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ABSTRACT Home lawns account for a large portion of the pervious segments of urbanized watersheds. Soil movement and compaction during building construction processes alter soil physical properties, and thus, change hydrologic characteristics of the area. This research quantified the infiltration rates of 15 home lawns in central Pennsylvania and correlated the infiltration rates with selected turf and soil characteristics. Average infiltration rates ranged from 0. 4 to 10. 0 cm/hr (0. 16 to 3.94 in/hr). Correlations with grass tiller density, soil bulk density, and percentages of sand, silt, and clay were not significant. Excavation procedures and lawn establishment methods appear to affect infiltration of home lawns more than any other factors.
Key words: Home lawn, infiltration, runoff, soil physical properties, turfgrass, urbanization
Water infiltration into the soil surface affects surface runoff, erosion, and groundwater recharge. Infiltration data are useful for watershed evaluation, irrigation system design, and hydrologic budget design.
Land hydrologic characteristics change as the use of the land changes. Urbanization affects the hydrology of an area more than any other change in land use (Leopold 1968). Urbanization significantly changes the ratio of impervious area to pervious area. Roads, driveways, sidewalks, roofs, and other impervious structures decrease the area for groundwater recharge.
The increasing portion of impervious areas during urbanization and its effect on water has been well studied and documented (Tholin and Keifer 1960; Antoine 1964; Leopold 1968; Brater 1968; Lull and Sopper 1969). Research is needed on the effect of urbanization on the remaining pervious sections of the watershed. These areas are all that remain to conduct water to the groundwater aquifer systems. Construction and management of these areas must maximize the soil infiltration rate, causing less water to run off and potentially increasing the amount entering groundwater reservoirs.
Most of the pervious fractions in urban areas are in the form of lawns that are planted with turfgrass. Roberts and Roberts (1988) estimated that there was about 24 million acres of lawns in the United States, yet little is known about the hydrologic characteristics of home lawns.
The objective of this research was to quantify infiltration rates of various home lawns and to determine whether these rates were correlated with tiller density; thatch; lawn age, quality, and maintenance; bulk density, and...