Residential lawn lysimeter nutrient leaching data

Residential lawn management often includes fertilizer application to
encourage healthy plant growth and support the aesthetic preferences of
homeowners and communities. These inputs may negatively impact the
environment by increasing nutrient export to aquatic ecosystems via
surface runoff or leaching through soil into groundwater. Fertilizer
management and nutrient export are of particular concern in karst areas
like North-Central Florida, where the underlying karst geology leads to
rapid, direct connections between surface and groundwater ecosystems. We
quantified nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) leaching from residential
landscapes in North-Central Florida. We investigated nutrient leaching
from landscapes spanning a real estate gradient and across different
fertility treatments (no N fertilizer, synthetic mineral fertilizer,
biosolids-based organic mineral fertilizer, compost topdressing, and
natural areas). We measured leachate from these landscapes weekly for one
year. All residential landscapes, including control yards that received no
N fertilizer, leached >10x more nitrate than natural areas, and
landscapes treated with synthetic fertilizer exhibited an >80x
increase in nitrate leaching. Fertilizer treatments also appeared to alter
the N leaching composition, with a greater proportion of total dissolved N
leaching coming from nitrate in fertilized treatments (synthetic, organic)
compared to natural, control, or compost-treated landscapes. These results
show that landscape management and human actions are important drivers of
nutrient leaching in residential landscapes. While all residential lawns
leached more N than natural areas, less leaching was associated with
certain management approaches. When implemented at larger scales, these
approaches may reduce the likelihood of negative impacts of residential
landscapes on regional water quality.