About

Urban landscapes are becoming less dense and dominated by residential areas in developing and wealthy nations. These landscapes are one of the fastest growing land cover types globally. These systems alter patterns of biodiversity through habitat fragmentation and the creation of designed ecosystems such as ornamental gardens, lawns, yards, and stormwater ponds. Our lab studies the ecology of these expanding ecosystems. Within this context, we are interested in many topics, including sustainability, spatial ecology, community- and ecosystem-level interactions, biological invasions, ecosystem services, and ecological restoration. Our work is interdisciplinary, applied, and involves collaborations with non-academic, science end users.

Research topics

• Geography
• Environmental science
• Ecology
• Biology
• Political Science
• Environmental resource management
• Computer Science
• Environmental planning
• Public relations
• Psychology
• Artificial Intelligence
• Linguistics
• Engineering
• Fishery
• World Wide Web
• Remote sensing
• Data science
• Database
• Civil engineering

Selected publications

• Irrigation requirements, drought tolerance, and stability of warm‐season legumes intermixed in turfgrass

  Crop Science · 2026-03-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Integrating legumes into turfgrass systems can reduce nitrogen fertilizer needs in urban landscapes through biological nitrogen fixation while enhancing plant biodiversity in urban lawns. However, the persistence and water requirements of these associations have not been evaluated in warm‐season lawns. A field study was conducted from June 2021 to July 2023 at the University of Florida's West Florida Research and Education Center (Jay, FL) using a linear gradient irrigation system. In June 2021, three perennial peanut (PP) cultivars—Golden Glory ( Arachis pintoi Krapov. & W.C. Greg), Ecoturf ( Arachis glabrata ), and Cowboy ( A. glabrata )—along with the US native Mimosa strigillosa , were interplanted in centipedegrass ( Eremochloa ophiuroides Munro), St. Augustinegrass [ Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze], and bahiagrass ( Paspalum notatum Flugge). The experiment was arranged as a split‐strip‐block design with four replicates. The objectives were to evaluate the percent cover of the legumes when growing with three different turfgrass species under an irrigation gradient and to estimate the stress coefficients (Sc) and soil volumetric water content thresholds to maintain acceptable legume quality. Overall, most legumes increased in cover since trial initiation when examined under mowing heights of 5.0–7.6 cm. The average Sc for Cowboy, Ecoturf, mimosa, and Golden Glory were 0.29, 0.32, 0.37, and 0.73, respectively. The rhizomatous peanuts and mimosa exhibited greater drought tolerance and lower irrigation requirements than turfgrass monocultures, highlighting their potential for water conservation via reduced irrigation inputs. Results show that rhizomatous PPs like Ecoturf and Cowboy could be interplanted into turfgrasses to enhance lawn sustainability.

  PublisherDOI

• Saving water, supporting pollinators: Greening new residential developments through soil remediation and diverse native plantings

  Urban forestry & urban greening · 2025-12-02

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Experimental assessment of the effects of sustainable landscaping practices on beetles in a new residential land development

  PeerJ · 2025-12-16

  articleOpen access

  As cities sprawl globally, the need for sustainable landscaping practices becomes more critical for addressing issues like water conservation, soil health, and local biodiversity. Beetles are valuable environmental indicators of insect habitat quality and are ecologically important. Here we experimentally assessed the response of ground-active beetle communities to sustainable landscaping practices ( i.e. , drought-tolerant native plants, reduced irrigation, and compost-amended soils) in an ongoing suburban development in Central Florida, one of the fastest growing regions in the USA. We assessed beetle activity density, diversity, and ecological functionality during the wet and dry seasons using pitfall traps, a well-tested technique for sampling ground arthropods. We hypothesized that the reduced compaction and better moisture retention of compost-amended soil would create better conditions for soil-dwelling beetles that use soil for egg deposition and larval development. We also hypothesized that plant growth-form traits would affect the spatial distribution of beetles within the experimental plots. Finally, we hypothesized that irrigation treatments would not affect beetle communities which are adapted to the region’s seasonal rainfall patterns. Results showed that beetle species richness positively correlated with percent cover of native ground cover forbs, and that beetle activity density tended to decline with increasing pine straw mulch coverage. Warmer soils enhanced both richness and activity density, while both of these metrics exhibited a hump-shaped pattern relative to soil moisture, peaking at intermediate levels. Trait-environment relationships revealed that beetle traits, including diet, body size, and larval substrate use, varied with microclimatic conditions. Trait diversity rose with species richness but plateaued due to trait saturation, while uneven trait distribution suggested filtering and niche separation driven by short-term climatic conditions. This work highlights the importance of research aimed at identifying landscaping approaches that both support insect biodiversity and meet environmental sustainability objectives in urbanizing landscapes.

  PublisherDOI

• United States forests are increasingly invaded by problematic non-native plants

  Forest Ecology and Management · 2025-10-31

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Stormwater ponds: Unaccounted environmental challenges of a widely-adopted best management practice in urban landscapes

  Journal of Environmental Management · 2025-01-18 · 8 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Stormwater ponds (SWPs) are an increasingly common management tool for flood control and water quality protection in urban areas. They are designed to buffer the impacts to downstream environments caused by altered hydrologic, chemical, biological, and ecological processes in developed watersheds. While small in size, they can have disproportionately large impacts on watersheds because they store, transform, and release inputs of carbon (C) and nutrients, mainly nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). In this review, we discuss how SWPs are not passive conveyances of nutrients and C, where minimal internal processing occurs. Rather, they are active hotspots of biogeochemical processing, with implications for downstream water quality protection. We highlight how processes of assimilation, sedimentation, erosion, filtration, remineralization and remobilization, gaseous transformations, and the activities of living organisms all transform nutrients and C in SWPs, sometimes making ponds net exporters of nutrients, rather than net sinks or removers, as is often believed. There are numerous unaccounted challenges in SWP management, such as in-pond processes that decouple pond effluent and influent quality; that sedimentation often fails as a proxy indicator for nutrient removal; how optimizing for removal of one nutrient (nitrogen or phosphorus) may reduce removal efficiencies of the other; or how nutrient removal strategies may be at odds with strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from SWPs. Our goal is to show that SWPs play large roles in constraining and mediating the fluxes of materials and energy in urban ecosystems and that their effluent water quality is driven not only by inflowing water quality but largely also by in-pond processes that warrant increased future research. • Stormwater ponds (SWPs) are increasingly common feature of urban landscapes. • SWPs do not meet nutrient removal targets. • Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphorus inputs are transformed before downstream export. • Multiple internal, understudied processes regulate carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus dynamics. • Effectively managing C N, and P export via SWPs requires a better understanding of internal pond processes.

  PublisherDOI

• Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) invasive plant species data from the eastern United States, intersected with wildland-urban interface (WUI) status and land cover context

  Forest Service Research Data Archive · 2024-04-16

  dataset

  This archive contains research data collected and/or funded by Forest Service Research and Development (FS R&D), U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is a resource for accessing both short and long-term FS R&D research data, which includes Experimental Forest and Range data. It is a way to both preserve and share the quality science of our researchers.

  PublisherDOI

• Nitrogen leaching and groundwater recharge of alternative lawn conversions in subtropical climates

  Crop Science · 2024-10-16 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Climate change, recurrent droughts, and increasing urban water demands have limited water availability in urban landscapes. Water quantity challenges have led to irrigation restrictions and turfgrass removal programs. An experiment was conducted at the University of Florida, West Florida Research and Education Center, Jay, FL, to evaluate the effect of turfgrass conversion to other landscape types on nutrient leaching and groundwater recharge. In April 2021, all surface vegetation was removed from existing turfgrass plots using a sod harvester. Thereafter, plots were planted or covered with three landscape types: a pollinator landscape with flowering forbs ( Mimosa sp ., Coreopsis sp ., and Phyla sp .) + turfgrass ( Eremochloa ophiuroides ); a nitrogen (N)‐efficient lawn ( Arachis glabrata + Paspalum notatum ); and a low‐input landscape with unplanted woodchip mulch. Undisturbed turfgrass ( E. ophiuroides ) served as a control. For 2 years, leachate samples were collected weekly from previously installed 168‐L drainage lysimeters for NO 3 ‐N and NH 4 ‐N load determination. Temporal changes in landscape composition, groundwater recharge, water use, and soil bulk density were also quantified. While the mulch leached 44.7 kg ha −1 NO 3 ‐N year −1 , this landscape still offers positive attributes, including erosion protection and water conservation. Conversely, the pollinator landscape minimized nitrogen leaching (8.3 kg ha −1 NO 3 ‐N year −1 ) due to their relatively greater water use rates (3.56 mm day −1 ). The turfgrass and nitrogen‐efficient lawn returned ∼35% of the water inputs as groundwater recharge while maintaining relatively low nitrogen leaching (3.6 and 2.7 kg ha −1 NO 3 ‐N year −1 , respectively), making these landscapes efficient for protecting both water quality and quantity.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Investigating multi‐trophic effects of St. Augustinegrass cultivar blends in the Southeastern United States

  Crop Science · 2024-11-04

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Warm‐season turfgrasses, including St. Augustinegrass [ Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze], are produced and installed as monocultures of single cultivars. Recent research indicates that blending St. Augustinegrass cultivars can increase turfgrass stand resilience to insect pests, establishment of undesired plant species, and abiotic stressors without reducing plant performance. However, effects on specific key turfgrass insect pests are less documented and the mechanisms driving changes in turfgrass stand resilience are unclear. Moreover, it remains unknown if the effects of cultivar blends on biotic resistance vary across St. Augustinegrass’ range. Here, we pair a regional common garden observational field study with a controlled greenhouse experiment to isolate the effects of cultivar blends on the recruitment of predatory arthropods (top‐down pest regulation) and on southern chinch bug [ Blissus insularis Barber] performance (bottom‐up pest regulation). We find that cultivar diversity has no effect on natural enemy recruitment but natural enemies do vary predictably with changes in geographic location. In contrast to our hypothesis, southern chinch bug reached higher densities in cultivar blends compared to cultivar monocultures, although this effect was driven by specific cultivar blends. Despite higher pest densities in turfgrass blends on average, blends of four St. Augustinegrass cultivars maintained a higher percent green cover than cultivar monocultures, suggesting that cultivar blends can persist longer under elevated pest densities compared to cultivar monocultures. Our findings can guide future research focused on blending warm‐season turfgrass cultivars as an integrated pest management strategy for more resilient and sustainable turfgrass lawns.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Landscape and female fertility evaluation of seven heavenly bamboo cultivars as potential non-invasive alternatives to the wildtype

  PLoS ONE · 2024-09-20

  articleOpen access

  In recent years, breeding initiatives have been made to reduce the fecundity of invasive plants leading to sterile cultivars. The wildtype form of heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica Thunb. (Berberidaceae) and seven cultivars were evaluated for landscape performance, fruit production and seed viability at three sites in Florida located in southwest, northcentral, and north Florida. For heavenly bamboo cultivars in north Florida, 'Emerald Sea', 'Greray' (Sunray®), 'Lemon-Lime', 'Murasaki' (Flirt™), 'SEIKA' (Obsession™), and 'Twilight' performed well throughout much of the study with average visual quality ratings between 3.54 and 4.60 (scale of 1 to 5). In northcentral Florida heavenly bamboo cultivars are 'Emerald Sea', 'Greray', 'Lemon-Lime', 'Murasaki', 'SEIKA', and 'Twilight' performed well throughout much of the study with average quality ratings between 4.49 and 4.94. In southwest Florida, 'Emerald Sea', 'Greray', 'Lemon-Lime', 'Murasaki', and 'SEIKA' performed well with average quality ratings between 3.40 and 4.83. At all three sites, 'Emerald Sea' and the wildtype were similar in size, having the greatest growth indices compared to medium-sized cultivars ('Greray', 'Lemon-Lime', 'Twilight' and 'SEIKA') and dwarf-sized cultivars ('Chime' and 'Murasaki'). For three consecutive fall-winter seasons of the study, 'Chime', 'Greray', and 'Lemon-Lime' heavenly bamboo did not fruit at any of the study sites. Among the three sites, 'Murasaki' had 97.7% to 99.9% fruit reduction, 'SEIKA' had 97.7% to 100% fruit reduction, and 'Twilight' had 95.9% to 100% fruit reduction compared to the wildtype at respective sites. Seeds collected from low fruiting cultivars ('Murasaki', 'SEIKA', and 'Twilight') had 33.3% to 66.7% viability, as determined by tetrazolium tests. In comparison, 'Emerald Sea' produced as much, if not more, fruit as the wildtype, especially in northern Florida, with seed viability ranging from 6.7% to 29.0% among sites. Nuclear DNA content of cultivars were comparable to the wildtype, suggesting they are diploids. These findings identified four low to no fruiting heavenly bamboo cultivars recommended for landscape use ('Lemon-Lime', 'SEIKA', 'Murasaki', and 'Greray').

  PublisherDOI

• Effects of Urban Fertilizer Ordinances on Water Quality

  EDIS · 2024-01-18

  articleOpen access

  Originating from environmental or humans sources, too much nitrogen (N) and/or phosphorus (P) in water bodies can degrade water quality. In an attempt to reduce the contribution of human sources of N and P to local waters, urban fertilizer ordinances have been adopted in at least 35 counties in Florida and 97 additional Florida municipalities. Despite this work, the efficacy of fertilizer ordinances are debated by end users. The purpose of this publication is to summarize a peer-reviewed, scientific article that investigated impacts of fertilizer on long-term water quality trends in Florida lakes (Smidt et al. 2022) and is intended to be used by UF/IFAS Extension faculty and/or regulatory officials considering adopting or modifying an urban fertilizer ordinance. We encourage green industry professionals and concerned community members to share the effectiveness of fertilizer ordinances.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Songlin Fei

  Purdue University System

  36 shared

• Qinfeng Guo

  Triangle

  31 shared

• Kevin M. Potter

  26 shared

• Christopher M. Oswalt

  Southern Research Station

  17 shared

• Eban Z. Bean

  Rogers (United States)

  11 shared

• Jérôme Mathieu

  Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris

  11 shared

• Bryan C. Pijanowski

  Purdue University System

  11 shared

• David H. Wise

  University of Illinois Chicago

  11 shared

Labs

• RESIDENTIAL LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY LABPI

  Ecology of residential and urban landscapes, Urban biodiversity, Ecological restoration, Spatial ecology, and Biological invasions