The conversion of native ecosystems to residential ecosystems dominated by lawns has been a prevailing land‐use change in the United States over the past 70 years. Similar development patterns and management of residential ecosystems cause many characteristics of residential ecosystems to be more similar to each other across broad continental gradients than that of former native ecosystems. For instance, similar lawn management by irrigation and fertilizer applications has the potential to influence soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools and processes. We evaluated the mean and variability of total soil C and N stocks, potential net N mineralization and nitrification, soil nitrite (NO2−)/nitrate (NO3−) and ammonium (NH4+) pools, microbial biomass C and N content, microbial respiration, bulk density, soil pH, and moisture content in residential lawns and native ecosystems in six metropolitan areas across a broad climatic gradient in the United States: Baltimore, MD (BAL); Boston, MA (BOS); Los Angeles, CA (LAX); Miami, FL (MIA); Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN (MSP); and Phoenix, AZ (PHX). We observed evidence of higher N cycling in lawn soils, including significant increases in soil NO2−/NO3−, microbial N pools, and potential net nitrification, and significant decreases in NH4+pools. Self‐reported yard fertilizer application in the previous year was linked with increased NO2−/ NO3−content and decreases in total soil N and C content. Self‐reported irrigation in the previous year was associated with decreases in potential net mineralization and potential net nitrification and with increases in bulk density and pH. Residential topsoil had higher total soil C than native topsoil, and microbial biomass C was markedly higher in residential topsoil in the two driest cities (LAX and PHX). Coefficients of variation for most biogeochemical metrics were higher in native soils than in residential soils across all cities, suggesting that residential development homogenizes soil properties and processes at the continental scale.
In urban areas, anthropogenic drivers of ecosystem structure and function are thought to predominate over larger‐scale biophysical drivers. Residential yards are influenced by individual homeowner preferences and actions, and these factors are hypothesized to converge yard structure across broad scales. We examined soil total C and total δ13C, organic C and organic δ13C, total N, and δ15N in residential yards and corresponding reference ecosystems in six cities across the United States that span major climates and ecological biomes (Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; Minneapolis‐St. Paul, Minnesota; and Phoenix, Arizona). Across the cities, we found soil C and N concentrations and soil δ15N were less variable in residential yards compared to reference sites supporting the hypothesis that soil C, N, and δ15N converge across these cities. Increases in organic soil C, soil N, and soil δ15N across urban, suburban, and rural residential yards in several cities supported the hypothesis that soils responded similarly to altered resource inputs across cities, contributing to convergence of soil C and N in yards compared to natural systems. Soil C and N dynamics in residential yards showed evidence of increasing C and N inputs to urban soils or dampened decomposition rates over time that are influenced by climate and/or housing age across the cities. In the warmest cities (
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10457739
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Ecological Monographs
- Volume:
- 90
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0012-9615
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract Despite interest in the contribution of evapotranspiration (ET) of residential turfgrass lawns to household and municipal water budgets across the United States, the spatial and temporal variability of residential lawn ET across large scales is highly uncertain. We measured instantaneous ET (ETinst) of lawns in 79 residential yards in six metropolitan areas: Baltimore, Boston, Miami, Minneapolis‐St. Paul (mesic climates), Los Angeles and Phoenix (arid climates). Each yard had one of four landscape types and management practices: traditional lawn‐dominated yards with high or low fertilizer input, yards with water‐conserving features, and yards with wildlife‐friendly features. We measured ETinstin situ during the growing season using portable chambers and identified environmental and anthropogenic factors controlling ET in residential lawns. For each household, we used ETinstto estimate daily ET of the lawn (ETdaily) and multiplied ETdailyby the lawn area to estimate the total volume of water lost through ET of the lawn (ETvol). ETdailyvaried from 0.9 ± 0.4 mm d1in mesic cities to 2.9 ± 0.7 mm d−1in arid cities. Neither ETinstnor ETdailywas significantly influenced by yard landscape types and ETinstpatterns indicated that lawns may be largely decoupled from regional rain‐driven climate patterns. ETvolranged from ∼0 L d−1to over 2,000 L d−1, proportionally increasing with lawn area. Current irrigation and lawn management practices did not necessarily result in different ETinstor ETdailyamong traditional, water‐conserving, or wildlife‐friendly yards, but smaller lawn areas in water‐conserving and wildlife‐friendly yards resulted in lower ETvol.
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This is a subset of the data found in Grove and Locke (2018), to be included with: Locke, D.H., Polsky, C., Grove, J. M., Groffman, P. M., Nelson, K.C., Larson, K. L., Cavender-Bares, J., Heffernan, J. B., Roy Chowdhury, R., Hobbie, S. E., Bettez, N., Neill, C., Ogden, L.A., O’Neil-Dunne, J. P. M.. [accepted]. Heterogeneity of practice underlies the homogeneity of ecological outcomes of United States yard care in metropolitan regions, neighborhoods and households. PLoS ONE doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0222630 These data contain answers 2011 survey questions: In the past year, which of the following has been applied to any part of your yard: Water for irrigating grass, plants, or trees? Fertilizers? Pesticides to get rid of weeds or pests? The total household annual income (8 ordinal categories), age of respondent (5 ordinal categories), and the answer to: About how many neighbors do you know by name? (recorded in 5 ordinal categories). Two additional columns are provided to indicate the metropolitan region of the respondent (one of the following six: Phoenix, Los Angeles, Minneapolis - St. Paul, Baltimore, Boston, or Miami) and the degree of urbanicity in that region (Urban, Suburban, or Exurban). See Grove and Locke 2018 for additional details. This research is supported by the Macro- Systems Biology Program (US NSF) under Grants EF-1065548, -1065737, -1065740, -1065741, -1065772, -1065785, -1065831, and -121238320 and the NIFA McIntire-Stennis 1000343 MIN-42-051. The work arose from research funded by grants from the NSF LTER program for Baltimore (DEB- 0423476, DEB-1027188); Phoenix (BCS-1026865, DEB-0423704, DEB-9714833, DEB-1637590, DEB-1832016); Plum Island, Boston (OCE-1058747 and 1238212); Cedar Creek, Minneapolis–St. Paul (DEB- 0620652); and Florida Coastal Everglades, Miami (DBI-0620409). Edna Bailey Sussman Foundation, Libby Fund Enhancement Award and the Marion I. Wright ‘46 Travel Grant at Clark University, The Warnock Foundation, the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, Baltimore and Philadelphia Field Stations, and the DC-BC ULTRA-Ex NSF-DEB-0948947 also provided support. This work was supported by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) under funding received from the National Science Foundation DBI-1052875. Anonymous reviewers supplied constructive feedback that helped to improve this paper. The findings and opinions reported here do not necessarily reflect those of the funders of this research. Citations: Grove J.M., Locke, D.H.. (2018). BES Household Telephone Survey. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/5a4fc7bfa199f3d63748f0853ae073a0.more » « less
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Introduction Integrated social and ecological processes shape urban plant communities, but the temporal dynamics and potential for change in these managed communities have rarely been explored. In residential yards, which cover about 40% of urban land area, individuals make decisions that control vegetation outcomes. These decisions may lead to relatively static plant composition and structure, as residents seek to expend little effort to maintain stable landscapes. Alternatively, residents may actively modify plant communities to meet their preferences or address perceived problems, or they may passively allow them to change. In this research, we ask, how and to what extent does residential yard vegetation change over time? Methods We conducted co-located ecological surveys of yards (in 2008, 2018, and 2019) and social surveys of residents (in 2018) in four diverse neighborhoods of Phoenix, Arizona. Results 94% of residents had made some changes to their front or back yards since moving in. On average, about 60% of woody vegetation per yard changed between 2008 and 2018, though the number of species present did not differ significantly. In comparison, about 30% of woody vegetation changed in native Sonoran Desert reference areas over 10 years. In yards, about 15% of woody vegetation changed on average in a single year, with up to 90% change in some yards. Greater turnover was observed for homes that were sold, indicating a “pulse” of management. Additionally, we observed greater vegetation turnover in the two older, lawn-dominated neighborhoods surveyed despite differences in neighborhood socioeconomic factors. Discussion These results indicate that residential plant communities are dynamic over time. Neighborhood age and other characteristics may be important drivers of change, while socioeconomic status neither promotes nor inhibits change at the neighborhood scale. Our findings highlight an opportunity for management interventions, wherein residents may be open to making conservation-friendly changes if they are already altering the composition of their yards.more » « less
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The aim of this research was to examine the spatial and temporal variation in export control points of nitrogen on residential lawns (locations prone to mobilizing nitrogen during a rain event) and to examine if previously measured hydrobiogeochemical properties were predictive of N mobilization in lawns. This data set contains measurements of saturated infiltration rates, sorptivity, soil moisture, soil organic matter, bulk density, pH, soil nitrate, soil ammonium, N2O, N2 and CO2 fluxes from soil cores, nitrogen mineralization rates and fluxes of N in runoff and leachate from fertilized and unfertilized residential and institutional lawns. Study lawns were located at homes of people who agreed to volunteer their lawn for the study from a door knocking campaign. Four sampling houses were located in an exurban neighborhood in Baisman Run. Five sampling houses were located in a suburban neighborhood in Dead Run. Two sampling locations on institutional lawns were located at University of Maryland Baltimore County. At the exurban study houses and institutional lawns sites, we identified one hillslope to conduct sampling on. At the Dead Run houses we identified one hillslope on the front yard and one in the backyard as there were distinct locations that were not present in the exurban neighborhood. Locations within the yards for sampling were selected based on sampling conducted in October 2017. Locations were grouped into four categories based on have either high or low potential denitrification rates and high or low saturated infiltration rates (n=48). These locations were also distributed across yard types (exurban, suburban or institutional), fertilizer treatments, and hillslope location (top or bottom of hillslope). At each sampling location we ran a Cornell Sprinkle Infiltrometer to generate an experimental rainfall during which we collected runoff and leachate to quantity N flux. We also measure sorptivity and saturated infiltration rates. Volumetric water content was measured before and after infiltrometer runs with a Field Scout TDR 300 with 7.5 cm rods. In addition, at each sampling location we took two soil cores to 10 cm depth to measure gaseous N flux and soil N processes. Soil cores were stored on ice in the field, and then stored at 4°C in the lab until processed for variables mentioned above. Sampling was conducted across four seasons (April 2018, September 2018, November 2018 and March 2019) to capture seasonal variability including the timing of fertilizer applications.more » « less
