Green space enhances this tourist attraction and mitigates some of the heat island effect. Photo by Steve Trusty


Tey increase labile soil carbon, total soil carbon, and soil organic matter. Data also suggests that this carbon sink can last for up to 30 to 40 years after establishment, with approximately 563 million tons of carbon sequestered in the top eight inches of soil over 30 years.


Another potential benefit of urban turfgrasses with regard to energy is their ability to mitigate urban heat islands, reducing energy costs. Research on the effects of urban heat islands in 2014 indicates that 57 out of 60 cities measured have seen temperature increases since the 1940s. Plants, primarily trees and grasses, help mitigate this effect as a result of radiative shading and evapotranspiration. Tese cooling effects are not only capable of reducing temperatures in urban environments, but also significantly reducing energy use, cooling costs, and carbon emissions from power plants.


On a national scale, mitigating urban heat islands could reduce energy costs by up to 20 percent and $10 billion per year. Other research has measured reductions in power plant emissions resulting from green spaces in Beijing, China, and documented 60 percent reductions in net energy required for cooling, which equates to an annual reduction in CO2


emissions of 243,000 tons.


Te unique growth habit, flowering, and fibrous root system of perennial turfgrasses make them one of the most appropriate plants for use in urban landscapes, and few, if any, other plant species can provide comparable benefits or functions.


However, their uniqueness also places them differently in the minds of citizens and policy makers who may not recognize the relationships that turfgrasses share with other plant species, nor their positive environmental


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Tis botanical garden uses turfgrass to draw your eyes towards another display. Photo by Steve Trusty


Turfgrasses contribute multiple environmental pluses to urban areas, such as this residential neighborhood. Photo by Steve Trusty


impacts. If we can get decision-makers to start seeing turfgrasses as flowering plants that are both similar to, and different from, other plants found in the landscape then they may have a better appreciation of what this functional, durable, and beautiful plant provides in our daily lives.


Casey Reynolds, PhD, is executive director of Turfgrass Producers International.


TPI Turf News November/December 2017


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