Nitrogen and carbon export from urban areas through removal and export of litterfall

We found that up to 52 ± 17% of residential litterfall carbon (C) and nitrogen (N; 390.6 kg C and 6.5 kg N ha−1 yr−1) is exported through yard waste removed from the City of Boston, which is equivalent to more than half of annual N outputs as gas loss (i.e. denitrification) or leaching. Our results show that removing yard waste results in a substantial decrease in N inputs to urban areas, which may offset excess N inputs from atmospheric deposition, fertilizer application and pet waste. However, export of C and N via yard waste removal may create nutrient limitation for some vegetation due to diminished recycling of nutrients. Removal of leaf litter from residential areas disrupts nutrient cycling and residential yard management practices are an important modification to urban biogeochemical cycling, which could contribute to spatial heterogeneity of ecosystems that are either N limited or saturated within urban ecosystems.