|
|
Article: Nitrogen mysteries in urban grasslands.
- Article from:
- NewsRx Health & Science
- Article date:
- November 15, 2009
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 NewsRX. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Areas of turf-forming species created and maintained by humans for aesthetic and recreational (not grazing) purposes, i.e. "urban grasslands" are an extremely common, but poorly studied ecosystem type. There are over 150,000 km2of urban grasslands in the U.S. and many receive high rates of fertilizer, creating concerns about nutrient runoff to streams, lakes, and estuaries and emissions of greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide (N2O) to the atmosphere. Most turfgrass research has been done on highly controlled research plots which can be very different than actual urban grasslands which have highly variable management regimes and physical, biological, and chemical ...