Biodiversity in sacred urban spaces of Bengaluru,India

Urban green spaces provide critical social and ecological support for cities, but we know little about their diversity and composition in cities of the Global South. This is especially true of lesser known urban spaces such as sacred sites, which are of important cultural and biodiversity significance. We examine tree diversity and composition in sacred sites in Bengaluru, one of India’s fastest growing cities. We recorded 5504 trees from 93 species across 62 temples, churches, and Hindu, Christian and Muslim cemeteries in central areas of Bengaluru. Over half (52%) of the tree species were of native origin, a much higher proportion when compared to other green spaces in the city such as parks. Tree density in sacred sites was much higher than that in parks and informal settlements in Bengaluru. Temples and Hindu cemeteries contained the highest proportion of native species, with large numbers of Ficus benghalensis, a keystone sacred species. Trees in sacred spaces provide an important buffer against urban environmental stress in Indian cities, and serve as refuges for urban wildlife and biodiversity. We need greater information on these lesser known, but culturally significant alternate spaces. They play an important, though ignored role in the environmental sustainability of rapidly growing cities in the Global South.     

Trees in urban religious sites: An analysis of their diversity in Arequipa,Peru

Facing the trend of rapid urbanization, conserving the biodiversity of urban green spaces is a challenge, particularly in a developing region like Latin America. In this sense, it is known that urban sacred sites have significant cultural and conservation significance within cities. However, more needs to be studied about the vegetation they house. Given the scientific gap, the composition, richness and abundance of trees in urban religious sites of Arequipa established since the 16th century were examined, and temporal changes in the composition and distribution of trees between ancient and modern sites were identified. 749 trees of 54 species were recorded in 26 religious’ sites. A higher proportion of exotic species (74%) corresponds in greater quantity to fruit trees (52%). There were no significant differences in tree richness and abundance between ancient and modern sites. However, the ancient sites had higher richness (96.3%) and abundance (71.4%). Likewise, ancient sites present a preference for growing fruit trees in orchards and cloister gardens, unlike modern sites focused on increasing ornamental trees, with a predominance of conifers and palms. Despite the long history of the monuments, the size of the site and the green areas significantly influenced the richness and abundance; similarly, the care of the gardens greatly influenced a site that stored greater diversity and abundance. In this way, it is demonstrated that these culturally significant places house an important tree diversity, with species of nutritional and ornamental value for the self-provisioning of the religious and the beautification of the gardens. In addition, they contribute to environmental sustainability, providing different ecosystem services to cities with rapid population growth.     

Biodiversity functions of urban cemeteries: Evidence from one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe

As the world becomes more urbanized, urban cemeteries may become increasingly valuable for biodiversity conservation as cemeteries are ubiquitous elements of the green infrastructure in cities worldwide. By implementing a multi-taxon approach at different spatial extents, we analyzed habitat functions of a large urban cemetery in Berlin (Weiÿensee Jewish Cemetery) and explored related environmental variables. This cemetery is an outstanding cultural heritage site but it also stands for old urban cemeteries that have progressed to urban woodland, an ecosystem type that exists in many regional and religious contexts. The cemetery provided a habitat for 604 species; species of conservation concern comprised 1.6⿿100% of total species among different groups of taxa (in decreasing order: bats, birds, lichens, bryophytes, carabids, vascular plants, spiders). Species richness and species composition at the plot level were significantly related to differences in management intensity and resulting vegetation structures but differed among taxonomic groups. In vascular plants, carabids and spiders, the species composition varied significantly with habitat age, and there was a set of characteristic species for different age classes in each species group. Our results thus support the use of differentiated management approaches to maintain habitat heterogeneity by allowing wilderness development in some parts of a cemetery while keeping others more open. Since these aims can be combined with efforts to preserve outstanding grave architectures and allow access to visitors, our study indicates ways of reconciling conflicting aims of heritage preservation and biodiversity conservation, a promising perspective for biodiversity conservation in culturally shaped urban landscapes. We conclude that cemeteries provide important cultural ecosystem services within the urban green infrastructure.     

Urban green spaces and sustainability: Exploring the ecosystem services and disservices of grassy lawns versus floral meadows

Urban green spaces provide important ecological, environmental, and cultural benefits, including biodiversity conservation and human wellbeing. However, a significant portion of urban green space is currently managed as highly manicured grassy lawns that provide limited ecosystem services. Managing urban green spaces as diverse meadows can have a multitude of ecosystem benefits such as biodiversity conservation, stormwater infiltration, and aesthetics. Relatively little is known about the range of ecosystem services or disservices in managing urban green spaces as lawns versus meadows. In this paper, we separately characterize three major categories of ecosystem services and disservices (provisioning, regulation and maintenance, and cultural) delivered by urban lawns and meadows while highlighting several trade-offs and synergies associated with urban lawn and meadow management strategies. Additionally, we suggest specific research priorities to better evaluate ecosystem services and disservices across these urban green spaces. Understanding ecological, environmental, and cultural trade-offs and synergies of managing different urban green spaces is key to maintaining multiple ecosystem services in urban environments.     

Overwintering in a megacity: Urban green areas and migratory birds in Mexico City

Nearctic-Neotropical migratory birds are threatened by land-use change throughout their complex annual cycles. While urbanization is an essential driver of land-use change, it is unclear how it affects migrant birds. Although migratory birds are more diverse in non-urban patches of native vegetation than in urban areas, neotropical cities can host diverse assemblages of overwintering migrant birds. Migratory birds in neotropical cities tend to be closely associated with urban green areas (UGAs). However, how their presence and abundance are affected by the habitat elements of UGAs and the urban matrix of neotropical cities is poorly understood. In this study, we compared the migratory bird species richness and abundances among UGAs and the urban matrix of the southern section of the megacity of Mexico City and native vegetation sites outside the city. Our results show that UGAs in neotropical cities provide habitats capable of maintaining complex overwintering migratory bird assemblages with local trees as critical features. We also assess the role that UGAs' characteristics play in determining migrant bird assemblages. We conducted bird censuses and measured habitat traits to determine how migrant bird assemblages are related to the habitat features of our study sites. We measured local, buffer, and spatial habitat features of each UGA. We found 23 overwintering migrant species in the three habitats, with 22 present within UGAs. Both UGAs and urban matrix sites had higher estimated species richness of migrant birds than non-urban native vegetation sites located outside the city. Only local features of UGAs affected migrant birds. While tree abundance in UGAs was positively associated with migratory bird species richness, the proportion of tree coverage was positively related to bird abundance. Our results show that UGAs in neotropical cities can maintain complex overwintering migratory bird assemblages, with trees being the most critical habitat feature. As a result, UGA management focused on maintaining trees and increasing their numbers can improve habitat conditions for migratory birds overwintering in neotropical cities.     

Exotic trees contribute to urban forest diversity and ecosystem services in inner-city Cleveland,OH

Vacant land, a product of population and economic decline resulting in abandonment of infrastructure, has increased substantially in shrinking cities around the world. In Cleveland, Ohio, vacant lots are minimally managed, concentrated within low-income neighborhoods, and support a large proportion of the city’s urban forest. We quantified abundance, richness, diversity, and size class of native and exotic tree species on inner-city vacant lots, inner-city residential lots, and suburban residential lots, and used i-Tree Eco to model the quantity and economic value of regulating ecosystem services provided by their respective forest assemblages. Inner-city vacant lots supported three times as many trees, more exotic than native trees, and greater tree diversity than inner-city and suburban residential lots, with the plurality of trees being naturally-regenerated saplings. The urban forest on inner-city vacant lots also had two times as much leaf area and leaf biomass, and more tree canopy cover. The quantity and monetary value of ecosystem services provided by the urban forest was greatest on inner-city vacant lots, with exotic species contributing most of that value, while native taxa provided more monetary value on residential lots. The predominately naturally-regenerated, minimally managed exotic species on vacant land provide valuable ecosystem services to inner-city neighborhoods of Cleveland, OH.     

Patterns of urban forest composition in Utah’s growing mountain communities

Urban forests provide critical ecosystem services in cities of the Western United States, including regulating thermal extremes, supporting biological diversity, and providing cultural and recreational services. However, these services may come with trade-offs such as heavy water demand in arid environments. Thus, afforestation and its effect on the water budget – as well as other ecosystem services – can be contingent on the species composition of urban forests. Choice of tree species, in turn, is influenced by historical contingencies and development context. The objective of this study was to identify differences in tree species composition between four broad classes of urban development in Heber Valley, Utah, with classes defined by establishment age, lot size, and location within the urban-suburban environment. Publicly available information was used to categorize residential and commercial areas, and standard forestry techniques were used to collect data on trees in a stratified random survey of lots in each category. Older, established housing had the highest tree basal area and species richness per hectare, and exurban (rural, dispersed housing) developments had significantly higher species diversity than new tract housing. Because it appears that exurban communities are being replaced by tract housing, there is evidence that tree diversity may be lost. Another important aspect of community structure in urban forests is the ratio of conifers to broadleaf trees because of fundamental differences in water use patterns. Conifers were twenty-five percent of the average lot basal area in exurban and thirty-five percent in established neighborhoods, as opposed to five percent in tract housing. If functional groups are used as predictors of water use in irrigated urban systems, water demand is likely to increase with the expansion of low-diversity, angiosperm dominated tract forests in the Western US in the coming decades.     

Primary productivity in cities and their influence over subtropical bird assemblages

Changes in ecosystem structure caused by urbanization produce a reduction in photosynthetic productivity, which can lead to reductions in resource availability for birds. Here, we analyzed the relation between photosynthetic productivity and bird assemblages in a subtropical urban ecosystem, in North-Western Argentina. We used Generalized Linear Models to assess the responses of bird abundance, richness and diversity to photosynthetic productivity, vegetation cover and distance to main natural forest. We found higher bird richness and diversity with increasing photosynthetic productivity and vegetation cover, and with decreasing distance to forests; while total bird abundance was positively related to vegetation cover. When we classified bird species in different groups, based on their use of the environment, we found that species adapted to urban environments were more dependent on photosynthetic productivity, while species related to native forests were more dependent on the distance to source forests. Understanding the factors that affect bird assemblages in cities is important for the development of strategies for urban planning and conservation.     

Socioecological features of plant diversity in domestic gardens in the city of Bogotá, Colombia

Domestic gardens contribute substantially to green spaces in cities, where urbanization removes and fragments natural landscapes, causing the loss of biodiversity and the homogenization of biota. We analyzed the diversity and composition of the flora of 70 domestic gardens in seven localities in Bogotá, Colombia, which represent different periods of expansion of the city. Floristic composition and diversity were related to the origin and use of plants, the urbanization history, and the income of owners. We recorded 4110 individuals belonging to 238 species. The mean species richness per garden was 15.4, with older localities having significantly higher species richness. The similarity among the localities, which evaluated the distinctness of assemblages, ranged from 0.42 to 0.50. Plants from the Neotropical region and exotic plants were the most abundant in all gardens. The most common use was ornamental, and use depended on the socioeconomic status of the owner. The lower-income homes cultivated larger proportions of edible and medicinal plants. Gardens at the oldest localities, with the largest number of native species, contribute to the conservation of flora because they contain the largest number of native species. Furthermore, domestic gardens are good sources of employment for gardeners and are useful places to keep senior citizens active, helping these citizens relieve stress, maintain good health and teach young people the cultural uses of plants. The receptivity of the homeowners to the study opens the door to future research and conservation programs in the city.     

Assessing urban greenery by harvesting street view data: A review

Urban greenery is of great significance for sustainable urban development due to the diverse ecosystem services it provides. Assessing urban greenery can reveal its impact on urban areas and provide the evidence base for strategic urban forest management and planning, thereby contributing to sustainable urban development. Street View (SV) images are being used more frequently and widely for assessing urban greenery due to the advantages of providing new perspective and saving workload and research costs. In this paper, 135 peer-reviewed publications that employed SV to assess urban greenery between 2010 and 2022 are reviewed. Presently, the most widely applied area of SV-based urban greenery research is to extract the green view index. Although this has many potential applications for assessing ecosystem services, it has most often been used to date to identify the impact of street greenery on residents' physical and mental health, activities, and well-being (i.e., cultural services). In contrast, fewer studies have explored the other ecosystem services related to the greening. Overall, as an emerging urban environment research method, this review shows that there are still challenges in the utilisation of SV images for assessing urban greenery applications. These include the insufficient spatial and temporal coverage of SV images, low data collection accuracy and immaturity of suitable deep learning techniques on object identification. However, there is clear potential for these approaches to be developed to support a broader range of urban greenery studies that consider different ecosystem services and/or specific types of green infrastructure, for example, street trees.     

Cultural ecosystem benefits of urban and peri-urban green infrastructure across different European countries

Green Infrastructure within urban areas has become increasingly important in recent years. There has been the development of a European Commission green infrastructure strategy and a range of initiatives identifying the importance of green infrastructure. This paper explicitly identifies the cultural ecosystem benefits gained from urban and peri-urban green infrastructure drawing on studies undertaken in different European countries. The paper utilises the cultural ecosystem services framework developed in a United Kingdom National Ecosystem Assessment project. A review of literature identified studies from fifteen different countries and explores linkages between the types of green infrastructure, the practices undertaken in these spaces and the cultural ecosystem benefits gained. The results show that there are few detailed linkages made between the types of green infrastructure and the practices and benefits associated with these. The cultural ecosystem framework provides an important conceptual approach and this paper is one of the first to populate the framework in greater detail. Further research is needed to assess the differences in benefits and practices associated with different types of green infrastructure. A key message is that the cultural ecosystem benefits identified are wide ranging, diverse and multiple. The typologies and conceptual matrix developed in this paper could be utilised by green infrastructure practitioners to assist them in taking account of cultural ecosystem benefits in their management decision making processes.     

Amenity trees and green space structure in urban settlements of Kigali,Rwanda

According to the national policy, overall forest and agroforestry cover in Rwanda is to increase up to 30% land cover by 2020. On the other hand, demographic data reveal that Rwanda's urban areas are among the fastest-growing on the continent. Unfortunately, there is only little information of the effects of such a rapid urbanization on tree cover and green space structure, knowing that data on urban plant assemblages in the country are rather rare. The paper discusses developments in Kigali's green spaces with regard to its rapid rate of expansion. An integrated approach of research, combining results from interview sessions, desk-based investigations, walk-over and vegetation surveys, and photogrammetric analyses of remotely acquired imagery was applied. The findings suggest that the city green space network consists of plant assemblages largely dominated by alien species (75%). Tree cover fraction averaged at around 10–35%. No significant difference was observed between field-drawn and photogrammetric-based fraction of tree cover estimates; making the later a quick but cheap tool for rapid tree cover evaluation. Cultivated forests, urban woodlots and domestic garden tree stands are far the most dominant types of green spaces in terms of coverage of city surface area. Street tree communities and institutional gardens appear to be the most intensively designed green space layouts. Both distribution and species composition in domestic gardens were socioeconomic-driven. For instance, palm trees were characteristic of fortunate quarters while fruitbearing ornamental such as Psidium guajava and Persea americana were common within scattered and informal settlements. Markhamia lutea, Erythina abyssinica, Euphorbia candelabrum, Phoenix reclinata and Acacia sieberiana are among native taxa that thrive to keep a place in the city. Euphorbia tirucalli, a native tree that is widespread in home compound fences within informal settlements, is significantly declining as modern housing expands and concrete-based fences replace live enclosures.     

A multiscale assessment of the diversity of New Zealand’s nursery trees

Nurseries play an important role providing trees for a variety of managed environments including urban forests. The diversity of urban forests and forest restoration projects are influenced by nursery species availability, and as such, there is a need to better understand tree species diversity at nurseries. We collected tree species lists from 75 nurseries throughout New Zealand, which were used to describe species richness (alpha diversity) and to examine similarity in the composition of native and non-native species assemblages among nurseries (beta diversity) at three spatial scales: island, region, city. Together, the nurseries grew 863 species, 174 of which were native to New Zealand, from 312 genera and 130 families. Nurseries grew significantly more non-native species (μ = 63.5, σ = 60.6) than native species on average (μ = 31.7, σ = 22.7) (t = 2.99, df = 48.45, p = 0.004). Beta diversity for native and non-native tree species were only significantly different at the scale of cities or regions, not at the larger scale of islands. Few species were grown in all cities or all regions and the majority of those that were common were native species. In contrast, non-native species dominated the unique species at all spatial scales, (i.e., species uniquely grown in one city, region, or island). By quantifying tree species diversity in New Zealand’s nurseries, this research provides a basis to better understand the influence that nurseries have on urban and peri-urban tree diversity, and ultimately how that diversity impacts resilience and the provision of ecosystem services.     

Diversification of the urban forest—Can we afford to exclude exotic tree species?

Introduced tree species represent a substantial component of urban forests in cities all over the world. Yet there is controversy about the further use of introduced tree species. Many practice orientated publications,research papers and governmental websites in the fields of urban planning, urban forestry, and urban ecology argue for planting native species and avoiding introduced species. Such arguments for native-only species selection are also touted by environmental groups and the media. Consequently the debate has sometimes spiralled away from a sensible and rational platform where invasion risks and biodiversity loss are discussed, to a groundless and unreasonable argument where exotic species are generally considered incapable of providing ecosystem services. From a European perspective, we here aim to curate a set of necessary considerations for current and future discussions on native and non-native plant material in sustainable urban development. Using examples from Northern and Central Europe we illustrate that in some regions the catalogue of native tree species may be too limited to fulfil ecosystem services and resilience in harsh urban environments. A main message from our line of arguments is that we cannot afford to generally exclude non-native tree species from urban greening. If “native-only” approaches become incorporated in regional, national or international policy documents or legislation there is a risk that urban ecosystem resilience will be compromised, particularly in regions with extreme environmental conditions. Since both invasion risks and sizes of native species pools vary conspicuously at regional to continental scales we also argue to adapt urban policies on using non-native trees to regional contexts.     

The social and economic value of cultural ecosystem services provided by urban forests in North America: A review and suggestions for future research

With the majority of the world’s human population now living in cities, urban forests provide an increasingly important range of ecosystem services, from improved air quality and climate change adaptation to better public health outcomes and increased tourism revenues. The importance of these ecosystem services in urban environments, and the central role that cities play in the lives of people around the world, have motivated various attempts to quantify the value of ecosystem services provided by urban forests. This paper reviews existing research in the fields of urban forestry, economics, sociology, and health on the value of urban ecosystem services, with a focus on cultural services, a category of ecosystem services that is of key importance to human well-being but that has suffered from a lack of empirical research. The review identified 38 studies that examined the value of mixed vegetation, 31 studies that examined the value of trees, and 43 studies that examined the value of green spaces. Psychological health is the most-studied ecosystem service category, with most research in this area focusing on the services of mixed vegetation. Social health, community economic development, and tourism are the least-studied, with most research in these areas focusing on mixed vegetation and trees. Multiple metrics were used to quantify the value of urban greenery within each ecosystem service category but only 11 metrics were assigned a monetary value. Gaps in the literature that present strong opportunities for future research include: the value of urban forests for improving social health, equitable access to ecosystem services, the impact of urban forests on community economic development, and economic valuation and green exposure metrics. We hope that this review stimulates future research in the areas highlighted and that municipalities consider including evaluations of a broad range of ecosystem services during land use planning and budgeting processes.     

Exploring sense of place across cultivated lands through public participatory mapping

Context

Cultivated lands have undergone a shift towards intensification and increased productivity, favoring provisioning services at the expense of regulating and cultural services. Cultivated lands have rarely been researched as a provider of cultural services.

Objectives

The overarching goal of this study is to assess sense of place across cultivated lands. To do so, we used participatory mapping to elicit public knowledge of the past and present coverage of agricultural areas, as well as to reveal the public sense of place attached to cultivated lands and perceptions about future land-use pathways.

Methods

This study was conducted in an agrarian and rural region of SE Madrid (Spain), where we did ecosystem service participatory mapping workshops with key stakeholders related to the agrarian sector: farming professionals, land-use decision-makers and planners and other local actors.

Results

We identified linkages between cultivated lands and sense of place as a key cultural service. The locations most pinpointed for its sense of place overlapped with cultivated lands. The future land-use pathways that showed the highest agreement between the likelihood and interest in their promotion were the increases in green and/or protected areas and orchards. Extensive crops and urban areas the land-use pathways with the highest dissonance.

Conclusions

The results encourage land planners and researchers to approach landscape values in relation to the sense of place. We concluded that cultivated lands present a sense of place, and this link has the possible to root society in agricultural landscape through the establishment of belongingness, stewardship and care connections.

     

Private trees contribute uniquely to urban forest diversity,structure and service-based traits

The urban forest provides our communities with a host of benefits through the delivery of ecosystem services. To properly quantify and sustain these benefits, we require a strong baseline understanding of forest structure and diversity. To date, fine-scale work considering urban forest diversity and ecosystem services has often been limited to trees on public land, considering only one or two green space types. However, the governance of urban green spaces means tree species composition is influenced by management decisions at various levels, including by institutions, municipalities, and individual landowners responsible for their care. Using a mixed-method approach combining a traditional field-inventory and community science project, we inventoried urban trees in the residential neighbourhood of Notre-Dame-de-Grȃce, Montreal. We assessed how tree diversity, composition and structure varies across multiple green space types in the public and private domain (parks, institutions, street rights of way and private yards) at multiple scales. We assessed how service-based traits – traits capturing aspects of plant form and functions that urban residents find beneficial – differed across green space types, with implications for the distribution of ecosystem services across the urban landscape. Green space types displayed meaningful differences in tree diversity, structure, and service-based traits. For example, the inclusion of private trees contributed an additional 52 species (>30% of total species) not found in the local public tree inventory. Trees on private land also tended to be smaller than those in the public domain. Beyond patterns of tree richness, size, and abundance we also observed differences in the composition of tree species and service-based traits at site-scales, particularly between street rights-of way and private yards. While species composition varied considerably across street blocks, blocks were very similar to one another in terms of mean service-based traits. Contrastingly, while species composition was similar from yard to yard, yards differed significantly in mean service-based trait values. Our work emphasises that public tree inventories are unlikely to be fully representative of urban forest composition, structure, and benefits, with implications for urban forest management at larger spatial scales.     

Linking demand and supply factors in identifying cultural ecosystem services of urban green infrastructures: A review of European studies

Urban green infrastructure provides a number of cultural ecosystem services that are greatly appreciated by the public. In order to benefit from these services, actual contact with the respective ecosystem is often required. Furthermore, the type of services offered depend on the physical characteristics of the ecosystem. We conducted a review of publications dealing with demand or social factors such as user needs, preferences and values as well as spatially explicit supply or physical factors such as amount of green space, (bio)diversity, recreational infrastructure, etc. and linking demand and supply factors together. The aim was to provide an overview of this highly interdisciplinary research, to describe how these linkages are being made and to identify which factors significantly influence dependent variables such as levels of use, activities or health and well-being benefits. Commonly used methods were the combination of questionnaires with either on-site visual recording of elements or GIS data. Links between social and physical data were usually established either by using statistical tools or by overlaying different thematic maps. Compared to the large number of variables assessed in most studies, the significant effects in the end were relatively few, not consistent across the studies and largely dependent on the context they were seen in. Studies focused on aesthetic and recreational services, while spiritual, educational and inspirational services were not considered when creating links to spatially explicit ecological structures. We conclude that an improvement and harmonization of methodologies, cross-country studies and an expansion of this line of research to a wider range of services and more user groups could help clarify relationships and thereby increase applicability for urban management and planning.     

Challenges of urban green space management in the face of using inadequate data

Effective urban planning, and urban green space management in particular, require proper data on urban green spaces. The potential of urban green spaces to provide benefits to urban inhabitants (ecosystem services) depends on whether they are managed as a comprehensive system of urban green infrastructure, or as isolated islands falling under the responsibility of different stakeholders. Meanwhile, different urban green space datasets are based on different definitions, data sources, sampling techniques, time periods and scales, which poses important challenges to urban green infrastructure planning, management and research. Using the case study of Lodz, the third largest city in Poland, and an additional analysis of 17 other Polish cities, we compare data from five publicly available sources: 1) public statistics, 2) the national land surveying agency, 3) satellite imagery (Landsat data), 4) the Urban Atlas, 5) the Open Street Map. The results reveal large differences in the total amount of urban green spaces in the cities as depicted in different datasets. In Lodz, the narrowly interpreted public statistics data, which are aspatial, suggest that green spaces account for only 12.8% of city area, while the most comprehensive dataset from the national land surveying agency reveals the figure of 61.2%. The former dataset, which excludes many types of green spaces (such as arable land, private and informal green spaces), is still the most commonly used. The analysis of the 17 other cities confirms the same pattern. This results in broader institutional failures related to urban green infrastructure planning, management, and research, including a lack of awareness of green space quality (e.g. connectivity) and benefits (ecosystem services), and the related political disregard for urban green spaces. Our comparison suggests that a better understanding of green space data sources is necessary in urban planning, and especially when planning urban green infrastructure.