SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/43432
FieldScience | Dr. Robert N. Carrow Wear injury on sports fields: BMP approach T HE TERM "TRAFFIC STRESS" encompasses all types of stresses on sports turf resulting from both human and vehicle traffic. To de- velop sound management practices it is im- portant to understand each individual type of traffic stress since they differ substantially as to mode of injury and management. The major types of traffic stresses are soil com- paction and wear injury; but the focus of this article on wear injury. Soil compaction, caused by traffic pressure on the soil matrix, results in a more com- pacted, dense soil mass, especially in the sur- face 3 inches, with few macropores for aeration, water infiltration, and root channels along with higher soil mechanical strength. These adverse soil physical conditions result in root and shoot deterioration over time. Wear injury is the immediate, direct injury to shoot tissues by traffic action in the form of abrasion, pressure, scuffing, tearing, and/or divoting damage where pieces of turf and sod are displaced. Each sport imparts different mixes of these physical injuries. Moderate traf- fic may cause some discoloration and slight thinning of the turf over a period, while inten- sive traffic may result in immediate tearing of the sod and severe loss of stand density. Tissue damage from pressure, scuffing, or abrasion, may require one, or two, days to be apparent, while tearing and divoting actions result in immediate damage. Normally for pressure, scuffing, and abrasion wear, turfgrass takes a bruised (dark-green, moist) look, turning to blue-green wilted tissue before decreasing in greenness within 24-48 hours. Close leaf in- spection may reveal shredding and/or wearing off of the leaves and even stems. WHAT IS THE DOMINANT TRAFFIC STRESS? Knowledge of the dominate traffic stress or stresses is important because practices to re- duce direct physical injuries to plant shoot tis- sues (wear) will differ from addressing soil physical problems (soil compaction). For sports fields with fine-textured soils without a 12 SportsTurf | October 2011 sand layer at the surface, soil compaction nor- mally would be the dominant traffic stress, es- pecially if clay/silt content is high, the clay type is shrink-swell clay, or surface and subsur- face drainage is poor. However, wear stress will still be very evident on these fine-textured fields, so both stresses must be addressed in management protocols. On high sand-content (> 85 % sand), well-drained sports fields, wear injury are the most important traffic stress while soil compaction is of little importance. This would also be true for fine-textured soils that have received sufficient sand topdressing (usually 3.0 inches or more sand layer) and in- ternal drainage to negate surface soil com- paction. BMPS TO PREVENT OR MINIMIZE WEAR INJURY The best management practices (BMPs) term noted in the title highlights that manage- ment of wear stress, similar to other traffic, environmental, or pest stresses, requires a holistic, science-based ap- proach where multiple management strategies must be combined together to achieve success. Essentially, a good BMPs wear management program will minimize the traffic factors, turfgrass characteristics, and soil conditions that favor a greater degree of wear injury with the turf manager selecting the "best" set of options that can be used for their specific site based on eco- nomic, field playability for the sport, environmental, and societal (i.e. player safety) considerations, i.e. a sustainable sports field management approach. Traffic factors that increase wear are: a) repeated, concentrated traffic in an area; b) turning, twisting, or slipping traffic actions; and c) high pressure per unit area on the grass tissue and under- lying soil. A well-designed traffic con- trol plan supported by administrators, coaches, and field managers is essential to minimize unnecessary wear and soil compaction on athletic fields, i.e., to in- sure safe playing fields. Components of Table. Traffic Control Measures to Reduce Wear on Sports Fields • Develop a traffic control plan agreed to by administrators, coaches, and field man- agers. Determine who has authority to limit field use. Photos and documentation of traffic damage and stresses can aid in development and adjustments of plans. • Games only fields – hold scrimmages and practices on practice fields • Field rotation plan for practice fields • Shift fields by > 100 feet from prior location • Use N-S and E-W practice field layouts • Use all field areas • Consider spectator traffic patterns in the overall traffic plan • Move goals weekly or as needed • Coaches need to distribute drills as much as possible off of practice fields – this re- quires improved grass areas adjacent to fields • Use different colored markings for different sports on multiuse fields • Limit band practice on game fields to once per week and not when fields are too dry or too wet • Develop yard lines for band practice in parking lots or improved grass areas other than practice and game fields • Minimize extra-curricular use of fields – restrict use on dry of wet field conditions • As much as possible limit traffic on excessively wet, dry, frozen or partially thawed turf – mowing should not be done on drought stressed grass • Cover fields receiving short-term intensive traffic such as concerts • Cover sideline area during games • Allow only vehicles with of pneumatic "turf" tires will aid in reducing the pressure and tear components of wear www.sportsturfonline.com By