82 Banks and Percival: Failure of Foliar-Applied Biostimulants in Urban Trees cases, biostimulant substances are poorly defined and highly variable in their active ingredients, mode of action, and species specificity (Corkidi et al. 2004; Barnes and Percival 2006; Roberts and Linder 2010). These traits raise concern among professionals over the use of biostimulants within urban environments (Corkidi et al. 2004; Barnes and Percival 2006; Roberts and Linder 2010). With the influx of biostimulants released into the amenity market, evaluating all of them indepen- dently is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process. Consequently, where independent scien- tific data are not available to support the claims of the manufacturer, use of an unevaluated bios- timulant is not recommended. To support manu- facturers’ claims, it is suggested they should fund independent research (i.e., university grants) as a cost-effective means of evaluating their prod- ucts prior to release for purchase. Indeed, based on the result of this and other supporting papers, more inexpensive and proven techniques exist to reduce environmental stress in urban landscape conditions, such as the appropriate application of mulches (Chalker-Scott 2007; Percival et al. 2009). Likewise, the environmental harm many of these biostimulant products cause due to the way they are manufactured can be a reason for concern. The harvesting of kelp beds, which are the primary producers of marine intertidal ecosystems, can result in local ecosystem collapse. Concern has been raised regarding the environmental ethics of using products derived from natural sources that have little significant benefit to the end user. LITERATURE CITED Akıncı, Ş., and D.M. Lösel. 2012. Plant water-stress response mech- anisms. Water Stress. Prof. Ismail Md. Mofizur Rahman (Ed.). Al-Habsi, S., and G.C. Percival. 2006. Sucrose-induced tolerance to and recovery from deicing salt damage in containerized Ilex aquifolium L. and Quercus robur L. Arboriculture & Urban For- estry 32(6):277–285. Banks, J.M., and G.C. Percival. 2012. Evaluation of biostimulants to control Guignardia leaf blotch (Guignardia aesculi) of horse chestnut and black spot (Diplocarpon rosae) of roses. Arboricul- ture & Urban Forestry 38(6)258–261. Barnes, S., and G.C. Percival. 2006. Influence of biostimulants and water-retaining polymer root dips on survival and growth of newly transplanted bare-rooted silver birch and rowan. Journal of Environmental Horticulture 24(3):173–179. Black, P.B. 2012. Is everything bigger in Texas? From the top. Tree News 31:5. ©2014 International Society of Arboriculture Chalker-Scott, L. 2007. Impact of mulches on landscape plants and the environment – A review. Journal of Environmental Horti- culture 25(4):239–249. Corkidi, L., E.B. Allen, D. Merhaut, M.F. Allen, J. Downer, J. Bohn, and M. Evans. 2004. Assessing the infectivity of commercial mycorrhizal inoculants in plant nursery conditions. Journal of Environmental Horticulture 22(3):149–154. Cresswell, G.C., and R.G. Weir. 1997. Common nutritional problems and their correction. Plant Nutrient Disorders 5, Ornamental Plants and Shrubs. Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. Oxford, UK. Ferrini, E., and F.P. Nicese. 2002. Response of English oak (Quercus robur L.) trees to biostimulant applications in the urban envi- ronment. Journal of Arboriculture 28:70–76. Fraser, G.A., and G. C. Percival. 2003. The influence of biostimu- lants on growth and vitality of three urban tree species following transplanting. Arboricultural Journal 27(1):43–57. Gibbs, J.N., and C.A. Palmer. 1994. A survey of damage to roadside trees in London caused by the application of deicing salt during the 1990/91 winter. Arboricultural Journal 18(2):321–343. Gilman, E.F. 2004. Effects of amendments, soil additives and irrigation on tree survival and growth. Journal of Arboriculture 30(5):301–311. Glenn, G.M., A.S.N. Reddy, and B.W. Poovaiah. 1988. Effect of calcium on cell wall structure protein phosphorylation and protein profile in senescing apples. Plant and Cell Physiology 29(4):565–572. Jensen, M., S. Chakir, and G.B. Feige. 1999. Osmotic and atmo- spheric dehydration effects in the lichens Hypogymnia physodes, Lobaria pulmonaria, and Peltigera aphthosa: An in vivo study of the chlorophyll fluorescence induction. Photosynthetica 37(3):393–404. Kelting, M., J.R. Harris, J. Fanelli, and B. Appleton. 1998. Humate- based biostimulants affect early post-transplant root growth and sapflow of balled and burlapped red maple. HortScience 33:342–244. Kelting, M., J.R. Harris, J. Fanelli, B. Appleton, and A. Niemiea. 1997. Humate-based biostimulants do not consistently increase growth of container-grown Turkish hazelnut. Journal of Envi- ronmental Horticulture 15(4):197–199. Levene, H. 1960. Robust tests for equality of variances. In: W.G. Madow and H.B. Mann (Eds.). Contributions to Probability and Statistics. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, U.S. Mancuso, S., E. Azzarello, S. Mugnai, and X. Briand. 2006. Marine bioactive substances (ipa extract) improve foliar ion uptake and water stress tolerance in potted Vitis vinifera plants. Advances in Horticultural Science 20(2):156–161. Marçais B., and N. Bréda. 2006. Role of an opportunistic pathogen in the decline of stressed oak trees. Journal of Ecology 94:1214–1223. Marschner, H. 2012. Mineral nutrition of plants. Academic Press, London, UK. Meinander, O., S. Somersalo, T. Holopainen, and R.J. Strasser. 1996. Scots pine aſter exposure to elevated ozone and carbon dioxide probed by reflectance spectra and chlorophyll a fluorescence transients. Journal of Plant Physiology 148:229–236. Pachauri, R.K., and A. Reisinger. 2007. Contribution of working groups i, ii, and iii to the fourth assessment report of the intergov- ernmental panel on climate change. IPCC. Geneva, Switzerland. Percival, G.C., and C.N. Sheriffs. 2002. Identification of drought- tolerant woody perennials using chlorophyll fluorescence. Jour- nal of Arboriculture 28(5):215–223.
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