Performance-Based Plant Selection: Developing a National Bioretention Plant Selection Tool - 1.25 PDH (LA CES/HSW)

Plants struggle to survive in bioretention, yet plant functionality is critical to bioretention's success as a cost-effective alternative to gray infrastructure. Constant replacement is a financial burden and limiting factor for effective treatment. This discussion will focus on what we know regarding plant attributes to reach improved success across ecoregions.

Learning objectives:

• Gain knowledge of the functions that plants perform in bioretention and how shifting to performance-based plant selection can advance the implementation of bioretention and create cost-efficient installations.
• Learn about the creation of a bioretention plant selection tool, which seeks to align plant characteristics and traits with the specific functions that plants must perform in BMPs.
• Learn how improved plant selection tools can address equity in bioretention implementation, and how communities benefit.
• Contribute to an open discussion of how landscape architects can shape, inform, and advance the field of bioretention and green infrastructure design by best understanding plant functionality.