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How does conversion to turfgrass land cover affect the atmosphere/climate system?
Approximately 2% of the land surface of the United States is covered by turfgrass (Milesi et al. 2005), and this percentage is rapidly increasing. Turfgrass systems are constructed ecosystems subject to intensive management. As in many ecosystems, management practices as well as biotic factors (cultivar, soil microbial communities) and abiotic factors (soil type, climate) strongly influence land-atmosphere interactions in these systems. However, soil biogeochemical cycling and the magnitude of important trace gas fluxes may differ significantly from the natural and agricultural ecosystems that were present prior to turfgrass establishment. We conducted a manipulative experiment of temperature and fertilizer application in a typical turfgrass ecosystem in southern California, with the ultimate goal of quantifying trace gas fluxes from this ecosystem, understanding the influence of management practices and climate, and determining the costs and benefits of conversion to turfgrass land cover. We are now expanding this work to quantify variability in turfgrass and urban soil emissions over time and space in order to scale these estimates regionally.
