

6/0

6/0

 Dianella caerulea Sims

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Polyscias guilfoylei (W.Bull) L.H. Bailey ‘Quinquefolia’

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Sansevieria trifasciata hort. ex Prain cv. Golden Hahnii Green (mutate)

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Tradescantia spathacea Sw.

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Sansevieria trifasciata Prain

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Codiaeum variegatium (L.) Blume

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

Planter system

 Cuphea hyssopifolia Humb

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

2/0

2/0

2/0

2/0

 Alternanthera bettzickiana (Regel) G. Nicholson.

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Portulaca oleracea L.

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Ligustrum sinense Lour. cv. Variegatum

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Phyllanthus myrtifolius (Wight) Müll.Arg.

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

1/0

1/0

1/0

1/0

 Lantana camara L.

0/0

0/1

0/1

0/1

0/1

1/2

1/2

2/2

 Arachis pintoi

1/0

1/0

3/0

3/1

4/1

5/1

5/1

5/1

 Portulaca grandiflora

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Heterocentron elegans (Schltdl.) Kuntze

0/0

0/0

0/0

2/0

3/0

4/0

4/0

5/0

 Coleus atropurpurrus Benth.

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Aerva sanguinolenta (L.) Blume

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Asystasia gangetica (L.) T. Anderson

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Convolvulus sabatius Viv

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Catharanthus roseus (L.) G.Don.

0/0

0/2

0/2

0/2

1/2

2/2

2/2

2/2

 Plumbago auriculata Lam.

0/0

0/0

1/0

2/0

2/0

2/0

2/0

2/0

 Melampodium divaricatum

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Ruellia tuberosa L.

0/0

0/0

1/0

2/0

2/0

2/0

2/0

2/0

 Ophiopogon jaburan (Siebold) Lodd.

2/0

4/0

5/0

5/0

6/0

7/0

8/0

8/0

 Dianella caerulea Sims

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Polyscias guilfoylei (W.Bull) L.H. Bailey ‘Quinquefolia’

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Sansevieria trifasciata hort. ex Prain cv. Golden Hahnii Green (mutate)

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Tradescantia spathacea Sw.

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Sansevieria trifasciata Prain

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

 Codiaeum variegatium (L.) Blume

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

0/0

  1. Note: x/y: x is the number of wilting plants and y is the number of dead plants

Appendix 2: T test results of plant temperature between felt-pocket and planter systems

Plant species

Aug 18

Sep 18

Oct 18

Nov 18

Mean

F

P

Mean

F

P

Mean

F

P

Mean

F

P

POL

27.09a

0.060

0.964

27.82a

0.453

0.652

27.45a

0.599

0.512

26.99a

5.914

0.595

27.10b

28.09b

27.98b

26.58b

CHH

27.99a

12.41

0.000

29.01a

1.642

0.003

28.83a

11.12

0.002

28.46a

8.622

0.006

26.40b

27.38b

26.74b

26.20b

SPH

29.16a

5.246

0.000

29.95a

3.123

0.003

29.99a

0.126

0.119

29.39a

0.104

0.322

27.19b

28.01b

28.57b

28.34b

ABN

29.15a

0.030

0.002

29.90a

0.019

0.005

30.53a

0.062

0.043

29.89a

1.749

0.021

27.41b

28.10b

28.58b

27.68b

LLV

29.32a

0.215

0.001

30.01a

0.774

0.006

30.50a

0.154

0.012

29.75a

0.113

0.013

27.50b

28.31b

28.32b

27.48b

PA

29.43a

0.435

0.000

30.53a

0.013

0.000

31.41a

5.116

0.002

29.97a

0.788

0.377

27.20b

27.99b

27.95b

27.00b

AGA

27.02a

0.183

0.899

27.90a

0.007

0.650

28.32a

0.359

0.735

27.72a

0.416

0.623

26.95b

27.63b

28.04b

27.28b

CSV

27.11a

2.543

0.285

27.87a

0.100

0.828

27.83a

0.910

0.679

27.35a

0.022

0.951

26.62b

27.74b

28.16b

27.30b

ASB

27.48a

0.765

0.659

28.11a

0.749

0.977

28.14a

1.008

0.760

27.41a

1.461

0.883

27.21b

29.13b

28.42b

27.55b

MD

27.49a

0.955

0.170

28.37a

0.500

0.184

28.63a

1.279

0.189

27.86a

0.687

0.258

26.78b

27.57b

27.59b

26.92b

AS

27.84a

9.327

0.027

28.65a

3.463

0.076

27.99a

0.578

0.901

26.99a

5.442

0.561

26.66b

27.51b

28.08b

27.46b

TSS

28.04a

0.128

0.124

28.68a

1.433

0.325

28.20a

5.574

0.626

27.68a

3.720

0.699

27.16b

28.04b

27.80b

27.34b

  1. aPlants grown in the felt-pocket system
  2. bPlants grown in the planter system

Appendix 3: carbon content of 12 plant species after 1 year of growing in living walls

Plant species

Percentage of carbon content (%)

Carbon content (g)

Total carbon content (g m−2)

Percentage of carbon content in a living wall system (%)

Above biomass

Below biomass

Substrate

Above biomass

Below biomass

Substrate

Plant

Substrate

Felt-pocket system

 POL

39.97

41.57

7.32

0.81

0.51

0.49

56.66

81

19

 CHH

44.42

44.86

18.31

0.97

1.87

0.14

92.83

97

3

 SPH

48.24

44.50

3.49

0.92

0.99

0.31

84.20

92

8

 ABN

51.17

51.84

9.29

0.96

0.97

0.14

76.80

96

4

 LLV

49.30

48.46

1.52

0.99

0.87

0.04

70.56

99

1

 PA

47.47

43.36

15.18

0.62

0.33

0.72

41.66

62

38

 AGA

50.06

48.70

11.60

0.76

1.78

1.56

141.97

76

24

 CSV

54.97

52.24

15.29

0.93

2.59

0.54

171.51

93

7

 ASB

49.68

48.85

8.52

0.96

1.43

0.18

97.61

96

4

 MD

51.81

50.73

48.83

0.95

5.15

0.61

292.05

95

5

 AS

51.09

47.99

51.50

0.84

0.71

0.94

130.05

84

16

 TSS

38.15

45.34

4.43

0.87

1.77

0.37

62.58

87

13

Planter system

 POL

46.06

42.13

7.48

0.71

0.56

0.85

181.85

71

29

 CHH

48.76

48.62

5.87

0.90

1.55

0.44

283.98

90

10

 SPH

45.82

46.63

2.14

0.95

1.77

0.19

258.61

95

5

 ABN

47.47

51.78

37.49

0.86

1.57

0.89

391.17

86

14

 LLV

44.49

48.19

1.90

0.73

0.48

0.41

93.76

73

27

 PA

45.41

41.88

8.50

0.27

0.29

2.92

248.93

27

73

 AGA

48.98

48.98

35.09

0.76

1.92

1.34

350.19

76

24

 CSV

49.19

54.55

12.42

0.81

2.89

1.47

491.96

81

19

 ASB

47.62

49.67

26.05

0.77

1.15

0.86

236.74

77

23

 MD

51.90

51.73

24.00

0.91

3.74

0.79

572.92

91

9

 AS

50.05

48.91

23.46

0.80

1.25

1.08

328.80

80

20

 TSS

40.71

53.42

4.17

0.87

2.04

0.43

214.95

87

13

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Charoenkit, S., Yiemwattana, S. The performance of outdoor plants in living walls under hot and humid conditions. Landscape Ecol Eng 17, 55–73 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11355-020-00433-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11355-020-00433-8

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