Lawn as Ecological and Cultural Phenomenon: Search for sustainable lawns in Sweden

Maria Ignatieva

Maria Ignatieva was Professor in Landscape Architecture at SLU until 2019. Her research includes globalization of plant material, history of landscape architecture (including history of lawns), ecological design and urban ecology. She also tries to realize in landscape architecture practice her research on Low Impact Design including implementation of sustainable lawns. In our project she was one of the project coordinators and working with historical, cultural and social aspects as well as designing of alternative lawns.

Karin Ahrné

Karin Ahrné is researcher and advisor at the Swedish Species Information Centre (SLU). She is chairman of the Swedish expert committee of Lepidoptera working with species information on and the Red List of Swedish Lepidoptera. She did her PhD in ecology studying effects of urbanization and local green area management on pollinators mainly bumble bees. Her main research interest is biodiversity in human dominated landscapes. In our project Karin is studying bees and butterflies of urban grasslands and was one of the coordinators of the project.

Jörgen Wissman

Jörgen Wissman is Researcher at the Swedish Biodiversity Centre CBM (SLU). He did his Doctoral degree in Ecology and Conservation biology and studied grazing regimes and plant reproduction in Semi-Natural Grasslands. In our project Jörgen was working as a researcher of plant biodiversity and one of the coordinators of the project.

Tuula Eriksson

Tuula Eriksson was Sociologist involving in researching and teaching at Landscape Architecture Division, SLU until 2018. She was a very experienced researcher within areas as organization theory, sociology and communication.  In our project she was responsible for designing, running and analyzing interviews. Tuula had a specific responsibility to develop the interview methods and ensure a co-ordination of interview-questions and –technique.

Jan Bengtsson

Jan Bengtsson is Professor of Ecology and Environmental Sciences at the Ecology Department. One of his main research interests is biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, management of biodiversity and ecosystem services, interdisciplinary approaches to biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services management in human-dominated landscapes. In our project Janne was responsible for the studies of earthworms

Per Berg

Per G Berg is Professor in Landscape Architecture with a special focus on Sustainable Community Development in Urban and Rural settings at the LTV (Faculty of Landscape Architecture, Horticulture and Crop Production Sciences). He is the research director for local community studies in 11 cities in the Baltic Sea region for 20 years and is at present investigating Functional Densification in Swedish Townscapes in three cities. In the LAWN project Per was working with site selection and description, planning, running and analysis of interviews and questionnaires and communication with stakeholders and communities.

Pernilla Tidåker

Pernilla Tidåker is Researcher in Agrarian Farming system. One of her main research interest is Environmental systems analysis including life cycle assessment and substance flow analysis of current and future agricultural production systems at different scales. In our project Pernilla was collecting data through questionnaires on e.g. use of mineral fertilizer and mowing frequency from all types of lawn. She also compiled the data into total energy use and global warming potential (GWP) in a life cycle perspective. In the assessment of GWP, data on carbon sequestration using the ICBM was included.

Håkan Marstorp

Håkan Marstorp is Researcher in Plant nutrition and Soil biology at the Department of Soil and Environment. His main research area was within soil fertility and plant nutrition, especially within soil biological process. Håkan’s research has included field experiments, use of mathematical models to estimate N mineralisation and nitrate losses, lysimeter studies and process oriented research at laboratory scale. In our project he was responsible for planning and performance of studies of carbon sequestration and biomass production.

Thomas Kätterer

Thomas Kätterer is Professor in Ecosystem ecology at the Ecology Department. He studies states and fluxes of elements within ecosystems and his research was mainly focusing on carbon cycling. In our project Thomas was studying the effect of lawn types and their management on soil carbon sequestration. He analyzed the empirical data on soil and biomass production with a dynamic soil carbon model.

Tom Ericsson

Tom Ericsson was Senior Lecturer at SLU until 2015.  His main research interests was nutrients and this field of applications. He conducted both as a research and information dissemination to the public. Tom’s research was focused on environmentally friendly fertilization of golf courses. Tom was involved in the planning and design of demonstration sites.

Marcus Hedblom

Marcus Hedblom is Researcher at the Department of Forest Resource Management National Inventory of Landscapes in Sweden (NILS) c / o Department of Ecology. Marcus has also been employed at Uppsala Municipality and has a lot of experience of interdisciplinary work and communication with stakeholders. He was also project leader for the urban monitoring in National Inventory of Landscapes in Sweden (NILS). Marcus was our contact for using NILS data on bumble bees, plants and butterflies and also responsible for the big scale data collection.

Karin Norlin

Karin Norlin is a Research Assistant at the Swedish Biodiversity Centre (SLU). She has a Masters degree in Conservation biology from Uppsala University and performed her Master's thesis within the LAWN project. She studied the ecological responses that different mowing frequencies and nitrogen levels had on 12 private lawns and also compared norms regarding lawn-aesthetics and lawn-management between the lawn-owners.