Cross-scale social drivers of yard vegetative outcomes in the American residential macrosystem

Aaron M. Grade, George Perkins Marsh Institute, Clark University, Worcester, MA, Rinku Roy Chowdhury, Graduate School of Geography, Clark University, Worcester, MA, Carlos Dobler-Morales, Clark University - Worcester, MA, Worcester, MA, Dexter H. Locke, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), Baltimore, MD, Peter Groffman, Environmental Science Initiative, Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, NY, Meghan Avolio, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, Neil D. Bettez, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, J. Morgan Grove, Baltimore Field Station and Baltimore Ecosystem Study, Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Baltimore, MD, Sharon J. Hall, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, James B. Heffernan, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, Sarah E. Hobbie, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, Kelli L. Larson, Schools of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning/Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, Susannah B. Lerman, Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Amherst, MA, Jennifer L. Morse, Department of Environmental Science and Management, Portland State University, Portland, OR, Desiree L. Narango, Advanced Science Research Center, City University of New York, NYC, NY, Christopher Neill, Woodwell Climate Research Center, Falmouth, MA, Kristen C. Nelson, Departments of Forest Resources and Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, Jarlath O'Neil-Dunne, Spatial Analysis Laboratory, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, Laura A. Ogden, Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, Josep Padullés Cubino, Ecology, Evolution & Behavior, University of Minnesota, SAINT PAUL, MN, Diane Pataki, School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, William D. Pearse, Department of Biology & Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT, Colin Polsky, Center for Environmental Studies, Florida Atlantic University, Davie, FL, Tara L.E. Trammell, Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE and Megan M. Wheeler, Ecosystems Center, School of Life Sciences, Woods Hole, MA

Background/Question/Methods
As the world urbanizes, resulting shifts in land use throughout urban gradients drive concerns about “ecological homogenization” at broad scales. Households make important environmental decisions while managing residential yard landscaping, with implications for flora and fauna, as well as ecosystem services such as pollination. Yard management is shaped by household characteristics as well as broader-scale governance at the neighborhood and municipal scales. We present here the results of collaborative research linking household social data, parcel-scale land cover, and plant species composition in yards across six U.S. cities. We evaluate how residents manage yard vegetation in relation to their sociodemographic characteristics, values, and neighborhood/municipal governance. We then trace management decisions to vegetative outcomes.
Results/Conclusions
Initial results indicate that household factors and governance, such as the presence of homeowner’s associations (HOAs) and neighborhood associations (NAs) in residential neighborhoods, influence land cover in residential parcels. Furthermore, we investigate how households’ yard management choices influence the proportion of spontaneous versus cultivated and native versus nonnative plants, as well as plants with “showy” flowers, all possible indicators of quality habitat for pollinators. Despite concerns regarding a vegetative homogenization of the American residential macrosystem at the continental scale, important differences in governance and individual traits at the household, parcel and neighborhood scales lead to vegetative heterogeneity within and across cities. These findings have implications for promotion of pollinator habitat within residential areas, as well as predicting future trends of land cover and vegetative structure change in urban residential lands, a growing land use type.