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Liem DG, Woo YC. Encouraging online consumers into making better food choices: The power of nature exposure on healthy food choices. Appetite 2024; 199:107382. [PMID: 38723667 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Revised: 04/25/2024] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND online environments can influence food desire and choices. We tested if online calming nature and stressful street environments can affect desire for healthy and unhealthy foods. METHOD we asked 238 participants (40 ± 14 yrs) to rate their desire (100 mm VAS) for 7 low calorie nutrient rich foods (Healthy) and 7 high calorie nutrient poor foods (Unhealthy), and perceived stress (state anxiety in STAI), before and after imagining themselves in a control, nature park, or busy street condition. RESULTS participants who imagined themselves being in a nature park had a significant higher desire for Healthy foods, than participants in the busy street condition (p < 0.05). Participants in the busy street condition decreased their desire for Healthy foods after they imagined themselves in a busy street (p < 0.05)). However, perceived stress did not impact the association between condition and desire for low calorie foods nor high calorie foods. CONCLUSION this study suggests that online environments can have an impact on healthy food desires, which could be of importance for the increased number of food choices which are made in online environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Djin Gie Liem
- Deakin University, CASS Food Research Centre, Australia.
| | - Yu Chu Woo
- Deakin University, CASS Food Research Centre, Australia.
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2
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Bonthoux S, Chollet S. Wilding cities for biodiversity and people: a transdisciplinary framework. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:1458-1480. [PMID: 38514244 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2022] [Revised: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
Accelerating urbanisation and associated lifestyle changes result in loss of biodiversity and diminished wellbeing of people through fewer direct interactions and experiences with nature. In this review, we propose the notion of urban wilding (the promotion of autonomous ecological processes that are independent of historical land-use conditions, with minimal direct human maintenance and planting interventions) and investigate its propensity to improve biodiversity and people-nature connections in cities. Through a large interdisciplinary synthesis, we explore the ecological mechanisms through which urban wilding can promote biodiversity in cities, investigate the attitudes and relations of city dwellers towards urban wild spaces, and discuss the integration of urban wilding into the fabric of cities and its governance. We show that favouring assembly spontaneity by reducing planting interventions, and functional spontaneity by limiting maintenance practices, can promote plant diversity and provide ecological resources for numerous organisms at habitat and city scales. These processes could reverse biotic homogenisation, but further studies are needed to understand the effects of wilding on invasive species and their consequences. From a socio-ecological perspective, the attitudes of city dwellers towards spontaneous vegetation are modulated by successional stages, with grassland and woodland stages preferred, but dense shrubby vegetation stages disliked. Wild spaces can diversify physical interactions with nature, and enrich multi-sensory, affective and cognitive experiences of nature in cities. However, some aspects of wild spaces can cause anxiety, feeling unsafe, and the perception of abandonment. These negative attitudes could be mitigated by subtle design and maintenance interventions. While nature has long been thought of as ornamental and instrumental in cities, urban wilding could help to develop relational and intrinsic values of nature in the fabric of cities. Wildness and its singular aesthetics should be combined with cultural norms, resident uses and urban functions to plan and design urban spatial configurations promoting human-non-human cohabitation. For urban wilding to be socially just and adapted to the needs of residents, its implementation should be backed by inclusive governance opening up discussion forums to residents and urban workers. Scientists can support these changes by collaborating with urban actors to design and experiment with new wild spaces promoting biodiversity and wellbeing of people in cities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sébastien Bonthoux
- Ecole de la Nature et du Paysage - INSA CVL, CNRS UMR 7324 CITERES, 3 rue de la Chocolaterie, CS, Blois, 23410 41034, France
- LTSER, Zone Atelier Loire, UMR 7324 - CITERES, BP 60449, 37204, TOURS, 03, France
| | - Simon Chollet
- Université de Rennes, CNRS UMR 6553 ECOBIO [Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution], Campus de Beaulieu - Bat 14A, 263 Av Gal Leclerc, Rennes, 35700, France
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3
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Balk D, McPhearson T, Cook EM, Knowlton K, Maher N, Marcotullio P, Matte T, Moss R, Ortiz L, Towers J, Ventrella J, Wagner G. NPCC4: Concepts and tools for envisioning New York City's futures. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2024. [PMID: 38924595 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
This chapter of the New York City Panel on Climate Change 4 (NPCC4) report discusses the many intersecting social, ecological, and technological-infrastructure dimensions of New York City (NYC) and their interactions that are critical to address in order to transition to and secure a climate-adapted future for all New Yorkers. The authors provide an assessment of current approaches to "future visioning and scenarios" across community and city-level initiatives and examine diverse dimensions of the NYC urban system to reduce risk and vulnerability and enable a future-adapted NYC. Methods for the integration of community and stakeholder ideas about what would make NYC thrive with scientific and technical information on the possibilities presented by different policies and actions are discussed. This chapter synthesizes the state of knowledge on how different communities of scholarship or practice envision futures and provides brief descriptions of the social-demographic and housing, transportation, energy, nature-based, and health futures and many other subsystems of the complex system of NYC that will all interact to determine NYC futures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deborah Balk
- Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, Baruch College, New York, New York, USA
- CUNY Institute for Demographic Research, City University of New York, New York, New York, USA
| | - Timon McPhearson
- Urban Systems Lab, The New School, New York, New York, USA
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York, USA
| | | | - Kim Knowlton
- Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Nicole Maher
- The Nature Conservancy, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA
| | - Peter Marcotullio
- Institute for Sustainable Cities, Hunter College, New York, New York, USA
- City University of New York, New York, New York, USA
| | - Thomas Matte
- Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Richard Moss
- University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Luis Ortiz
- Urban Systems Lab, The New School, New York, New York, USA
- George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
| | - Joel Towers
- Parsons School of Design, New York, New York, USA
- The New School, New York, New York, USA
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4
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Shelton SA, Kaushal SS, Mayer PM, Shatkay RR, Rippy MA, Grant SB, Newcomer-Johnson TA. Salty chemical cocktails as water quality signatures: Longitudinal trends and breakpoints along different U.S. streams. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 930:172777. [PMID: 38670384 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2024] [Revised: 04/23/2024] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024]
Abstract
Along urban streams and rivers, various processes, including road salt application, sewage leaks, and weathering of the built environment, contribute to novel chemical cocktails made up of metals, salts, nutrients, and organic matter. In order to track the impacts of urbanization and management strategies on water quality, we conducted longitudinal stream synoptic (LSS) monitoring in nine watersheds in five major metropolitan areas of the U.S. During each LSS monitoring survey, 10-53 sites were sampled along the flowpath of streams as they flowed along rural to urban gradients. Results demonstrated that major ions derived from salts (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, and K+) and correlated elements (e.g. Sr2+, N, Cu) formed 'salty chemical cocktails' that increased along rural to urban flowpaths. Salty chemical cocktails explained 46.1% of the overall variability in geochemistry among streams and showed distinct typologies, trends, and transitions along flowpaths through metropolitan regions. Multiple linear regression predicted 62.9% of the variance in the salty chemical cocktails using the six following significant drivers (p < 0.05): percent urban land, wastewater treatment plant discharge, mean annual precipitation, percent silicic residual material, percent volcanic material, and percent carbonate residual material. Mean annual precipitation and percent urban area were the most important in the regression, explaining 29.6% and 13.0% of the variance. Different pollution sources (wastewater, road salt, urban runoff) in streams were tracked downstream based on salty chemical cocktails. Streams flowing through stream-floodplain restoration projects and conservation areas with extensive riparian forest buffers did not show longitudinal increases in salty chemical cocktails, suggesting that there could be attenuation via conservation and restoration. Salinization represents a common urban water quality signature and longitudinal patterns of distinct chemical cocktails and ionic mixtures have the potential to track the sources, fate, and transport of different point and nonpoint pollution sources along streams across different regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sydney A Shelton
- Department of Geology & Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, Geology Building 237, College Park, MD 20742, USA; ORISE Fellow at Pacific Ecological Systems Division, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA.
| | - Sujay S Kaushal
- Department of Geology & Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, Geology Building 237, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
| | - Paul M Mayer
- Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Pacific Ecological Systems Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, USA.
| | - Ruth R Shatkay
- Department of Geology & Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, Geology Building 237, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
| | - Megan A Rippy
- Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory, The Charles E. Via Jr Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 9408 Prince William St, Manassas, VA 20110, USA; Center for Coastal Studies, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
| | - Stanley B Grant
- Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory, The Charles E. Via Jr Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, 9408 Prince William St, Manassas, VA 20110, USA; Center for Coastal Studies, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
| | - Tammy A Newcomer-Johnson
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling, Watershed and Ecosystem Characterization Division, 26 Martin Luther King Dr W, Cincinnati, OH 45220, USA.
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5
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Frantzeskaki N, Childers DL, Pickett S, Hoover FA, Anderson P, Barau A, Ginsberg J, Grove M, Lodder M, Lugo AE, McPhearson T, Muñoz-Erickson TA, Quartier M, Schepers S, Sharifi A, van de Sijpe K. A transformative shift in urban ecology toward a more active and relevant future for the field and for cities. AMBIO 2024; 53:871-889. [PMID: 38643343 PMCID: PMC11058736 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-024-01992-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2023] [Revised: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/22/2024]
Abstract
This paper builds on the expansion of urban ecology from a biologically based discipline-ecology in the city-to an increasingly interdisciplinary field-ecology of the city-to a transdisciplinary, knowledge to action endeavor-an ecology for and with the city. We build on this "prepositional journey" by proposing a transformative shift in urban ecology, and we present a framework for how the field may continue this shift. We conceptualize that urban ecology is in a state of flux, and that this shift is needed to transform urban ecology into a more engaged and action based field, and one that includes a diversity of actors willing to participate in the future of their cities. In this transformative shift, these actors will engage, collaborate, and participate in a continuous spiral of knowledge → action → knowledge spiral and back to knowledge loop, with the goal of co producing sustainable and resilient solutions to myriad urban challenges. Our framework for this transformative shift includes three pathways: (1) a repeating knowledge → action → knowledge spiral of ideas, information, and solutions produced by a diverse community of agents of urban change working together in an "urban sandbox"; (2) incorporation of a social-ecological-technological systems framework in this spiral and expanding the spiral temporally to include the "deep future," where future scenarios are based on a visioning of seemingly unimaginable or plausible future states of cities that are sustainable and resilient; and (3) the expansion of the spiral in space, to include rural areas and places that are not yet cities. The three interrelated pathways that define the transformative shift demonstrate the power of an urban ecology that has moved beyond urban systems science and into a realm where collaborations among diverse knowledges and voices are working together to understand cities and what is urban while producing sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges and envisioning futures of socially, ecologically, and technologically resilient cities. We present case study examples of each of the three pathways that make up this transformative shift in urban ecology and discuss both limitations and opportunities for future research and action with this transdisciplinary broadening of the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niki Frantzeskaki
- Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Vening Meinesz Building A, Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CB, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - Daniel L Childers
- School of Sustainability, WCPH 442, Arizona State University, POB 877904, Tempe, AZ, 85287-7904, USA
| | - Steward Pickett
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA
| | - Fushcia-Ann Hoover
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC, 28223, USA
| | - Pippin Anderson
- Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, Cape Town, 7707, South Africa
| | - Aliyu Barau
- Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Bayero University Kano, PMB 3011, Kano, Nigeria
| | - Joshua Ginsberg
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA
| | - Morgan Grove
- Baltimore Urban Field Station, USDA Forest Service, 5523 Research Park Drive, Suite 350, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA
| | - Marleen Lodder
- Dutch Research Institute for Transitions, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burg. Oudlaan 50, Mandeville Building, T16-42, 3062 PA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Ariel E Lugo
- International Urban Field Station, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, 1201 Calle Ceiba, Jardín Botánico Sur, Río Piedras, PR, 00926-1115, USA
| | - Timon McPhearson
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA
- Urban Systems Lab, The New School, 79 Fifth Avenue, 16 Fl., New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Tischa A Muñoz-Erickson
- International Urban Field Station, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, 1201 Calle Ceiba, Jardín Botánico Sur, Río Piedras, PR, 00926-1115, USA
| | - Mien Quartier
- Department of Environment and Sustainable Development, Stadsplein 1, 3600, Genk City, Belgium
| | - Selina Schepers
- Department of Environment and Sustainable Development, Stadsplein 1, 3600, Genk City, Belgium
| | - Ayyoob Sharifi
- The IDEC Institute, Hiroshima University, 1-5-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, 739-8529, Japan
| | - Katrien van de Sijpe
- Department of Environment and Sustainable Development, Stadsplein 1, 3600, Genk City, Belgium
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6
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Pickett STA, Simone AT, Anderson P, Sharifi A, Barau A, Hoover FA, Childers DL, McPhearson T, Muñoz-Erickson TA, Pacteau C, Grove M, Frantzeskaki N, Nagendra H, Ginsberg J. The relational shift in urban ecology: From place and structures to multiple modes of coproduction for positive urban futures. AMBIO 2024; 53:845-870. [PMID: 38643341 PMCID: PMC11058174 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-024-02001-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Revised: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 04/22/2024]
Abstract
This perspective emerged from ongoing dialogue among ecologists initiated by a virtual workshop in 2021. A transdisciplinary group of researchers and practitioners conclude that urban ecology as a science can better contribute to positive futures by focusing on relationships, rather than prioritizing urban structures. Insights from other relational disciplines, such as political ecology, governance, urban design, and conservation also contribute. Relationality is especially powerful given the need to rapidly adapt to the changing social and biophysical drivers of global urban systems. These unprecedented dynamics are better understood through a relational lens than traditional structural questions. We use three kinds of coproduction-of the social-ecological world, of science, and of actionable knowledge-to identify key processes of coproduction within urban places. Connectivity is crucial to relational urban ecology. Eight themes emerge from the joint explorations of the paper and point toward social action for improving life and environment in urban futures.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - AbdouMaliq T Simone
- Urban Institute, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
- Beyond Inhabitation Lab, Polytechnic University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Pippin Anderson
- Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Private Bag x3, Cape Town, 7701, South Africa
| | - Ayyoob Sharifi
- Hiroshima University, 1-5-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, 739-8529, Japan
| | - Aliyu Barau
- Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Bayero University Kano, PMB 3011, Kano, Nigeria
| | - Fushcia-Ann Hoover
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC, 28223, USA
| | - Daniel L Childers
- School of Sustainability, WCPH 442, Arizona State University, POB 877904, Tempe, AZ, 85287-7904, USA
| | - Timon McPhearson
- The New School, 79 Fifth Avenue, 16th Fl., New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Tischa A Muñoz-Erickson
- International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, 1201 Calle Ceiba, Jardín Botánico Sur, Río Piedras, PR, 00926, USA
| | - Chantal Pacteau
- Institut d'Écologie et des Sciences de l'Environnement de Paris, Campus Pierre et Marie Curie 4, place Jussieu, 75005, Paris, France
| | - Morgan Grove
- Baltimore Field Station, USDA Forest Service, 5523 Research Park Drive, Suite 350, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Niki Frantzeskaki
- Utrecht University, Vening Meinesz Building A, Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CB, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Harini Nagendra
- Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability, Azim Premji University, Burugunte Village, Bikkanahalli Main Road, Sarjapura, Bangalore, 562125, India
| | - Joshua Ginsberg
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA
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Pickett STA, Frantzeskaki N, Andersson E, Barau AS, Childers DL, Hoover FA, Lugo AE, McPhearson T, Nagendra H, Schepers S, Sharifi A. Shifting forward: Urban ecology in perspective. AMBIO 2024; 53:890-897. [PMID: 38642313 PMCID: PMC11058125 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-024-02007-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/22/2024]
Abstract
The world has become urban; cities increasingly shape our worldviews, relation to other species, and the large-scale, long-term decisions we make. Cities are nature, but they need to align better with other ecosystems to avoid accelerating climate change and loss of biodiversity. We need a science to guide urban development across the diverse realities of global cities. This need can be met, in part, by shifts in urban ecology and its linkages to related sciences. This perspective is a "synthesis of syntheses", consolidating ideas from the other articles in the Special Section. It re-examines the role of urban ecology, and explores its integration with other disciplines that study cities. We conclude by summarizing the next steps in the ongoing shift in urban ecology, which is fast becoming an integral part of urban studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Niki Frantzeskaki
- Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Vening Meinesz Building A, Princetonlaan 8a, 3485 CB, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | - Erik Andersson
- Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme and Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 1, P.O. Box 65, 00014, Helsinki, Finland
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Research Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
| | - Aliyu Salisu Barau
- Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Bayero University Kano, PMB 3011, Kano, Nigeria
| | - Daniel L Childers
- School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, POB 877904, Tempe, AZ, 85287-7904, USA
| | - Fushcia-Ann Hoover
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC, 28223, USA
| | - Ariel E Lugo
- International Institute of Tropical Forestry, USDA Forest Service, 1201 Calle Ceiba, Jardín Botánico Sur, Río Piedras, PR, 00926-1115, USA
| | - Timon McPhearson
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA
- Urban Systems Lab, The New School, 79 Fifth Ave, 16 Floor, New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Harini Nagendra
- Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability, Azim Premji University, Burugunte Village, Bikkanahalli Main Road, Sarjapura, Bangalore, IN, 562125, India
| | - Selina Schepers
- Department of Environment and Sustainable Development, Stadsplein 1, 3600, Genk City, Belgium
| | - Ayyoob Sharifi
- The IDEC Institute, Hiroshima University, 1-5-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, 739-8529, Japan
- School of Architecture and Design, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon
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8
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Ordóñez C, Kendal D, Davern M, Conway T. Having a tree in front of one's home is associated with GREATER subjective wellbeing in adult residents in Melbourne, Australia, and Toronto, Canada. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 250:118445. [PMID: 38360163 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
While urban trees can be important determinants of human health and wellbeing in world cities, the specific influence of nearby urban trees upon human wellbeing has not been adequately explored. While many studies have associated urban greenery abundance with wellbeing scores, many measures of urban greenery do not specify the type of vegetation or the impact of co-location. Here we fill this gap by associating self-reported measures of the presence of nearby trees (tree in front of one's home) with validated subjective wellbeing (SWB) scores. We also tested for the mediating role of what people thought about trees and nature, with a focus on the values people associate with urban trees and nature relatedness (NR). We used electronic panel survey data based on a demographic and geographical representative sample of more than 3400 residents living in Toronto, Canada, and Melbourne, Australia. We analysed these data using regression-based mediation and path analyses. We found that having a tree in front of one's home was strongly and positively associated with SWB scores in both cities with similar results (Melbourne, β = 0.17, p < 0.05; Toronto, β = 0.18, p < 0.05), while accounting for NR, values associated with urban trees, and demographics (e.g., age, education, home ownership). The mediating role of NR and values was small. The specific pathways of association between tree in front of one's home, SWB, NR, and values, varied by city, when accounting for demographics. We discuss how increasing the abundance of nearby urban trees in cities may also increase human wellbeing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilo Ordóñez
- Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment, University of Toronto at Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada; School of Ecosystem and Forest Science, Burnley campus, Faculty of Science, The University of Melbourne, 500 Yarra Boulevard, Richmond, Victoria, 3121, Australia.
| | - Dave Kendal
- Future in Nature Pty Ltd, Australia; Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Melanie Davern
- Health Place and Society, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| | - Tenley Conway
- Department of Geography, Geomatics and Environment, University of Toronto at Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada
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Andersson E, McPhearson T, Pickett STA. From urban ecology to urban enquiry: How to build cumulative and context-sensitive understandings. AMBIO 2024; 53:813-825. [PMID: 38643344 PMCID: PMC11058139 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-023-01959-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2023] [Revised: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 04/22/2024]
Abstract
This paper positions urban ecology as increasingly conversant with multiple perspectives and methods for understanding the functions and qualities of diverse cities and urban situations. Despite progress in the field, we need clear pathways for positioning, connecting and synthesising specific knowledge and to make it speak to more systemic questions about cities and the life within them. These pathways need to be able to make use of diverse sources of information to better account for the diverse relations between people, other species and the ecological, social, cultural, economic, technical and increasingly digital structures that they are embedded in. Grounded in a description of the systemic knowledge needed, we propose five complementary and often connected approaches for building cumulative systemic understandings, and a framework for connecting and combining different methods and evidence. The approaches and the framework help position urban ecology and other fields of study as entry points to further advance interdisciplinary synthesis and open up new fields of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Andersson
- Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 1, P.O. Box 65, 00014, Helsinki, Finland.
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Albanovägen 28, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden.
- Research Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom, 2520, South Africa.
| | - Timon McPhearson
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Albanovägen 28, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden
- Urban Systems Lab, The New School, 79 Fifth Avenue, 16th Fl., New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY, 12545, USA
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10
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Frantzeskaki N, Pickett STA, Andersson E. Shifts in urban ecology: From science to social project. AMBIO 2024; 53:809-812. [PMID: 38643342 PMCID: PMC11058140 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-024-02000-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/22/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Niki Frantzeskaki
- Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Vening Meinesz Building A, Princetonlaan 8a, 3584 CB, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
| | | | - Erik Andersson
- Ecosystems and Environment Research Programme, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 1, P.O. Box 65, 00014, Helsinki, Finland
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- Research Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
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11
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Liu Z, Li T, Ren T, Chen D, Li W, Qiu W. Day-to-Night Street View Image Generation for 24-Hour Urban Scene Auditing Using Generative AI. J Imaging 2024; 10:112. [PMID: 38786566 PMCID: PMC11121941 DOI: 10.3390/jimaging10050112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2024] [Revised: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
A smarter city should be a safer city. Nighttime safety in metropolitan areas has long been a global concern, particularly for large cities with diverse demographics and intricate urban forms, whose citizens are often threatened by higher street-level crime rates. However, due to the lack of night-time urban appearance data, prior studies based on street view imagery (SVI) rarely addressed the perceived night-time safety issue, which can generate important implications for crime prevention. This study hypothesizes that night-time SVI can be effectively generated from widely existing daytime SVIs using generative AI (GenAI). To test the hypothesis, this study first collects pairwise day-and-night SVIs across four cities diverged in urban landscapes to construct a comprehensive day-and-night SVI dataset. It then trains and validates a day-to-night (D2N) model with fine-tuned brightness adjustment, effectively transforming daytime SVIs to nighttime ones for distinct urban forms tailored for urban scene perception studies. Our findings indicate that: (1) the performance of D2N transformation varies significantly by urban-scape variations related to urban density; (2) the proportion of building and sky views are important determinants of transformation accuracy; (3) within prevailed models, CycleGAN maintains the consistency of D2N scene conversion, but requires abundant data. Pix2Pix achieves considerable accuracy when pairwise day-and-night-night SVIs are available and are sensitive to data quality. StableDiffusion yields high-quality images with expensive training costs. Therefore, CycleGAN is most effective in balancing the accuracy, data requirement, and cost. This study contributes to urban scene studies by constructing a first-of-its-kind D2N dataset consisting of pairwise day-and-night SVIs across various urban forms. The D2N generator will provide a cornerstone for future urban studies that heavily utilize SVIs to audit urban environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiyi Liu
- School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Beijing 100044, China;
| | - Tingting Li
- School of Architecture, South Minzu University, Chengdu 610225, China;
| | - Tianyi Ren
- Department of Product Research and Development, Smart Gwei Tech, Shanghai 200940, China;
| | - Da Chen
- Department of Computer Science, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK;
| | - Wenjing Li
- Center for Spatial Information Science, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa-shi 277-0882, Chiba-ken, Japan;
| | - Waishan Qiu
- Department of Urban Planning and Design, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
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12
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Palma E, Mata L, Cohen K, Evans D, Gandy B, Gaskell N, Hatchman H, Mezzetti A, Neumann D, O'Keefe J, Shaw A, Wells M, Williams L, Hahs AK. The city nature challenge: A global citizen science phenomenon contributing to biodiversity knowledge and informing local government practices. Bioscience 2024; 74:290-299. [PMID: 38720910 PMCID: PMC11075648 DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biae012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
The bioblitz phenomenon has recently branched into cities, presenting exciting opportunities for local governments to channel participants' efforts toward local issues. The City Nature Challenge (CNC) is one such initiative that has been quickly taken up by hundreds of municipalities worldwide. Despite high levels of participation, we still lack a framework for evaluating how the CNC contributes to local biodiversity knowledge and to inform local government practices. In the present article, we develop such a tool and present a case study that illustrates its applicability. We demonstrate that the collected records contributed to a better understanding of contemporary, local biodiversity patterns and provide a more realistic representation of understudied groups such as insects and fungi. Importantly, we show that the CNC presented local governments with a cost-effective tool to make informed, evidence-based management and policy decisions, improve education and engagement programs, foster cross-council collaborations, and support a stronger sense of environmental stewardship within the local community.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Luis Mata
- University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Kylie Cohen
- Knox City Council, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Doug Evans
- Maroondah City Council, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Bernard Gandy
- University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | | | - Hiliary Hatchman
- Whitehorse City Council, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Department of Environment and Science, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | | | | | | | - Amy Shaw
- Boroondara City Council, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Millie Wells
- Whitehorse City Council, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Darebin City Council, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Laurence Williams
- State commissioner for the environment, Scouts Victoria, Australia
- Manningham City Council, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Amy K Hahs
- University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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13
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Lewthwaite JMM, Baiotto TM, Brown BV, Cheung YY, Baker AJ, Lehnen C, McGlynn TP, Shirey V, Gonzalez L, Hartop E, Kerr PH, Wood E, Guzman LM. Drivers of arthropod biodiversity in an urban ecosystem. Sci Rep 2024; 14:390. [PMID: 38172148 PMCID: PMC10764344 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50675-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Our world is becoming increasingly urbanized with a growing human population concentrated around cities. The expansion of urban areas has important consequences for biodiversity, yet the abiotic drivers of biodiversity in urban ecosystems have not been well characterized for the most diverse group of animals on the planet, arthropods. Given their great diversity, comparatively small home ranges, and ability to disperse, arthropods make an excellent model for studying which factors can most accurately predict urban biodiversity. We assessed the effects of (i) topography (distance to natural areas and to ocean) (ii) abiotic factors (mean annual temperature and diurnal range), and (iii) anthropogenic drivers (land value and amount of impervious surface) on the occurrence of six arthropod groups represented in Malaise trap collections run by the BioSCAN project across the Greater Los Angeles Area. We found striking heterogeneity in responses to all factors both within and between taxonomic groups. Diurnal temperature range had a consistently negative effect on occupancy but this effect was only significant in Phoridae. Anthropogenic drivers had mixed though mostly insignificant effects, as some groups and species were most diverse in highly urbanized areas, while other groups showed suppressed diversity. Only Phoridae was significantly affected by land value, where most species were more likely to occur in areas with lower land value. Los Angeles can support high regional arthropod diversity, but spatial community composition is highly dependent on the taxonomic group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayme M M Lewthwaite
- Marine and Environmental Section, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 90089, USA
| | - Teagan M Baiotto
- Marine and Environmental Section, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 90089, USA
| | - Brian V Brown
- Department of Entomology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, 90007, USA
| | - Yan Yin Cheung
- Marine and Environmental Section, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 90089, USA
| | - Austin J Baker
- Marine and Environmental Section, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 90089, USA
- Department of Entomology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, 90007, USA
| | - Charles Lehnen
- Marine and Environmental Section, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 90089, USA
- Human Evolutionary Biology Section, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 90089, USA
| | - Terrence P McGlynn
- Department of Entomology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, 90007, USA
- Department of Biology, California State University Dominguez Hills, Carson, 90747, USA
| | - Vaughn Shirey
- Marine and Environmental Section, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 90089, USA
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, 20057, USA
| | - Lisa Gonzalez
- Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, 90007, USA
| | - Emily Hartop
- Center for Integrative Biodiversity Discovery, Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany
| | - Peter H Kerr
- California State Collection of Arthropods, CDFA Plant Pest Diagnostics Center, Sacramento, CA, 95832, USA
| | - Eric Wood
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University Los Angeles, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, 90032, USA
| | - Laura Melissa Guzman
- Marine and Environmental Section, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, 90089, USA.
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14
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Mercado G, Wild T, Hernandez-Garcia J, Baptista MD, van Lierop M, Bina O, Inch A, Ode Sang Å, Buijs A, Dobbs C, Vásquez A, van der Jagt A, Salbitano F, Falanga R, Amaya-Espinel JD, de Matos Pereira M, Randrup TB. Supporting Nature-Based Solutions via Nature-Based Thinking across European and Latin American cities. AMBIO 2024; 53:79-94. [PMID: 37751071 PMCID: PMC10692040 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-023-01920-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Revised: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/27/2023]
Abstract
Nature-Based Solutions concepts and practices are being used worldwide as part of attempts to address societal challenges but have also been criticised for not dealing with deeper transformations needed to face urgent issues including biodiversity loss, climate change and inclusion. In this paper, we explore how an inclusive, integrated and long-sighted approach, emphasising a more radical integration of nature within cities, might support the transformations needed to endure major contemporary challenges. Addressing important emerging critiques of Nature-Based Solutions, we consider the potential of a more incisive form of Nature-Based Thinking (NBT) in cities, based on more holistic perspectives. The paper draws on a reflective and iterative research process that engaged both the research and practice communities through a symposium and a series of futures workshops that together explored the potential of NBT to develop future nature-cities relations in Europe and Latin America. The results of the reflective process suggest that notions of nature with people-not for people- new organisational structures, and the intention and capacity to apply long-term perspectives, are needed when planning for NBS interventions aimed at sustainable urban development. This includes developing a cultural-structural change based on new and inclusive understandings of human-nature relations, and novel governance paradigms that allow cross-sectoral coordination and engagement of local stakeholders beyond formal organisational structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geovana Mercado
- Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 190, 234 22, Lomma, Sweden.
| | - Tom Wild
- Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | | | - Mariana D Baptista
- Department of Urban Studies and Planning, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S102TN, UK
| | - Martina van Lierop
- TUM School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Olivia Bina
- Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Andy Inch
- Department of Urban Studies and Planning, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S102TN, UK
| | - Åsa Ode Sang
- Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 190, 234 22, Lomma, Sweden
| | - Arjen Buijs
- Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Cynnamon Dobbs
- Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA
| | | | - Alexander van der Jagt
- The Urban Institute School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Fabio Salbitano
- Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI), University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Roberto Falanga
- Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Juan David Amaya-Espinel
- Facultad de Estudios Ambientales y Rurales, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Bogotá D.C., Bogotá, Colombia
| | | | - Thomas B Randrup
- Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 190, 234 22, Lomma, Sweden
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15
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Lokatis S, Jeschke JM, Bernard-Verdier M, Buchholz S, Grossart HP, Havemann F, Hölker F, Itescu Y, Kowarik I, Kramer-Schadt S, Mietchen D, Musseau CL, Planillo A, Schittko C, Straka TM, Heger T. Hypotheses in urban ecology: building a common knowledge base. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:1530-1547. [PMID: 37072921 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Revised: 03/31/2023] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 04/20/2023]
Abstract
Urban ecology is a rapidly growing research field that has to keep pace with the pressing need to tackle the sustainability crisis. As an inherently multi-disciplinary field with close ties to practitioners and administrators, research synthesis and knowledge transfer between those different stakeholders is crucial. Knowledge maps can enhance knowledge transfer and provide orientation to researchers as well as practitioners. A promising option for developing such knowledge maps is to create hypothesis networks, which structure existing hypotheses and aggregate them according to topics and research aims. Combining expert knowledge with information from the literature, we here identify 62 research hypotheses used in urban ecology and link them in such a network. Our network clusters hypotheses into four distinct themes: (i) Urban species traits & evolution, (ii) Urban biotic communities, (iii) Urban habitats and (iv) Urban ecosystems. We discuss the potentials and limitations of this approach. All information is openly provided as part of an extendable Wikidata project, and we invite researchers, practitioners and others interested in urban ecology to contribute additional hypotheses, as well as comment and add to the existing ones. The hypothesis network and Wikidata project form a first step towards a knowledge base for urban ecology, which can be expanded and curated to benefit both practitioners and researchers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Lokatis
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Puschstr. 4, Leipzig, 04103, Germany
| | - Jonathan M Jeschke
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - Maud Bernard-Verdier
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - Sascha Buchholz
- Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, Heisenbergstr. 2, Münster, 48149, Germany
| | - Hans-Peter Grossart
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, Potsdam University, Maulbeerallee 2, Potsdam, 14469, Germany
| | - Frank Havemann
- Institut für Bibliotheks- und Informationswissenschaft, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Dorotheenstraße 26, Berlin, 10117, Germany
| | - Franz Hölker
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - Yuval Itescu
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - Ingo Kowarik
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Institute of Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Rothenburgstr. 12, Berlin, 12165, Germany
| | - Stephanie Kramer-Schadt
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Institute of Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Rothenburgstr. 12, Berlin, 12165, Germany
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, Berlin, 10315, Germany
| | - Daniel Mietchen
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Institute for Globally Distributed Open Research and Education (IGDORE), Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Camille L Musseau
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - Aimara Planillo
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Alfred-Kowalke-Str. 17, Berlin, 10315, Germany
| | - Conrad Schittko
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Institute of Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Rothenburgstr. 12, Berlin, 12165, Germany
| | - Tanja M Straka
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Institute of Ecology, Technische Universität Berlin, Rothenburgstr. 12, Berlin, 12165, Germany
| | - Tina Heger
- Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm 310, Berlin, 12587, Germany
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 2-4, Berlin, 14195, Germany
- Technical University of Munich, Restoration Ecology, Emil-Ramann-Str. 6, Freising, 85350, Germany
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16
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Hilbert DR, Koeser AK, Andreu MG, Hansen G, Roman LA, Thetford M, Thompson GL. Conceptualizing the human drivers of low tree diversity in planted urban landscapes. AMBIO 2023; 52:1532-1542. [PMID: 37243924 PMCID: PMC10407000 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-023-01876-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2022] [Revised: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2023] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Despite the abundance of tree diversity in the natural world, and generally high tree species richness in urban areas, urban forests continue to be dominated by a limited number of species. As socio-ecological systems, urban forests are shaped by historical and current management efforts and decision-making across a wide range of human actors. Drawing on past research, we offer a conceptual framework for describing the complex interactions among tree producers and consumers as trees are selected, grown, specified, and planted in private and public urban areas. We illustrate how multiple layers of selection criteria filter down the entirety of potential local tree diversity to a handful of commonly used and accepted tree species. We detail the actors and decision-makers who impact tree composition and diversity across several land types. Finally, we identify research, education, and outreach needs as they relate to creating more diverse and resilient urban forest ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deborah R. Hilbert
- Department of Environmental Horticulture, IFAS, University of Florida–Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, 14625 Co. Rd. 672, Wimauma, FL 33598 USA
| | - Andrew K. Koeser
- Department of Environmental Horticulture, IFAS, University of Florida–Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, 14625 Co. Rd. 672, Wimauma, FL 33598 USA
| | - Michael G. Andreu
- School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida–Gainesville, 136 Ne Wins-Ziegler Hall, PO Box 110410, Gainesville, FL 32611 USA
| | - Gail Hansen
- Department of Environmental Horticulture, IFAS, University of Florida–Gainesville, 2550 Hull Road Fifield Hall, PO Box 110670, Gainesville, FL 32611 USA
| | - Lara A. Roman
- USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station & Northern Research Station, 4955 Canyon Crest Dr., Riverside, CA 92507 USA
| | - Mack Thetford
- Department of Environmental Horticulture, IFAS, University of Florida–West Florida Research and Education Center, 5988 Hwy 90, Bldg. 4900, Milton, FL 32583 USA
| | - Grant L. Thompson
- Genus Landscape Architects, 520 42nd Street, Suite 400, Des Moines, IA 50312 USA
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17
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Lobo J, Aggarwal RM, Alberti M, Allen-Dumas M, Bettencourt LMA, Boone C, Brelsford C, Broto VC, Eakin H, Bagchi-Sen S, Meerow S, D’Cruz C, Revi A, Roberts DC, Smith ME, York A, Lin T, Bai X, Solecki W, Pataki D, Tapia LB, Rockman M, Wolfram M, Schlosser P, Gauthier N. Integration of urban science and urban climate adaptation research: opportunities to advance climate action. NPJ URBAN SUSTAINABILITY 2023; 3:32. [PMID: 37323541 PMCID: PMC10256966 DOI: 10.1038/s42949-023-00113-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
There is a growing recognition that responding to climate change necessitates urban adaptation. We sketch a transdisciplinary research effort, arguing that actionable research on urban adaptation needs to recognize the nature of cities as social networks embedded in physical space. Given the pace, scale and socioeconomic outcomes of urbanization in the Global South, the specificities and history of its cities must be central to the study of how well-known agglomeration effects can facilitate adaptation. The proposed effort calls for the co-creation of knowledge involving scientists and stakeholders, especially those historically excluded from the design and implementation of urban development policies.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Lobo
- School of Sustainability, College of Global Futures, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona USA
| | - Rimjhim M. Aggarwal
- School of Sustainability, College of Global Futures, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona USA
| | - Marina Alberti
- Urban Ecology Research Laboratory, Department of Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington USA
| | - Melissa Allen-Dumas
- Climate Change Science Institute, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee USA
| | | | - Christopher Boone
- School of Sustainability, College of Global Futures, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona USA
| | - Christa Brelsford
- Human Dynamics Section, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee USA
| | | | - Hallie Eakin
- School of Sustainability, College of Global Futures, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona USA
| | - Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen
- School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona USA
| | - Sara Meerow
- School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona USA
| | - Celine D’Cruz
- International Centre for Climate Change and Development, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Aromar Revi
- Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore, India
| | - Debra C. Roberts
- School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Sustainable and Resilient City Initiatives Unit, EThekwini Municipality, Durban, Republic of South Africa
| | - Michael E. Smith
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona USA
| | - Abigail York
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona USA
| | - Tao Lin
- Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xuemei Bai
- Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - William Solecki
- Institute for Sustainable Cities, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, New York, USA
| | - Diane Pataki
- School of Sustainability, College of Global Futures, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona USA
| | - Luís Bojorquez Tapia
- Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencias de la Sostenibilidad, Instituto de Ecología, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico D.F., Mexico
| | - Marcy Rockman
- Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland USA
| | - Marc Wolfram
- Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, Dresden, Federal Republic of Germany
| | - Peter Schlosser
- Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona USA
| | - Nicolas Gauthier
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida USA
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18
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Thomas AS, Romolini M. Expanding current definitions of environmental stewardship through organizational mission statement analysis. AMBIO 2023; 52:1137-1150. [PMID: 36870032 PMCID: PMC10160272 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-023-01839-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Revised: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
In recent years, environmental stewardship has been emphasized as one solution to social-ecological sustainability concerns, especially at the local scale. The Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project (STEW-MAP) is a national research program developed by the USDA Forest Service that has been implemented at numerous locations in the United States and internationally. This study compared the mission statements of environmental stewardship groups in the Los Angeles River Watershed to previously proposed definitions and frameworks of organizational environmental stewardship to see how well they were reflected. A thematic analysis of the mission statements was also carried out to identify locally important themes and priorities. Results show that, although often consistent, the mission statements do not always reflect existing concepts around environmental stewardship. Additionally, environmental stewardship is not always explicit in the mission statements of organizations that are known to conduct these activities. We suggest that non-traditional groups that engage in stewardship work (i.e., research institutions) as well as groups focused on social issues are overlooked actors in sustainable city goals. A more comprehensive definition of environmental stewardship may be needed to bridge the gap between research and practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alyssa S. Thomas
- USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station, 4955 Canyon Crest Drive, Riverside, CA 92507 USA
| | - Michele Romolini
- Center for Urban Resilience, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Drive, Research Annex 119, MS 8510, Los Angeles, CA 90045 USA
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19
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Ning Y, Liu S, Smith AR, Qiu Y, Gao H, Lu Y, Yuan W, Feng S. Dynamic multi-dimensional scaling of 30+ year evolution of Chinese urban systems: Patterns and performance. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 863:160705. [PMID: 36496025 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 12/01/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the co-evolution and organizational dynamics of urban properties (i.e., urban scaling) is the science base for pursuing synergies toward sustainable cities and society. The generalization of urban scaling theory yet requires more studies from various developmental regimes and across time. Here, we extend the universality proposition by exploring the evolution of longitudinal and transversal scaling of Chinese urban attributes between 1987 and 2018 using a global artificial impervious area (GAIA) remotely sensed dataset, harmonized night light data (NTL), and socioeconomic data, and revealed agreements and disagreements with theories. The superlinear relationship of urban area and population often considered as an indicator of wasting land resources (challenging the universality theory βc = 2/3), is in fact the powerful impetus (capital raising) behind the concurrent superlinear expansion of socio-economic metabolisms (e.g., GDP, total wage) in a rapidly urbanizing country that has not yet reached equilibrium. Similarly, infrastructural variables associated with public services, such as hospitals and educational institutions, exhibited some deviations as well and were scaled linearly. However, the temporal narrowing of spatial deviations, such as the decline in urban land diseconomies of scale and the stabilization of economic output, clearly indicates the Chinese government's effort in charting urban systems toward balanced and sustainable development across the country. More importantly, the transversal sublinear scaling of areal-based socio-economic variables was inconsistent with the theoretical concept of increasing returns to scale, thus validating the view that a single measurement cannot unravel the intricate web of diverse urban attributes and urbanization. Our dynamic urban scaling analysis across space and through time in China provides new insights into the evolving nexus of urbanization, socioeconomic development, and national policies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Ning
- National Engineering Laboratory for Applied Technology of Forestry & Ecology in South China, Central South University of Forestry and Technology (CSUFT), Changsha 410004, China; College of Life Science and Technology, CSUFT, Changsha 410004, China
| | - Shuguang Liu
- National Engineering Laboratory for Applied Technology of Forestry & Ecology in South China, Central South University of Forestry and Technology (CSUFT), Changsha 410004, China; College of Life Science and Technology, CSUFT, Changsha 410004, China.
| | - Andrew R Smith
- Environment Centre Wales, School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor LL57 2UW, UK
| | - Yi Qiu
- College of Business, CSUFT, Changsha 410004, China
| | - Haiqiang Gao
- National Engineering Laboratory for Applied Technology of Forestry & Ecology in South China, Central South University of Forestry and Technology (CSUFT), Changsha 410004, China; College of Life Science and Technology, CSUFT, Changsha 410004, China
| | - Yonglong Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
| | - Wenping Yuan
- School of Atmospheric Sciences, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Climate Change and Natural Disaster Studies, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, Guangdong 510245, China
| | - Shuailong Feng
- National Engineering Laboratory for Applied Technology of Forestry & Ecology in South China, Central South University of Forestry and Technology (CSUFT), Changsha 410004, China; College of Life Science and Technology, CSUFT, Changsha 410004, China
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20
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Dyson K, Dawwas E, Poulton Kamakura R, Alberti M, Fuentes TL. Say where you sample: Increasing site selection transparency in urban ecology. Ecosphere 2023. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/31/2023] Open
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21
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Toomey A, Smith J, Becker C, Palta M. Towards a pedagogy of social-ecological collaborations: engaging students and urban nonprofits for an ecology with cities. Urban Ecosyst 2023; 26:425-432. [PMID: 36845165 PMCID: PMC9942029 DOI: 10.1007/s11252-023-01343-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/03/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023]
Abstract
The concept of ecology with cities calls for a broader scope of participatory research and pedagogical tools for engagement with urban environmental issues. Projects that take an ecology with cities approach can provide opportunities for diverse audiences, including students, teachers, community members, and scientists, to participate in urban ecology, thus serving as potential steppingstones for further engagement. While there is increasing scholarship on the value of participatory approaches for increasing ecological literacy (e.g. citizen science), less has been written on the collaborative process of such experiences, particularly the social science aspects that can lead to successful outcomes and lessons learned. This paper describes a collaborative research project that engaged undergraduate students and community outreach staff of an urban nonprofit organization to better understand social uses and values associated with a public park located on the Harlem River in New York City. We explore the outcomes of the project for both students and staff, and provide reflections for educators interested in using a pedagogy of social-ecological collaborations in urban contexts. We argue that such an approach facilitates engagement between universities and community-based nonprofits to engage students in learning about the complexity, uncertainty, and value of urban ecosystem management. Supplementary information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11252-023-01343-x.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Toomey
- Department of Environmental Studies and Science, Pace University, One Pace Plaza, New York, NY 10038 USA
- Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West & 79th St., New York, NY 10024 USA
| | - Jason Smith
- New York Restoration Project, 254 West 31st Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10001 USA
| | - Cam Becker
- Department of Environmental Studies and Science, Pace University, One Pace Plaza, New York, NY 10038 USA
| | - Monica Palta
- Department of Environmental Studies and Science, Pace University, One Pace Plaza, New York, NY 10038 USA
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22
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Do Suburban Populations of Lizards Behave Differently from Forest Ones? An Analysis of Perch Height, Time Budget, and Display Rate in the Cuban Endemic Anolis homolechis. DIVERSITY 2023. [DOI: 10.3390/d15020261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/16/2023]
Abstract
Urbanization transforms natural ecosystems into novel habitats, which can result in negative consequences for biodiversity. Therefore, it is important to understand the mechanisms of maintenance of native species in urbanized environments, including behavior—which can act as a fast response to rapid environmental changes. We compared some behavioral traits between two suburban and two forest populations of Anolis homolechis. Direct observations of 779 individuals revealed that perch height was positively influenced by body size, but not by sex. Suburban individuals perched higher than forest ones, and even more so in the afternoon compared to the morning; a behavior that was not observed in forests populations. These differences might be due to a change from foraging activities in the morning to vigilance, display, and/or thermoregulation in the afternoon, promoted by suburban habitat conditions (e.g., higher predator abundance, open habitat structure, and urban heat). Video recordings of 81 focal individuals showed that males were more active than females (i.e., spending less time in stationary behavior and having a higher display rate), with no significant effect of habitat type. As some of our results diverge from previous studies on invasive anoles, we recommend extending comparative studies of urban and non-urban populations to other native Anolis.
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23
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Urban ecology and biological studies in Brazilian cities: a systematic review. Urban Ecosyst 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s11252-022-01324-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
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24
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Ben-Haddad M, Hajji S, Abelouah MR, Costa LL, Rangel-Buitrago N, Alla AA. Has the "Covid-19" lockdown an impact on beach faunal communities? The central Atlantic coast of Morocco as a case study. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2022; 185:114259. [PMID: 36279727 PMCID: PMC9581804 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Revised: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
The restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a global hiatus in anthropogenic activities; several scientists have utilized this unique opportunity to assess the human impact on biological systems. In this study, the study describes for a period of five years (2018-2022) how the faunal community have been affected by human disturbances, as well as the effect of the "anthropause" period driven by the COVID-19 lockdown. The results confirmed human disturbances on faunal communities related to coastal urbanization. It was found that the "anthropause" period showed the highest values of abundance and biomass, hence the "COVID-19 lockdown" allowed recovery of faunal communities. The findings highlight the impact of human disturbances and that the community showed resilience. Overall, the authorities must perform restrictive measures aiming to mitigate the impact of anthropogenic activities in the study area including the banning of off-road and recreational vehicles, carrying out efficient cleaning and grooming operations, monitoring the severe harvesting of edible species, as well as penalizing the disposal of anthropogenic waste and sewage discharge from the touristic facilities. Likewise, management actions such as the temporal beach closures and the regular surveillance could be advantageous to provide a more sustainable exploitation of sandy beaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed Ben-Haddad
- Laboratory of Aquatic Systems, Marine and Continental Environments (AQUAMAR), Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, 80000, Morocco.
| | - Sara Hajji
- Laboratory of Aquatic Systems, Marine and Continental Environments (AQUAMAR), Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, 80000, Morocco
| | - Mohamed Rida Abelouah
- Laboratory of Aquatic Systems, Marine and Continental Environments (AQUAMAR), Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, 80000, Morocco
| | - Leonardo Lopes Costa
- Laboratório de Ciências Ambientais, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Avenid Alberto Lamego, 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes CEP, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Nelson Rangel-Buitrago
- Programa de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Basicas, Universidad del Atlantico, Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia; Programa de Biologia, Facultad de Ciencias Basicas, Universidad del Atlantico, Barranquilla, Atlantico, Colombia
| | - Aicha Ait Alla
- Laboratory of Aquatic Systems, Marine and Continental Environments (AQUAMAR), Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, 80000, Morocco
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25
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Gadsden GI, Golden N, Harris NC. Place-Based Bias in Environmental Scholarship Derived from Social-Ecological Landscapes of Fear. Bioscience 2022; 73:23-35. [PMID: 36643594 PMCID: PMC9832956 DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biac095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Historical perspectives (e.g., moments of social, political, and economic significance) are increasingly relevant for developing insights into landscape change and ecosystem degradation. However, the question of how to incorporate historical events into ecological inquiry is still under development, owing to the evolving paradigm of transdisciplinary thinking between natural science and the humanities. In the present article, we call for the inclusion of negative human histories (e.g., evictions of communities and environmental injustices) as important factors that drive landscape change and shape research questions relevant to environmental conservation. We outline the detrimental effects of conservationists not addressing negative human histories by likening this social phenomenon to the ecological concept of landscapes of fear, which describes how not acknowledging these histories produces a landscape that constrains where and how research is conducted by scientists. Finally, we provide three positive recommendations for scholars or practitioners to address the manifestation of historic place-based bias in ecological research. What we call the social-ecological landscapes of fear provides a conceptual framework for more inclusive practices in ecology to increase the success of environmental and conservation goals.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nigel Golden
- Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) Lab, School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
| | - Nyeema C Harris
- Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) Lab, School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
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26
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Belaire JA, Higgins C, Zoll D, Lieberknecht K, Bixler RP, Neff JL, Keitt TH, Jha S. Fine-scale monitoring and mapping of biodiversity and ecosystem services reveals multiple synergies and few tradeoffs in urban green space management. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 849:157801. [PMID: 35931152 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Revised: 07/30/2022] [Accepted: 07/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Urban watersheds can play a critical role in supporting biodiversity and ecosystem services in a rapidly changing world. However, managing for multiple environmental and social objectives in urban landscapes is challenging, especially if the optimization of one ecosystem service conflicts with another. Urban ecology research has frequently been limited to a few indicators - typically either biodiversity or ecosystem service indices - making tradeoffs and synergies difficult to assess. Through a recently established watershed-scale monitoring network in Central Texas, we address this gap by evaluating biodiversity (flora and fauna), habitat quality, and ecosystem service indices of urban green spaces across the watershed. Our results reveal substantial heterogeneity in biodiversity and ecosystem service levels and multiple synergies (stacked benefits or "win-wins"). For example, we found that carbon sequestration positively correlated with tree species richness and the proportion of native trees in a green space, indicating that biodiversity goals for increased tree diversity can also provide carbon sequestration benefits. We also documented correlations between green spaces with greater riparian forest cover and lower particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations and cooler temperatures. In addition, we found that bee and wasp species richness was positively correlated with carbon sequestration and human visitation rates, meaning that urban green spaces can optimize carbon sequestration goals without losing pollinator habitat or access opportunities for city residents. Overall, our results indicate that many aspects of habitat quality, biodiversity, and ecosystem services can be simultaneously supported in urban green spaces. We conclude that urban design and management can optimize nature-based solutions and strategies to have distinct positive impacts on both people and nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Amy Belaire
- The Nature Conservancy, Texas, 3801 Kirby Drive, Suite 740, Houston, TX 77098, United States of America.
| | - Caitlin Higgins
- 16201 Gordon Cummings Road, Canyon, TX 79015, United States of America
| | - Deidre Zoll
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 205 W 24th Street, Austin, TX 78712, United States of America.
| | - Katherine Lieberknecht
- School of Architecture, University of Texas at Austin, 310 Inner Campus Drive, Austin, TX 78712, United States of America
| | - R Patrick Bixler
- LBJ School of Public Affairs, 2315 Red River Street, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, United States of America
| | - John L Neff
- Central Texas Melittological Institute, 7307 Running Rope, Austin, TX 78731, United States of America
| | - Timothy H Keitt
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 205 W 24th Street, Austin, TX 78712, United States of America
| | - Shalene Jha
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, 205 W 24th Street, Austin, TX 78712, United States of America; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas at Austin, 205 W 24th Street, Austin, TX 78712, United States of America
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27
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Effect of environmental and microhabitat variables on tardigrade communities in a medium-sized city in central Argentina. Urban Ecosyst 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s11252-022-01303-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
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28
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Winchell KM, Aviles‐Rodriguez KJ, Carlen EJ, Miles LS, Charmantier A, De León LF, Gotanda KM, Rivkin LR, Szulkin M, Verrelli BC. Moving past the challenges and misconceptions in urban adaptation research. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9552. [PMID: 36425909 PMCID: PMC9679025 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2022] [Revised: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 10/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Although the field of urban evolutionary ecology has recently expanded, much progress has been made in identifying adaptations that arise as a result of selective pressures within these unique environments. However, as studies within urban environments have rapidly increased, researchers have recognized that there are challenges and opportunities in characterizing urban adaptation. Some of these challenges are a consequence of increased direct and indirect human influence, which compounds long-recognized issues with research on adaptive evolution more generally. In this perspective, we discuss several common research challenges to urban adaptation related to (1) methodological approaches, (2) trait-environment relationships and the natural history of organisms, (3) agents and targets of selection, and (4) habitat heterogeneity. Ignoring these challenges may lead to misconceptions and further impede our ability to draw conclusions regarding evolutionary and ecological processes in urban environments. Our goal is to first shed light on the conceptual challenges of conducting urban adaptation research to help avoid the propagation of these misconceptions. We further summarize potential strategies to move forward productively to construct a more comprehensive picture of urban adaptation, and discuss how urban environments also offer unique opportunities and applications for adaptation research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristin M. Winchell
- Department of BiologyNew York UniversityNew YorkNYUSA
- Department of BiologyWashington University in St. LouisSt. LouisMissouriUSA
| | - Kevin J. Aviles‐Rodriguez
- Department of BiologyUniversity of Massachusetts BostonBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Department of BiologyFordham UniversityBronxNew YorkUSA
| | - Elizabeth J. Carlen
- Department of BiologyWashington University in St. LouisSt. LouisMissouriUSA
- Department of BiologyFordham UniversityBronxNew YorkUSA
- Living Earth CollaborativeWashington University in St. LouisSt. LouisMissouriUSA
| | - Lindsay S. Miles
- Center for Biological Data ScienceVirginia Commonwealth UniversityRichmondVirginiaUSA
| | - Anne Charmantier
- Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et EvolutiveUniversité de Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRDMontpellierFrance
| | - Luis F. De León
- Department of BiologyUniversity of Massachusetts BostonBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Kiyoko M. Gotanda
- Department of BiologyUniversité de SherbrookeSherbrookeQuebecCanada
- Department of Biological SciencesBrock UniversitySt. Catharine'sOntarioCanada
| | - L. Ruth Rivkin
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of TorontoTorontoOntarioCanada
- Department of BiologyUniversity of Toronto MississaugaMississaugaOntarioCanada
- Centre for Urban EnvironmentsUniversity of Toronto MississaugaMississaugaOntarioCanada
| | - Marta Szulkin
- Centre of New TechnologiesUniversity of WarsawWarsawPoland
| | - Brian C. Verrelli
- Center for Biological Data ScienceVirginia Commonwealth UniversityRichmondVirginiaUSA
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29
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Bridging landscape ecology and urban science to respond to the rising threat of mosquito-borne diseases. Nat Ecol Evol 2022; 6:1601-1616. [DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01876-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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30
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Invasive Urban Mammalian Predators: Distribution and Multi-Scale Habitat Selection. BIOLOGY 2022; 11:biology11101527. [PMID: 36290430 PMCID: PMC9598248 DOI: 10.3390/biology11101527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2022] [Revised: 10/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
A barrier to successful ecological restoration of urban green spaces in many cities is invasive mammalian predators. We determined the fine- and landscape-scale habitat characteristics associated with the presence of five urban predators (black and brown rats, European hedgehogs, house mice, and brushtail possums) in three New Zealand cities, in spring and autumn, in three green space types: forest fragments, amenity parks, and residential gardens. Season contributed to variations in detections for all five taxa. Rodents were detected least in residential gardens; mice were detected more often in amenity parks. Hedgehogs were detected least in forest fragments. Possums were detected most often in forest fragments and least often in residential gardens. Some of this variation was explained by our models. Proximity of amenity parks to forest patches was strongly associated with presence of possums (positively), hedgehogs (positively), and rats (negatively). Conversely, proximity of residential gardens to forest patches was positively associated with rat presence. Rats were associated with shrub and lower canopy cover and mice with herb layer cover. In residential gardens, rat detection was associated with compost heaps. Successful restoration of biodiversity in these cities needs extensive, coordinated predator control programmes that engage urban residents.
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31
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Urbanization driving changes in plant species and communities – A global view. Glob Ecol Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
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32
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Rogers ML. Urban built form shapes avian richness in green spaces. FRONTIERS IN CONSERVATION SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fcosc.2022.768274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Urban biodiversity plays an important role in ecological processes and ecosystem services within cities, making conservation a priority in many municipal sustainability plans. Urban green spaces (UGS) have been a key strategy for conservation by providing habitat for wildlife, including avian communities. While the ecological attributes necessary to enhance the habitability of UGS for avian communities are relatively well known, an understanding of how variation in the surrounding urban matrix influences avian richness outcomes in these spaces, is less understood. As new urban areas continue to develop and UGS become increasingly important habitat areas, urban designers and planners will need a better understanding of the ways in which urban built form patterns at the matrix-level influence avian biodiversity outcomes at the site-level in UGS. To that end, this study investigates the influence of 4 urban built form matrix-level variables , capturing three-dimensional (3D) configuration patterns, and 6 UGS site-level variables on total avian richness and avian richness by foraging guild using generalized linear model methods in 22 UGS. This analysis was conducted using high resolution land cover data, LiDAR data, and twenty years of bird occurrence data from the eBird community science program in well-surveyed UGS in Los Angeles, California. The size of the UGS was the best predictor of richness patterns across all groups, confirming previous findings. However, several urban form metrics, when included with UGS size, improved model prediction for Carnivores, Insectivores, and Omnivore foraging guilds, indicating that urban built form does influence some avian groups within UGS. The results of this study suggest that the most important factor for avian richness in UGS is the size of the green space, but that urban built form plays a role too, especially when considered from a 3D perspective.
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33
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Verrelli BC, Alberti M, Des Roches S, Harris NC, Hendry AP, Johnson MTJ, Savage AM, Charmantier A, Gotanda KM, Govaert L, Miles LS, Rivkin LR, Winchell KM, Brans KI, Correa C, Diamond SE, Fitzhugh B, Grimm NB, Hughes S, Marzluff JM, Munshi-South J, Rojas C, Santangelo JS, Schell CJ, Schweitzer JA, Szulkin M, Urban MC, Zhou Y, Ziter C. A global horizon scan for urban evolutionary ecology. Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:1006-1019. [PMID: 35995606 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2022] [Revised: 07/21/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Abstract
Research on the evolutionary ecology of urban areas reveals how human-induced evolutionary changes affect biodiversity and essential ecosystem services. In a rapidly urbanizing world imposing many selective pressures, a time-sensitive goal is to identify the emergent issues and research priorities that affect the ecology and evolution of species within cities. Here, we report the results of a horizon scan of research questions in urban evolutionary ecology submitted by 100 interdisciplinary scholars. We identified 30 top questions organized into six themes that highlight priorities for future research. These research questions will require methodological advances and interdisciplinary collaborations, with continued revision as the field of urban evolutionary ecology expands with the rapid growth of cities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian C Verrelli
- Center for Biological Data Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284, USA.
| | - Marina Alberti
- Department of Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Simone Des Roches
- School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Nyeema C Harris
- Applied Wildlife Ecology Lab, Yale School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Andrew P Hendry
- Department of Biology, Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0C4, Canada
| | - Marc T J Johnson
- Department of Biology, Centre for Urban Environments, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada
| | - Amy M Savage
- Department of Biology and Center for Computational & Integrative Biology, Rutgers University-Camden, Camden, NJ 08103, USA
| | | | - Kiyoko M Gotanda
- Department of Biological Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, Canada; Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada
| | - Lynn Govaert
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, 12587 Berlin, Germany
| | - Lindsay S Miles
- Center for Biological Data Science, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284, USA
| | - L Ruth Rivkin
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON L5L 1C6, Canada; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
| | - Kristin M Winchell
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Kristien I Brans
- Department of Biology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Cristian Correa
- Instituto de Conservación Biodiversidad y Territorio, Centro de Humedales Río Cruces, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, 5090000, Chile
| | - Sarah E Diamond
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | - Ben Fitzhugh
- Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Nancy B Grimm
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Sara Hughes
- School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - John M Marzluff
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Jason Munshi-South
- Louis Calder Center & Department of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Armonk, NY 10504, USA
| | - Carolina Rojas
- Instituto de Estudios Urbanos y Territoriales, Centro de Desarrollo Sustentable CEDEUS, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, El Comendador 1916, Providencia, 7500000, Santiago, Chile
| | - James S Santangelo
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON L5L 1C6, Canada
| | - Christopher J Schell
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Jennifer A Schweitzer
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37917, USA
| | - Marta Szulkin
- Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw, Banacha 2c, 02-097, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Mark C Urban
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Center of Biological Risk, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
| | - Yuyu Zhou
- Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
| | - Carly Ziter
- Department of Biology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC H4B 1R6, Canada
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Cadenasso ML, Rademacher AM, Pickett STA. Systems in Flames: Dynamic Coproduction of Social-Ecological Processes. Bioscience 2022; 72:731-744. [PMID: 35923188 PMCID: PMC9343232 DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biac047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Ecologists who study human-dominated places have adopted a social-ecological systems framework to recognize the coproduced links between ecological and social processes. However, many social scientists are wary of the way ecologists use the systems concept to represent such links. This wariness is sometimes due to a misunderstanding of the contemporary use of the systems concept in ecology. We aim to overcome this misunderstanding by discussing the contemporary systems concept using refinements from biophysical ecology. These refinements allow the systems concept to be used as a bridge rather than a barrier to social-ecological interaction. We then use recent examples of extraordinary fire to illustrate the usefulness and flexibility of the concept for understanding the dynamism of fire as a social-ecological interaction. The systems idea is a useful interdisciplinary abstraction that can be contextualized to account for societally important problems and dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary L Cadenasso
- University of California, Davis, Davis, California, United States
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The Environmental Effects of Urbanization, Education, and Green Innovation in the Union for Mediterranean Countries: Evidence from Quantile Regression Model. ENERGIES 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/en15155456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
This study aims to examine the environmental dynamics in the Union for Mediterranean (UFM) countries by considering education, urbanization, green innovation, and other key factors for the period 2001–2016. The data are divided based on the income level of UFM countries and analyzed with panel quantile regression, panel unit root tests, panel co-integration test, ordinary least squares method, and fixed effects model to evaluate the nexus between variables. A generalized method of moments (GMM) is employed to deal with the endogeneity issue in the panel data. The results of the study confirm that the urban population has an inverted U-shaped association with environmental degradation in the lower-middle and high-middle income countries. It further comes out that increased education levels decrease environmental degradation in the high-income countries. Hence, green innovation reduces environmental degradation in the upper-middle-income and high-middle-income countries. The study validates an inverted U-shaped relationship between GDP and environmental degradation in all income-based groups of countries, which supports the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis.
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Dynamic and Heterogeneity of Urban Heat Island: A Theoretical Framework in the Context of Urban Ecology. LAND 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/land11081155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The dynamic and heterogeneity of the urban heat island (UHI) is the result of the interactions between biotic, physical, social, and built components. Urban ecology as a transdisciplinary science can provide a context to understand the complex social–biophysical issues such as the thermal environment in cities. This study aimed at developing a theoretical framework to elucidate the interactions between the social–biophysical patterns and processes mediating UHI. To do it, we conducted a theoretical review to delineate UHI complexity using the concept of dynamic heterogeneity of pattern, process, and function in UHI phenomenon. Furthermore, a hypothetical heterogeneity spiral (i.e., driver-outcome spiral) related to the UHI was conceived as a model template. The adopted theoretical framework can provide a holistic vision of the UHI, contributing to a better understanding of UHI’s spatial variations in long-term studies. Through the developed framework, we can devise appropriate methodological approaches (i.e., statistic-based techniques) to develop prediction models of UHI’s spatial heterogeneity.
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Urban Sustainability: Integrating Socioeconomic and Environmental Data for Multi-Objective Assessment. SUSTAINABILITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/su14159142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The large concentration of the world’s population in cities, along with rapid urbanization, have brought numerous environmental and socioeconomic challenges to sustainable urban systems (SUS). However, current SUS studies focus heavily on ecological aspects, rely on SUS indicators that are not supported by available data, lack comprehensive analytical frameworks, and neglect SUS regional differences. This paper develops a novel approach to assessing urban sustainability from regional perspectives using commonly enumerated socioeconomic statistics. It integrates land use and land cover change data and ecosystem service values, applies data mining analytics to derive SUS indicators, and evaluates SUS states as trade-offs among relevant SUS indicators. This synthetic approach is called the integrated socioeconomic and land-use data mining–based multi-objective assessment (ISL-DM-MOA). The paper presents a case study of urban sustainability development in cities and counties in Inner Mongolia, China, which face many environmental and sustainable development problems. The case study identifies two SUS types: (1) several large cities that boast well-developed economies, diversified industrial sectors, vital transportation locations, good living conditions, and cleaner environments; and (2) a few small counties that have a small population, small urban construction areas, extensive natural grasslands, and primary grazing economies. The ISL-DM-MOA framework innovatively synthesizes currently available socioeconomic statistics and environmental data as a unified dataset to assess urban sustainability as a total socio-environmental system. ISL-DM-MOA deviates from the current indicator approach and advocates the notion of a data-mining-driven approach to derive urban sustainability dimensions. Furthermore, ISL-DM-MOA diverges from the concept of a composite score for determining urban sustainability. Instead, it promotes the concept of Pareto Front as a choice set of sustainability candidates, because sustainability varies among nations, regions, and locations and differs between political, economic, environmental, and cultural systems.
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Bradfield AA, Nagy CM, Weckel M, Lahti DC, Habig B. Predictors of Mammalian Diversity in the New York Metropolitan Area. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.903211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Urbanization can have profound consequences for mammalian biodiversity and is thought to contribute to patterns of species richness and community composition. Large cities can be particularly challenging environments for mammals because these habitats are often impacted by anthropogenic perturbations, including high human population density, fragmented habitats, and extensive human development. In this study, we investigated mammalian species richness, Shannon–Wiener diversity, and evenness in the most densely populated region in the United States: the New York metropolitan area. Specifically, we deployed camera traps from 2015 to 2019 to investigate six drivers of mammalian diversity across 31 greenspaces: (1) human population density, (2) patch size, (3) habitat type, (4) surrounding land cover, (5) geographical barriers to dispersal, and (6) habitat heterogeneity. We found that mammal community composition is largely influenced by a multitude of anthropogenic factors. Specifically, mammal species richness was higher in greenspaces with larger patch sizes and lower in greenspaces surrounded by more development. Moreover, Shannon–Wiener diversity and evenness were higher in urban natural landscapes than human-altered landscapes. In a subset of data that only included carnivores, we found that carnivore Shannon–Wiener diversity was higher in urban natural habitats and in sites with lower human population densities. Finally, we found that geographical barriers to dispersal contributed to both patterns of mammalian diversity and patterns of carnivore diversity: mammal taxa richness, Shannon–Wiener diversity, and evenness were all significantly higher on the continent (Bronx/Westchester) than on Long Island. These results suggest that preserving urban greenspaces is important for maintaining both mammalian and carnivore biodiversity and that management of mammals in cities should concentrate on maintaining large, connected, natural greenspaces.
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White CD, Collier MJ, Stout JC. Anthropogenic Induced Beta Diversity in Plant–Pollinator Networks: Dissimilarity, Turnover, and Predictive Power. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.806615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Biogeography has traditionally focused on the distribution of species, while community ecology has sought to explain the patterns of community composition. Species interactions networks have rarely been subjected to such analyses, as modeling tools have only recently been developed for interaction networks. Here, we examine beta diversity of ecological networks using pollination networks sampled along an urbanization and agricultural intensification gradient in east Leinster, Ireland. We show, for the first time, that anthropogenic gradients structure interaction networks, and exert greater structuring force than geographical proximity. We further showed that species turnover, especially of plants, is the major driver of interaction turnover, and that this contribution increased with anthropogenic induced environmental dissimilarity, but not spatial distance. Finally, to explore the extent to which it is possible to predict each of the components of interaction turnover, we compared the predictive performance of models that included site characteristics and interaction properties to models that contained species level effects. We show that if we are to accurately predict interaction turnover, data are required on the species-specific responses to environmental gradients. This study highlights the importance of anthropogenic disturbances when considering the biogeography of interaction networks, especially in human dominated landscapes where geographical effects can be secondary sources of variation. Yet, to build a predictive science of the biogeography of interaction networks, further species-specific responses need to be incorporated into interaction distribution modeling approaches.
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Brum PHR, Gonçalves SRA, Strüssmann C, Teixido AL. A global assessment of research on urban ecology of reptiles: patterns, gaps and future directions. Anim Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- P. H. R. Brum
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso Cuiabá Brazil
| | - S. R. A. Gonçalves
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso Cuiabá Brazil
| | - C. Strüssmann
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso Cuiabá Brazil
- Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso Cuiabá Brazil
| | - A. L. Teixido
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso Cuiabá Brazil
- Departamento de Botânica e Ecologia Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso Cuiabá Brazil
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Frantzeskaki N, Oke C, Barnett G, Bekessy S, Bush J, Fitzsimons J, Ignatieva M, Kendal D, Kingsley J, Mumaw L, Ossola A. A transformative mission for prioritising nature in Australian cities. AMBIO 2022; 51:1433-1445. [PMID: 35352304 PMCID: PMC8963402 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-022-01725-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2021] [Revised: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Australia is experiencing mounting pressures related to processes of urbanisation, biodiversity loss and climate change felt at large in cities. At the same time, it is cities that can take the leading role in pioneering approaches and solutions to respond to those coupling emergencies. In this perspective piece we respond to the following question: What are the required transformations for prioritising, valuing, maintaining and embracing nature in cities in Australia? We adopt the mission framework as an organising framework to present proposed pathways to transform Australian cities as nature-positive places of the future. We propose three interconnected pathways as starting actions to steer urban planning, policy and governance in Australian cities: First, cities need to establish evidence-based planning for nature in cities and mainstream new planning tools that safeguard and foreground urban nature. Second, collaborative planning needs to become a standard practice in cities and inclusive governance for nature in cities needs to prioritise Aboriginal knowledge systems and practices as well as look beyond what local governments can do. Third, for progressing to nature-positive cities, it is paramount to empower communities to innovate with nature across Australian cities. Whilst we focus on Australian cities, the lessons and pathways are broadly applicably globally and can inspire science-policy debates for the post COP15 biodiversity and COP26 climate change implementation processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niki Frantzeskaki
- Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Cathy Oke
- Connected Cities Lab, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010 Australia
| | - Guy Barnett
- CSIRO Land and Water, Clunies Ross Street, Canberra, ACT 2601 Australia
| | - Sarah Bekessy
- ICON Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3001 Australia
| | - Judy Bush
- Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - James Fitzsimons
- The Nature Conservancy, Suite 2-01, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton, VIC 3053 Australia
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, VIC 3125 Australia
| | - Maria Ignatieva
- School of Design, the University of Western Australia, M433, Perth, WA 6001 Australia
| | - Dave Kendal
- Healthy Landscapes Research Group, School of Geography, Planning and Spatial Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7000 Australia
| | - Jonathan Kingsley
- Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
- School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, 12 Wakefield Street (Swinburne Place West), Melbourne, VIC 3122 Australia
| | - Laura Mumaw
- Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, 124 La Trobe St, Melbourne, VIC 3000 Australia
- Gardens for Wildlife Victoria, 511 Burwood Hwy, Wantirna South, VIC 3152 Australia
| | - Alessandro Ossola
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW Australia
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Science, The University of Melbourne, Burnley, VIC Australia
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Mejía GA, Groffman PM, Downey AE, Cook EM, Sritrairat S, Karty R, Palmer MI, McPhearson T. Nitrogen cycling and urban afforestation success in New York City. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 32:e2535. [PMID: 35044032 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2021] [Revised: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Afforestation projects are a growing focus of urban restoration efforts to rehabilitate degraded landscapes and develop new forests. Urban forests provide myriad valuable ecosystem services essential for urban sustainability and resilience. These essential services are supported by natural soil microbial processes that transform organic matter to critical nutrients for plant community establishment and development. Nitrogen (N) is the most limiting nutrient in forest ecosystems, yet little information is known about N cycling in urban afforestation efforts. This study examined microbially mediated processes of carbon (C) and N cycling in 10 experimental afforested sites established across New York City parklands under the MillionTreesNYC initiative. Long-term research plots were established between 2009 and 2011 at each site with low and high diversity (two vs. six tree species) treatments. In 2018, 1-m soil cores were collected from plots at each site and analyzed for microbial biomass and respiration, potential net N mineralization, and nitrification, denitrification potential, soil inorganic N, and total soil N. Field observations revealed markedly different trajectories between sites that exhibited a closed canopy and leaf litter layer derived from trees that were planted and those that did not fit this description. These two metrics served to group sites into two categories (high vs. low) of afforestation success. We hypothesized that: (1) afforestation success would be correlated with rates of C and N cycling, (2) high diversity restoration techniques would affect these processes, and (3) inherent soil properties interact with plants and environmental conditions to affect the development of these processes over time. We found that high success sites had significantly higher rates of C and N cycling processes, but low and high diversity treatments showed no differences. Low success sites were more likely to have disturbed soil profiles with human-derived debris. Afforestation success appears to be driven by interactions between initial site conditions that facilitate plant community establishment and development that in turn enable N accumulation and cycling, creating positive feedbacks for success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gisselle A Mejía
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, CUNY-The Graduate Center, New York, New York, USA
- Advanced Science Research Center, CUNY-The Graduate Center, New York, New York, USA
| | - Peter M Groffman
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, CUNY-The Graduate Center, New York, New York, USA
- Advanced Science Research Center, CUNY-The Graduate Center, New York, New York, USA
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, CUNY-Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, New York, USA
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York, USA
| | - Alisen E Downey
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, CUNY-Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, New York, USA
| | - Elizabeth M Cook
- Department of Environmental Science, Barnard College, New York, New York, USA
- Urban Systems Laboratory, The New School, New York, New York, USA
| | | | - Richard Karty
- Urban Systems Laboratory, The New School, New York, New York, USA
- Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland / Friends of the Earth, Berlin, Germany
| | - Matthew I Palmer
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
| | - Timon McPhearson
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York, USA
- Department of Environmental Science, Barnard College, New York, New York, USA
- Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
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Bylak A, Kukuła K, Ortyl B, Hałoń E, Demczyk A, Janora-Hołyszko K, Maternia J, Szczurowski Ł, Ziobro J. Small stream catchments in a developing city context: The importance of land cover changes on the ecological status of streams and the possibilities for providing ecosystem services. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 815:151974. [PMID: 34838565 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Revised: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Urban expansion and the transformation of rural areas into suburban areas along with increasing human pressure can cause major changes in the environment. Typical effects of urbanization include degradation of aquatic ecosystems. However, urban expansion is often accompanied by an effort to provide residents with some contact with nature in the city. Natural waterbodies are the elements of the environment predestined to ensure appropriate conditions for recreation and other ecosystem services key to human well-being. In this study, the changes in the forms of development of a submontane stream catchment area (Carpathians, Poland) against the background of the gradual extension of city boundaries were analysed. In addition, the impact of urbanization on the ecological conditions of the urban stream, and therefore the potential ecosystem to provide ecosystem services, was assessed. Although the extension of the city entailed the development of settlements, it was accompanied by the expansion of the municipal sewage infrastructure, thus improving sewage management. The disappearance of arable lands from the stream catchment due to the decline in agricultural activities initiated the spontaneous process of buffer restoration along the stream. All the biotic indices such as Shannon diversity index, Margalef species richness index and BMWP-PL index, based on macroinvertebrate communities increased, and the fish were more numerous in the late stage of city development compared with the early (rural) stage. Surprisingly, the system has rehabilitated well with no revitalisation actions. It is necessary, however, to improve morphological in-stream conditions, and to make further efforts to improve water quality for the system to develop a semi-natural state. Only reaching full ecological potential can lead to an increase in the ecosystem capacity to provide ecosystem services. The studied ecosystem may provide many different services simultaneously, but their availability depends on the protection of the ecosystem's functioning as a whole.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aneta Bylak
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection, University of Rzeszów, Poland.
| | - Krzysztof Kukuła
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection, University of Rzeszów, Poland
| | - Bernadetta Ortyl
- Department of Nature Protection and Landscape Ecology, University of Rzeszów, Poland
| | - Elżbieta Hałoń
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection, University of Rzeszów, Poland
| | - Agata Demczyk
- Students' Scientific Society of Naturalists, University of Rzeszów, Poland
| | | | - Justyna Maternia
- Students' Scientific Society of Naturalists, University of Rzeszów, Poland
| | - Łukasz Szczurowski
- Students' Scientific Society of Naturalists, University of Rzeszów, Poland
| | - Jolanta Ziobro
- Students' Scientific Society of Naturalists, University of Rzeszów, Poland
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Fardell LL, Nano CEM, Pavey CR, Dickman CR. Small Prey Animal Foraging Behaviors in Landscapes of Fear: Effects of Predator Presence and Human Activity Along an Urban Disturbance Gradient. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.805891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Urban environments provide the only or best habitats that are left for wildlife in many areas, promoting increased interest in urban conservation and a need to understand how wildlife cope with urban stressors, such as altered predator activity and human disturbance. Here, we used filmed giving-up density experiments to investigate behavioral coping responses of foraging small prey animals at three sites (close, mid, and far) along an urban disturbance gradient. Our study design included “natural” and experimentally added stressor cues of predators and/or human disturbance. We observed small mammal foraging behaviors, particularly: the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), northern brown bandicoot (Isoodon macrourus), brown antechinus (Antechinus stuartii), black rat (Rattus rattus), and brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), and to a lesser degree several species of native birds. We found that at the close urban-edge environment, coping responses to human disturbances were most pronounced, and predator cues from the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) were perceived as least risky. However, at the mid environment, red fox cues were perceived as most risky, especially when combined with human disturbance. At the far environment, domestic cat (Felis catus) cues were perceived as most risky, again when combined with human disturbance. Impacts from the combined stressors of predator and human disturbance cues appeared to be additive, with higher risk being perceived with increasing distance from urban build-up. Behavioral adjustments were observed to be the primary response to stressors by small prey animals in the close environment. In the mid environment, slight temporal shifts in activity across the night were more evident. In the far environment, habitat components were likely being used differently as the primary coping response to stressors. As mostly the same species were observed along the disturbance gradient, our results suggest a level of response plasticity that is calibrated to the level of exposure to a stressor and the stressor type. To maximize conservation outcomes in urban habitats, we therefore propose that management should be sensitive to the level and history of human disturbance, as this affects the coping responses of wildlife that remain.
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Designer Ecosystems for the Anthropocene—Deliberately Creating Novel Ecosystems in Cultural Landscapes. SUSTAINABILITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/su14073952] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/10/2022]
Abstract
Accepting that nature and culture are intricately co-evolved has profound implications for the ethical, legal, philosophical and pragmatic dimensions of social and environmental policy. The way we think about nature affects how we understand and manage ecosystems. While the ideals of preserving wilderness and conserving ecosystems have motivated much conservation effort to date, achieving these ideals may not be feasible under Anthropocene conditions unless communities accept custodial responsibilities for landscapes and other species. This paper’s origins are in the author’s work with the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council representing Indigenous traditional owners in Australia’s Kimberley region. These landscapes, shaped by 60,000 years of human occupation, interweave knowledge, laws and governance regimes, and material and spiritual connections with country. This interweaving offers insights into options for dealing with humanity’s complex sustainability challenges. The paper also draws on the literature about cultural landscapes, ecological design, agroecology and permaculture to explore options for applying ecological design as a planning and problem-solving framework. The paper concludes that design-based approaches offer significant opportunities for using ecological science to integrate conservation and production in agricultural landscapes in ways that can meet human needs while also conserving biodiversity under climate change.
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Alberti M, Wang T. Detecting patterns of vertebrate biodiversity across the multidimensional urban landscape. Ecol Lett 2022; 25:1027-1045. [PMID: 35113498 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2021] [Revised: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Explicit characterisation of the complexity of urban landscapes is critical for understanding patterns of biodiversity and for detecting the underlying social and ecological processes that shape them. Urban environments exhibit variable heterogeneity and connectivity, influenced by different historical contingencies, that affect community assembly across scales. The multidimensional nature of urban disturbance and co-occurrence of multiple stressors can cause synergistic effects leading to nonlinear responses in populations and communities. Yet, current research design of urban ecology and evolutionary studies typically relies on simple representation of the parameter space that can be observed. Sampling approaches apply simple urban gradients such as linear transects in space or comparisons of urban sites across the urban mosaic accounting for a few variables. This rarely considers multiple dimensions and scales of biodiversity, and proves to be inadequate to explain observed patterns. We apply a multidimensional approach that integrates distinctive social, ecological and built characteristics of urban landscapes, representing variations along dimensions of heterogeneity, connectivity and historical contingency. Measuring species richness and beta diversity across 100 US metropolitan areas at the city and 1-km scales, we show that distinctive signatures of urban biodiversity can result from interactions between socioecological heterogeneity and connectivity, mediated by historical contingency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Alberti
- Department of Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.,Urban Ecology Research Lab, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Tianzhe Wang
- Department of Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.,Urban Ecology Research Lab, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
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Abstract
The two most significant signatures of the Anthropocene—agriculture and urbanisation—have yet to be studied synoptically. The term periurban is used to describe territory where the urbanising trend of the planet extends into multiscapes. A periurban praxis is required that spatially reconciles urbanisation and agriculture, simultaneously permitting urban growth and the enhancement of critical ecosystem services provided by agricultural hinterlands. This paper presents a synthesis of four fields of ecological research that converge on periurban multiscapes—ecological urbanism, landscape ecology, ecosystem services science and agroecology. By applying an ecosystem services approach, a diagram is developed that connects these fields as a holistic praxis for spatially optimising periurban multiscapes for ecosystem services performance. Two spatial qualities of agroecology—‘ES Density’ and ‘ES Plasticity’—potentiate recent areas of research in each of the other three fields—ecology for the city from ecological urbanism, landscape metrics from landscape ecology (particularly the potential application of fractals and surface metrics) and ecosystem services supply and demand mapping and ‘ES Space’ theory from ecosystems services science. While the multifunctional value of agroecological systems is becoming widely accepted, this paper focuses on agroecology’s specific spatial value and its unique capacity to supply ecosystem services specifically tailored to the critical ecosystemic demands of periurban multiscapes.
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Pacheco-Muñoz R, Ceja-Madrigal A, Pérez-Negrón E, Ortiz-Asbun AK, Schondube JE. Wintering Town: Individual Quality of Migratory Warblers Using Green Urban Areas in a Neotropical City. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.779507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Migratory birds can be familiar winter visitors of Neotropical cities. However, of the regional migrant species bird pool, only a few species are abundant in urban areas. Their presence inside cities has been positively related to green urban areas with high tree cover. However, urban elements like artificial lights can also attract them to cities. Habitat quality that enables energetic refueling for migrant birds is crucial in all their annual migratory stages. While some Nearctic cities offer a high-quality refueling habitat for migrant birds, we lack this information for Neotropical cities where migratory birds winter. In this study, we evaluate whether the urban green areas of a Neotropical city act as high-quality habitats for two abundant species of migratory warblers: Setophaga coronata and Leiothlypis ruficapilla. We assessed this by capturing birds inside three urban green areas and comparing their abundances, population structure, and individual quality (scaled-mass index—SMI) with individuals spending winter in natural vegetation habitats outside the city. We found that both species do not show differences in SMI between urban and non-urban sites. We also found that Setophaga coronata had a higher capture rate in urban than non-urban sites, while Leiothlypis ruficapilla had similar capture rates in both habitats. Our findings indicate that the urban green areas of cities can act as suitable quality habitat during winter for two abundant migrant birds. Our results indicate that cities can have a higher conservation potential for a declining and sensitive group such as the Nearctic-Neotropical migratory birds than previously thought. We also point out the need to acknowledge that migratory species can be urban dwellers.
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50
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Mapping Green Infrastructure Based on Multifunctional Ecosystem Services: A Sustainable Planning Framework for Utah’s Wasatch Front. SUSTAINABILITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/su14020825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/10/2022]
Abstract
Most sustainable planning frameworks assess natural and social–economic landscape systems as separate entities, and our understanding of the interrelationships between them is incomplete. Landscape classification in urbanizing environments requires an integrated spatial planning approach to better address the United Nation’s sustainable development challenges. The objective of this research is to apply a multicriteria evaluation which ranked diverse ecosystem–service producing landscapes and synthesize the findings within a unique green infrastructure spatial planning framework. Local government stakeholder derived weighting and GIS classification were operated to map both the urban and natural landscapes of the Salt Lake City region of Utah, one of the most rapidly urbanizing areas in North America. Results were assimilated through five regional landscape typologies—Ecological, Hydrological, Recreational, Working Lands, and Community—and indicated those highest ranked landscape areas which provided multiple ecosystem services. These findings support collaborative decision making among diverse stakeholders with overlapping objectives and illustrates pathways to the development of ecosystem service criteria. This paper contributes to a better understanding of how to integrate data and visualize the strategic approaches required for sustainable planning and management, particularly in urban and urbanizing regions where complex socioecological landscapes predominate.
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