UVM Theses and Dissertations
Format:
Print
Author:
Nagel, Laura R.
Title:
Dept./Program:
Natural Resources
Year:
2009
Degree:
M.S.
Abstract:
This work sought to gain a better understanding of the effects of land-use history on carbon (C) stocks and fluxes in residential lawns and more broadly, the overall contribution ofresidential areas to the C cycle. To determine if land-use history affects C dynamics, lawns that were once forests were compared to lawns that were once old fields. Carbon stocks and fluxes on remaining old field and forest sites also were studied to assess how land-use transition affects C dynamics.
The specific characteristics studied during the 2008 growing season (AprilNovember) included soil nutrients, structural characteristics, and respiration (R[subscript]soil); productivity and C stocks; and the potential effects of common lawn management practices. Holding the factors of soil type and housing age constant, it was hypothesized that residential C fluxes would be driven by previous land-use and former habitat types would have higher C fluxes and stocks than lawns.
Forested sites had significantly higher net primary productivity (NPP) (~1,054 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹) than all other sites, while old field sites yielded the lowest NPP (~607 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹). Production did not differ among lawn sites, regardless of their history, and lawns in this study yielded a NPP of ~420 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹. Soil respiration (R[subscript]soil) rates were highest in the formerly old field lawns (~1,660 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹), and lowest in the formerly forested lawns (~990 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹). Land-use history had a significant effect on lawn total belowground C allocation (TBCA), and TBCA was found to be significantly higher in lawns compared to their respective former habitat types. It was estimated that when forests are converted to lawns, there is a 60% loss in C stock, while converting an old field to a lawn results in a slight gain in C.
Understanding how land-use history affects C dynamics in lawns could potentially bear an influence on future management and development decisions, and the results of this study contribute to the emerging field of turfgrass research.
The specific characteristics studied during the 2008 growing season (AprilNovember) included soil nutrients, structural characteristics, and respiration (R[subscript]soil); productivity and C stocks; and the potential effects of common lawn management practices. Holding the factors of soil type and housing age constant, it was hypothesized that residential C fluxes would be driven by previous land-use and former habitat types would have higher C fluxes and stocks than lawns.
Forested sites had significantly higher net primary productivity (NPP) (~1,054 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹) than all other sites, while old field sites yielded the lowest NPP (~607 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹). Production did not differ among lawn sites, regardless of their history, and lawns in this study yielded a NPP of ~420 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹. Soil respiration (R[subscript]soil) rates were highest in the formerly old field lawns (~1,660 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹), and lowest in the formerly forested lawns (~990 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹). Land-use history had a significant effect on lawn total belowground C allocation (TBCA), and TBCA was found to be significantly higher in lawns compared to their respective former habitat types. It was estimated that when forests are converted to lawns, there is a 60% loss in C stock, while converting an old field to a lawn results in a slight gain in C.
Understanding how land-use history affects C dynamics in lawns could potentially bear an influence on future management and development decisions, and the results of this study contribute to the emerging field of turfgrass research.