Authors:Sophie Plitt et al. Abstract: In these addenda to our first special issue, The Science and Practice of Managing Forests in Cities, we present five new case studies documenting approaches to conserving, managing, and building an equitable workforce for Forested Natural Areas in cities across the U.S. These case studies were presented at the third annual gathering of the Forests in Cities network which took place in Seattle, Washington in November, 2022. PubDate: Thu, 25 May 2023 13:48:48 PDT
Authors:Randy Strobo et al. Abstract: In the United States, the conservation movement's problematic historical relationship with racism, settler colonialism, and land use discrimination has led to distrust and apprehension towards environmental management and leadership. With its history of redlining and environmental racism, Louisville is no different. Providing job and management opportunities to historically marginalized people can provide economic opportunities and help heal the disconnect between healthy natural areas and healthy people. The City of Louisville has employed several long-term strategies to attract people in historically marginalized communities to job opportunities in Louisville's natural areas. However, those strategies have only been moderately successful to date. The City of Louisville continues to work with non-profit groups, economic development organizations, and youth job programs to develop strategies to fill employment gaps and provide leadership opportunities in urban forest management. PubDate: Thu, 25 May 2023 13:48:41 PDT
Authors:Kathryn A. Evans et al. Abstract: Unlike most major U.S. cities, developed and industrialized decades earlier, Atlanta retains a large portion of its native and originally forested land with a high diversity of species, rare plants, and even old-growth trees. A 2008 baseline canopy analysis found that while the city’s tree canopy cover was among the highest in the country (47.9%), its canopy and high-quality forests were vulnerable to loss and fragmentation since only 4.9% of the canopy was on public land. In 2016, the city authorized the use of its Tree Trust Fund to purchase high-quality forested land for perpetual protection and established criteria for evaluating, prioritizing, and selecting these natural areas for purchase. The first acquisition occurred in 2020, resulting in the protection of Lake Charlotte Nature Preserve, a 216-acre oak-hickory forest, one of the largest remaining mature forests in the city, which was under major threat of industrial development. This case study discusses this innovative funding mechanism and the selection criteria for identifying high-quality urban forests. PubDate: Thu, 25 May 2023 13:48:35 PDT
Authors:Elizabeth Winlock Abstract: Within Louisville, KY’s network of urban green space and forests, invasive plant management is vital to protecting biodiversity and allowing native species to thrive. Partners across the city have been working to identify non-native invasive species, map their spread, monitor how they affect native species, and mitigate damage from invasive plants. Much of that falls into three categories:1) Mapping patterns of invasive plant presence in relation to disturbance2) Recording the effects of various management practices and3) Tracking forest health through the regeneration of native tree seedlings and saplingsThis data is used to inform management plans and falls under two broad categories: qualitative/descriptive and quantitative/measured. Both data types work together to support a prioritization outline or triage plan for treatments and to understand the effects of land management practices. PubDate: Thu, 25 May 2023 13:48:29 PDT
Authors:James Woodworth et al. Abstract: Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, community tree activists engaged in tree rescue activities in Washington, D.C.’s Langdon Park. They cleared non-native invasive vines and cataloged native tree species within the park’s 2.2-acre forest patch. Over the last 2+ years, they endeavored to share their story of forest stewardship, garnering support from district agencies and local non-profit Casey Trees. The ensuing collaboration has led to a healthier forest with greater community connection. PubDate: Thu, 25 May 2023 13:15:34 PDT
Authors:Danica Doroski et al. Abstract: This case study discusses the Urban Resources Initiative’s efforts to remove invasive vines from natural areas in New Haven, CT. The Urban Resources Initiative (URI) is the primary urban forestry organization in New Haven, and community engagement is a key feature of their programming. Working with a combination of local stewardship groups (“Community Greenspace”) and a workforce program (“GreenSkills”) for previously incarcerated individuals and teens, URI began hosting vine removal workdays in New Haven’s parks as a way to both protect critical components of the city’s forest canopy and build interest and investment in the city’s natural areas. PubDate: Thu, 25 May 2023 13:15:28 PDT
Authors:Richard Anthes Jr. et al. Abstract: Urban development and wetland loss have negatively impacted water quality. Natural areas and systems can help mitigate those impacts. With over two centuries of utilizing the Schuylkill River as a source of drinking water, Philadelphia has adapted from land preservation to wetland creation to achieve sediment Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) standards. This case study highlights how the innovation of constructed stormwater wetlands coupled with the restoration of forested natural areas provides water quality and ecological benefits. PubDate: Thu, 25 May 2023 13:15:21 PDT
Authors:Melinda J. Weaver et al. Abstract: Coyotes (Canis latrans) play an important mesopredator role in urban habitats and provide valuable ecosystem services, but also risk factors to human safety. Because of rare, but high-profile instances of human-coyote conflict, urban coyotes are often perceived only as a nuisance, or even dangerous, to human populations and their domestic animals. This tension between urban wildlife and communities can result in policy and management decisions that are not effective or beneficial to either population. We believe that effective urban coyote management requires an understanding of the resident coyotes in a given city, as well as the human residents’ behavior, knowledge, and perceptions related to coyotes. This type of assessment can be done as a collaboration with researchers and city leaders to inform wildlife management and educational outreach. In this research note, we describe one such social-ecological research and outreach approach that has been implemented in two cities in Southern California: Long Beach and Culver City, CA. Components of these projects include: identifying coyote movement patterns through motion activated cameras; examining coyote diets through analysis of scat samples; gathering information about resident knowledge and behavior through public surveys; and developing formal and informal curricula to be used in public education and outreach programming. We will describe this process in detail, provide early findings, and highlight instances of particular success and difficulty in implementation. We will close with a discussion of implications for wildlife management and environmental stewardship in urban settings. PubDate: Wed, 01 Mar 2023 09:21:23 PST
Authors:Sabrina L. Drill et al. Abstract: The Los Angeles River is a highly modified urban system. Upper tributaries of the watershed are located in Angeles National Forest and are in a relatively natural state, but below the forest boundary the tributaries and the mainstem consist of a series of completely channelized sections with a concrete bottom that includes a low-flow channel and vertical walls, sections where there are graded berms and a substrate that was either not stabilized with a concrete substrate, or where enough sediment has accumulated to provide a “soft-bottom” with vegetation, boulders, and variation in flow, and off-channel impoundments. Here we provide the results of fish surveys and both professional and community-contributed citizen science observations collected from 2007-2020 that document the presence of 29 species, of which six, found either in upper reaches (sections of the river with similar habitat and hydrologic characteristics) or in the estuary, are native to the river. To accompany these data, we also provide a novel classification schema identifying the unique reaches of the LA River. PubDate: Wed, 01 Mar 2023 09:21:11 PST
Authors:Kat Superfisky Abstract: Urban areas are uniquely positioned to have a significant impact on biodiversity and the health and resilience of ecosystems and therefore play an essential role in advancing conservation goals. Unlike more “wildland” ecosystems, urban ecosystems are not solely owned and/or managed by public entities or with the sole goal of ecosystem restoration. The important plants, animals and ecosystems in cities are scattered across open spaces and public parks that are already protected and being managed for conservation, as well as on private properties that often comprise the majority of land in cities, which supports the need to address biodiversity and climate resiliency at multiple scales, on various land uses, and through a diverse array of strategies. Municipal governments, such as the City of Los Angeles (City), can play an essential role in addressing biodiversity and habitat connectivity on both public and private land in cities through plans, reports and policies that can help to create more “symbiotic cities”. Since public lands are largely already protected, zoned for open space and/or managed by various municipal, county, state, federal and/or non-profit agencies, it is critical to look to private property protections to ensure a cohesive approach to managing urban ecosystems. As such, the City’s Department of City Planning is proposing a Wildlife Ordinance that will enact a set of land use regulations that aim to balance private development with the need for wildlife habitat and connectivity (via standards related to grading; residential floor area; lot coverage; vegetation and landscaping; height; fences and walls; lighting, windows; and trash enclosures). The creation of the Wildlife Ordinance will assist in the management of the urban ecosystems in Los Angeles, California, and also provide other jurisdictions in the region, across California, and around the world with a roadmap for how government entities, and planners in particular, can address biodiversity, habitat connectivity and climate resilience in cities. PubDate: Wed, 01 Mar 2023 09:21:05 PST
Authors:Rosalie Hendon Abstract: Columbus, Ohio, faces many challenges, both today and in the near future: rapid population growth, climate change, public health issues, and the fastest growing urban heat island in the country (Climate Central, 2014). Tree canopy has been identified as vital city infrastructure, as trees reduce urban stressors — cleaning the air and water, improving public health, providing shade, reducing heat stress and energy costs, intercepting stormwater and more. As the 14th largest city in the country with only 22% canopy cover, the City of Columbus recognized the need to plan for its trees. The Columbus Urban Forestry Master Plan (UFMP) is the first citywide, strategic plan to improve Columbus residents’ quality of life through investment in urban trees. Approved by Columbus City Council in April 2021, the UFMP guides the entire Columbus community to prioritize, preserve and grow our tree canopy. The UFMP sets three tree canopy goals: 1.) Reach Citywide Tree Canopy Cover of 40% by 2050, 2.) Stop the Net Canopy Losses by 2030 and 3.) Invest in Equitable Canopy Across All Neighborhoods by 2030. To accomplish these goals, the UFMP details four strategies: community coordination and collaboration, best practices, dedicated resources and stronger policies. PubDate: Wed, 01 Mar 2023 09:20:57 PST
Authors:Georgina Cullman et al. Abstract: Urban biodiversity has increasingly been recognized as providing multiple local, regional, and even global benefits. In New York City (NYC), conservation and planning professionals in the Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) pursued biodiversity protection through the creation of a “Forever Wild” program in 2001, which designated and aimed to protect 8,700 acres of the largest, most ecologically valuable natural areas across City parkland. In 2018-2020, NYC Parks’ Natural Resources Group (NRG) expanded the program’s extent, resulting in 2,500 acres added to the Forever Wild program, for a total of over 12,300 acres. These additions reflect new acquisitions to the Parks system as well as an acknowledgment of the ecological importance of smaller patches of habitat. By prioritizing the conservation of habitat at the scale of the Parks system, the Forever Wild program enabled tackling some of the scale mismatches that often challenge urban ecosystem management. Over the past two decades, this program has highlighted the value of habitat conservation within NYC Parks, enabled the reduction of natural resource impacts from construction projects in or near Forever Wild areas, and included hundreds of acres of ecological restoration. At the same time, the program has faced constraints and challenges due to competing priorities for limited public land in NYC. Because the program does not confer any regulatory or statutory power, its effectiveness has waxed and waned under different administrations, each with their own priorities. To meet this challenge, NRG has aimed to make information about Forever Wild areas, the program, and its intent widely available within the agency and to the public. NRG has worked to coordinate with other parts of the agency to anticipate and better manage conflicts while protecting biodiversity. Still, upholding the program’s conservation goals in the face of continued threats remains an ongoing challenge. More recently, the need for outdoor recreation during the COVID pandemic has given new visibility to natural areas in NYC. NYC Parks will continue to rely on the Forever Wild program to care for these areas while also facilitating their appropriate use. PubDate: Wed, 01 Mar 2023 09:20:45 PST
Authors:Daniel S. Cooper et al. Abstract: Long overlooked by conservation groups and ecologists, urban open spaces are now seen as important contributors to biodiversity at various scales. Urban greenspaces often represent the only “nature” millions of human residents around the world ever interact with, and provide cooling and aesthetic relief from the urban hardscape. In the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, over the past three decades, non-profit advocacy groups and institutions have established a network of bike paths, neighborhood access points, habitat restoration, and recreational amenities along the Los Angeles River, a major urban waterway. We investigated the environmental contribution provided by numerous linear landscaped parks along the river, focusing on climate amelioration (i.e., cooling within heat islands) in the parks and surrounding neighborhoods, and on their contribution to local biodiversity, utilizing an indicator species approach. We conducted plant surveys of the parks, documenting locally native, non-local California native, and non-native species, and examined the occurrence of 15 riparian indicator species of wildlife in the parks and in 500-meter buffer zones surrounding each park utilizing citizen science data. We then explore correlations between indicator species richness and environmental variables. We note important occurrences of relict riparian vegetation in several linear parks, as well as both planted and naturally-occurring special-status plant and wildlife species. Finally, we discuss challenges to managing natural habitat in highly-urban parks, many of which support important relict vegetation and/or special-status species, and offer suggestions on how they may be improved. PubDate: Wed, 01 Mar 2023 09:20:33 PST
Authors:Rose Jimenez et al. Abstract: This project analyzes the impacts green gentrification in Brooklyn by evaluating the spatial coincidence between gentrification rates and urban greening from 2010 to 2020. Assets formed under the NYC Green Infrastructure Program were chosen as a proxy for urban greening to represent urban greening within the 21st-century climate change resilience paradigm of development. Methods: This is a mixed method approach to a natural experiment. First, five indexes measuring variations of economic and demographic conditions related to gentrification were applied to Brooklyn for comparative analysis: NOAA’s Social Vulnerability Indicators of Gentrification Pressure, The NYC Heat Vulnerability Index, The Small Area Index of Gentrification, Typologies of Gentrification and Displacement, and The Housing Risk Chart. Then, for each index, a point-in-polygon count vector analysis was conducted using GIS software to determine the prevalence of green infrastructure assets within the varying gentrification categories. Then, using the method of dialectical materialism, close readings of theoretical, governmental, and corporate literature were used to examine the forces driving development practices during that time. Results: Gentrification varies per spatial unit with each index application, owing to varying index factors. However, the highest socioeconomic, gentrification, and ecological risk hot spots, regardless of index used, tend to be in northern Brooklyn, close to the border of Queens, while cold spots tend to be located in southern Brooklyn. Despite variability in gentrification hot and cold spots, every hot spot was highly associated with green stormwater infrastructure installed through the Green Infrastructure Program, while cold spots largely had few assets installed in their boundaries. A review of the quantitative results against the reviewed literature indicate that NYC’s “green” planning and policies are related to ongoing green gentrification trends in the US. PubDate: Wed, 01 Mar 2023 09:20:22 PST
Authors:Matthew Cohen et al. Abstract: Sustainability assessment literature is often based on large indicator sets, frequently lacking organizational framing. Previous research calls for stronger theoretical groundings and for urban sustainability assessments specifically to be goal-oriented, meaning that assessments should articulate goals for sustainable cities and select the indicators most appropriate for tracking progress. Here we analyzed the content of 69 papers from sustainability assessment literature. We asked: What common sustainability goals guide indicator selection' What is the distribution of natural, proxy, and constructed indicators across the literature' And what is the distribution of indicators within and across capital types' We found that less than half of the papers define clear goals. Still, the majority of indicators used were natural indicators as opposed to proxies or constructed indicators. Most indicators are linked to the natural sciences, suggesting a need to expand and diversify indicators across additional capital assets, broadening the disciplinary foci of such assessments and better tying into the holistic and systems nature of sustainability. We conclude that urban sustainability assessment should be framed around sustainability goals, and that such a framing would facilitate the selection of indicators, which yield more accurate evaluative results. This is significant in that the relationship between sustainability assessment goals and indicators is mutually reinforcing. PubDate: Wed, 01 Mar 2023 09:20:13 PST
Authors:Kat Superfisky et al. Abstract: The following Special Issue includes practitioner notes that provide information about managing urban ecosystems. The aim is that the insights and strategies shared in this Special Issue will inspire and inform the work of practitioners across the country who are seeking to maintain and enhance the vital ecosystems that sustain cities. PubDate: Wed, 01 Mar 2023 09:20:06 PST
Authors:John R. McEachern Abstract: The theoretical predictions of island biogeography have been applied successfully by a number of researchers studying the population and community structures of invertebrates living in large urban parks and remnant natural areas. Few, however, have examined the biogeography of smaller patches and the role that specific dispersal techniques play in shaping species distributions. In this study, I examine the impact of several biogeographical and environmental factors, including wind channelization effects, on the abundance of soil mites in small, urban tree wells in Westminster, Maryland. By testing five models that include the variables of well area, isolation, and dominate wind direction, I account for all possible directions in which channelization effects may be directing wind flow most frequently, therefore accounting for the impact of wind dispersal on mite distribution. As one would expect if mite abundances were impacted by the dominate direction of wind flow on a given street, only one of these models significantly explained the pattern of mite abundances found from sampling the tree wells. While the low power of the models requires that these results be viewed as inconclusive, the unusually high amount of variance explained by the significant model (R2 = 0.76), along with its agreement with better established biogeographical relationships, does suggest that future research into the role of wind as a factor in the biogeography of passively dispersing urban invertebrates may be worthwhile. PubDate: Fri, 30 Sep 2022 08:05:37 PDT
Authors:Leila Teruko Shirai et al. Abstract: More than half of the world’s population live in cities. Increasing numbers of generations are now born and raised in urban landscapes with decreasing opportunities towards interacting with natural environments. This extinction of experience leads to environmental apathy and lack of bioliteracy, which is a central aspect to be tackled in conservation strategies. At the same time, people who live near or at non-urban settings are closer to natural habitats but do not have similar access to concepts of environmentalism and may lack incentives to lean towards nature conservation, instead of its exploitation or even illegal activities. We here propose that interaction gardens, that is, gardens with multiple trophic levels (primary producers, herbivores, predators, and parasitoids), can tackle these issues, especially if planned with incentives, such as butterfly catalogues, aimed as a common goal of the garden community. It can also bring benefits to human health and well-being, increase the survival chances of local biodiversity, and strengthen the front line of conservation by promoting income strategies to people who live near protected areas. Our specific aims are to 1) share a case study of capacity development at the Intervales State Park in the Atlantic Forest, Southeast Brazil; 2) present the butterfly catalogue of this protected area; 3) present guidelines for interaction gardens at both urban and non-urban settings; and 4) discuss alternative perspectives about Neotropical conservation. We provide a translated version of the text in Portuguese to encourage students, educators, NGOs and local communities of other protected areas to venture in our proposed joint strategy of interaction gardens with butterfly catalogues. PubDate: Fri, 30 Sep 2022 08:05:24 PDT
Authors:Michael R. Barnes et al. Abstract: Turfgrass lawns are a central component in urban green space and provide a variety of ecosystem services. Traditionally, natural turfgrass lawns can have substantial input requirements (e.g., water, herbicides), which if not managed properly can have harmful ecological effects. A proposed solution that has already been adopted in many cities are artificial turfgrass lawns which do not require some of the traditional inputs of natural lawns. However, understanding perceptions of the sustainability and well-being benefits between these two surfaces are unknown. We surveyed adults in the United States in order to understand perceptions of sustainability and well-being between artificial and natural turfgrass lawns. The survey utilized a pre-post design which presented participants with photos and information about each surface type with questions related to sustainability and well-being before and after the information was presented. Overall, participants perceived natural turfgrass lawns as more sustainable and better for human health and well-being than artificial turfgrass lawns. More work needs to be done to understand the specific reasons behind such perceptions and if perceptions change when in direct contact with the two lawn surfaces. PubDate: Fri, 30 Sep 2022 08:05:15 PDT
Authors:Kristen Regier et al. Abstract: Green Infrastructure (GI) is a potential tool to help cities adapt to climate change. In particular, GI can help moderate high summer temperatures and reduce urban flooding, both of which are expected to become more common with on-going climate change. However, GI is not evenly distributed in many cities suggesting that some neighborhoods are more vulnerable to climate change impacts. Additionally, marginalized communities often lack the resources needed to reduce existing vulnerabilities. This study explores the question: where should GI initiatives be focused to support equitable climate change adaptation in the City of Toronto (Ontario, Canada)' We address this question by applying a GI Equity Index that includes built environment and socio-economic factors to identify neighborhoods’ level of need for GI to support climate change adaptation. The spatial location of high need neighborhoods, and their particular characteristics, are examined. Our results highlighted the spatial clustering of very high and low need neighborhoods in Toronto. Three types of neighborhoods were identified as most in need: (1) those vulnerable due to very limited existing GI, (2) those vulnerable due to socio-economic characteristics, and (3) those that lack GI and have marginalized populations based on socio-economic measures. On the other hand, neighborhoods identified as least in need based on the index were relatively uniform in character: all had abundant tree canopy and residents who were high income, highly educated, and disproportionately white. These results highlight the importance of considering both built environment and social vulnerability to support an equitable distribution of GI for climate change adaptation, and that varied opportunities and challenges exist related to increasing GI in different types of vulnerable neighborhoods. PubDate: Fri, 30 Sep 2022 08:05:07 PDT
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