Turf Research Projects

  • Biology, Etiology and Management of Dollar Spot in Turfgrasses

    Stockbridge School of Agriculture
    In Progress

    Objectives

    • Assess dollar spot resistance among new bentgrass cultivars and develop recommendations for their increased adoption.
    • Improve our understanding of dollar spot biology and epidemiology through phylogenetic analysis, molecular quantification, and host-pathogen interaction research.
    • Develop novel integrated dollar spot management strategies that includes under-studied cultural practices, use of fungicide alternative products, and the precision use of fungicides. Strategies will maintain or improve current levels of disease control, reduce reliance on chemical inputs, and limit development of fungicide resistant populations.

    Non-Technical Summary

    1. The Issue and Why It Is Important:
    Dollar spot is a major turfgrass disease that affects lawns, golf courses, and other turf areas, requiring repeated fungicide applications throughout the growing season for effective control. Unfortunately, overuse of fungicides can lead to resistance, making it harder to manage the disease and maintain healthy turf. Additionally, there is growing concern among the public and facility users about the environmental impact of excessive chemical use. This creates a need for more sustainable management practices that maintain turf quality while reducing reliance on fungicides.
    2. Goals and Objectives:
    The main goal of this project is to develop strategies for managing dollar spot that reduce the need for fungicide use, while still ensuring high-quality turf. Specific objectives include testing alternative control methods, such as dew removal techniques and the use of biological agents, and improving the timing and efficiency of fungicide applications by using dollar spot prediction models like the Smith-Kerns model to optimize treatments.
    3. Target Audiences and How They Will Benefit:
    The target audiences for this project are turfgrass managers, particularly those managing golf courses and other amenity turf areas. These managers will benefit by gaining access to more cost-effective and environmentally friendly management practices that help control dollar spot. By reducing fungicide use, they can lower costs, enhance turf quality, and address growing public concerns about chemical usage.
    4. How Activities Lead to Outcomes:
    The research activities, including evaluating alternative control methods and optimizing fungicide applications based on environmental data, will provide evidence-based recommendations for turfgrass managers. Implementing these strategies will help reduce the frequency of fungicide applications, minimize the risk of resistance, and maintain high turf quality. Ultimately, these practices will lead to economic savings and promote more sustainable, environmentally-conscious turf management.

  • Natural Turf Use Levels

    UMass Extension
    In Progress

    Few athletic field studies have been conducted to relate actual field conditions as well as maintenance practices to reported injuries.  The aim of this study was to determine the level of use that an athletic field will sustain before field conditions begin to affect the playability and safety of the field.

  • Protecting Water: Vegetative Filter Strips Study

    UMass Extension
    In Progress

    Video 2 of 3

    Best Management Practices are commonly implemented on golf courses to minimize the movement of pesticides and nutrients. One such practice is the use of vegetative filter strips (VFS) to intercept runoff and help protect the quality of groundwater and adjacent surface water. Research at UMass is ongoing to identify the best-suited plant material and most appropriate planting techniques to ensure effective vegetative filter strips.

  • Saving Water: Bentgrasses & Drought Tolerance Study

    UMass Extension
    In Progress

    Video 1 of 3

    One of the key missions of the UMass Extension Turf Program is to promote natural resource protection through responsible turf management. The following featured videos profile current UMass research for which the primary focus is the conservation and protection of one of our most precious natural resources: water.

  • Saving Water: ET & Crop Coefficient Study

    UMass Extension
    In Progress

    Video 3 of 3

    Lawn and recreational turf can require significant amounts of irrigation to maintain turf function and use. Practices that lower water requirements are especially important as water restrictions and demand for water increase. Scheduling irrigation according to actual turfgrass water use rates (ET) reduces waste by replacing only the amount of water lost from the rootzone to turfgrass use. Reference ET values obtained from weather stations must be adjusted using crop coefficients (Kc values) to achieve a more accurate estimate of actual turf ET. This research seeks to address the current lack of ET data and Kc values specific for climatic conditions and management of recreational turf typical of New England.

  • Soil Microbial Communities on Organic and Conventionally Managed Golf Courses

    UMass Extension
    Completed

    The Turf Pathology and Breeding Laboratory at the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, University of Massachusetts Amherst has been awarded a three-year research grant (2013-2016) from the United States Golf Association Green Section. The proposed study will compare the soil microbial communities and soil compositions between an organically and a conventionally managed golf course on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts using Next Generation Sequencing techniques.

  • The Working Group on Improving Microbial Control of Arthropod Pests

    Stockbridge School of Agriculture
    Completed

    Development and spread of the insecticide resistant in annual bluegrass weevil populations and demands for sustainable and environmentally sound turfgrass insect pest management options highlighted a crucial need in the development and improvement of the microbial options for tufgrass insect management. The main goal of our study is to investigate potential of the enthomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium brunneum as a possible strategy for annual bluegrass weevil control. Particularly, we will focus on addressing the following issues: 1) compare efficacy of older conidia and newer Microsclerotia formulations against ABW adults and larvae; 2) determine potential of the M. brunneum for mananging pyrethroid resistant populations 3) determine potential synergistic effect of combining fungus and imidacloprid.

  • Understanding Factors Impacting the Overwintering and Spring Recovery of Cool-Season Turfgrasses

    In Progress

    1. Winter injury is an important factor impacting the function and quality of turfgrasses in northern climates.  The occurrences of winter injury of grasses and other temperate species is expected to increase due to changes in temperature and precipitation associated with climate change. For example, warmer winter temperatures may reduce the overall freezing tolerance of plants, while more frequent freeze-thaw cycles could trigger mid-winter and early spring losses in freezing tolerance. In recent years we have observed as much as 70-90% turf loss from winter injury in turfgrasses throughout the New England region, with damages due to fluctuations in snow and ice cover, premature cold deacclimation, and winter snow mold diseases. Turfgrass loss due to winter injury leads to costly re-establishment, enhanced weed pressure, and significant decline in playability and aesthetic quality of turfgrass surfaces.  Consequently, turfgrass managers often use significantly increased inputs including water, fertilizers, and pesticides applications to enhance spring establishment and recovery compared to years with little winter injury.

    2. Although there is some basic knowledge on environmental and site-specific conditions associated with winter stress damage in turfgrasses, we do not have a good understanding of the most important physiological mechanisms associated with overwintering. Most freezing tolerance research is focused on factors involved in cold acclimation, but the development of freezing tolerance in the autumn is only one component associated with winter survival.  Less is known on additional traits required for the maintenance of freezing tolerance given the changes in winter climate. Our early research suggests that winter warming events alter the metabolism and physiology of turfgrasses, resulting in losses of freezing tolerance and increased susceptibility to ice damage and direct low temperature kill. Moreover, little is known about how changes in turfgrass overwintering physiology will interact to impact winter snow mold disease susceptibility. Current snow mold management relies almost exclusively on fungicides. Therefore a better understanding on the basic biology, plant-disease interactions, and degree of fungicide resistance will be important to provide potential alternatives to fungicides as part of an integrated pest management program.

    The overall project goals will be to (i) increase our understanding of freezing tolerance mechanisms and general overwintering strategies in cool-season turfgrasses, (ii) explore potential barriers to successful spring re-establishment, and (iii) gain a better understanding of snow mold disease management with reduced reliance on pesticides. The information gained from this research will then be used to inform turfgrass professionals on improved winter injury mitigation and recovery strategies. This research will also be part of a larger collaborative project with other turfgrass scientists in the United States and Scandinavia working on additional aspects of winter injury, including remote sensing, prediction modeling, and breeding improved climate-resilient turfgrass cultivars and species.

    3. Winter injury of turfgrasses impacts the functional quality of urban landscapes, including parks, home lawns, sports fields, golf courses, and roadside vegetation. In this capacity, the ability to mitigate winter injury will increase ecological sustainability of urban landscapes (e.g. reducing soil erosion in bare areas where turfgrass dies, reducing water and nutrient use to aid in spring recovery) while maximizing positive ecosystem services provided by healthy lawns and landscapes.  Therefore the target audience for this research will include industry practitioners (e.g. sports field, golf course, and land managers), and the general public.

    4. Results from our research will provide fundamental information to facilitate breeding efforts for improved winter survival through the identification of mechanisms and/or traits associated with enhanced tolerance to winter stresses including ice encasement, freezing, and winter diseases.  The knowledge generated from our research will also provide data to help inform practices that either mitigate winter damage or improve the speed of spring recovery as a part of a sustainable turfgrass management program. Our plan is to share results with turfgrass professionals at annual turf field days and green industry conferences.  We have already established an annual Winter Injury Roundtable at the New England Regional Turf Foundation Conference, and will continue to use this model to connect and exchange up-to-date knowledge with turfgrass managers. Moreover, we will also use communication technologies including social media and the UMass turf program list-serve to regularly post research updates. Results will also be disseminated through research publications, as well as regional and national conferences. Lastly, the proposed research will also provide training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students.