Ecosystem Services

By refugelawn, on 05/12/2021

Human activities remove and fragment natural habitat for insect pollinators. This lack of biodiversity is a leading contributor to declining pollinator populations. Refuge Lawn seeks to improve our understanding of common lawn plants and their role within the larger environment.

Turfgrass lawns often carry a negative connotation, but in the human “built” environment, lawns and managed landscapes often serve a purpose. They provide outdoor space for congregation, sport, and aesthetics. Lawns can also provide key ecosystem services, such as mitigation of the urban heat island effect, dust and pollutant capture, erosion control, carbon sequestration, and oxygen evolution. These services are highly variable and are often difficult to estimate – due in part to things such as turfgrass species, required maintenance inputs, and local environment.