In our research, we are studying what determines how much carbon (C) cycles between land and the atmosphere.

In particular, we want to know:

1. whether lawns growing on former agricultural land are storing more or less C every year than lawns growing on former forestland;
2. whether lawns growing on one kind of soil are storing more or less C every year than lawns growing on another kind of soil;
3. whether lawns that have been growing for a long time are storing more C every year than lawns that were established more recently; and
4. whether the density of built structures or vegetation makes a difference to the amount of C stored on a parcel.

Answering these questions will help us to understand how much C is being stored overall, in this and in other residential landscapes. When we know how much C is being stored in lawns and residential landscapes, we will be able to figure out how (and whether) these residential landscapes are changing the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere.

We have designed our study to test each of our hypotheses, by changing one thing at a time. We have identified a set of 10 "clusters" for this study. Each cluster has the same characteristics in terms of residential age, soil type, density of built structures and vegetation, and former land use. We are planning to sample 4 lawns in each of our 10 clusters, for a total of 40 lawns involved in the study.

Click here for a chart that shows the clusters we have identified.