Experience Them, Love Them, Protect Them-Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed People's Perception of Urban and Suburban Green Spaces and Their Conservation Targets?

Public green and open spaces fulfil various social, ecological, economic, and aesthetic roles, which can be complementary while also competing with one another. The COVID-19 pandemic catalysed multiple societal changes, including citizens' perception, needs and expectations relating to urban green spaces. This article discusses the extent to which the temporally and geographically changed patterns of experiencing these natural spaces also influenced users' perception and behaviour as well as their appreciation of the conservation areas. The study is based upon two surveys carried out in the greater metropolitan region of Vienna, the capital city of Austria. A quantitative survey (representative online panel) among Viennese population (n = 1012), as well as qualitive interviews with experts responsible for conservation areas, administrators of federal parks, along with NGOs representatives were carried out in spring and summer 2021. Our study shows changed perception of urban citizens towards green spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. An increased importance of time spent in nature (68%) and possibility to visit large green areas (67%) was reported by Viennese citizens. Also, higher recognition of green spaces located close to home was observed among 69% of the respondents. There were significant differences in opinions on green areas during the pandemic in various age and gender groups. Thus, the presented study contributes to the ongoing international discussion on the transition of societal needs and its effects on urban green spaces induced by the pandemic. Presented results highlight the need of urgent transformation towards a more sustainable, resilient and healthy urban space. Graphical abstract.

Managing Tourism and Environment—Trail Erosion, Thresholds of Potential Concern and Limits of Acceptable Change

Natural area tourism may contribute to deterioration in biophysical environments important for sustainable conservation of biodiversity and/or historically significant sites. Levels of protection within the IUCN guidelines provide general descriptors of desirable outcomes, and the Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) management tool has often been implicitly applied. This article presents an initial attempt to assess the value of Thresholds of Potential Concern (TPC) relative to LAC as management frameworks for protected areas, using the example of trail width as an indicator of visitor impacts on vegetation, soil, water and, potentially, visitor safety. Visitor preferences relating to trail width were incorporated when applying the TPC and LAC principles. Sections of three walking trails in a high-visitation national park near Sydney, Australia, were measured at ~10.7 m intervals: the mean trail widths were 1.6 m, 1.8 m and 2.14 m. Of the 115 recreationists surveyed, 16% of those having the greatest tolerance towards management interventions (‘Non-purist’ wilderness category) viewed a trail ≥ 2 m wide as acceptable, but 96% of ‘Purists’ nominated a maximum of ≤1.5 m. The TPC was found to provide a broad strategy for identification, assessment and grading of multiple biophysical thresholds within an ecological framework. Combined with stakeholder information, the TPC allows for timely, proactive and calibrated management responses to maintaining biophysical and social sustainability.

Fishermen's knowledge and conservation attitudes: focus on the great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Minho River, Portugal

Considerate the attitudes of traditional communities and their local ecological knowledge (LEK) can contribute to better policymaking and more appropriate management plans. Thus, this study strived to share the Minho River's fishermen LEK about great cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo (Linnaeus, 1758), as well as it exposes their conservation attitudes towards this species. We described and analysed interviewees' LEK qualitatively, while their attitudes were analysed quantitatively through correlation with variables from fishermen's profile. Fishermen were able to identify cormorant's ecological characteristics like habitats, prey species, and foraging behaviour. They also exposed an overall moderate attitude towards the conservation of great cormorants. The LEK often was supported by published data, but we found diverse information in some themes, such as habitat and diet. We found a significant negative correlation between fishermen's age and attitudes (p = 0.02), and those fishermen who often fished contrasted significantly from those who rarely fished (p = 0.02). We lastly reaffirm the importance of the present study as background information regarding P. carbo in Minho River and of ethnobiological studies as a tool for management plans.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10452-021-09928-4.

Effect of Human Disturbance on Bird Telomere Length: An Experimental Approach

Human recreational activities increase worldwide in space and frequency leading to higher rates of encounter between humans and wild animals. Because wildlife often perceive humans as predators, this increase in human disturbance may have negative consequences for the individuals and also for the viability of populations. Up to now, experiments on the effects of human disturbance on wildlife have mainly focused on individual behavioral and stress-physiological reactions, on breeding success, and on survival. However, the effects on other physiological parameters and trans-generational effects remain poorly understood. We used a low-intensity experimental disturbance in the field to explore the impacts of human disturbance on telomere length in great tit (Parus major) populations and found a clear effect of disturbance on telomere length. Adult males, but not females, in disturbed plots showed shorter telomere lengths when compared to control plot. Moreover, variation in telomere length of adult great tits was reflected in the next generation, as we found a positive correlation between telomere length of the chicks and of their fathers. Given that telomere length has been linked to animal lifespan, our study highlights that activities considered to be of little concern (i.e., low levels of disturbance) can have a long-lasting impact on the physiology and survival of wild animals and their next generation.

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on human-nature interactions: Pathways, evidence and implications

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the global response have dramatically changed people's lifestyles in much of the world. These major changes, as well as the associated changes in impacts on the environment, can alter the dynamics of the direct interactions between humans and nature (hereafter human-nature interactions) far beyond those concerned with animals as sources of novel human coronavirus infections. There may be a variety of consequences for both people and nature.Here, we suggest a conceptual framework for understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic might affect the dynamics of human-nature interactions. This highlights three different, but not mutually exclusive, pathways: changes in (a) opportunity, (b) capability and (c) motivation.Through this framework, we also suggest that there are several feedback loops by which changes in human-nature interactions induced by the COVID-19 pandemic can lead to further changes in these interactions such that the impacts of the pandemic could persist over the long term, including after it has ended.The COVID-19 pandemic, which has had the most tragic consequences, can also be viewed as a 'global natural experiment' in human-nature interactions that can provide unprecedented mechanistic insights into the complex processes and dynamics of these interactions and into possible strategies to manage them to best effect. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Recreation effects on wildlife: a review of potential quantitative thresholds

Outdoor recreation is increasingly recognised for its deleterious effects on wildlife individuals and populations. However, planners and natural resource managers lack robust scientific recommendations for the design of recreation infrastructure and management of recreation activities. We reviewed 38 years of research on the effect of non-consumptive recreation on wildlife to attempt to identify effect thresholds or the point at which recreation begins to exhibit behavioural or physiological change to wildlife. We found that 53 of 330 articles identified a quantitative threshold. The majority of threshold articles focused on bird or mammal species and measured the distance to people or to a trail. Threshold distances varied substantially within and amongst taxonomic groups. Threshold distances for wading and passerine birds were generally less than 100 m, whereas they were greater than 400 m for hawks and eagles. Mammal threshold distances varied widely from 50 m for small rodents to 1,000 m for large ungulates. We did not find a significant difference between threshold distances of different recreation activity groups, likely based in part on low sample size. There were large gaps in scientific literature regarding several recreation variables and taxonomic groups including amphibians, invertebrates and reptiles. Our findings exhibit the need for studies to measure continuous variables of recreation extent and magnitude, not only to detect effects of recreation on wildlife, but also to identify effect thresholds when and where recreation begins or ceases to affect wildlife. Such considerations in studies of recreation ecology could provide robust scientific recommendations for planners and natural resource managers for the design of recreation infrastructure and management of recreation activities.

New social trails made during the pandemic increase fragmentation of an urban protected area

Urban protected areas are an important resource to people and wildlife, providing many ecosystem services. During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown during March-June 2020, there was a major increase in the number of hikers and bicyclists in urban protected areas, including the Webster Woods in Newton, Massachusetts (USA), an 82.5-ha protected area. The Webster Woods is one of the largest protected areas near the center of Boston and is widely used in conservation textbooks as an example of the effects of habitat fragmentation on the amount of undisturbed habitat. Prior to the pandemic, the Webster Woods had been extensively fragmented by paved roads, dirt roads, and trails, with little interior habitat remaining. During the first four months of the pandemic, hikers and bicyclists made 4.9 km of new social (or informal) trails, an increase of 36%. This recent fragmentation represents a dramatic increase in the level of human impact on the area, reducing the amount of interior habitat from 3.2 to 2.1 ha. Levels of human activity returned to pre-pandemic levels in autumn 2020 and city officials have started closing access to some of the new trails, allowing vegetation to regrow. It is possible that similar increases in social trails and associated fragmentation have occurred in other protected areas (especially those in urban areas) around the world due to the pandemic, and these disturbances should be evaluated for their effects on plant and animal populations.

The relationship between landscape features and domestic species on the occupancy of native mammals in urban forests

Landscape features such as roads, hiking trails, and forest edge are prevalent features of urban forests. These features can negatively influence biodiversity through fragmentation and facilitate the penetration of invasive species, particularly predators such as domestic dogs and cats. This study examined how these landscape features affect the distribution of native and domestic mammals and how domestic species affect the occupancy and activity patterns of native mammals. To this end, we conducted camera trap surveys in forested urban and suburban parks in Indiana and Kentucky, USA, to record the presence of native species (deer, raccoons, coyote, and opossums) and non-native predators (domesticated cats and dogs) in relation to distance to nearest roads, hiking trails, and forest edge. We found negative correlations between proximity to roads, hiking trails, and forest edge and the occupancy of the native species with this effect extending up to 300 m. We also found evidence that the presence of dog and cat was negatively correlated with the occupancy for all native species. We recommend park management consider the impact of roads, hiking trails, and forest edge when designing parks and the enforcement of dog leash regulations for the conservation of large mammals in urban parks.

The Role of Animal Cognition in Human-Wildlife Interactions

Humans have a profound effect on the planet's ecosystems, and unprecedented rates of human population growth and urbanization have brought wild animals into increasing contact with people. For many species, appropriate responses toward humans are likely to be critical to survival and reproductive success. Although numerous studies have investigated the impacts of human activity on biodiversity and species distributions, relatively few have examined the effects of humans on the behavioral responses of animals during human-wildlife encounters, and the cognitive processes underpinning those responses. Furthermore, while humans often present a significant threat to animals, the presence or behavior of people may be also associated with benefits, such as food rewards. In scenarios where humans vary in their behavior, wild animals would be expected to benefit from the ability to discriminate between dangerous, neutral and rewarding people. Additionally, individual differences in cognitive and behavioral phenotypes and past experiences with humans may affect animals' ability to exploit human-dominated environments and respond appropriately to human cues. In this review, we examine the cues that wild animals use to modulate their behavioral responses toward humans, such as human facial features and gaze direction. We discuss when wild animals are expected to attend to certain cues, how information is used, and the cognitive mechanisms involved. We consider how the cognitive abilities of wild animals are likely to be under selection by humans and therefore influence population and community composition. We conclude by highlighting the need for long-term studies on free-living, wild animals to fully understand the causes and ecological consequences of variation in responses to human cues. The effects of humans on wildlife behavior are likely to be substantial, and a detailed understanding of these effects is key to implementing effective conservation strategies and managing human-wildlife conflict.

Human recreation decreases antibody titre in bird nestlings: an overlooked transgenerational effect of disturbance

Outdoor recreational activities are booming and most animals perceive humans as predators, which triggers behavioural and/or physiological reactions [e.g. heart rate increase, activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis]. Physiological stress reactions have been shown to affect the immune system of an animal and therefore may also affect the amount of maternal antibodies a female transmits to her offspring. A few studies have revealed that the presence of predators affects the amount of maternal antibodies deposited into eggs of birds. In this study, using Eurasian blue and great tit offspring (Cyanistes caeruleus and Parus major) as model species, we experimentally tested whether human recreation induces changes in the amount of circulating antibodies in young nestlings and whether this effect is modulated by habitat and competition. Moreover, we investigated whether these variations in antibody titre in turn have an impact on hatching success and offspring growth. Nestlings of great tit females that had been disturbed by experimental human recreation during egg laying had lower antibody titres compared with control nestlings. Antibody titre of nestling blue tits showed a negative correlation with the presence of great tits, rather than with human disturbance. The hatching success was positively correlated with the average amount of antibodies in great tit nestlings, independent of the treatment. Antibody titre in the first days of life in both species was positively correlated with body mass, but this relationship disappeared at fledging and was independent of treatment. We suggest that human recreation may have caused a stress-driven activation of the HPA axis in breeding females, chronically increasing their circulating corticosterone, which is known to have an immunosuppressive function. Either, lower amounts of antibodies are transmitted to nestlings or impaired transfer mechanisms lead to lower amounts of immunoglobulins in the eggs. Human disturbance could, therefore, have negative effects on nestling survival at early life-stages, when nestlings are heavily reliant on maternal antibodies, and in turn lead to lower breeding success and parental fitness. This is a so far overlooked effect of disturbance on early life in birds.

Drivers and Frequency of Forest Visits: Results of a National Survey in the Czech Republic

The general objective of the study was to assess the main drivers for visiting the forest and the frequency of the visits in the Czech Republic. A nationwide collection of data of the sociological research as part of The Market & Media & Lifestyle Research Project was carried out every year in the Czech Republic under the licensed cooperation with Kantar Media. The project is unique by the large scope of the questions in the questionnaires and by the high number of respondents. A total of 8794 Czech inhabitants aged 12 years and above from all the regions were involved in the survey in 2018. Information about the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of all the respondents were obtained. In the closed questions, the respondents reported the frequency of the forest visits and its drivers. The main driver for visiting the forest was just to go for a walk or just to enjoy the outdoors, especially during their holidays or weekends, amounting to 79% of the inhabitants. Meditation and relaxation as well as sport in the forest, were also considered as important motives for forest recreation. On the contrary, 95% of the visitors did not practice game hunting, although game has a long tradition in the Czech Republic. Improvement on managing the forest for recreation should focus on participatory forest management to find a consensus between the public and forest stakeholders. Common decisions may help set up forest recreational goals with positive impacts on forest ecosystem services.

You Can’t See the Woods for the Trees: Invasive Acer negundo L. in Urban Riparian Forests Harms Biodiversity and Limits Recreation Activity

Public access to high quality green environments has become a key issue for city managers and a matter of environmental justice. Urban pressures on ecosystem remnants may act to favor the expansion of some invasive species in cities. Whilst the negative impacts of invasive species on ecosystem function is well documented, little is known about how invasive species influence the use of green space by people. Here, we examined one of the few remnants of urban riparian forests in Europe, the Vistula river valley in Warsaw, which has recently become an attractive recreation site. Despite their high ecological value, the poplar and willow forests have been increasingly taken over by the invasive tree species Acer negundo. We examined the status of the invasion process and the relationship between recreational ecosystem services and the characteristics of the tree stands—tree species, tree density, and age and NDVI values. We found the willow forest to be more susceptible to invasion by A. negundo than the poplar forest, which was revealed in significantly higher share of the maple individuals and their greater volume per unit area. Ash-leaved maples also prevailed in numbers in younger stands (<10 years) than in older ones. The presence of A. negundo affected biodiversity, resulting in decreased undergrowth density and biodiversity expressed in number of species. The use intensity by the public, assessed on the basis of soil compaction of existing informal tracks, as revealed by GLM analysis, was related to volume of invasive maple and distance from the main track. This study highlights the need to integrate invasive species management into green infrastructure planning and management.