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Vacant urban lot soils and their potential to support ecosystem services

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Abstract

Aims

Urban soils are the basis of many ecosystem services in cities. Here, we examine formerly residential vacant lot soils in Cleveland, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan, USA for their potential to provide multiple ecosystem services. We examine two key contrasts: 1) differences between cities and 2) differences within vacant lots created during demolition, specifically pre-existing (i.e., prior to demolition) soils outside of the building footprint and fill soils added within the former building’s footprint.

Methods

Deep soil cores were collected from vacant lots in Cleveland and Detroit. Soil properties that are proxies for three ecosystem services were measured: hydraulic conductivity for stormwater retention, topsoil depth and soil nitrogen (N) level for support for plant growth, and soil carbon (C) content for C storage.

Results

Both city and soil group contrasts created distinct ecosystem service provisioning based on proxy measures. Cleveland soils had greater hydraulic conductivity and greater soil C and N levels but thinner topsoil layers than Detroit. Within vacant lots of both cities, pre-existing soils had greater soil C and N levels, but lower hydraulic conductivity values than fill soils.

Conclusions

Soil properties of vacant lots were generally suitable for providing multiple ecosystem services. City-level differences in soil properties created differences in ecosystem service potential between cities and these differences were evident in pre-existing and fill soils. When comparing between cities, though, fill soils were more similar than pre-existing soils indicating some homogenization of ecosystem service potential with greater redistribution of soil.

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Acknowledgments

We thank A. Knerl and K. Gilkey for research assistance. Previous versions of this paper were greatly improved by the comments of three anonymous reviewers. Partial financial support was provided by an appointment of D.L. Herrmann to the research participation program with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through the US DOE and US EPA. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not represent the views or policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Research Participant Program, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Dustin L. Herrmann

  2. National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    William D. Shuster & Ahjond S. Garmestani

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  1. Dustin L. Herrmann
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  2. William D. Shuster
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  3. Ahjond S. Garmestani
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Correspondence to Dustin L. Herrmann.

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Herrmann, D.L., Shuster, W.D. & Garmestani, A.S. Vacant urban lot soils and their potential to support ecosystem services. Plant Soil 413, 45–57 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-2874-5

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