A comparative study of the water budgets of lawns under three management scenarios

Bijoor, Neeta S.; Pataki, Diane E.; Haver, Darren; Famiglietti, J. S.

doi:10.1007/s11252-014-0361-4

Cited by 22 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Under water‐unlimiting conditions, ET Grass is determined by radiative and atmospheric factors, rather than physiological attributes of turfgrass [ Carrow et al ., ]. Accordingly, previous in situ measurements in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area revealed similar ET Grass of cool‐season and warm‐season grasses [ Bijoor et al ., ; Litvak et al ., ; Litvak and Pataki , ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evapotranspiration of urban landscapes in Los Angeles, California at the municipal scale

Litvak

Manago

Hogue

et al. 2017

Water Resources Research

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Evapotranspiration (ET), an essential process in biosphere‐atmosphere interactions, is highly uncertain in cities that maintain cultivated and irrigated landscapes. We estimated ET of irrigated landscapes in Los Angeles by combining empirical models of turfgrass ET and tree transpiration derived from in situ measurements with previously developed remotely sensed estimates of vegetation cover and ground‐based vegetation surveys. We modeled irrigated landscapes as a two‐component system comprised of trees and turfgrass to assess annual and spatial patterns of ET. Annual ET from vegetated landscapes (ETveg) was 1110 ± 53 mm/yr and ET from the whole city (vegetated and nonvegetated areas, ETland) was three times smaller, reflecting the fractional vegetation cover. With the exception of May and June, monthly ETland was significantly higher than predicted by the North American Land Data Assimilation System. ETveg was close to potential ET, indicating abundant irrigation inputs. Monthly averaged ETveg varied from 1.5 ± 0.1 mm/d (December) to 4.3 ± 0.2 mm/d (June). Turfgrass was responsible for ∼70% of ETveg. For trees, angiosperm species (71% of all trees) contributed over 90% to total tree transpiration, while coniferous and palm species made very small contributions. ETland was linearly correlated with median household income across the city, confirming the importance of social factors in determining spatial distribution of urban vegetation. These estimates have important implications for constraining the municipal water budget of Los Angeles and improving regional‐scale hydrologic models, as well as for developing water‐saving practices. The methodology used in this study is also transferable to other semiarid regions for quantification of urban landscape ET.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evapotranspiration of urban landscapes in Los Angeles, California at the municipal scale

Litvak

Manago

Hogue

et al. 2017

Water Resources Research

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“…, Bijoor et al. ). This is financially and environmentally costly (Smetana and Crittenden ), and at odds with reduced funding for managing public spaces in many developed regions (Walls , Heritage Lottery Fund ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban meadows as an alternative to short mown grassland: effects of composition and height on biodiversity

Norton

Bending

Clark

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

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There are increasing calls to provide greenspace in urban areas, yet the ecological quality, as well as quantity, of greenspace is important. Short mown grassland designed for recreational use is the dominant form of urban greenspace in temperate regions but requires considerable maintenance and typically provides limited habitat value for most taxa. Alternatives are increasingly proposed, but the biodiversity potential of these is not well understood. In a replicated experiment across six public urban greenspaces, we used nine different perennial meadow plantings to quantify the relative roles of floristic diversity and height of sown meadows on the richness and composition of three taxonomic groups: plants, invertebrates, and soil microbes. We found that all meadow treatments were colonized by plant species not sown in the plots, suggesting that establishing sown meadows does not preclude further locally determined grassland development if management is appropriate. Colonizing species were rarer in taller and more diverse plots, indicating competition may limit invasion rates. Urban meadow treatments contained invertebrate and microbial communities that differed from mown grassland. Invertebrate taxa responded to changes in both height and richness of meadow vegetation, but most orders were more abundant where vegetation height was longer than mown grassland. Order richness also increased in longer vegetation and Coleoptera family richness increased with plant diversity in summer. Microbial community composition seems sensitive to plant species composition at the soil surface (0–10 cm), but in deeper soils (11–20 cm) community variation was most responsive to plant height, with bacteria and fungi responding differently. In addition to improving local residents’ site satisfaction, native perennial meadow plantings can produce biologically diverse grasslands that support richer and more abundant invertebrate communities, and restructured plant, invertebrate, and soil microbial communities compared with short mown grassland. Our results suggest that diversification of urban greenspace by planting urban meadows in place of some mown amenity grassland is likely to generate substantial biodiversity benefits, with a mosaic of meadow types likely to maximize such benefits.

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“…Some of the most notable and early recognized changes that occur due to urbanization include increases in imperviousness (roads, buildings, sidewalks, etc .) (Leopold, ; Alley and Veenhuis, ; Grimmond et al ., ; Shuster et al ., ; Schiff and Benoit, ; Ackerman and Stein, ; Han and Burian, ; LaFontaine et al ., ), corresponding heat island impacts (Oke, ; Arnfield, ; Rizwan et al ., ), alterations to the spatial distribution and type of vegetation (non‐native turf grass) (Small, ; Robbins and Birkenholtz, ; Alig et al ., ; Milesi et al ., ; Pataki et al ., ; Pickett et al ., ; Bijoor et al ., ), construction of storm drainage networks (Graf, ; Hsu et al ., ; Meierdiercks et al ., ), channelization of streams (Mitchell et al ., , ), leaky pipes (Bhaskar and Welty, ), and construction of infrastructure allowing imported water to be transported to urban centers (Mitchell et al ., , ; White and Greer, ). However, most of the hydrologic research in urban systems has focused on the impact of increasing imperviousness on stormwater runoff and flood control (Narayana et al ., ; Bost et al ., ; Kibler et al ., ; Fang and Su, ; Levy et al ., ; Olivera and DeFee, ; Guan et al ., ; Yao et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the primary pathways that imported water enters urban hydrologic cycles is through irrigation or outdoor landscape water use (Berg et al ., ; Wentz and Gober, ; Runfola et al ., ; Mini et al ., , b; Ouyang et al ., ; Chen et al ., ). In semiarid regions such as Southern California, non‐native vegetation species including turf grass and non‐native trees require intense irrigation to sustain greenness in such a dry climate (Milesi et al ., ; Pataki et al ., ; Litvak et al ., ; Bijoor et al ., ). A study conducted by Mini et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban Streamflow Response to Imported Water and Water Conservation Policies in Los Angeles, California

Manago

Hogue

2017

J American Water Resour Assoc

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Los Angeles has a long history of importing water; however, drought, climate change, and environmental mitigation have forced the City to focus on developing more local water sources (target of 50% local supply by 2035). This study aims to improve understanding of water cycling in Los Angeles, including the impacts of imported water and water conservation policies. We evaluate the influence of local water restrictions on discharge records for 12 years in the Ballona Creek (urban) and Topanga Creek (natural) watersheds. Results show imported water has significantly altered the timing and volume of streamflow in the urban Ballona watershed, resulting in runoff ratios above one (more streamflow than precipitation). Further analysis comparing pre‐ vs. during‐mandatory water conservation periods shows there is a significant decrease in dry season streamflow during‐conservation in Ballona, indicating that prior to conservation efforts, heavy irrigation and other outdoor water use practices were contributing to streamflow. The difference between summer streamflow pre‐ vs. during‐conservation is enough to serve 160,000 customers in Los Angeles. If Los Angeles returns to more watering days, educating the public on proper irrigation rates is critical for ensuring efficient irrigation and conserving water; however, if water restrictions remain in place, the City must take the new flow volumes into account for complying with water quality standards in the region.

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A comparative study of the water budgets of lawns under three management scenarios

Cited by 22 publications

References 61 publications

Evapotranspiration of urban landscapes in Los Angeles, California at the municipal scale

Evapotranspiration of urban landscapes in Los Angeles, California at the municipal scale

Urban meadows as an alternative to short mown grassland: effects of composition and height on biodiversity

Urban Streamflow Response to Imported Water and Water Conservation Policies in Los Angeles, California

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