Urban Forestry & Urban Greening最新文献

The increasing densification of urban spaces can negatively impact biodiversity in the city, but the diversity of green spaces also offers new opportunities to implement biodiversity conservation interventions. Urban community gardens are social-ecological systems that support biodiversity, ecosystem services, and positive human-nature interactions. In turn, community gardens can provide ideal “real-world labs” to co-create, test, and collectively implement biodiversity conservation strategies with gardeners that can be transferred to and mainstreamed across other urban ecosystems. This is important because the impact of biodiversity-friendly gardening strategies is not yet systematically researched, nor how this knowledge can be transferred to other urban ecosystems. In our transdisciplinary research, we are developing, implementing, and testing biodiversity conservation interventions focused on promoting insect diversity with gardeners and neighborhood residents from Berlin and Munich, Germany. Our aim is to engage with and support city residents in biodiversity-based urban greening. To do so, we work at the nexus between civil society (gardeners, neighborhood residents, ecologically oriented organizations) and relevant city actors (city council, district committees, city administration) to anchor the participation of civil society in the ecological transformation of the city. In this communication article, we present our transdisciplinary research concept, participatory methods, and experience thus far in translating research to practice, and supporting the role of city residents to implement biodiversity interventions in their gardens and in their neighborhoods.

Urban neighborhood parks hold significance in the lives of all inhabitants of a city. Numerous research studies suggest that neighborhood parks serve a crucial function in affording urban residents the chance to engage with nature, participate in physical exercise, as well as establish social connections. Accessibility to neighborhood parks and other natural spaces benefits residents' physical and mental health. The majority of research has found that either active or inactive involvement with natural surroundings reduces the incidence of emotions such as sadness, stress, and anxiousness. Notwithstanding certain indications that urban neighborhood parks are underutilized due to concerns about their quality, safety, and proximity, a comprehensive evaluation of these parks is yet to be conducted. Consequently, there exists a significant interest in comprehending how community residents engage with and utilize local parks. This research conducts a comprehensive analysis of the pertinent literature from various disciplines, including sociology, economics, geography, and ecology, among others. It employs a systematic review methodology to gather diverse characteristics of urban neighborhood parks, such as utilization, accessibility, contentment, and inclination. This study comprises a total of 20 (N = 20) articles about urban neighborhood parks, which were obtained through a thorough review of the literature throughout seven search engines, including the scientific databases Science Direct, Google Scholar, the World Wide Web of Science, the ProQuest, Scopus, and the CNKI, among others Dissertation & Theses. The articles were selected based on their connection with the topics of urban neighborhood parks, public urban green spaces, park usage, preferences, mental health, and other related keywords. This literature review provides an analysis of the sample features, collecting data methods, sampling strategies, analysis of data, as well as significant results. The selected research has consistently documented the significance of urban neighborhood parks in promoting mental well-being, followed by social advantages. However, only a few studies have investigated the possible benefits of urban neighborhood parks in facilitating physical activities. The correlation between human health and the perceived inclination towards a verdant environment, as well as the emotional connection to factors such as tranquility, security, and physical well-being, has been extensively documented.

Urban green spaces are key for maintaining and restoring habitat connectivity within cities. Despite substantial investigations on the contribution to connectivity of different types of urban green spaces, the specific contribution of green spaces located in multifamily residential (MFR) plots has yet to be assessed. Estimating this contribution is crucial given the multiple roles fulfilled by these green spaces in urban planning. To achieve this goal, we focused on four taxa: the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), the Red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), forest passerine birds and moths. We assessed the potential habitat connectivity for each taxon across the metropolitan urban area of Lyon (France), with landscape graphs built using 1-metre resolution land cover maps. Considering the current state as a reference, we then designed five land cover change scenarios affecting habitat distribution in the MFR plots: (i) maximum and (ii) minimum theoretical connectivity (references), (iii) improve quality of existing green spaces, (iv) improve quantity of green spaces with sub-optimal quality and, (v) maximum restoration (management scenarios). The taxon- and scenario-specific impacts highlight the crucial contribution of private spaces to habitat connectivity. For all taxa, while the MFR only cover 8 % of the study area, connectivity would increase by up to 60 % if these plots were greened. In contrast, sealing these plots could reduce overall connectivity by up to 40 %. The interpolation of local connectivity metrics for each habitat patch and each MFR plot allowed us to identify the most relevant plots for urban greening. Because our approach can improve habitat connectivity at different scales, from neighbourhoods to entire urban areas, it could prove useful for landscape planning in most urban settings.

Urban greenspace plays a crucial role in city design, offering residents various benefits for their health and wellbeing. With increasing urbanisation and human population growth, urban greenspace is becoming an even more significant resource. By implementing a mixed-method approach, we conducted a comprehensive assessment of urban greenspace based on public usage and perceptions, and quality, availability and accessibility in Derby, UK. Our methodology included an online questionnaire to investigate greenspace usage and perceptions, an in-situ assessment to assess greenspace quality, and Geographical Information Systems analysis to quantify greenspace provision based on Natural England’s (2023) Accessible Greenspace Standards (AGS). We found that greenspace usage and perception vary according to demographic and socioeconomic aspects, with younger people and students showing lower engagement with greenspace. Positive engagement correlates with factors such as proximity, car access, employment, and education. We also found that moderately high levels of greenspace quality (69.47/100) are available in the city, with the most notable insufficiencies related to quietness/peacefulness, aesthetics, and naturalness. Finally, none of the AGS criteria are met at a city-wide scale given the lack of large greenspace sites (particularly over 100 ha) and inequalities in spatial distribution. Our study highlights the value of the use of different methodologies to assess greenspace-related factors and emphasises the significance of public engagement in evaluating greenspace quality. Additionally, we identified factors adversely affecting greenspace use, including parking fees and issues with facilities, amenities, and safety. We therefore recommend interventions to address these challenges and enhance greenspace experience and accessibility in the city.

Urban green infrastructure – the network of greenspaces across cities – provides ecosystem services that are important for urban sustainability. Because of this, cities are increasingly redeveloping underused alleys into green infrastructure to improve ecosystem service capacity. But it remains unclear if these green alleys are delivering on the promise of supplying particular ecosystem services. The indicators usually used within green infrastructure to measure ecosystem services may not be suitable for green alleys because of the unique structure, vegetative features and level of community engagement of these alleys. Here we developed and tested a rapid assessment approach to evaluate ecosystem service capacity appropriate for use by community members and practitioners, using a green alley network in Montréal (Canada) as a case study. We collected data on green alley vegetation, structural form and indicators of four ecosystem services (food provision, habitat for pollinators, anthropogenic noise regulation and air temperature regulation). We modelled the relationships between vegetation, structural form, and ecosystem services, to determine if these rapidly assessed features of green alleys are appropriate indicators to evaluate ecosystem service capacity. Our results show that a rapidly assessed measure of vegetative ground cover is strongly associated with habitat for pollinators, highlighting potential for vegetative ground cover as an indicator for this service. Rapid assessments of alley vegetation were not associated with air temperature or anthropogenic noise, contrasting the findings of previous studies. Lack of relationships between the explanatory variables and the four ecosystem services suggests that further research is required to untangle these complex relationships. Our research provides a starting point for developing indicators of ecosystem service capacity that are tailored specifically to the unique structure and features of green alleys, a crucial step in testing the efficacy of this increasingly popular sustainable development strategy.

The supply-demand relationship between urban parks and residents is a hot topic for promoting sustainable and efficient cities. Most studies have focused on the assessment of spatial equity, while ignoring the evaluation of park use efficiency. Taking Nanjing as an example, we developed specific indicators, namely, the supply intensity of urban park (UPSI), per capita park area (PCPA), usage ratio (UR), and demand satisfaction ratio (DSR), to measure equity and efficiency on the basis mobile phone signalling data. The results show that the service areas of urban parks cover only approximately 4/5 of the urban residences, and that the PCPAs of urban residences were divergent. In addition, most urban parks had unsuitable URs, and the DSRs indicated that most residents’ demand could not be satisfied by the surrounding parks. A spatial lag model (SLM) was introduced to explore the factors influencing residents’ demand. In combination with the literature, we concluded that the disparity between urban park supply and resident demand resulted from the spatial distribution of physical geographic factors, changes in urban planning and development strategies, and the diverse and dynamic demands of urban residents. On the basis of the above results, we further made recommendations for the management and planning of urban parks.

Many studies have demonstrated that the cooling and energy-saving effects of planting trees around buildings vary depending on their location. However, most research has focused on a limited number of representative planting sites. This study evaluates the reduction in thermal radiation absorbed by walls over a single day due to trees, defined as daily thermal radiation disturbance (T_RDD). Using a combination of experiments and ENVI-met software simulations, we established a coordinate system to map the T_RDD distribution of trees at various locations around a building. The findings reveal that trees at different locations exhibit isoT_RDD lines, which are symmetrical about the building’s centerline. Trees planted along these isoT_RDD lines exert equal effects on T_RDD. The isoT_RDD lines form a series of ellipses that decay in two stages with increasing distance between the tree crowns and the walls (D_W-T): rapid decay when D_W-T is less than 3 m and slower decay beyond 3 m. Additionally, we found a linear positive correlation between the change in the sky view factor (ΔSVF) on the wall surface caused by trees and the T_RDD. Trees near the north and south walls, as well as those along the building's diagonal, primarily block sky-scattered radiation (R²>0.97). Trees around the east and west walls block both sky-scattered and direct solar short-wave radiation (R²>0.85). This indicates a significant relationship between isoT_RDD and SVF of the building. The methodology proposed in this study allows for a comprehensive assessment of the spatial evolution of T_RDD for trees around the building, providing a scientific basis for the spatial design of trees to optimize cooling and energy savings. Moreover, the relationship between ΔSVF and T_RDD enables rapid calculations and comparisons of the cooling effects of trees at different locations.

Introduction

'Peasant populations in tropical areas use Traditional Home Gardens (THG) as a key resource for their homes. THG supports significant plant biodiversity, most directly related to asset production, including locally rare species related to food, fuelwood, cultural, ornamental, shade, and wind barriers. Previous studies have considered factors driving tree diversity in THG; however, few have evaluated the biological, environmental, and management factors that shape tree diversity. Our objective in the present study was to identify the drivers of the tree community in THG across a precipitation gradient, evaluating biological, environmental and management factors.

Methods

We visited forty-eight THG distributed across the precipitation gradient spanning around 300 km The tropical Mayan Forest in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico., where tree inventory and identification were obtained from specimens with a diameter at breast height > 5 cm. Interviews were conducted with owners about the history of THG. Metadata were captured and analyzed for 19 putative determinants of tree population structure. Differences in tree diversity by individual THG and region were determined statistically. Modeled interaction networks were determined based on a co-occurrence matrix.

Results

THG tree abundances are mainly explained by the relative abundance of not deliberately established individuals, the organic carbon content in the soil, and surrounding forest integrity. Management history of THG by peasants, including factors such as irrigation, TGH area, and fertilization, showed smaller but significant differences. Tree distribution is at a lower degree influenced by the precipitation gradient in the Yucatan Peninsula, which shows different abundances even for species established by THG owners.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that biological and environmental factors may shape tree abundance and distribution over anthropic activities in THG. We identified rare, region-specific, and indicator species by region and modeled interaction networks that show coincidences with the empirical knowledge of THG owners.

Butterflies, valued for their aesthetic and ecological value, are key subjects in urban biodiversity research. Our study focused on the often-overlooked roles of pocket parks, which are micro-greenspaces and small amusement parks open to the public. Despite their limited size, pocket parks are vital in maintaining the diversity of urban butterflies. We contrasted pocket park diversity with urban parks in Beijing, China. Next, using hierarchical clustering, we classified butterflies into exploiters, adapters, and avoiders based on how well they adapted to urban environments. Finally, we used Logistic regression and Poisson regression to build generalised linear models for all species and each of the three groups separately, allowing us to investigate the differences in the effects of variables from food resources and shelters on various butterfly groups in pocket parks. The results showed that although the primary restrictions differ depending on the group, pocket parks can serve as habitats for most species. Management intensity, pocket park area and nectar plants were significant variables for all species. The tourist intensity and host plants were variables that affected the presence of exploiters. Host plants, nectar plants, and management intensity all affected adapter diversity. Pocket parks’ area was only affected avoiders significantly. These results suggest that pocket parks have roles as source and sink habitats for exploiters and adapters and as stepping stones and corridors for most butterfly species inhabiting cities.

Various types of urban parks provide a nature-based solution for mitigating urban heat islands and the cooling effect of urban parks has been extensively studied. However, there is a scarcity of cases involving small linear parks based on quantifiable unit, despite the expectation of their high cooling efficiency due to their unique form and characteristics. This study examined the cooling effect of urban linear park (LP) in low-rise and high-density districts with the longest urban park case in Seoul, South Korea, Gyeongui Line Forest Park, focusing on the influential factors related to park design. Thermal condition simulations and field measurements, including evaluations of thermal comfort, were conducted both inside and outside the LP. Park extensions with increased tree coverage ratio exhibit a consistent decline in thermal variables, with reductions of up to 11.25°C for mean radiant temperature (MRT), and 5.84°C for physiological equivalent temperature (PET). Peak cooling intensities are observed during the hottest time of day at 12 °C for MRT, with parallel wind further enhancing the cooling effect. In addition, LP cooling effect related to adjacent street types was investigated and appeared to be more pronounced in narrower streets. Strategies such as adding tall trees along adjacent streets and connecting cold airflows from the park to a street tree corridor may help to strengthen LP’s cooling effect. While direct comparisons are limited, initial findings suggest that small urban linear parks under specific conditions have significant cooling potential, possibly comparable to or exceeding that of other similar-sized small urban parks, needing further investigation.