Integration of the Role of Vegetation and Soil in Urban Landscape Environmental Quality: Session Summary & Posing Future Needs.

Urban grasslands have long been viewed in a narrow context as intensively managed turfgrass often implicated in water quality impairment due to high application rates of nitrogen, phosphorus, and agricultural chemicals. There has been considerable research in recent years to quantify turfgrass nutrient use efficiency, N and P losses from urban grassed landscapes, improved urban nutrient management practices, and development and promotion of more efficient turfgrass varieties to reduce nutrient losses. Because urban grasslands comprise much broader and complex systems than intensively managed turfgrass, these systems are being investigated for their potential environmental benefits to sequester soil carbon, control nitrous oxide emissions, and provide habitats that promote biodiversity. The purpose of this session is to provide a state-of-the-science on how nutrient cycling in urban grasslands influences environmental quality. This presentation will summarize the key issues raised by the session presenters, who will describe the latest research findings, landscape management case studies, extension programming, and practitioners use of our best knowledge in managing these diverse systems. I will conclude this session with a facilitated presenter-audience interactive discussion.