Nationwide survey on the barriers to converting turfgrass lawns to pollinator-friendly native wildflowers

The abundance and diversity of insect pollinators around the world is declining and habitat loss is a leading cause. Turfgrass lawns cover a vast area in North America and provide a great opportunity for habitat restoration to native wildflowers by the general public. Efforts to encourage the public to replace lawns with wildflowers could be improved by a better understanding of the thoughts and opinions of the public about lawns. We conducted a nationwide online survey to understand what barriers are most important in preventing people from converting a 6 x 6 ft portion of turfgrass lawn to native wildflowers. We also collected data on a variety of demographic factors to see if those influence survey responses. Over 3200 people took survey across the US. We found that ‘Maintenance time’ and ‘Not knowing what to do’ were the most important barriers to creating wildflower habitat. Age was the most important demographic factor impacting results with young people significantly more likely to select multiple barriers in the survey. For example, people aged 18-34 were 4.3 times more likely to indicate ‘Maintenance cost’ would prevent them from creating a wildflower plot than those age 65 or older. Those who had already created a wildflower plot, or those who were members in a native plant or pollinator organization were less likely to select barriers across the board, except for external barriers related to homeowners associations, neighbors, and local governments. This shows that these are persistent concerns even for those that are otherwise keen to create wildflower habitat. Our results suggest that outreach promoting pollinator-friendly native plant gardens should focus on clear and simple methods, small plots that will not take too much time and less likely to provoke neighbors or authority figures.


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Human activities on earth have resulted in a loss of biodiversity worldwide [1,2]. For example,

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there has been a steady decline in the abundance of birds in North America over the last 50 years with 49 habitat loss thought to be the single most important cause [3]. The abundance and diversity of native 50 insect pollinators, such as bees, flies, and butterflies are also falling [4][5][6][7]. This is particularly troubling 51 because these pollinators provide significant ecological and economic services, and their decline would 52 result in serious negative impacts worldwide [8][9][10]. The leading cause for pollinator declines is also 53 habitat loss, notably the loss of native wildflowers [4,9] and the overuse of pesticides and fertilizers [6, 54 7]. Turfgrass lawns contribute to this problem as they provide little to no resources for pollinators [11] 55 and cover a total surface area of 163,812 km 2 in the US, roughly the size of Georgia [12]. This is three who we will reach out to first. This project provides resources to help the general public convert lawns to 90 pollinator-friendly wildflower habitats, to learn to identify pollinators, and to collect data on pollinators.

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Survey details 94 We developed an online survey using the Qualtrics XM ® Software (https://www.qualtrics.com/) 95 that was distributed between 28 August, 2018 and 18 April, 2019. Anyone could take the survey, though 96 we requested that the individuals only take it if over the age of 18. The survey included a question which 97 asked people to select all the barriers that might prevent them from converting a 6 6 ft patch of turfgrass 98 in their front yard to a patch of wildflowers. We included 11 potential barriers to lawn-to-wildflowers neighbors', and 'Violation of homeowners association policies'). We also included a twelfth choice as 106 'None apply.'

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The survey also included a series of multiple-choice questions relating to the demographics of the 108 respondent. This included basic demographic questions related to age, gender, income and education. We 109 pulled nationwide census data from 2018 to compare the demographics of our respondents to the nation at 110 large (S1 Table). We included some additional questions related to the topic of lawns, homeowners' where responses came from (S1 Fig.). We included a question that asked for Zip Code, using the middle 117 of the Zip Code area to determine location when other coordinates were not available. Responses that 118 were incomplete, did not have location data, or were from outside the US and southern Canada (below 119 54° N) were removed from the dataset (N=483).

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Distribution of survey 122 We promoted the survey using our Lawn to Wildflowers social media accounts, utilizing paid 123 advertisements and boosted posts on Facebook and Instagram. A sample of the post we used for most 124 paid advertisements is included in supporting information (S2 Fig.). One round of advertisements targeted 125 people in the US by using the topic keywords "pollination, beekeeping, wildflower, and lawn" to reach 126 individuals already interested in the topics of the survey. To diversify the audience taking the survey we 127 also targeted a younger audience (below 50) and more conservative audience using the topic keywords 128 "American football, lawn mower, and lawn". We also conducted an email campaign where we messaged

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Our final dataset had 3249 survey responses located across the US and some in Southern Canada.

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Most survey responses originated from the eastern US, most notably the coasts of Florida and New

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England, although responses were scattered throughout the US (S1 Fig.). Our surveyed population tended 150 to be older, more educated, and more female than the average person according to US census data. Of our respondents, 56.5% were over the age of 55 (Table 1), compared to only 28.9% of US citizens in the same 152 age range (S1 Table). Also, 80.8% of our respondents had achieved some degree of formal college 153 education (defined as an associate degree or higher) as opposed to 41.2% of Americans in census data (S1 154  Table). Furthermore, 76.7% of respondents identified as women, while 50.8% of Americans overall 155 identify as women (Table 1, S1 Table). Finally, our audience had a very strong interest in the topic, with 156 71% of respondents identifying that they were extremely concerned about pollinator declines and 79% 157 identifying that they would create a 6 x 6 ft wildflower plot (Table 2).  198 3, Table 3). Conversely, we found that households making $75K to $500K per year being 2.2 times more 199 likely to select 'Appearance' as a barrier than households making less than $35K (Fig. 3, Table 3).  Other demographics had smaller effects on responses, such as gender, education level, and 219 membership in an HOA. We found that women were 1.4 times more likely to say that 'Not knowing what 220 to do' would prevent them from participating (Fig. 4, Table 3). This was the only barrier that gender 221 played a significant role in the response. People with higher education levels selected 'Maintenance time' 222 more than those with less education (Fig. 4, Table 3). Specifically, those with a doctorate degree were 1.9 223 times more likely to select 'Maintenance time' than those with high school education (Fig. 4). Finally, 224 people in homeowners' associations were 11.5 times more likely to select 'Violation of HOA policies' 225 and 2.8 more likely to select 'Opinions of neighbors' as potential barriers (Table 3, Fig. 4).

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Respondents who were either a member of a native plant or pollinator organization or had already 234 created a wildflower plot selected fewer barriers overall than other respondents (Tables 2 and 3).

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Membership in native plant or pollinator organization reduced number of barriers selected for six of 11 236 potential barriers (Table 3). And having previously created a plot strongly reduced number of barriers 237 selected for eight out of 11 potential barriers (Table 3) Table 2). This audience skewed heavily female (77%), and was older, more 250 educated, and higher income than the general population (Table 1, S1 Table). Among the 11 barriers we 251 included that could prevent lawn to wildflower conversions, most (9 of 11) had fewer than 15% of people 252 select them. The most common response in the survey was "None apply to me" (36.4% of people). This

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suggests that the population we surveyed was, overall, keen to convert lawns to wildflowers. In fact, 57% 254 of respondents had already created wildflower plots (

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Income, education, gender, and membership in HOA's and plant and pollinators organizations 320 also shaped responses. The results we found related to income were predictable and understandable.

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People with less money are more likely to be concerned with cost and fines from local governments.

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Interestingly, those with higher incomes were more concerned with appearances (Fig. 3). This could be 323 because high income people live in neighborhoods where well or professionally manicured lawns are 324 commonplace, and that may shape views on beauty expectations for yards [19]. Men were less deterred 325 by 'Not knowing what to do' then women, but the reasons for this small effect are not known. Not 326 surprisingly, people in HOAs were 11.5 times more likely to be deterred by HOA policies, but they were 327 also 2.8 times more likely to be deterred by the 'Opinions of neighbors'. These results reinforce the idea 328 that the influence of HOAs result in communities that self-enforce strong social norms regarding 329 appearances of lawns [34].

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One of the primary motivations for this study was to guide the outreach efforts of our public science 333 project Lawn to Wildflowers and other organizations that are advocating for native plants and pollinators.

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Given the results of our survey we have the following recommendations for organizations promoting 335 pollinator-friendly native plant gardens: