Turfgrass
Michigan Turfgrass Industry Research Priorities
Submitted by:
Michigan Turfgrass Foundation
Michigan Turfgrass Foundation
Water Movement and Nutrient and Pesticide Fate
- Surface water quality
- Phosphorus loading in surface waters.
- Phosphorus movement off established turf areas.
- Nitrate movement in established turf.
- Assessment and tracking tools for nutrients and pesticides.
- Nutrient and pesticide BMP’s.
- Water Quantity, Land Use, and Climate Change
- Integrating turfgrass areas into land-use planning.
- Assessing and maximizing carbon sequestration in turfgrass systems.
- Cool season turfgrass adaptation to potential climate change in Michigan.
Turfgrass Physiology
- Abiotic Stresses
- Plant-microbial interactions
- Plant responses to insects
- Developing new management strategies to deal with fungicide resistance, especially for dollar spot and anthracnose
- Tolerance of Abiotic Stresses
- Water (Drought/Salt/Flooding)
- Temperature (Heat/Cold)
- Light (Quantity/Quality)
- Wear (general wounding and traffic)
- Winterkill stresses (ice encasement, hypoxia or anoxia, spring freeze/thaws, crown hydration)
- Responses to stresses relevant to climate change (carbon dioxide levels and others)
- Physiological responses to chemical treatments
- Plant growth regulators
- Other exogenous chemicals to improve abiotic and biotic stress tolerance
Integrated Pest Management
- European chafer and Japanese beetle management.
- Irrigation programming
- Fertilizer programming
- Refining soil testing recommendations for turfgrass systems
- Weather-based IPM systems.
- Tools & templates to implement IPM programs.
- Management of Fairy Ring.
- Granular pesticide alternatives to liquid (spray application) of pesticides (efficacy and environmental impact and fate).
- Subsurface irrigation and fertility of sand-based putting surfaces.
Education, Job Training and Career Development
- Develop strategies to meet current labor shortages & supply labor for future growth:
- Migrant issues.
- Recruitment of women and minorities.
- Workforce training.
Updated September 2021