Page 13 - DENIN-2015

Building the Case for Seashore Mallow
No location in Delaware is more than eight miles from tidal waters, and the average elevation above sea level is only
60 feet. The state’s sea level rise vulnerability assessment concluded that 8–11 percent of Delaware’s total land
area could be inundated with saltwater by 2100, with the remaining area more vulnerable than ever to flooding and storm surges. Farmers are already reporting fields becoming unproductive due to increasing salinity of the soil in low- lying areas.
DENIN is facilitating a partnership to explore the viability of seashore mallow, a native salt-tolerant perennial, as an alternative crop on salt-compromised land. The partnership includes plant biologists, cooperative extension
specialists, poultry scientists, and the state’s largest land conservancy organization, Delaware Wild Lands. Undergraduate research interns recruited through DENIN’s Environmental Scholars program have been involved in several aspects of the project.
Possible consumer products from every portion of the seashore mallow plant have been identified, ranging from biodiesel derived from oil in the seeds to fiber
for textiles to biodegradable cat litter. The poultry industry is a large part of the Delaware and Delmarva Peninsula economy and may provide a large market for milled stems to be used as bedding material in poultry houses.
DENIN provides a hub for these partners to meet and coordinate their efforts, which will hopefully contribute to the resiliency of rural coastal communities in the face of sea level rise.
• China Agricultural University • Christina Conservancy
• City of Dover
• City of Wilmington
• Delaware Bar Association
• Delaware Department of Agriculture
• Delaware Economic Development Office
• Delaware Emergency Management Agency
• Delaware Environmental Observing System
• Delaware First Media
• Delaware Humanities Forum
• Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve • Delaware Nature Conservancy
• Delaware Nature Society
• Delaware State University
• Delaware Sustainable Chemistry Alliance
• Delaware Technical Community College
• Delaware Wild Lands
• DuPont Company
• Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese
Academy of Sciences
• Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of
Sciences
• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health
• Nanjing University
• Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• Pennoni Associates Inc.
• Rhode Island EPSCoR
• Sassafrass River Association
• Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Light Source • Stroud Water Research Center
• University of Rostock, Germany
• University of Wuppertal, Germany
• Vermont EPSCoR
• Wesley College
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