Biodiversity of arthropods is decreasing in our nation and a common factor contributing to this is the typical American lawn. The typical American lawn with its average inputs is an unsuitable environment that cannot support arthropods and their needs. Understanding the balance between biodiversity, lawns, and the homeowner is crucial in order to create a suitable lawn option. Continuing down our current path will inevitably lead to a major biodiversity crisis. This study looks at a potential solution to our question of how to increase biodiversity in the typical American lawn and that solution is a plant called Phyla nodiflora or Frog Fruit. Frog Fruit was chosen for this study system for multiple reasons, it is a host plant to three types of butterflies, it produces pollinator favored flowers, it requires minimal to no inputs and requires little maintenance. In this system we are evaluating which pollinators frequently visit the Frog Fruit’s flowers, what arthropods commonly live within Frog Fruit, and then comparing these results to the results we get when looking at typical turf grass that is planted in lawns. Another question being asked is what resources Frog Fruit provides for the arthropods that exploit this plant, such as nectar and seeds from the flower head. Results from this study can help show that alternatives to turf grass can benefit the homeowner and arthropods simultaneously while still accomplishing what the homeowner values about their lawn.
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