ORCID Profile
0000-0002-6011-9172
Current Organisation
CSIRO
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Publisher: CSIRO
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.25919/JFWW-JW47
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2008
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-11-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-09-2022
DOI: 10.1002/EAP.2708
Abstract: Cities are sometimes characterized as homogenous with species assemblages composed of abundant, generalist species having similar ecological functions. Under this assumption, rare species, or species observed infrequently, would have especially high conservation value in cities for their potential to increase functional ersity. Management to increase the number of rare species in cities could be an important conservation strategy in a rapidly urbanizing world. However, most studies of species rarity define rarity in relatively pristine environments where human management and disturbance is minimized. We know little about what species are rare, how many species are rare, and what management practices promote rare species in urban environments. Here, we identified which plants and species of birds and bees that control pests and pollinate crops are rare in urban gardens and assessed how social, biophysical factors, and cross-taxonomic comparisons influence rare species richness. We found overwhelming numbers of rare species, with more than 50% of plants observed classified as rare. Our results highlight the importance of women, older in iduals, and gardeners who live closer to garden sites in increasing the number of rare plants within urban areas. Fewer rare plants were found in older gardens and gardens with more bare soil. There were more rare bird species in larger gardens and more rare bee species for which canopy cover was higher. We also found that in some cases, rarity begets rarity, with positive correlations found between the number of rare plants and bee species and between bee and bird species. Overall, our results suggest that urban gardens include a high number of species existing at low frequency and that social and biophysical factors promoting rare, planned bio ersity can cascade down to promote rare, associated bio ersity.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2022
Publisher: CSIRO
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.25919/3QYV-VT98
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2017.08.091
Abstract: Urban gardens in Central California are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, experiencing both extended high heat periods as well as water restrictions because of severe drought conditions. This puts these critical community-based food production systems at risk as California is expected to experience increasing weather extremes. In agricultural systems, increased vegetation complexity, such as greater structure or bio ersity, can increase the resilience of food production systems from climate fluctuations. We test this theory in 15 urban gardens across California's Central Coast. Local- and landscape-scale measures of ground, vegetation, and land cover were collected in and around each garden, while climate loggers recorded temperatures in each garden in 30min increments. Multivariate analyses, using county as a random factor, show that both local- and landscape-scale factors were important. All factors were significant predictors of mean temperature. Tallest vegetation, tree/shrub species richness, grass cover, mulch cover, and landscape level agricultural cover were cooling factors in contrast, garden size, garden age, rock cover, herbaceous species richness, and landscape level urban cover were warming factors. Results were similar for the maximum temperature analysis except that agriculture land cover and herbaceous species richness were not significant predictors of maximum temperature. Analysis of gardener watering behavior to observed temperatures shows that garden microclimate was significantly related to the number of minutes watered as well as the number of liters of water used per watering event. Thus gardeners seem to respond to garden microclimate in their watering behavior even though this behavior is most probably motivated by a range of other factors such as water regulations and time availability. This research shows that local management of ground cover and vegetation can reduce mean and maximum temperatures in gardens, and the reduced temperatures may influence watering behavior of gardeners.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-11-2013
DOI: 10.1002/ECO.1310
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-06-2013
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2007
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Date: 23-04-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2007
Publisher: CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship
Date: 2011
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 03-2011
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-01-2023
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.14146
Abstract: Ecosystem services (ESs) are essential for human well‐being, especially in urban areas where 60% of the global population will live by 2030. While urban habitats have the potential to support bio ersity and ES, few studies have quantified the impact of local and landscape management across a erse suite of services. We leverage 5 years of data ( observations) across a network of urban community gardens to determine the drivers of bio ersity and ES trade‐offs and synergies. We found multiple synergies and few trade‐offs, contrasting previous assumptions that food production is at odds with bio ersity. Furthermore, we show that natural landscape cover interacts with local management to mediate services provided by mobile animals, specifically pest control and pollination. By quantifying the factors that support a erse suite of ES, we highlight the critical role of garden management and urban planning for optimizing bio ersity and human benefit.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 11-08-2016
DOI: 10.3390/SU8080788
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 15-04-2010
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2021
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 13-12-2017
Publisher: CSIRO
Date: 2014
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-05-2015
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-07-2023
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-09-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2019
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-11-2018
Publisher: American Public Health Association
Date: 03-2015
Abstract: There is mounting concern for the health of urban populations as cities expand at an unprecedented rate. Urban green spaces provide settings for a remarkable range of physical and mental health benefits, and pioneering health policy is recognizing nature as a cost-effective tool for planning healthy cities. Despite this, limited information on how specific elements of nature deliver health outcomes restricts its use for enhancing population health. We articulate a framework for identifying direct and indirect causal pathways through which nature delivers health benefits, and highlight current evidence. We see a need for a bold new research agenda founded on testing causality that transcends disciplinary boundaries between ecology and health. This will lead to cost-effective and tailored solutions that could enhance population health and reduce health inequalities.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2008
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2014
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 10-2008
DOI: 10.1641/B580911
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-01-2009
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.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2020
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 10-2013
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-03-2023
DOI: 10.1038/S42949-023-00094-0
Abstract: Urban dwellers’ use of public and private green spaces may have changed during the early years of the Covid-19 pandemic due to movement restriction. A survey was deployed in Brisbane and Sydney, Australia 1 year after the start of Covid-19 restrictions (April 2021) to explore relationships of mental health and wellbeing to different patterns of private yard versus public green space visitation. More frequent yard use during the initial year of Covid-19 was correlated with lower stress, depression, and anxiety and higher wellbeing. However, greater duration of yard visits (week prior to survey) was associated with higher stress, anxiety, and depression scores, potentially because in iduals may seek to use nature spaces immediately available for emotional regulation during difficult times. The results highlight the importance of yards for mental health and wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic and that relationships between nature interaction and mental health may be context and timeframe dependent.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2017
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 29-01-2014
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2015
Publisher: Springer Singapore
Date: 2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2017
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.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 17-12-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2020
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.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-02-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2022
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 03-02-2022
DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PBIO.3001500
Abstract: Nature experiences have been linked to mental and physical health. Despite the importance of understanding what determines in idual variation in nature experience, the role of genes has been overlooked. Here, using a twin design (TwinsUK, number of in iduals = 2,306), we investigate the genetic and environmental contributions to a person’s nature orientation, opportunity (living in less urbanized areas), and different dimensions of nature experience (frequency and duration of public nature space visits and frequency and duration of garden visits). We estimate moderate heritability of nature orientation (46%) and nature experiences (48% for frequency of public nature space visits, 34% for frequency of garden visits, and 38% for duration of garden visits) and show their genetic components partially overlap. We also find that the environmental influences on nature experiences are moderated by the level of urbanization of the home district. Our study demonstrates genetic contributions to in iduals’ nature experiences, opening a new dimension for the study of human–nature interactions.
Publisher: Resilience Alliance, Inc.
Date: 2020
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-11-2015
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-10-2022
DOI: 10.1002/PAN3.10254
Abstract: Residential yards are a significant component of urban socio‐ecological systems residential land covers 11% of the United States and is often the dominant land use within urban areas. Residential yards also play an important role in the sustainability of urban socio‐ecological systems, affecting biogeochemical cycles, water and the climate via in idual‐ and household‐level behaviours. Spatial contagion has been observed in yard vegetation in several cities, potentially due to social norms that compel neighbours to emulate or conform to specific aesthetic qualities or management regimes. Residents may feel obliged to mow their front yards or prune their trees, creating patterns of spatial autocorrelation in residential neighbourhoods. In this study, we examined the spatial autocorrelation of several yard vegetation characteristics in both front and backyards in Boston, MA, USA. Our study area included 1,027 Census block groups (sub‐neighbourhood areas) and 175,576 parcels with matched front‐backyard pairings ( n = 351,152 yards in total) across Boston's metropolitan area. We spatially defined ‘neighbours’ in five ways to better account for the potentially variable nature of how conformity or contagion manifests in empirical terms. We anticipated front yards to have stronger spatial autocorrelation due to the more publicly visible nature of these green spaces. We found positive and significant spatial autocorrelation in all measured vegetation variables, in both front and backyards. Unexpectedly, spatial autocorrelation tended to be higher in backyards for tree canopy variables but higher in front yards for turf grass cover. Among block groups, different socio‐economic variables, such as median household income, predicted spatial autocorrelation of vegetation characteristics. Our results were sensitive to how neighbours were spatially defined. Our results further underscore the importance of backyards as critical areas for sustaining an urban tree canopy, and show that spatial patterns vary across different social groups. The importance of ‘neighbour’ definition indicates opportunities to think carefully about the mechanisms driving spatial autocorrelation and the scales at which patterns develop. The identification of these mechanisms will have important implications for scales of policy and implementation for urban and suburban greening. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2018
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-12-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-018-35731-7
Abstract: Urban gardens are vital green spaces, providing food for residents and space for engaged citizenry and community development. In California, climate change conditions (heat and drought) are becoming more extreme, threatening the resilience of urban gardens. Water use restrictions limit the timing and amount of water that gardeners can access, exacerbating these climate challenges for urban food production. Together with volunteer gardeners, we examined how ambient temperature, water use, vegetation, ground cover, and soil management affect rates of soil moisture gain and loss in urban gardens for a six-week period in the summer of 2017, during the hottest part of the growing season. We found that plot-level management of soils is essential for creating urban garden plots that maintain stable levels of water within garden soils. Although plots with better soil quality (i.e. water holding capacity) experienced slower rates of soil moisture gain after a watering event, they also experienced slower rates of soil moisture loss after the event, leading to soils with more stable, less fluctuating moisture profiles over time. This may benefit gardeners because under extreme climates (such as heat and drought) and water use restrictions, maintaining more stable soils for their plants means that the soils will retain water over a longer period after each watering event. Overall, such results highlight that better soil management that improves soil quality measures such as water holding capacity are potential solutions for maintaining soil moisture and reducing water use under changing climate conditions.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-03-2013
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-01-2011
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.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-12-2008
DOI: 10.1111/J.1461-0248.2008.01255.X
Abstract: Land use intensification can greatly reduce species richness and ecosystem functioning. However, species richness determines ecosystem functioning through the ersity and values of traits of species present. Here, we analyze changes in species richness and functional ersity (FD) at varying agricultural land use intensity levels. We test hypotheses of FD responses to land use intensification in plant, bird, and mammal communities using trait data compiled for 1600+ species. To isolate changes in FD from changes in species richness we compare the FD of communities to the null expectations of FD values. In over one-quarter of the bird and mammal communities impacted by agriculture, declines in FD were steeper than predicted by species number. In plant communities, changes in FD were indistinguishable from changes in species richness. Land use intensification can reduce the functional ersity of animal communities beyond changes in species richness alone, potentially imperiling provisioning of ecosystem services.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-06-2011
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2021
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-02-2016
DOI: 10.1007/S40279-016-0502-4
Abstract: Urbanisation has a profound effect on both people and the environment, as levels of physical activity decline and many natural ecosystems become lost or degraded. Here we draw on emerging research to examine the role of green spaces in providing a venue for outdoor physical activity, and in enhancing the benefit of a given amount of physical activity for urban residents. We identify critical knowledge gaps, including (1) whether (and for whom) levels of physical activity increase as new green spaces are introduced or old spaces reinvigorated (2) which characteristics of nature promote physical activity (3) the extent to which barriers to outdoor physical activity are environmental or social and (4) whether the benefits of physical activity and experiences of nature accrue separately or synergistically. A clear understanding of these issues will help guide effective investment in green space provision, ecological enhancement and green exercise promotion.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2022
Publisher: CABI Publishing
Date: 2022
DOI: 10.1079/CABIREVIEWS202217003
Abstract: Urban agricultural systems are a prominent social–ecological system in cities and towns across the world. The multifunctional nature of urban agriculture engenders many benefits to urban residents, from food provision to social cohesion. In addition, many environmental services such as climate regulation and habitat for urban wildlife are supported by these agroecosystems. Both local to landscape management factors including plant ersity and ground cover management influence the provision of ecosystem services. Yet, the management decisions may create trade-offs between and among ecosystem services with the increase in one service potentially reducing the ability of the system to provide another service at a desired level. While there are some services that practitioners may not care to lose as much, for other services, the maintenance of a service will be important, based on the goals of the system. Thus, balancing and sustaining ecosystem services must be carefully considered in ecosystem management decisions. Here, we review ecosystem services (ES) within urban agriculture (UA) with a focus on residential, community, and market garden systems, and how local to landscape management influence ES provision. In addition, we evaluate trade-offs between and across services, for ex le, between provisioning services (food production) versus other environmental services (regulating, supporting). Finally, we highlight future research directions on ecosystem services and the trade-offs for sustainable urban food production, bio ersity, and natural resource conservation.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-08-2020
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-06-2016
DOI: 10.1038/SREP28551
Abstract: Nature within cities will have a central role in helping address key global public health challenges associated with urbanization. However, there is almost no guidance on how much or how frequently people need to engage with nature, and what types or characteristics of nature need to be incorporated in cities for the best health outcomes. Here we use a nature dose framework to examine the associations between the duration, frequency and intensity of exposure to nature and health in an urban population. We show that people who made long visits to green spaces had lower rates of depression and high blood pressure, and those who visited more frequently had greater social cohesion. Higher levels of physical activity were linked to both duration and frequency of green space visits. A dose-response analysis for depression and high blood pressure suggest that visits to outdoor green spaces of 30 minutes or more during the course of a week could reduce the population prevalence of these illnesses by up to 7% and 9% respectively. Given that the societal costs of depression alone in Australia are estimated at AUD$12.6 billion per annum, savings to public health budgets across all health outcomes could be immense.
Publisher: CSIRO
Date: 2020
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2018
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-2021
DOI: 10.1002/FEE.2416
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-07-2020
Publisher: CSIRO
Date: 2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2023
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 17-02-2023
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has severely challenged mental health and wellbeing. However, research has consistently reinforced the value of spending time in green space for better health and wellbeing outcomes. Factors such as an in idual’s nature orientation, used to describe one’s affinity to nature, may influence an in idual’s green space visitation behaviour, and thus influence the wellbeing benefits gained. An online survey in Brisbane and Sydney, Australia (n = 2084), deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2021), explores if nature experiences and nature orientation are positively associated with personal wellbeing and if increased amounts of nature experiences are associated with improvement in wellbeing in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that both yard and public green space visitation, as well as nature orientation scores, were correlated with high personal wellbeing scores, and in iduals who spent more time in green space compared to the previous year also experienced a positive change in their health and wellbeing. Consistently, people with stronger nature orientations are also more likely to experience positive change. We also found that age was positively correlated to a perceived improvement in wellbeing over the year, and income was negatively correlated with a decreased change in wellbeing over the year, supporting other COVID-19 research that has shown that the effects of COVID-19 lifestyle changes were structurally unequal, with financially more established in iduals experiencing better wellbeing. Such results highlight that spending time in nature and having high nature orientation are important for gaining those important health and wellbeing benefits and may provide a buffer for wellbeing during stressful periods of life that go beyond sociodemographic factors.
Publisher: CSIRO
Date: 2015
Publisher: CSIRO
Date: 2019
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 02-06-2018
DOI: 10.3390/SU10061844
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2006
DOI: 10.1016/J.TPB.2005.11.008
Abstract: The classical case of three competitors arranged on a resource gradient such that the central competitor will be excluded due to competition from the other two is studied from the point of view of the effects of added predators. The basic formulation is motivated by a desire to understand the effects of asymmetries in multidimensional Lotka-Volterra systems. We first study the effects of perfectly specialist predators and find a rich collection of possible behaviors of the system including (1) extinction of all predators and subsequent extinction of the subordinate competitor, (2) dominant competitors and their predators coexist but the subdominant competitor goes extinct, (3) all species except the predator of the subordinate competitor coexist in coordinated phase-reversed chaos, (4) exclusion of one or more species occurs through an expanding heteroclinic cycle, and (5) all species coexist in an uncoordinated chaos. We then study the effects of five qualitatively distinct forms of polyphagy. In one case, corresponding to the well-known vulnerability to predation versus competitive ability trade-off, it is possible to have the subordinate competitor be the only survivor in the system. The other three cases of polyphagy lead to distortions in the basic pattern seen in the previously analyzed specialist case. Studying this case of ecologically motivated asymmetries in the basic Lotka-Volterra formulation is a step in the direction of fully understanding interacting populations.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 29-10-2018
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 03-2023
Abstract: New urban models increasingly seek to create more sustainable, livable, and healthier cities by reinvigorating green space. In this article, we highlight and briefly review several main but disconnected areas of study in which the factors that frame human–environment interactions and therefore also influence the potential well-being outcomes of those interactions are studied. We then use the intersection of affordance theory and socio-institutional programming to provide a conceptual framework that ties together these spheres of research, and we discuss some critical keys for enabling different positive green space experiences. Urban communities are not homogeneous, and accounting for the intersection between in idual differences and landscape programming opens up more erse pathways for affording positive human–environment interactions and different well-being outcomes.
Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)
Date: 09-01-2012
DOI: 10.1021/ES2023253
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 16-03-2023
DOI: 10.3390/SU15065251
Abstract: Urban parks provide a multitude of health benefits for citizens navigating the challenges of 21st-century living. And while this is well known by both scholars and practitioners, there is less understanding about the differential impacts of park size, type of facilities, community accessibility, and management. This is the central concern of the research reported here, which is a part of a larger project titled ‘Better Parks, Healthier for All?’ funded under the UKRI-NHMRC Built Environment and Prevention Research Scheme 2019. Within this broader context, the current paper discusses the results of a focus group to better understand how different park qualities promote physical and mental health. Using a COVID-safe research approach, we brought key park providers, park policymakers, and green and open space designers from New South Wales, Australia, together to participate in an online focus group in May 2021. The recruitment was based on the domain expertise and practitioner knowledge of the issues at hand. The ensuing discussion canvassed three areas of interest: What is park quality? How is park quality associated with health? How can we assess park quality and its ability to deliver health outcomes? A thematic analysis of the group’s deliberations reveals a very holistic appreciation of park quality. The ability of a park network to provide a range of health outcomes is central to this view, with each park playing a role in delivering different benefits across the network. Our findings indicate that there are many opportunities to enhance the myriad of benefits and multiple ways to gain them. Co-design is essential to ensure that parks best suit the local context and provide relevant benefits to all stakeholders. In this way, local communities can gain ownership and enhanced agency in relation to using and enjoying their parks. We conclude that delivering locally networked parks and associated spaces for community health and wellbeing are essential in the broader context of global environmental sustainability.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 02-01-2018
DOI: 10.3390/SU10010096
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 2014
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2016
Publisher: Resilience Alliance, Inc.
Date: 2013
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Date: 2013
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 2014
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 29-06-2018
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2018
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 04-04-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-07-2020
DOI: 10.1002/EAP.2201
Abstract: Ecological networks can provide insight into how bio ersity loss and changes in species interactions impact the delivery of ecosystem services. In agroecosystems that vary in management practices, quantifying changes in ecological network structure across gradients of local and landscape composition can inform both the ecology and function of productive agroecosystems. In this study, we examined natural‐enemy–herbivore co‐occurrence networks associated with Brassica oleracea (cole crops), a common crop in urban agricultural systems. Specifically, we investigated how local management characteristics of urban community gardens and the landscape composition around them affect (1) the abundance of B. oleracea herbivores and their natural enemies, (2) the natural‐enemy : herbivore ratio, and (3) natural‐enemy–herbivore co‐occurrence network metrics. We s led herbivores and natural enemies in B. oleracea plants in 24 vegetable gardens in the California, USA central coast region. We also collected information on garden characteristics and land‐use cover of the surrounding landscape (2 km radius). We found that increased floral richness and B. oleracea abundance were associated with increased parasitoid abundance, non‐aphid herbivore abundance, and increased network vulnerability increased vegetation complexity suppressed parasitoid abundance, but still boosted network vulnerability. High agricultural land‐use cover in the landscape surrounding urban gardens was associated with lower predator, parasitoid, and non‐aphid herbivore abundance, lower natural‐enemy : herbivore ratios, lower interaction richness, and higher trophic complementarity. While we did not directly measure pest control, higher interaction richness, higher vulnerability, and lower trophic complementarity are associated with higher pest control services in other agroecosystems. Thus, if gardens function similarly to other agroecosystems, our results indicate that increasing vegetation complexity, including trees, shrubs, and plant richness, especially within gardens located in intensively farmed landscapes, could potentially enhance the bio ersity and abundance of natural enemies, supporting ecological networks associated with higher pest control services.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-2018
DOI: 10.1002/FEE.1977
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 04-2004
DOI: 10.1108/14777830410523071
Abstract: Measurements of the distribution pattern of several nutrients (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and phosphate) and indicators (dissolved oxygen and conductivity) were conducted along the river Coco Solo on the Caribbean coast of Panama. The project investigated the extent to which mangrove forests could act as a vegetative buffer zone between disturbed freshwater sources and coastal water. Upriver freshwater s les were collected in known areas of human disturbance to assess levels of the nutrients near points of origin and exhibited elevated concentrations of nutrients. S les were taken along the mangrove estuary to study the concentrations of nutrients as they moved through the estuary into the ocean. Expected and observed values were compared to see whether concentration levels of the chemicals exhibited normal dilution patterns. Graphs show that the nutrient levels at the estuary points are significantly lower than expected through normal dilution, indicating the removal of nutrients through another mangrove mediated method. In this way, mangrove forests can act as effective coastal buffers of anthropogenic effects to the ocean environment. Further studies must be done to determine the actual removal mechanisms of nutrients in the mangrove estuarine system.
Location: Australia
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