Experiments

Experiment 317 - Alternative ecological futures for the American Residential Macrosystem

The proposed research addresses what factors contribute to maintenance and change in the American Residential Macrosystem and whether an increase in residential parcels managed for diversity influence ecological communities at the scale of neighborhoods and cities. The proposed research will test the hypothesis that management for lower inputs of water and nutrients and wildlife-supporting plants will give rise to greater regional biodiversity across trophic levels, higher nutrient retention, lower water use and reduced runoff, and losses of soil carbon and nitrogen from residential yards at the regional scale. This hypothesis will be tested by studying five types of residential parcels that vary in management goals and intensity, and areas of interstitial natural vegetation, in six US cities across the U.S. (Boston, Baltimore, Miami, Minneapolis-St.Paul, Phoenix and Los Angeles) to quantify how they influence ecological dynamics. This information will be linked to land use scenarios to address the regional and continental-scale impacts of these effects. Cedar Creek will serve as one of the natural reference areas for this project. Measurements in Oak Savanna will include avian point counts, insect pitfall trapping, vegetation surveys, and minimal soil coring. We will conduct the research in each of the burn units: 104, 108, 111, 209.

Methods for e317

Datasets