Mapping the spatial distribution of shade provision of street trees in Boston using Google Street View panoramas

Street trees provide shade and increase human thermal comfort during hot summer. In this study, we investigated the spatial distribution of shade provision of street trees in Boston, Massachusetts. The sky view factor (SVF), which influences the solar radiation to the ground and affects human thermal comfort, was used to indicate the contribution of street trees on shade provision. Google Street View (GSV) panoramas were used to calculate the photographic method based SVF (SVF_P), with the consideration of all kinds of obstructions within street canyons. A building height model was used to calculate the simulation based SVF (SVFs), with consideration of obstruction of building blocks only. Considering the fact that street trees and building blocks are the two major obstructions of radiation within street canyons, therefore, the difference between the two SVF estimation results can be considered as the shade provision of street trees. The results show that street trees help to decrease the SVF by 24.61% in Boston, Massachusetts. The shading level varies spatially in the study area. Generally, the southwestern area has much higher shading level than the north and the east. We further explored the shading variation among different socioeconomic groups in the study area. Result shows that Hispanics tend to live in neighborhoods with lower shading level. This study can help to provide a reference for future urban greening projects for global climate change adaption.     

The ecosystem services concept: a new Esperanto to facilitate participatory planning processes?

Landscape Ecology - Several case studies investigated the role of ecosystem services in participatory planning processes. However, no systematic study exists that cuts across a large number of...     

The routes to fruit: Governance of urban food trees in Canada

Interest in planting urban food trees (UFTs) in public spaces is growing in popularity as a form of urban greening and a potential food source. Currently there is minimal research on the governance and policy aspects of integrating food trees into cities. To fill this gap, we investigated the characteristics of UFT site governance and how it compares to current urban forest governance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with relevant municipal officials in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Victoria about their perspectives and involvement with UFT sites in their city. A scan of policy documents was completed to supplement the interviews. The interviews were analyzed using a deductive coding framework based on the Policy Arrangement Approach. We found that key actors at the UFT sites were local organizations and site champions, with minimal municipal engagement. Most site resources provided by municipalities were in-kind. There are also basic knowledge gaps about how to care for UFTs. Currently municipal by-laws prohibit the harvesting and removal of plant material, and are at odds with the purpose of UFT sites, with few municipalities fully integrating UFTs in policies. The primary discussion around UFTs centre concerns for public health and safety, management, and use of public space with limited discussions of benefits. This research demonstrates the value of co-governance models to support UFTs, while a shift in focus from risks to benefits could encourage additional resources and policy integration. Further, including UFTs into policy would also support foraging and food tree maintenance in public spaces, and more fully reflect the plurality of urban forest engagement.     

不同坡位条件对毛乌素沙地长柄扁桃林地土壤水分的影响

[目的]揭示半干旱区固定沙丘不同坡位条件下土壤水分空间变化规律,为固定沙丘土壤水分合理利用提供决策依据。[方法]在毛乌素沙漠东南缘陕西省神木市生态协会毛乌素治沙造林基地,以固定沙丘12 a龄人工长柄扁桃林地为研究对象,建立土壤水分定位观测小区,使用CNC503DR型中子仪对2018年7—10月0—300 cm土层土壤水分进行测定,并分析不同坡位条件下长柄扁桃林地生长季土壤水分时空变化特征。[结果](1)坡顶与坡上0—300 cm土壤剖面含水量随土层深度的增加呈先增加后减小,之后趋于稳定的变化趋势,而坡中(上、下)与坡底表现为类似S形的变化规律,土壤含水量表现为:坡底坡中(上)坡上≥坡顶坡中(下);(2)坡底土壤含水量表现出强变异性,其他4种坡位条件下为中等变异;(3)不同坡位条件下蒸散发表现为:坡底坡顶坡中(下)坡上坡中(上),坡上属强变异,而坡底则表现出中等变异且变异系数最小。[结论]不同坡位条件对固定沙丘土壤水分及蒸散耗水具有重要影响,坡底土壤含水量及蒸散发量均最大,且具有较强的不稳定性。     

Radiation interception and radiation use efficiency of potato affected by different N fertigation and irrigation regimes

Three years of field experiments were carried out to explore the response of potato dry matter production, accumulated intercepted photosynthetic active radiation (Aipar) and radiation use efficiency (RUE) to five N levels providing 0, 60, 100, 140 and 180 kg N ha⁻¹ and three drip irrigation strategies, which were full, deficit and none irrigation. Results showed that, irrespective of years, dry matter production and Aipar were increased by prolonged N fertigation, even though N fertigation was carried out from middle to late growing season. The highest total and tuber dry matter and accumulated radiation interception in all three years were obtained when potatoes were provided with 180 kg N ha⁻¹. RUE on the other hand was not affected by N regime. Thus, increases in total dry matter production with increasing N levels were essentially caused by higher Aipar. The strongest response to N fertilization occurred when most N was applied early in the growing season and the latest N fertilization should be applied no later than 41–50 days after emergence. Deficit irrigation, which received ca.70% of irrigation applied to full irrigation, did not reduce radiation interception and radiation use efficiency.     

Dense planting with less basal nitrogen fertilization might benefit rice cropping for high yield with less environmental impacts

Dense planting and less basal nitrogen (N) fertilization have been recommended to further increase rice (Oryza sativa L.) grain yield and N use efficiency (NUE), respectively. The objective of this study was to evaluate the integrative impacts of dense planting with reduced basal N application (DR) on rice yield, NUE and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Field experiments with one conventional sparse planting (CK) and four treatments of dense planting (increased seedlings per hill) with less basal N application were conducted in northeast China from 2012 to 2013. In addition, a two-factor experiment was conducted to isolate the effect of planting density and basal N rate on CH₄ emission in 2013. Our results show that an increase in planting density by about 50% with a correspondingly reduction in basal N rate by about 30% (DR1 and DR2) enhanced NUE by 14.3–50.6% and rice grain yield by 0.5–7.4% over CK. Meanwhile, DR1 and DR2 reduced GWP by 6.4–12.6% and yield-scaled GWP by 7.0–17.0% over CK. According to the two-factor experiment, soil CH₄ production and oxidation and CH₄ emission were not affected by planting density. However, reduced basal N rate decreased CH₄ emission due to it significantly reduced soil CH₄ production with a smaller reduction in soil CH₄ oxidation. The above results indicate that moderate dense planting with less basal N application might be an environment friendly mode for rice cropping for high yield and NUE with less GHG emissions.     

Adapting through practice: Silviculture,innovation and forest governance for the age of extreme uncertainty

Adaptation in forest management is often framed as a scientific challenge, relying on more accurate modelling and better communication from science practice. However future scenarios of extreme uncertainty such as those characterising the Anthropocene may require a more flexible and interactive approach, drawing on a wider range of knowledge. The role of the practitioner in this is often highlighted, but little understood. This paper therefore seeks to contribute to empirical understanding of forest practice and its implications for adaptive forest governance. In the UK, devolved forest administrations are addressing new structures and politics, reduced budgets and staff, and several high impact tree health disasters. In the absence of scientific and operational guidance, foresters are finding new spaces in which to use their silvicultural knowledge, and work flexibly, generating new knowledge and practice through observation and local experiments. The capacity of state forestry organisations to learn and adapt is constrained by resource cuts, reorganisation, poor record keeping, increasingly top-down policy control, and de facto pre-eminence given to timber as the management objective. Individual relationships and personalities can nevertheless support communication and learning. The new circumstances are stimulating an approach which is both creative and grounded in silvicultural knowledge and experience. Important parts of the adaptive process lie with practice and innovation in the forest, rather than hierarchical, science-led approaches, but reality does not present us with a simple dichotomy between deterministic, reductionist forest management, and indeterministic, adaptive, ecosystem approaches. Further attention to practitioners' realities and contribution to knowledge is needed.     

Public perceptions and attitudes toward green infrastructure on buildings: The case of the metropolitan area of Athens,Greece

As the impact of green space shrinkage in urban centers becomes obvious, local and regional authorities must adopt environmental planning policies that can help create new green areas to ensure a good quality of life for citizens, along with the rehabilitation of the natural environment. One approach is the promotion of green infrastructure on buildings, including multi-dwelling apartment buildings. In order to effectively promote green infrastructure on buildings, it is essential to comprehend public attitudes toward green infrastructure, so that suitable and effective strategies can be implemented by policy makers. In this study, eight hundred respondents were asked to provide their views on green infrastructure on buildings, on construction that should take place on blocks of apartments in order to accommodate green infrastructure and on the related benefits that may arise from creating green spaces on buildings. A structured questionnaire and stratified sampling were used for the interviews, which were conducted with apartment owners in two regional units of Athens. The results showed that most citizens are willing to proceed with the installation of a green roof, trellis or vertical garden, in order to improve the aesthetics and functionality of the building they live in. Most of the respondents are not familiar with the energy savings that may occur from the installation of a green roof, vertical trellis or garden and wish for a subsidy from the state in order to implement green building solutions. To conclude, the participants in our study are not environmentally aware, since they are not interested in energy conservation but only about the aesthetics of their building; furthermore, they expect to receive financial support from the state in order to make any changes to their home.     

Flow alteration and thermal pollution depress modelled growth rates of an iconic riverine fish,the Murray cod Maccullochella peelii

The serial discontinuity concept (SDC) proposes that hypolimnetic‐releasing impoundments cause major disruptions to the naturally occurring physical, chemical and biological gradients of rivers but that this impact diminishes with distance downstream. Such a gradient in discharge, flow velocity and temperature regime occurs below a large hypolimnetic‐releasing impoundment, the Hume Dam, on the River Murray in south‐eastern Australia. To examine the effects of this disturbance gradient on a warm‐water large‐bodied freshwater fish, the Murray cod (Maccullochella peelii), a bioenergetics model was developed and calibrated to explore energy expended under differing water velocities and temperature regimes. Model simulations predicted negative growth of juveniles directly downstream of the impoundment, due largely to the energetic costs associated with active and, to a lesser extent, standard metabolism outweighing the achievable energetic gains through food consumption. As flow velocity and temperature regimes became more favourable downstream, so did the simulated growth of the species. It was not until +239 km downstream of the impoundment that the model predicted that flow velocity and temperature regimes were suitable for greater weight gains. The modelled growth responses of juvenile Murray cod are consistent with the predictions of the SDC, emphasising that changes in the bioenergetics of individuals are likely to be reflected in reduced growth rates under the changed flow velocity and temperature regimes imposed by disturbance gradients. This research represents a valuable step in the biological understanding of Murray cod within variable riverine environments and emphasises the urgency required to mitigate impacts associated with hypolimnetic impoundments.