Astro-turfing the city: quantifying the impact of artificial lawns on the structure and function of urban ecosystems

了解城市生境的管理如何影响生物多样性和提供生态系统服务，对于创建可持续和宜居的城市至关重要。草坪是城市生态系统中的主要土地覆盖，特别是在全球北部，它们可以覆盖超过20%的城市面积(Hedblom等人。2017年)。尽管建造和维护草坪可能会产生有害的生态影响(例如，通过使用化学物质和缺乏生物多样性)，但它们确实提供了一系列有益的生态系统服务，特别是相对于不透水的硬质表面。除了娱乐等文化服务外，草坪还可以通过雨水渗透缓解洪水泛滥，固定碳，缓解城市热岛效应，并为生物多样性提供栖息地。鉴于这些好处，当前用人工替代草坪取代活草坪的趋势值得迫切关注(Francis 2018)。人们对低维护花园和公共绿地的需求日益增长，用合成聚合物(塑料)建造的人造草坪的安装迅速普及。然而，吸收的规模仍未量化，对提供生态系统服务的影响也鲜为人知。博士项目将使用一系列方法来量化人工草坪对城市生态系统结构和功能的影响。遥感将评估目前人工草坪的分布以及与之相关的栖息地的时间变化和趋势。从一家人造草坪安装公司的客户群收集的数据将验证开发的遥感方法，并提供对人造草坪使用者的动机和管理实践的洞察。从园丁那里收集的RHS数据将帮助我们了解所观察到的土地利用变化背后的社会驱动因素，并使我们能够确定最佳战略，以帮助促进向更可持续的园艺实践过渡。实地观察和实验将比较生态系统功能和各种管理措施在真实草地和人造草地上的影响，包括以下部分或全部：(1)土壤生物群和土壤健康；(2)地上生境和生物多样性；(3)固碳；(4)入渗和径流；(5)表面温度；(6)微塑料的脱落。项目成果将建立激励机制，鼓励更可持续的园艺实践。此外，还量化了人造草的吸收程度和速度及其对城市生态系统的影响和这些影响的规模。通过与CASE合作伙伴RHS的合作，将最大限度地发挥影响。

Understanding how the management of urban habitats affects biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services is essential for creating sustainable and liveable cities. Lawns are a major land cover in urban ecosystems, particularly in the Global North, where they can cover over 20% of city area (Hedblom et al. 2017). Although the creation and maintenance of lawns can have harmful ecological impacts (e.g., through chemical application and lack of biodiversity), they do provide a range of beneficial ecosystem services, especially relative to impermeable hard surfaces. In addition to cultural services such as recreation, lawns can mitigate flooding through rain infiltration, sequester carbon, moderate urban heat island effects, and provide habitat for biodiversity. Given these benefits, the current trend for replacing living lawns with artificial alternatives warrants urgent attention (Francis 2018). A growing desire for low-maintenance gardens and public green spaces has seen a rapid uptake in the installation of artificial lawns constructed from synthetic polymers (plastics). However, the scale of the uptake remains unquantified and the impacts on the provision of ecosystem services little known. The PhD project will use a range of methods to quantify the impact of artificial lawns on the structure and function of urban ecosystems. Remote sensing will assess the current distribution of artificial lawns and associated temporal changes and trends in habitat. Data gathered from the client base of an artificial grass installation company will validate the remote sensing methods developed and provide insight into the motivations and management practices of artificial lawn users. RHS data gathered from gardeners will help us to understand the social drivers underlying the observed land-use change and enable us to identify optimal strategies to help facilitate the transition towards more sustainable gardening practises. Field observation and experiments will compare ecosystem functioning and the impacts of various management practises in real vs artificial grass, to include some or all of the following: (i) soil biota and soil health; (ii) aboveground habitat and biodiversity; (iii) carbon sequestration; (iv) infiltration and run-off; (v) surface temperature; (vi) shedding of microplastics. Project outcomes will establish incentives to encourage more sustainable gardening practises. Alongside quantification of the extent and rate of the uptake of artificial grass and its impacts and the scale of these impacts on urban ecosystems. Impacts will be maximised through collaboration with the case partner, the RHS.