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Abstract
Broderick, C. E. Sr. 2007. Plant selection and resource conservation for
sustainable agriculture in Delaware.
JEMREST 3:229-236.
DOI: 10.4029/2007jemrest3no113
Situated
on the northeast of the Delmarva Peninsula, Delaware has a large waterfront wherefrom
the potential for large runoffs exist, where fertilizer nutrients, soil
structural components, plant biomass, and land structures, and entire sand
and soil concretions can be lost to the Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.
Resource conservation is consequently a serious conservation for sustainable
development in Delaware,
and the use of plants in addition to artificial structures is a necessary
requisite for sustainable agriculture. This presentation is designed to focus
on plants that are selectable in soil conservation, wind-break establishment,
and erosion prevention for Delaware
and other regions of Delmarva and locations with similar threats around the
Country. Our work shall be based on selectable tree, shrub and herbaceous
species that have shown strength and branching resilience, strong, deep,
branched and fibrous roots with soil-holding capacity, as well as excellent
physiology, including some tolerance to sodium and other factors that make Delaware soils unique.
Delaware is unique in that it only ranks
with Florida
as the lowest lying states in the Nation. This characteristic makes it as
susceptible to ocean waves and tides, as well as to land drainage concerns
that result from rainstorms and snowstorms, not mentioning hurricanes that
reach Delaware’s
shores. Archeological digs on the
mainland show remnants from marine habitats illustrate a real susceptibility
of the land; hence, the need to protect the land is critical. This need is
exacerbated by a new development craze, where hundreds of acres are annually
being reclassified from agricultural land for real estate development,
thereby loosing natural preservation structures in terms of trees, roots, and
plant land cover, thereby over-exposing the land. This study presents plants
that can and should be used as land cover for both agriculture and
non-agricultural use in protecting the land mass that Delaware has inherited.
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