Homeowner preferences drive lawn care practices and species diversity patterns in new lawn floras

Abstract Households intensively manage lawns to create uniformly green, low diversity plant communities. Because occupy a large proportion of urban green space, they are crucial case for understanding how people manipulate vegetation. In this study, I focused on 58 homeowners who purchased newly constructed home and yard in the Seattle Metropolitan Statistical Area, USA, see preferences, lawn care regimes new floras develop within multi-scalar environment. A typical homeowner watered 3 times spring, 24 summer, applied fertilizer twice, mowed 21 edged 15 times. Most turfgrasses were Lolium perenne, Poa pratensis and/or Festuca spp. Mean species richness was 6.5 ± 5.3 species. The most frequent non-native cosmopolitan (turfgrasses, Hypochaeris radicata, Taraxacum officinale Trifolium repens). Five variables increased probability managing their as turfgrass monocultures: living neighborhood with larger yards, summer watering frequency, valuing space children wildlife habitat. Valuing an easy decreased monoculture probability. polyculture having positively correlated non-turfgrass richness, but elevation negatively correlated. Homeowners valued appeared have more intensive than those habitat or yards. Although result from complex interactions environment households, characteristics be weaker drivers preferences care.