Journal
URBAN ECOSYSTEMS
Volume 19, Issue 1, Pages 95-113Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11252-015-0477-1
Keywords
Lawns; Residential landscapes; Land management; Human values; Ecosystem services; Urban sustainability
Funding
- MacroSystems Biology Program in the Emerging Frontiers Division of the Biological Sciences Directorate at the National Science Foundation (NSF) [EF-1065548, 1065737, 1065740, 1065741, 1065772, 1065785, 1065831, 121238320]
- NSF [DEB-0423476, SES-0951366]
- Phoenix [BCS-1026865]
- Plum Island (Boston) [OCE-1058747]
- Cedar Creek (Minneapolis-St Paul) [DEB-0620652]
- Florida Coastal Everglades (Miami) [DBI-0620409]
- Direct For Biological Sciences [1065831] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Emerging Frontiers [1065548, 1065740, 1065772, 1559611, 1238320, 1561011, 1065785] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie
- Divn Of Social and Economic Sciences [1462086, GRANTS:13800521] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Directorate For Geosciences
- Division Of Ocean Sciences [GRANTS:13903780, 1238212] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Environmental Biology
- Direct For Biological Sciences [1027188, 1237517, 1026865] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Environmental Biology
- Direct For Biological Sciences [1234162] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Divn Of Social and Economic Sciences
- Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie [0951366] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Emerging Frontiers [1065831] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Emerging Frontiers
- Direct For Biological Sciences [GRANTS:13671913, 1065737, 1065741] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Although ecosystem services have been intensively examined in certain domains (e.g., forests and wetlands), little research has assessed ecosystem services for the most dominant landscape type in urban ecosystems-namely, residential yards. In this paper, we report findings of a cross-site survey of homeowners in six U.S. cities to 1) examine how residents subjectively value various ecosystem services, 2) explore distinctive dimensions of those values, and 3) test the urban homogenization hypothesis. This hypothesis posits that urbanization leads to similarities in the social-ecological dynamics across cities in diverse biomes. By extension, the thesis suggests that residents' ecosystem service priorities for residential landscapes will be similar regardless of whether residents live in the humid East or the arid West, or the warm South or the cold North. Results underscored that cultural services were of utmost importance, particularly anthropocentric values including aesthetics, low-maintenance, and personal enjoyment. Using factor analyses, distinctive dimensions of residents' values were found to partially align with the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment's categories (provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural). Finally, residents' ecosystem service priorities exhibited significant homogenization across regions. In particular, the traditional lawn aesthetic (neat, green, weed-free yards) was similarly important across residents of diverse U.S. cities. Only a few exceptions were found across different environmental and social contexts; for example, cooling effects were more important in the warm South, where residents also valued aesthetics more than those in the North, where low-maintenance yards were a greater priority.
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