Influence of low growing vegetation in reducing stormwater runoff on green roofs

Abstract

Green roof's performance in reducing stormwater runoff has been reported by numerous studies. Nonetheless, the roles of low growing vegetation in influencing stormwater runoff reduction on green roofs have been greatly overlooked. This paper describes an experiment investigating the influence of low growing vegetation in the reduction of tropical stormwater runoff on extensive green roofs. Three types of locally occurring native vegetation and one non-native Sedum species were selected (fern, herb, grass and succulent) for the experiment. Stormwater runoff reduction performance from different low growing species was done by measuring excess water runoff from the simulated green roof modules. The results show significant differences in stormwater runoff reduction from different types of vegetation. Fern was the most effective in reducing stormwater runoff, followed by herb, Sedum and grass. Vegetative characters that are found to attribute towards the performance of stormwater runoff are rooting density, structure, density, leaf type, and vegetation biomass.