Hydro-bio-geo-socio-chemical interactions and the sustainability of residential landscapes

Peter M Groffman; Amanda K Suchy; Dexter H Locke; Robert J Johnston; David A Newburn; Arthur J Gold; Lawrence E Band; Jonathan Duncan; J Morgan Grove; Jenny Kao-Kniffin; Hallee Meltzer; Tom Ndebele; Jarlath O'Neil-Dunne; Colin Polsky; Grant L Thompson; Haoluan Wang; Ewa Zawojska

doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad316

Hydro-bio-geo-socio-chemical interactions and the sustainability of residential landscapes

PNAS Nexus. 2023 Oct 17;2(10):pgad316. doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad316. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Authors

Peter M Groffman¹, Amanda K Suchy², Dexter H Locke³, Robert J Johnston⁴, David A Newburn⁵, Arthur J Gold⁶, Lawrence E Band⁷, Jonathan Duncan⁸, J Morgan Grove³, Jenny Kao-Kniffin⁹, Hallee Meltzer¹⁰, Tom Ndebele⁴, Jarlath O'Neil-Dunne¹¹, Colin Polsky¹², Grant L Thompson¹³, Haoluan Wang¹⁴, Ewa Zawojska¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center, City University of NewYork, New York, NY 10031, USA.
² Institute for Great Lakes Research and Biology Department, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI 48858, USA.
³ USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Baltimore Field Station, Baltimore, MD 21228, USA.
⁴ George Perkins Marsh Institute, Clark University, Worcester, MA 01610, USA.
⁵ Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
⁶ Department of Natural Resources Science, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA.
⁷ Department of Environmental Science, and Engineering Systems and Environment, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.
⁸ Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
⁹ School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.
¹⁰ NOAA National Sea Grant Office, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA.
¹¹ Spatial Analysis Laboratory, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA.
¹² Center for Environmental Studies, Florida Atlantic University, Davie, FL 33314, USA.
¹³ Department of Horticulture, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA.
¹⁵ Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, 00-241, Poland.

Abstract

Residential landscapes are essential to the sustainability of large areas of the United States. However, spatial and temporal variation across multiple domains complicates developing policies to balance these systems' environmental, economic, and equity dimensions. We conducted multidisciplinary studies in the Baltimore, MD, USA, metropolitan area to identify locations (hotspots) or times (hot moments) with a disproportionate influence on nitrogen export, a widespread environmental concern. Results showed high variation in the inherent vulnerability/sensitivity of individual parcels to cause environmental damage and in the knowledge and practices of individual managers. To the extent that hotspots are the result of management choices by homeowners, there are straightforward approaches to improve outcomes, e.g. fertilizer restrictions and incentives to reduce fertilizer use. If, however, hotspots arise from the configuration and inherent characteristics of parcels and neighborhoods, efforts to improve outcomes may involve more intensive and complex interventions, such as conversion to alternative ecosystem types.