ORCID Profile
0000-0003-2816-1722
Current Organisation
University of Tasmania
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Research Topics
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Top 5 Research Topics
ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)
Conservation and Biodiversity | Palaeontology (incl. Palynology) | History and Philosophy Of Specific Fields | Land Use and Environmental Planning | Community Planning | Ecological Impacts of Climate Change | Geology | Environmental Science and Management | History and Philosophy of Science (incl. Non-historical Philosophy of Science) | Urban and Regional Planning | Environmental Management | History of Ideas | Astrobiology | Isotope Geochemistry | Social and Community Psychology
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Urban and Industrial Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity | Expanding Knowledge in the Environmental Sciences | Ecosystem Adaptation to Climate Change | Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Urban and Industrial Environments | Control of Pests, Diseases and Exotic Species not elsewhere classified | Expanding Knowledge in the Earth Sciences | Health Status (e.g. Indicators of Well-Being) | Expanding Knowledge in History and Archaeology |
Related Links
Publications
Call for papers for “Theoretical traditions in social values for sustainability”
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-02-2018
Drivers of diversity and tree cover in gardens, parks and streetscapes in an Australian city
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2012
From Conservation to Connection: Exploring the Role of Nativeness in Shaping People’s Relationships with Urban Trees
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-07-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S00267-023-01856-3
Abstract: Deciding whether to plant native or non-native trees in public urban green spaces is becoming complex and conflicted, and decisions purely based on biotic nativeness are likely to be hamstrung as climate change and rising urban heat push many native species beyond their natural ranges. Importantly, tree selection considerations by urban planners and environmental managers will have to move beyond a primary focus on securing conservation and ecological outcomes, to elucidate and engage with a growing interest in the socio-cultural values and services of urban trees. Building on emerging theoretical perspectives, this place-based study explores the role that perceptions of nativeness have in shaping people’s relationships with native and non-native urban trees and landscapes in an Australian city. Nativeness was associated with a range of subjective meanings including cultural identity, political expression, nature connection, desirable and undesirable traits, and environmental and cultural compatibility. Our findings emphasise that the ways in which urban trees and green spaces are valued and experienced is likely mediated by people’s perceptions of nativeness and its importance relative to other attributes. To provision and sustain green spaces that meet the erse needs and preferences of urban publics, planners and managers need to elucidate and incorporate the nuanced, place-based and multifaceted subjective meanings of nativeness into urban greening decision-making and practice.
Toward Urban Forest Diversity: Resident Tolerance for Mixtures of Tree Species Within Streets
Publisher: International Society of Arboriculture
Date: 03-2019
Abstract: Municipalities are setting targets for increasing street tree species ersity to support resilience and enhance the supply of ecosystem services from the urban forest. Assessments of street tree composition and structure, and consequent vulnerability to the stresses of urban climate change, pests, and disease, offer guidance for such targets. However, assessing local resident preferences toward species ersity within streets is also important to achieving such targets. Much of the research on street tree preference to date has focused on resident preferences for in idual street tree characteristics, without reference to collective/contextual characteristics such as species ersity. We inferred resident preferences for collective street tree features, including species richness, from nearby house sale prices in the city of Brisbane, Australia. While home-buyers were willing to pay a premium for houses on streets with mature and aged trees, their tolerance for mixtures of species was limited to no more than six species nearby. Tolerance also varied within the city with greater sensitivity to mixtures of species in locations of greater socio-economic advantage. These findings suggest that increased ersity will not automatically be accepted by the community. Municipalities need to be cautious in their approach to increasing tree species ersity at finer scales, like streetscapes, within the urban forest.
The distinct ecological and social roles that wild spaces play in urban ecosystems
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2018
‘The great publication race’ vs ‘abandon paper counting’: Benchmarking ECR publication and co-authorship rates over past 50 years to inform research evaluation
Publisher: F1000 Research Ltd
Date: 26-01-2022
DOI: 10.12688/F1000RESEARCH.75604.1
Abstract: Background: Publication and co-authorship rates have been increasing over decades. In response, calls are being made to restrict the number of publications included in research evaluations. Yet there is little evidence to guide publication expectations and inform research evaluation for early career researchers (ECRs). Methods: Here we examine the early career publication and co-authorship records between 1970 and 2019 of ,000 authors of 2.8 million publications, to identify how publication and co-authorship rates have changed over the last 50 years. This examination is conducted in order to develop benchmarks of median publication rates for sensibly evaluating ECR research productivity, and to explore success in meeting these benchmarks with different co-authorship strategies using regression models. Results: Publication rates of multidisciplinary ECRs publishing in Nature, Science and PNAS have increased by 46% over the last 50 years and that publications rates in a set of disciplinary journals have increased by 105%. Co-authorship rates have increased even more, particularly for the multidisciplinary s le which now has 572% more co-authors per publication. Benchmarks based on median publication rates for all authors increased from one publication per year at the start of a career, to four publications per year after 10 years of publishing, and one first-author publication across all years. The probability of meeting these benchmarks increases when authors publish with different co-authors, and first authorship rates decrease for ECRs with many co-authors per publication. Conclusion: This evidence could be used to inform sensible publishing expectations for ECRs and the institutions they work for, and to inform calls to limit the number of publications produced by researchers and those used in research evaluations.
How Urban Forest Managers Evaluate Management and Governance Challenges in Their Decision-Making
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 02-09-2020
DOI: 10.3390/F11090963
Abstract: Decisions about urban forests are critical to urban liveability and resilience. This study aimed to evaluate the range of positions held by urban forest managers from local governments in the state of Victoria, Australia, regarding the management and governance challenges that affect their decision-making. This study was based on a Q-method approach, a procedure that allows researchers to evaluate the range of positions that exist about a topic in a structured manner based on the experiences of a wide group of people. We created statements on a wide range of urban forest management and governance challenges and asked urban forest managers to rate their level of agreement with these statements via an online survey. Managers generally agreed about the challenges posed by urban development and climate change for implementing local government policies on urban forest protection and expansion. However, there were ergent views about how effective solutions based on increasing operational capacities, such as increasing budgets and personnel, could address these challenges. For some managers, it was more effective to improve critical governance challenges, such as inter-departmental and inter-municipal coordination, community engagement, and addressing the culture of risk aversion in local governments. Urban forest regional strategies aimed at coordinating management and governance issues across cities should build on existing consensus on development and environmental threats and address critical management and governance issues not solely related to local government operational capacity.
Understanding pathways to shifting people’s values over time in the context of social–ecological systems
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-12-2019
Land Manager Perspectives on Conflict Mitigation Strategies for Urban Flying-Fox Camps
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 24-05-2018
DOI: 10.3390/D10020039
People's Decisions Shape Urban Habitats
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 11-08-2023
Global patterns of diversity in the urban forest: Is there evidence to support the 10/20/30 rule?
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2014
Green space context and vegetation complexity shape people’s preferences for urban public parks and residential gardens
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-04-2017
Urban forest governance and decision-making: A systematic review and synthesis of the perspectives of municipal managers
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2019
Urban trees worldwide have low species and genetic diversity, posing high risks of tree loss as stresses from climate change increase
Publisher: International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS)
Date: 02-2016
When Ecological Information Meets High Wildlife Value Orientations: Influencing Preferences of Nearby Residents for Urban Wetlands
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 29-06-2016
Underinsurance as adaptation: Household agency in places of marketisation and financialisation
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 24-09-2019
Abstract: The underinsurance of property is pervasively and persuasively promoted as an indicator of risk and riskiness and, in Western nations, is assumed to be aligned with socio-economic disadvantage. Yet, the solution – in its most simple form, buying more insurance – lacks critical interrogation of what the problem actually is. To understand underinsurance better, we map house and contents underinsurance across two municipalities in Australia’s island state of Tasmania, and observe that the existing delineation of disadvantage and advantage between these two places is muted in relation to insurance – underinsurance does not straightforwardly map onto disadvantage. We provide an alternative explanation: that underinsurance is not a risk for households per se and does not represent riskiness on behalf of these households. Rather, it is indicative of household agency that produces place-specified responses within the processes of financialisation and marketisation. We observe that the growth in renting, driven in part by housing financialisation, is associated with property underinsurance. The history of renting as temporary and marginal informs renter decision making not to insure, and thus current financialised changes in housing co-produce rather than ameliorate underinsurance. We also conclude that in negating or resisting insurance marketisation, households garner everyday financial and material adaptative capacity by underinsuring.
The effects of land tenure and land use on the urban forest structure and composition of Melbourne
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2013
A cultivated environment: Exploring the global distribution of plants in gardens, parks and streetscapes
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-11-2012
Humans and Ornamental Plants: A Mutualism?
Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert Inc
Date: 12-2016
The role of social values in the management of ecological systems
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.JENVMAN.2014.05.013
Abstract: The concept of value is central to the practice and science of ecological management and conservation. There is a well-developed body of theory and evidence that explores concepts of value in different ways across different disciplines including philosophy, economics, sociology and psychology. Insight from these disciplines provides a robust and sophisticated platform for considering the role of social values in ecological conservation, management and research. This paper reviews theories of value from these disciplines and discusses practical tools and instruments that can be utilised by researchers and practitioners. A distinction is highlighted between underlying values that shape people's perception of the world (e.g. altruistic or biospheric value orientations), and the values that people assign to things in the world (e.g. natural heritage, money). Evidence from numerous studies has shown that there are multiple pathways between these values and attitudes, beliefs and behaviours relevant to ecological management and conservation. In an age of increasing anthropogenic impacts on natural systems, recognising how and why people value different aspects of ecological systems can allow ecological managers to act to minimise conflict between stakeholders and promote the social acceptability of management activities. A series of practical guidelines are provided to enable social values to be better considered in ecosystem management and research.
Harnessing diversity in gardens through individual decision makers
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2010
Towards better species identification processes between scientists and community participants
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2019.133738
Abstract: Urban gardens are a model system for understanding the intersection between bio ersity conservation and citizen science. They contain high plant ersity that contributes to urban flora. However, this ersity is challenging to document due to site access and complex plant taxonomy with hybrids and cultivars. Community research participation provides a tool to measure plant ersity and distribution by engaging gardeners who are most familiar with their plants to report on their garden's species richness using citizen science. Yet there is little empirical exploration of plant identification consistency between citizen scientists and scientific researchers. This could lead to reporting differences (e.g., missing species, multiple reporting of the same species) due to spatial and temporal effects, different perspectives and knowledge systems, and cultural context. We leverage a scientific survey of garden plants and a questionnaire asking gardeners to report on the species in their gardens to perform an opportunistic comparison of gardener and researcher reported plant ersity in community gardens. The comparison shows that gardeners interpret instructions to report plants quite variably, with some reporting all species (including herbaceous weeds) and crop varieties, while others reporting only their main crop species. Scientist on the other hand seek clarity in terms of species and variety and report all species located in the plot, including the small weed species that are overlooked by some gardeners. Consistency could be improved if researchers are more specific about their reporting expectations when asking community members to participate in data collection. We use this case study to communicate that paired citizen scientist-researcher data collection and dialogue between groups is necessary to improve methods for conducting consistent and collaborative assessments of biological ersity.
Decision-making of municipal urban forest managers through the lens of governance
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2020
Multicultural gardeners and park users benefit from and attach diverse values to urban nature spaces
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2019
City-size bias in knowledge on the effects of urban nature on people and biodiversity
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Date: 12-2020
Abstract: The evidence base for the benefits of urban nature for people and bio ersity is strong. However, cities are erse and the social and environmental contexts of cities are likely to influence the observed effects of urban nature, and the application of evidence to differing contexts. To explore biases in the evidence base for the effects of urban nature, we text-matched city names in the abstracts and affiliations of 14 786 journal articles, from separate searches for articles on urban bio ersity, the health and wellbeing impacts of urban nature, and on urban ecosystem services. City names were found in 51% of article abstracts and 92% of affiliations. Most large cities were studied many times over, while only a small proportion of small cities were studied once or twice. Almost half the cities studied also had an author with an affiliation from that city. Most studies were from large developed cities, with relatively few studies from Africa and South America in particular. These biases mean the evidence base for the effects of urban nature on people and on bio ersity does not adequately represent the lived experience of the 41% of the world’s urban population who live in small cities, nor the residents of the many rapidly urbanising areas of the developing world. Care should be taken when extrapolating research findings from large global cities to smaller cities and cities in the developing world. Future research should encourage research design focussed on answering research questions rather than city selection by convenience, disentangle the role of city size from measures of urban intensity (such as population density or impervious surface cover), avoid gross urban-rural dualisms, and better contextualise existing research across social and environmental contexts.
Human–nature connection: a multidisciplinary review
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2017
Random point sampling to detect gain and loss in tree canopy cover in response to urban densification
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2017
Plant traits link people's plant preferences to the composition of their gardens
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2012
Temperature Variability Differs in Urban Agroecosystems across Two Metropolitan Regions
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 03-04-2019
DOI: 10.3390/CLI7040050
Abstract: Climatically similar regions may experience different temperature extremes and weather patterns that warrant global comparisons of local microclimates. Urban agroecosystems are interesting sites to examine the multidimensional impacts of climate changes because they rely heavily on human intervention to maintain crop production under different and changing climate conditions. Here, we used urban community gardens across the California Central Coast metropolitan region, USA, and the Melbourne metropolitan region, Australia, to investigate how habitat-scale temperatures differ across climatically similar regions, and how people may be adapting their gardening behaviors to not only regional temperatures, but also to the local weather patterns around them. We show that, while annual means are very similar, there are strong interregional differences in temperature variability likely due to differences in the scale and scope of the temperature measurements, and regional topography. However, the plants growing within these systems are largely the same. The similarities may be due to gardeners’ capacities to adapt their gardening behaviors to reduce the adverse effects of local temperature variability on the productivity of their plot. Thus, gardens can serve as sites where people build their knowledge of local weather patterns and adaptive capacity to climate change and urban heat. Climate-focused studies in urban landscapes should consider how habitat-scale temperature variability is a background for interesting and meaningful social-ecological interactions.
Local Assessment of Melbourne: The Biodiversity and Social-Ecological Dynamics of Melbourne, Australia
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Date: 2013
Managing biodiversity through social values and preferences
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 28-11-2017
A global comparison of the climatic niches of urban and native tree populations
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2018
DOI: 10.1111/GEB.12728
Sentiment Analysis: ready for conservation
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-2016
DOI: 10.1002/FEE.1435
Temperature variability influences urban garden plant richness and gardener water use behavior, but not planting decisions
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2018.07.270
Abstract: Urban environments are being subject to increasing temperatures due to the combined effects of global climate change and urban heat. These increased temperatures, coupled with human planting preferences and green space management practices, influence how urban plants grow and survive. Urban community gardens are an increasingly popular land use, and a green space type that is influenced by unique climate-human behavior interactions. Despite ongoing rapid temperature changes in cities, it is unknown how gardeners are adapting to these changes, and to what extent changes influence planting decisions and patterns of urban plant ersity. In this study, we monitored the variation in daily air temperatures and measured plant species richness at the garden and garden plot scale in 11 community gardens in Melbourne, Australia. We surveyed >180 gardeners to better understand the relationships between temperature variation, garden plant species ersity, and gardener management practices. We found that garden scale temperature variability is driven by regional context, and temperatures are more stable in landscapes with higher impervious surface cover. Gardeners agreed that climatic/temperature changes are influencing their watering behavior, but not their plant selection. Instead plant selection is being driven by desired food production. Yet, when comparing two bioregions, temperature did have a measurable relationship with garden plant composition in the region with more temperature variation. Temperature variability negatively related to plant species richness within garden plots, providing evidence that plant survival is related to climate at this scale in such regions. Although gardeners may be able to water more in response to regional climate changes, gardeners are unlikely to be able to completely control the effects of temperature on plant survival in more variable conditions. This suggests the inner city with more stable temperatures (albeit potentially hotter for longer due to heat island) may accommodate more species erse gardens.
Values and attitudes of the urban public towards peri-urban agricultural land
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2013
Enhancing the Teaching and Learning of Biometeorology in Higher Education
Publisher: American Meteorological Society
Date: 09-2017
Nature-based solutions in Australia: a systematic quantitative literature review of terms, application and policy relevance
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 13-05-2023
DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.11.538642
Abstract: Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are emerging as an approach to sustainable environmental management and addressing environmental and social issues in ways that benefit human well-being and bio ersity. NbS have been applied to social-environmental challenges such as climate change and urbanization, but with erse conceptualisations and applications that may impact their effectiveness and broader uptake. Much of the literature and implementation of NbS has emerged from Europe and though NbS use is rising in Australia, the context is unclear. This systematic quantitative literature review aims to understand Nature-based Solutions in an Australian context. Here we explore the meaning and practical uses of NbS in Australia, through three research questions: In Australia, 1) what is meant by the term ‘nature-based solutions’? 2) what socio-ecological challenges do NbS aim to address and how? 3) are there gaps in NbS research and policy application that are hindering uptake of NbS approaches? We show that in Australia, local governments are using NbS in urban planning to address the compounding challenges brought on by climate change in the human-environment interfaces. However, there is no consensus on NbS definitions and approaches, research is focussed on urban areas and problems, and NbS implementation follows a bottom-up, localised pattern without an integrated policy framework. Based on these findings, we provide recommendations for improving the implementation of NbS in Australia including: 1) a consistency of NbS definition and awareness of NbS approaches 2) interdisciplinary and interdepartmental collaboration on NbS methods and effectiveness and 3) an integrated policy framework supporting NbS nationwide.
Need for empirical evidence to support use of social license in conservation: reply to Garnett et al.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-04-2018
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.13114
New methods of spatial analysis in urban gardens inform future vegetation surveying
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-02-2020
DOI: 10.1007/S10980-020-00974-1
Abstract: Land use change requires measuring shifting patterns in bio ersity at various spatial scales to inform landscape management. Assessing vegetation change at different scales is challenging in urban ecosystems managed by many in iduals. Thus, we do not know much about the structure and function of green spaces that support bio ersity. We aim to understand how vegetation structure and function indicators in urban community gardens vary with spatial scale, applying new and traditional methods in landscape ecology to inform future research and application. We performed two methods to assess garden vegetation structure (height) and function (species ersity, cover) at the garden- and garden plot scale. First, we used traditional field s ling to estimate garden vegetation at the garden scale (1 m 2 quadrats along transects) and at the plot scale (estimated within entire plot) to measure height, ersity and cover. Second, we used UAV aerial imagery to derive measures of garden and plot vegetation using canopy height models (CHMs). We evaluated differences in CHMs at each scale across the gardens, and compared field and UAV-derived measures. Garden vegetation characteristics vary with spatial scale. Plant species richness and vegetation cover, but not height, related to UAV-derived imagery. New technologies paired with traditional field methods can together inform how vegetation structure and function vary with spatial scale in urban landscapes. Spatial scale is key to accurate and meaningful urban vegetation analyses. New and traditional methods in urban ecology research should develop together to improve and streamline their future application.
Global drivers and tradeoffs of three urban vegetation ecosystem services
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 17-11-2014
A global horizon scan of the future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on urban ecosystems
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-01-2021
Physical Activity and Food Environments in and around Schools: A Case Study in Regional North-West Tasmania
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 20-05-2022
Abstract: A better understanding of the physical activity (PA) infrastructure in schools, the walkability of neighborhoods close to schools, and the food environments around schools, particularly in rural, socioeconomically challenged areas such as the North-West (NW) of Tasmania, could be important in the wider effort to improve the health of school-age children. Accordingly, this research aimed to assess PA resources, walkability, and food environments in and around schools in three socioeconomically disadvantaged, regional/rural Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Tasmania, Australia. A census of schools (including assessment of the PA infrastructure quality within school grounds), a walkability assessment, and a census of food outlets surrounding schools (through geospatial mapping) were executed. Most of the schools in the study region had access to an oval, basketball/volleyball/netball court, and free-standing exercise equipment. In all instances (i.e., regardless of school type), the quality of the available infrastructure was substantially higher than the number of incivilities observed. Most schools also had good (i.e., within the first four deciles) walkability. Numerous food outlets were within the walking zones of all schools in the study region, with an abundance of food outlets that predominantly sold processed unhealthy food.
Trust, Connection and Equity: Can Understanding Context Help to Establish Successful Campus Community Gardens?
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 14-10-2020
Abstract: C us community gardens (CCGs) can potentially improve student health and wellbeing, mitigate social and ecological problems, and nurture university-community relationships. However, CCGs are located in complex socio-political and ecological settings and many community gardens struggle or fail. However, few studies have assessed the socio-political/ecological context of a garden setting prior to its development to understand the potential barriers and enablers of success. Our study assessed the socio-spatial context of a proposed CCG at a student university accommodation site. We engaged erse university and community stakeholders through interviews, focus groups and a survey to explore their perceptions of the space generally and the proposed garden specifically. Visual observations and public life surveying were used to determine patterns of behavior. Results confirmed known problems associated with an underutilized site that provides little opportunity for lingering or contact with nature and unknown barriers, including socially disconnected stakeholders and community distrust of the university. The research also uncovered positive enablers, such as stakeholder appreciation of the social, wellbeing and ecological benefits that a CCG could deliver. Our findings suggest that an in-depth exploration of a proposed garden context can be an important enabler of its success.
Multiple ecosystem services and disservices of the urban forest establishing their connections with landscape structure and sociodemographics
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2014
The Grass is Greener on the Other Side
Publisher: ACM Press
Date: 2018
Environmental place-making by the ‘out of place’
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 25-07-2023
Motivations and fears driving participation in collaborative research infrastructure for animal tracking
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 20-11-2020
DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0241964
Abstract: Anthropogenic derived environmental change is challenging earth’s bio ersity. To implement effective management, it is imperative to understand how organisms are responding over broad spatiotemporal scales. Collection of these data is generally beyond the budget of in idual researchers and the integration and sharing of ecological data and associated infrastructure is becoming more common. However, user groups differ in their expectations, standards of performance, and desired outputs from research investment, and accommodating the motivations and fears of potential users from the outset may lead to higher levels of participation. Here we report upon a study of the Australian ornithology community, which was instigated to better understand perceptions around participation in nationally coordinated research infrastructure for detecting and tracking the movement of birds. The community was surveyed through a questionnaire and in iduals were asked to score their motivations and fears around participation. Principal Components Analysis was used to reduce the dimensionality of the data and identify groups of questions where respondents behaved similarly. Linear regressions and model selection were then applied to the principal components to determine how career stage, employment role, and years of biotelemetry experience affected the respondent’s motivations and fears for participation. The analysis showed that across all sectors (academic, government, NGO) there was strong motivation to participate and belief that national shared biotelemetry infrastructure would facilitate bird management and conservation. However, results did show that a cross-sector cohort of the Australian ornithology community were keen and ready to progress collaborative infrastructure for tracking birds, and measures including data-sharing agreements could increase participation. It also informed that securing initial funding would be a significant challenge, and a better option to proceed may be for independent groups to coordinate through existing database infrastructure to form the foundation from which a national network could grow.
Beyond the luxury effect: Individual and structural drivers lead to ‘urban forest inequity’ in public street trees in Melbourne, Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2022
Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Urban Development
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 18-06-2020
DOI: 10.3390/SU12124964
Abstract: Urbanization is a major driver of environmental change and is closely linked to the future of bio ersity. Cities can host a high richness of plants and animals, and this urban bio ersity supports multiple regulating, provisioning and cultural ecosystem services. Developing bio ersity-friendly cities is thus inextricably linked to sustainable urban development and human wellbeing. The contributions to this Special Issue on “Bio ersity Conservation and Sustainable Urban Development” in the journal Sustainability illustrate the role of urban environments as pressures on bio ersity, and envision pathways towards developing more bio erse urban environments that are accepted and supported by people. Contributions reveal promising opportunities for conserving bio ersity within many urban landscapes. The insights from this Special Issue can support urban conservation policies and their implementation in the development of sustainable cities.
Disentangling the Environment in Wildlife Microbiome–Behaviour Interactions: Response to Davidson et al.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2021
Biotic homogenization in an increasingly urbanized temperate grassland ecosystem
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-03-2017
DOI: 10.1111/JVS.12507
Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Climate Change Adaptation: Linking Science, Policy, and Practice Communities for Evidence-Based Decision-Making
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 29-05-2019
Editorial overview: theoretical traditions in social values for sustainability
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-08-2019
Routledge Handbook of Forest Ecology
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 16-10-2015
Quantifying the importance of urban trees to people and nature through tree removal experiments
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-07-2023
DOI: 10.1002/PAN3.10509
Abstract: Experimentally manipulating urban tree abundance and structure can help explore the complex and reciprocal interactions among people, bio ersity and the services urban forests provide to humans and wildlife. In this study we take advantage of scheduled urban tree removals to experimentally quantify the benefits that urban trees provide to humans and wildlife. Specifically, we aim to understand how trees affect: (1) bird and mammal abundance and ersity, as well as an ecological process (predation) and (2) people's perception responses, such as the importance that people assign to the trees, wildlife and the site. We designed two independent Before‐after‐control‐impact (BACI) experiments based on two sites where tree removals were occurring (impact sites): an urban park and a residential street, both located in the Greater Melbourne Area, Australia. We selected three control sites for each impact site, or four per experiment. Ecological data were collected through field surveys, and social data on people's perceptions through intercept questionnaires among park and street users. Data were analysed using a GLMMs to determine the combined effect of time (before and after) and treatment (impact and controls). At the urban park, the abundance of nectarivorous birds and possums both declined by 62% following tree removal, while invertebrate predation increased by 82.1%. The level of importance people assigned to the urban park and to the trees at the site decreased after tree removal, and people's attitudes towards tree planting became more positive, meaning more people wanted to plant more trees at the site. None of these changes were observed in the street experiment where fewer and smaller trees were removed, suggesting that effects may be highly specific to context, where factors such as tree volume, ersity and arrangement influence the magnitude of social–ecological effects observed. By demonstrating the social–ecological effect of removing urban trees, we provide evidence that urban trees provide critical habitat to urban wildlife and are perceived as an important aspect of the human experience of urban nature. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Understanding the human dimensions of managing overabundant charismatic wildlife in Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2020
Mainstreaming microbes across biomes
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 17-06-2020
Abstract: Bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms in the environment (i.e., environmental microbiomes) provide vital ecosystem services and affect human health. Despite their importance, public awareness of environmental microbiomes has lagged behind that of human microbiomes. A key problem has been a scarcity of research demonstrating the microbial connections across environmental biomes (e.g., marine, soil) and between environmental and human microbiomes. We show in the present article, through analyses of almost 10,000 microbiome papers and three global data sets, that there are significant taxonomic similarities in microbial communities across biomes, but very little cross-biome research exists. This disconnect may be hindering advances in microbiome knowledge and translation. In this article, we highlight current and potential applications of environmental microbiome research and the benefits of an interdisciplinary, cross-biome approach. Microbiome scientists need to engage with each other, government, industry, and the public to ensure that research and applications proceed ethically, maximizing the potential benefits to society.
Harnessing diversity in gardens through individual decision makers
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2010
The importance of small urban reserves for plant conservation
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2017
Assessing the drivers shaping global patterns of urban vegetation landscape structure
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2017.03.058
Abstract: Vegetation is one of the main resources involve in ecosystem functioning and providing ecosystem services in urban areas. Little is known on the landscape structure patterns of vegetation existing in urban areas at the global scale and the drivers of these patterns. We studied the landscape structure of one hundred cities around the globe, and their relation to demography (population), socioeconomic factors (GDP, Gini Index), climate factors (temperature and rain) and topographic characteristics (altitude, variation in altitude). The data revealed that the best descriptors of landscape structure were amount, fragmentation and spatial distribution of vegetation. Populated cities tend to have less, more fragmented, less connected vegetation with a centre of the city with low vegetation cover. Results also provided insights on the influence of socioeconomics at a global scale, as landscape structure was more fragmented in areas that are economically unequal and coming from emergent economies. This study shows the effects of the social system and climate on urban landscape patterns that gives useful insights for the distribution in the provision of ecosystem services in urban areas and therefore the maintenance of human well-being. This information can support local and global policy and planning which is committing our cities to provide accessible and inclusive green space for all urban inhabitants.
The contribution of wild urban ecosystems to liveable cities
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2018
The role of social license in conservation
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-08-2017
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.12994
What are the traits of a social-ecological system: towards a framework in support of urban sustainability
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-03-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S42949-020-00008-4
Abstract: To ensure that cities and urban ecosystems support human wellbeing and overall quality of life we need conceptual frameworks that can connect different scientific disciplines as well as research and practice. In this perspective, we explore the potential of a traits framework for understanding social-ecological patterns, dynamics, interactions, and tipping points in complex urban systems. To do so, we discuss what kind of framing, and what research, that would allow traits to (1) link the sensitivity of a given environmental entity to different globally relevant pressures, such as land conversion or climate change to its social-ecological consequences (2) connect to human appraisal and erse bio-cultural sense-making through the different cues and characteristics people use to detect change or articulate value narratives, and (3) examine how and under what conditions this new approach may trigger, inform, and support decision making in land/resources management at different scales.
Native for whom: A mixed‐methods literature review and synthesis to conceptualise biotic nativeness for social research in the urban context
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-11-2021
DOI: 10.1002/PAN3.10274
Abstract: The idea of which species are native, based on their biogeographic origin, is central to many policies and programmes. Yet definitions are contested and the meanings of ‘nativeness’ are often complex and confusing for many people. For ex le, a plant that would be considered 'native' in Australia might have a native bioregion that is thousands of kilometres from a given garden planting. The idea of nativeness is culturally constructed and connotes different meanings in different contexts. As conservation research and practice increasingly incorporate human values and behaviours, operationalising the social dimensions of abstract ecological concepts such as nativeness is needed to generate a more holistic evidence base and improve the management of native and non‐native species. We used a sequential mixed‐methods systematic review approach to review and synthesise literature on people's (including general publics, gardeners, conservationists) perceptions of nativeness of species and landscapes. A meta‐synthesis of qualitative research identified six dimensions that underlie people's perceptions in relation to nativeness: Belonging (a sense that there is a right or wrong place for a species to exist) human influence (the role of humans in moving species outside of their historic ranges) functional compatibility (a species' alignment with the local environment and ecology) amenity (desirable and useful features provided by a species) negative impacts (risk and manageability of detrimental impacts caused by a species) and identity (species forming part of one's place‐based identity). A systematic review of the quantitative urban literature found that most research on perceptions of native and non‐native species and landscapes did not operationalise nativeness in a multidimensional way, focusing predominantly on the ‘Negative impacts’ dimension. This may often be inadequate for meaningfully capturing people's views. Our results also highlight the need to strengthen interdisciplinarity between natural and social sciences, and for better integration of social science theories to improve the interpretability and transferability of research findings. We provide recommendations for future research that operationalises nativeness using a broader range of meanings that will inform a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the human dimensions of conservation issues, especially within the contested and briskly evolving terrain of urban greening. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Understanding sentiments and activities in green spaces using a social data–driven approach
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 2019
Social and Ecological Dimensions of Urban Conservation Grasslands and Their Management through Prescribed Burning and Woody Vegetation Removal
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 24-04-2020
DOI: 10.3390/SU12083461
Abstract: Natural grasslands are threatened globally. In south-eastern Australia, remnants of critically endangered natural grasslands are increasingly being isolated in urban areas. Urbanisation has led to reduced fire frequency and woody plant encroachment in some patches. Grasslands are currently being managed under the assumption that desirable management actions to address these threats (prescribed burning and removing woody vegetation) (1) lead to improved conservation outcomes and (2) are restricted by negative public attitudes. In this study, we tested these two assumptions in the context of native grassland conservation reserves in Melbourne, Australia. Firstly, we investigated differences in species and functional trait composition between patches that had been recently burnt, patches that were unburnt and patches subject to woody vegetation encroachment. We found that the functional traits of species converged in areas subject to woody plant encroachment and areas frequently disturbed by fire. Burning promoted native species, and patches of woody plants supressed the dominant grass, providing a wider range of habitat conditions. Secondly, we surveyed 477 residents living adjacent to these grassland conservation reserves to measure values, beliefs and attitudes and the acceptance of prescribed burning and removing woody vegetation. We found conflict in people’s attitudes to grasslands, with both strongly positive and strongly negative attitudes expressed. The majority of residents found prescribed burning an acceptable management practice (contrary to expectations) and removing trees and shrubs from grasslands to be unacceptable. Both cognitive factors (values and beliefs) and landscape features were important in influencing these opinions. This research provides some guidance for managing urban grassland reserves as a social–ecological system, showing that ecological management, community education and engagement and landscape design features can be integrated to influence social and ecological outcomes.
Preference for and performance of some Australian native plants grown as hedges
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2008
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