The American domestic lawn serves as an ultimate element in the landscape, with roughly half of U.S. house owners using fertilizer to maintain green, rich lawns. A specific quantity of nitrogen from fertilizers undoubtedly leaches into the wider environment, resulting in unfavorable repercussions such as algal blossoms and deoxygenated waters.
Assistance for policies restricting fertilizer use was broadly high amongst surveyed families, with some types of limitations even garnering assistance among those who fertilize their own lawns.
Some 48% of 2018 survey respondents incorrectly believed that they did not live in a watershed, and more than 60% of web survey participants did not understand if nitrogen negatively impacted location waterways. (It does.) Support for policies limiting fertilizer usage was broadly high among surveyed families, with some types of constraints even gathering assistance among those who fertilize their own lawns.
Public Interest in Lawn Conversion
About half of households are interested in transforming yards to features that minimize nitrogen export, such as rain gardens, if such conversions are subsidized and made as easy as possible. According to the authors, altering just 5-10% of suburban lawns to alternative landscaping could have a significant effect on watershed-wide nitrogen export.
Reference: “Hydro-bio-geo-socio-chemical interactions and the sustainability of residential landscapes” by Peter M Groffman, Amanda K Suchy, Dexter H Locke, Robert J Johnston, David A Newburn, Arthur J Gold, Lawrence E Band, Jonathan Duncan, J Morgan Grove, Jenny Kao-Kniffin, Hallee Meltzer, Tom Ndebele, Jarlath ONeil-Dunne, Colin Polsky, Grant L Thompson, Haoluan Wang and Ewa Zawojska, 17 October 2023, PNAS Nexus.DOI: 10.1093/ pnasnexus/pgad316.
A current study on the ecological effect of lawn fertilizer use in Baltimore found that while many house owners lack awareness of their contribution to watershed pollution, there is strong assistance for restricting fertilizer usage and transforming lawns to decrease nitrogen export. Small changes in residential landscaping might considerably benefit the Chesapeake Bay.
The American residential yard functions as an ultimate aspect in the landscape, with roughly half of U.S. property owners using fertilizer to keep green, rich lawns. This practice has its downsides. A specific amount of nitrogen from fertilizers undoubtedly leaches into the broader environment, leading to negative consequences such as algal flowers and deoxygenated waters.
Research Study on Nitrogen Export from Lawns
Peter Groffman and coworkers studied residential landscapes in the Baltimore, Maryland city location, which drains to the Chesapeake Bay, seeking to identify locations (hotspots) or times (hot moments) with disproportionately high rates of nitrogen export. The authors went to yards in exurban, rural, and college school settings to determine nitrogen export during simulated rainfall occasions produced by including known amounts of water to actual yards in the field.
Surveys and Findings on Nitrogen Awareness
The authors also used household study data collected by the Baltimore Ecosystem Study Long Term Ecological Research in 2003, 2011, and 2018– in addition to their own push-to-web study of 3,836 Baltimore area households. Nitrogen export characteristics of lawns show tremendous variation, although all export hotspots were discovered on fertilized rather than unfertilized lawns.
