Phoenix, Arizona (USA) residential yard management and vegetation change over time: 2008-2019

This project sampled residential front yards in four Phoenix, AZ neighborhoods to address questions about how residential yard vegetation varies among neighborhoods and changes over time and in response to resident attitudes. Neighborhoods were located on an approximate north-to-south transect in the city of Phoenix and represented different dominant landscape types (xeric or mesic) and different socioeconomic conditions. The project originated in summer 2008, when approximately 100 parcels were selected in each of the four neighborhoods for front yard vegetation sampling. All yards which could be relocated and accessed in the summer of 2018 were resampled, and current residents were surveyed to understand their yard management motivations, attitudes, and changes made. Yards of 100 survey respondents were resampled a third time in 2019. Yard sampling primarily focused on yard woody vegetation identification, but also included ground cover, yard type of neighboring yards, and features such as fences, lighting, and social infrastructure. Social and yard survey data can be linked with unique identifiers provided in the datasets.