Published In
Environmental Research Letters
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-29-2016
Subjects
Lawns, Urban land use, Urban ecology, Fertilizers
Abstract
Residential yards across theUSlook remarkably similar despite marked variation in climate and soil, yet the drivers of this homogenization are unknown. Telephone surveys of fertilizer and irrigation use and satisfaction with the natural environment, and measurements of inherent water and nitrogen availability in sixUScities (Boston, Baltimore, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix, Los Angeles) showed that the percentage of people using irrigation at least once in a year was relatively invariant with little difference between the wettest (Miami,85%) and driest (Phoenix,89%) cities. The percentage of people using fertilizer at least once in a year also ranged narrowly (52%–71%), while soil nitrogen supply varied by 10x. Residents expressed similar levels of satisfaction with the natural environment in their neighborhoods. The nature and extent of this satisfaction must be understood if environmental managers hope to effect change in the establishment and maintenance of residential ecosystems.
Rights
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence
DOI
10.1088/1748-9326/11/3/034004
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/17172
Citation Details
Groffman, P. M., Grove, J. M., Polsky, C., Bettez, N. D., Morse, J. L., Cavender-Bares, J., … Locke, D. H. (2016). Satisfaction, water and fertilizer use in the American residential macrosystem. Environmental Research Letters, 11(3), 034004.
Description
Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.