Continental-scale homogenization of residential lawn plant communities

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dc.contributor.authorWheeler, Megan M.en
dc.contributor.authorNeill, Christopheren
dc.contributor.authorGroffman, Peter M.en
dc.contributor.authorAvolio, Meghan L.en
dc.contributor.authorBettez, Neilen
dc.contributor.authorCavender-Bares, Jeannineen
dc.contributor.authorChowdhury, Rinku Royen
dc.contributor.authorDarling, Lindsay E.en
dc.contributor.authorGrove, J. Morganen
dc.contributor.authorHall, Sharon J.en
dc.contributor.authorHeffernan, James B.en
dc.contributor.authorHobbie, Sarah E.en
dc.contributor.authorLarson, Kelli L.en
dc.contributor.authorMorse, Jennifer L.en
dc.contributor.authorNelson, Kristen C.en
dc.contributor.authorOgden, Laura A.en
dc.contributor.authorO'Neil-Dunne, Jarlath P.M.en
dc.contributor.authorPataki, Diane E.en
dc.contributor.authorPolsky, Colinen
dc.contributor.authorSteele, Meredith K.en
dc.contributor.authorTrammell, Tara L. E.en
dc.contributor.departmentSchool of Plant and Environmental Sciencesen
dc.date.accessioned2019-10-03T12:37:20Zen
dc.date.available2019-10-03T12:37:20Zen
dc.date.issued2017-09en
dc.description.abstractResidential lawns are highly managed ecosystems that occur in urbanized landscapes across the United States. Because they are ubiquitous, lawns are good systems in which to study the potential homogenizing effects of urban land use and management together with the continental-scale effects of climate on ecosystem structure and functioning. We hypothesized that similar homeowner preferences and management in residential areas across the United States would lead to low plant species diversity in lawns and relatively homogeneous vegetation across broad geographical regions. We also hypothesized that lawn plant species richness would increase with regional temperature and precipitation due to the presence of spontaneous, weedy vegetation, but would decrease with household income and fertilizer use. To test these predictions, we compared plant species composition and richness in residential lawns in seven U.S. metropolitan regions. We also compared species composition in lawns with understory vegetation in minimally-managed reference areas in each city. As expected, the composition of cultivated turfgrasses was more similar among lawns than among reference areas, but this pattern also held among spontaneous species. Plant species richness and diversity varied more among lawns than among reference areas, and more diverse lawns occurred in metropolitan areas with higher precipitation. Native forb diversity increased with precipitation and decreased with income, driving overall lawn diversity trends with these predictors as well. Our results showed that both management and regional climate shaped lawn species composition, but the overall homogeneity of species regardless of regional context strongly suggested that management was a more important driver.en
dc.description.notesWe would like to thank all of the homeowners across the country who graciously allowed us access to their properties. This research was supported by the Macrosystems Biology Program in the Emerging Frontiers Division of the Biological Sciences Directorate at the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grants EF-1065548, 1065737, 1065740, 1065741, 1065772, 1065785, 1065831, and 121238320. The work arose from research funded by grants from the NSF Long-Term Ecological Research Program in Baltimore (DEB 0423476), Central Arizona-Phoenix (BCS-1026865), Plum Island (Boston) (OCE-1058747), Florida Coastal Everglades (Miami) (DBI-0620409), and Cedar Creek (Minneapolis-St. Paul) (DEB-0620652). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF. Thanks to the botanical field teams involved in lawn sampling: BAL - Charlie Davis, Dan Dillon, Erin Mellenthin, Charlie Nicholson, Hannah Saunders, Avery Uslaner; BOS - Emma Dixon, Roberta Lombardy, Pamela Polloni, Jehane Semaha, Elisabeth Ward; LA - Aprille Curtis, La'Shaye Ervin; MIA - Bianca Bonilla, Stephen Hodges, Lawrence Lopez, Gabriel Sone; MSP - Chris Buyarksi, Emily Loberg, Alison Slaats, Kelsey Thurow; PHX - Erin Barton, Jenni Learned, Miguel Morgan, Brenton Scott, Dustin Wolkis; SLC Moumita Kundu.en
dc.description.sponsorshipMacrosystems Biology Program in the Emerging Frontiers Division of the Biological Sciences Directorate at the National Science Foundation (NSF) [EF-1065548, 1065737, 1065740, 1065741, 1065772, 1065785, 1065831, 121238320]; NSF Long-Term Ecological Research Program in Baltimore [DEB 0423476]; Central Arizona-Phoenix [BCS-1026865]; Plum Island (Boston) [OCE-1058747]; Florida Coastal Everglades (Miami) [DBI-0620409]; Cedar Creek [DEB-0620652]en
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2017.05.004en
dc.identifier.eissn1872-6062en
dc.identifier.issn0169-2046en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/94332en
dc.identifier.volume165en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/en
dc.subjectHomogenizationen
dc.subjectLawnen
dc.subjectResidential yardsen
dc.subjectSpecies compositionen
dc.subjectTurfgrassen
dc.titleContinental-scale homogenization of residential lawn plant communitiesen
dc.title.serialLandscape And Urban Planningen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.dcmitypeStillImageen

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