Forging linkages between social drivers and ecological processes in the residential landscape

Residential lawn fertilization is estimated to be the 2nd largest source of household nitrogen in the US causing environmental damage that may be irreversible unless alternative residential landscape practices are adopted in the future. Understanding residential landscape practices and the associated impact on water quality can inform the discourse on residential landscape reform and evaluate the effectiveness of strategies to reduce the impacts of residential landscapes. Our research collected residential awareness, knowledge and behavior data as well as stormwater and pond water nitrogen concentrations and loads in three counties where varying urban fertilizer ordinances were in place. We found that in the county with the strictest fertilizer control ordinance, residents were more aware of the ordinance and they were applying fertilizer less frequently. In the county with the least restrictive ordinance, residents were applying fertilizer more frequently and nitrogen loads were higher. We found seasonal variability associated with N source/sink dynamics that can confound N concentrations and loads. We conducted a power analysis to recommend monitoring needed to confidently measure a reduction in N concentrations in community stormwater and pond water. The results contribute to a critical missing gap of inter-disciplinary research to link a socio-political driver (fertilizer ordinance) to human behavior change and potential environmental effects.