How is setting preference related to intention to engage in forest recreation activities?

Urban forests provide opportunities for outdoor recreation to many people. Knowledge of the motives for visiting forests is needed for the planning and management of these forests. Since forests are used for a diverse set of recreational activities, however, the motives for different activities are multifaceted. To explore recreational motives, this scene preference study conducted in Sweden examined relations between setting evaluations (i.e., mystery, legibility, valence, and activation), setting preference, general forest perceptions, and intention to engage in forest activities. Two alternative models were examined in relation to five different activities: walking, going on outings, exercising, picking berries or mushrooms, and studying plants and animals. Results revealed that preference mediated between setting evaluations and intention to go on outings, whereas setting evaluations were direct predictors of intention to walk and exercise. However, the models did not describe antecedents of intention to pick berries or mushrooms, or to study plants and animals, satisfactorily. In addition, general forest perceptions, particularly emphasising the restorative qualities of forests, were important for intention to engage in all the examined recreation activities. Results are discussed in relation to landscape preference research and attitude-behaviour theory. In addition, practical implications for encouraging forest recreation are highlighted.     

How is quality of urban green spaces associated with physical activity and health?

This study investigates the associations between quality of urban green spaces (UGS), self-reported physical activity (PA), and health indicators in Aydın, Turkey. Data was collected through a survey with 420 participants. The associations between quality of UGS, self-reported frequency and duration of PA, and stress, mental health, and physical health were examined with multivariate linear regression while controlling for confounding factors. Results showed that nearest distance to UGS and quality of UGS (i.e. maintenance and cleanliness) were associated with increased frequency of PA. Higher frequency of PA was related to less stress and better mental health and longer duration of PA was associated with better physical health. In addition, large and open/visible UGS were associated with better physical health. The findings also showed that stress mediates the relationship between PA and mental health. Results suggest that providing large, visible as well as clean and well-maintained UGS close to people's homes may be an effective strategy to improve PA and people's health.     

Critical upscaling. How citizens’ initiatives can contribute to a transition in governance and quality of urban greenspace

Studies show that municipalities often develop a type of urban greenspace that is rather uniform in its shape and use. Citizens’ initiatives develop different types of greenspace. This article uses concepts from transition studies and identifies what happens during a citizens’ initiative in urban greenspace in the Netherlands in terms of transition of municipal management and development and how these initiatives can lead to a change of practices of the municipality. A single, qualitative study of Diepenheim Inside-Out-Forest in the Netherlands as a critical case is presented, based on 8 semi-open interviews. The study gives insight in how the municipality has changed in relation to this one case, and how such transition of ‘regime’ takes place. The study explains how the different benefits that arise in a greenspace development and management initiative relate to the ‘critical knowledge’ and ‘situated knowledge’ of the actors involved and that the quality of urban greenspace is very much the result of that knowledge. ‘Fit and conform’ and ‘stretch and transform’ are usable strategies for the empowerment of such initiatives through sharing of resources, and policy advocacy by ‘critical niche’ innovators.‘Regime’ is not uniquely a feature of the local state but also of market parties and citizens themselves with their own values and routines. A change among all parties seems needed if greenspace is to be developed, managed and used differently.     

How does forest fragmentation affect tree communities? A critical case study in the biodiversity hotspot of New Caledonia

Context

The biodiversity hotspot for conservation of New Caledonia has facing high levels of forest fragmentation. Remnant forests are critical for biodiversity conservation and can help in understanding how does forest fragmentation affect tree communities.

Objective

Determine the effect of habitat configuration and availability on tree communities.

Methods

We mapped forest in a 60 km² landscape and sampled 93 tree communities in 52 forest fragments following stratified random sampling. At each sampling point, we inventoried all trees with a diameter at breast height ≥10 cm within a radius of 10 m. We then analysed the response of the composition, the structure and the richness of tree communities to the fragment size and isolation, distance from the edge, as well as the topographical position.

Results

Our results showed that the distance from the forest edge was the variable that explained the greatest observed variance in tree assemblages. We observed a decrease in the abundance and richness of animal-dispersed trees as well as a decrease in the abundance of large trees with increasing proximity to forest edges. Near forest edges we found a shift in species composition with a dominance of stress-tolerant pioneer species.

Conclusions

Edge-effects are likely to be the main processes that affect remnant forest tree communities after about a century of forest fragmentation. It results in retrogressive successions at the edges leading to a dominance of stress-tolerant species. The vegetation surrounding fragments should be protected to promote the long process of forest extension and subsequently reduce edge-effects.

     

How does the landscape context of occurrence data influence models of invasion risk? A comparison of independent datasets in Massachusetts,USA

The spatial distribution of non-native, invasive plants on the landscape is strongly influenced by human action. People introduce non-native species to new landscapes and regions (propagule pressure) as well as increase ecosystem invasibility through disturbance of native ecosystems. However, the relative importance of different landscape drivers of invasion may vary with landscape context (i.e., the types and amounts of surrounding land cover and land use). If so, data collected in one context may not be appropriate for predicting invasion risk across a broader landscape. To test whether independent occurrence datasets suggest similar landscape drivers of invasion, we compared landscape models based on data compiled by the Invasive Plant Atlas of New England (IPANE), which are contributed opportunistically by trained citizen scientists, to models based on Forest Stewardship plans (FSPs), which are located in privately owned and relatively undisturbed forests. We evaluated 16 landscape variables related to propagule pressure and/or disturbance for significant predictors of invasive plant presence based on presence/absence and count regression models. Presence and richness of invasive plants within FSPs was most influenced by proportion of open land and proximity to residential areas, which are both sources of propagules in forest interiors. In contrast, IPANE invasive plant presence and richness for the same area was influenced by distance to roads and streams. These results suggest that landscape drivers of invasion vary considerably depending on landscape context, and the choice of occurrence dataset will strongly influence model results.     

Do perceived walking distance to and use of urban blue spaces affect self-reported physical and mental health?

A cross-sectional analysis among 1041 urban residents was done to examine associations between self-reported walking distance to and use of freshwater urban blue space and health-related quality of life in two German cities: a city with “poor” urban blue space supply (Bielefeld; 0.8% blue space) and one with “better” urban blue space supply (Gelsenkirchen; 3.0% blue space). Health-related quality of life was assessed with the SF-12v2, which measures residents’ self-reported mental and physical health. Results showed a significant association between use frequency and perceived walking distance to blue space. Blue space use was a better indicator of health outcomes than perceived walking distance. After controlling for green space, socio-economic and demographic variables, use frequency was associated with higher mental health in Gelsenkirchen. These cross-sectional findings suggest that blue space use increases the probability of being healthier in highly urbanised areas in cities with an appropriate amount of blue space.     

How do field margins contribute to the functional connectivity of insect-pollinated plants?

Context

Habitat fragmentation generates a loss of functional connectivity detrimental to the persistence of biodiversity. The French agricultural intensification initiated in the 1950s has caused a decline in field margins.

Objectives

As field margins may facilitate species dispersal while providing socio-economic benefits, it is of interest to assess their contribution to the functional connectivity of insect-pollinated plants in agro-ecosystems. This will help develop appropriate management strategies mitigating fragmentation.

Methods

We addressed this issue by studying the links between landscape structure and the patterns of abundance and pollen dispersal (using fluorescent dye particles) for two contrasted insect-pollinated plants occurring in field margins (Crepis sancta and Euphorbia serrata). We investigated the influence of field margins quality and of the surrounding matrix on pollen dispersal and compared the relevance of the least-cost algorithm with a straight-line approach to depict pollinators’ movements.

Results

The influence of landscape structure on plant abundance is species and scale-specific. Pollen dispersal decreases with distance from the source. For E. serrata, it was preferentially dispersed via field margins, confirming the relevance of the least-cost algorithm, while C. sancta dispersal followed a straight-line.

Conclusions

Euphorbia serrata, which grows strictly on field margins with a greater dispersal ability and a more diversified pollinator guild than C. sancta, is less affected by land-use changes. Our study demonstrates the contrasting contributions of field margins to pollen dispersal as they may act as functional corridors favouring pollinators’ movement depending on the species of interest.

     

How does habitat fragmentation affect the biodiversity and ecosystem functioning relationship?

Context

The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) has been a central topic in ecology for more than 20 years. While experimental and theoretical studies have produced much knowledge of how biodiversity affects ecosystem functioning, it remains poorly understood how habitat fragmentation affects the BEF relationship.

Objectives

To develop a framework that connects habitat fragmentation to the BEF relationship from a landscape perspective.

Methods

We reviewed the literature on habitat fragmentation, BEF, and related fields, and developed a framework to analyze how habitat fragmentation affects the BEF relationship through altering biodiversity, environmental conditions, and both, based on the pattern-process-scale perspective in landscape ecology.

Results

Our synthesis of the literature suggests that habitat fragmentation can alter BEF relationship through several processes. First, habitat fragmentation causes the non-random loss of species that make major contributions to ecosystem functioning (decreasing sampling effect), and reduces mutualistic interactions (decreasing complementarity effects) regardless of the changes in species richness. Second, environmental conditions within patches and ecological flows among patches vary significantly with the degree of fragmentation, which potentially contributes to and modulates the BEF relationship.

Conclusions

Habitat fragmentation can affect the BEF relationship directly by altering community composition, as well as indirectly by changing environmental conditions within and among habitat patches on both local and landscape levels. The BEF relationship obtained from small plots and over short time periods may not fully represent that in real landscapes that are fragmented, dynamic, and continuously influenced by myriad human activities on different scales in time and space.

     

How has the state-of-the-art for quantification of landscape pattern advanced in the twenty-first century?

Landscape Ecology - Landscape ecology was founded on the idea that there is a reciprocal relationship between spatial pattern and ecological processes. I provide a retrospective look at how the...     

How does your garden grow? Impact of residuals-based amendments on urban soil health,vegetable yield and nutritional density

This study combined field trials and a greenhouse study to measure the impacts of residuals-based soil amendments on soil health and vegetable yield and nutritional quality for three urban soils. Two biosolids based products and two food scrap-based materials were included. Amendment addition increased total C and N across all soils in the field trial. Reduced bulk density and increased infiltration rates were observed in two of the soils. Increases in permanganate oxidizable carbon (POX-C), a measure of biologically available C, were observed as a result of amendment addition. Plant yield in amended soils was similar to or less than fertilized controls for two soils. There was little to no yield in fertilized soil in the least productive soil. Organic amendment addition to this soil resulted in yields comparable to the highest measured yields in both the field and greenhouse trials. The greenhouse trial showed differences in amendment response with all amendments resulting in increased yield in the most disturbed soil in comparison to fertilizer addition. Plant nutritional quality varied by soil, amendment, crop and nutrient with no clear patterns. This study demonstrates the efficacy of residuals-based amendments for restoring health and productivity to disturbed urban soils.     

Why don’t we go outside? – Perceived constraints for users of urban greenspace in Sweden

Urban greenspace (UGS) is important for human wellbeing, particularly physical and mental health, and is claimed to support social cohesion. However, the expansion and densification of urban centres in recent decades has occurred largely at the expense of UGS. This risks its attractiveness for users. Although recent research has identified various factors that influence the use of UGS in different contexts, few studies have taken an explicit, bottom-up approach to understand which factors constrain willingness to use it. This study analyses responses from an online survey in Sweden (N = 2806) to identify the main constraints to UGS usage, and for whom these are constraints. Respondents could select from 22 different types of constraints – relating to incivilities, management, accessibility and availability, safety, and personal issues. Respondents could also provide comments to identify additional constraints. Incivilities were the most perceived problem. For example, litter was selected by 53% of respondents, while vandalism was selected by 24%. At the same time, many respondents perceived few or no constraints – 59% stated that nothing prevented them from using UGS, while 35% stated that they saw no problems. Safety-related and accessibility/availability constraints were not strongly identified although many respondents commented that UGS in Sweden is inadequate given the large number of users, and that the UGS that people want to use the most is often inaccessible without a car. Multiple binary logistic regression was used to investigate relationships between perceptions of constraints and fourteen predictor variables. Odds ratios were used to determine whether significant (p < 0.05) relationships were meaningful. Our findings show that different groups have starkly divergent perceptions of constraints relating to UGS. Several key factors – including age, self-reported nature-connectedness, distance to UGS, and frequency of use – were associated with a heightened likelihood of perceiving different groups of constraints. However, relationships between constraints and factors relating to environmental justice were not straightforward. These findings indicate the complexity of UGS planning challenges relating to densification, the New Urban Agenda and promotion of societal benefits, and a need to further integrate multiple user perspectives, especially of younger adults and infrequent users.     

Does time spent on visits to green space mediate the associations between the level of residential greenness and mental health?

ObjectiveThe objective of the current study was to explore whether time spent visiting green space near home acts as a mediator in the association between level of residential greenness and perceived mental health.MethodsQuestionnaire data and satellite data of residential greenness were gathered in four European cities (total n = 3748): Barcelona (SP), Doetinchem (NL), Kaunas (LT) and Stoke-on-Trent (UK).ResultsMediation analyses showed that time spent visiting green space near home was a weak, but statistically significant, mediator in the pooled data and in the Dutch sample only.ConclusionsThe findings provide little support for the hypothesis that purposeful visits are a mediator linking indirectly greenness with mental health. More research is needed to explore other mediators related to different exposure pathways, such as visual exposure, and alternative mechanisms, such as (perceived) safety.     

Towards a greening city: How does regional cooperation promote urban green space in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area?

Promoting Urban Green Space (UGS) is one of the major requests of green cities for urban planners and local officials, and it is linked to myriad environmental and social benefits. However, scant literature has positioned the UGS into the background of fast regionalisation to unravel their relationships and mechanisms. This study delves into the impact and mechanisms of regional cooperation upon the provision of UGS in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA), a dynamic city-region in southern China. Through social network analysis, panel data analysis, documentary review (analysis), and in-depth interviews, this study found that overall, regional cooperation has positive impacts on UGS provision in the GBA in the spheres of economic, social, institutional, and environmental affairs. We argued that economic cooperation encroaches on UGS by fostering infrastructure and economic zones; it also upgrades the industrial sectors and intensifies land use to positively affect UGS provision. Social cooperation reinforces population influx yet fosters social cohesion, sustainable lifestyles, and green economics to support the delivery of UGS policies. Environmental cooperation among local officials facilitates the implementation of urban greening projects, and institutional cooperation is conducive to urban governance in spatial greening planning. For the local government, the focal point for pursuing the green city vision is collaborative actions across the economic, social, environmental, and institutional spheres.     

Flowers – Sunshine for the soul! How does floral colour influence preference,feelings of relaxation and positive up-lift?

The natural environment is increasingly valued for its positive effect in retaining/restoring good mental health. Landscape architects are now challenged to embed therapeutic aspects within certain landscape designs, but what does this mean in practice? Flower colour has been one area that has attracted attention as potentially improving the restorative aspects of a designed landscape. In this research, 670 UK residents were surveyed to examine their preferences and emotional responses to flower colour using computer-generated images of ‘daisy-like’ flowers in 8 separate colours. Results showed that white, blue and orange were the most preferred flower colours. The data suggested, however, two separate phenomena were determining the psychological benefits associated with flower colour. The first is that there are some generic responses associated with key floral colours – flowers in blue play an effective role in relaxation/stress reduction; and warm colours - orange, yellow and red evoke uplifted emotions and deliver better positive affect. Interestingly, white was a colour that could both relax and provide uplifted emotions. The second phenomenon though, suggests that additionally and independently, an individual preference for a particular colour can also elicit positive psychological benefits, irrespective of what that particular colour is. In effect, favoured colours have a separate restorative effect that acts at a personal level. This finding has significance for landscape architects in that certain flower colours can be used to promote ‘generic’ therapeutic responses in appropriate locations, but that components of any designed landscape still need to take some account of personal responses and preferences.     

How does enclosed private residential green space impact accessibility equity in urban regions? A case study in Shenzhen,China

Compared with public parks, residential quarter green space (RQGS) is a type of enclosed private green space that is located in residential areas and has higher visit frequency. Generally, in China residential areas with high housing prices have higher quality and more quantity of RQGS. Therefore, the differences in RQGS between residents with different socio-economic status may influence the equity of urban green space accessibility. However, due to the lack of data sources, few existing studies have taken RQGS into account as a part of urban green space supply resources. Based on multi-source geographic big data, this paper takes Shenzhen as the research area to explore the impact of RQGS on the spatial pattern and fair distribution of green space accessibility. The total green space accessibility (TGSA), which includes the accessibility of RQGS, and the public park accessibility (PPA) were calculated using the Gaussian-based two-step floating catchment area method (2SFCA). Using housing prices to indicate the income level of dwellers, bivariate Moran’s I and multiple regression were adopted to explore equity of urban green space accessibility. The main conclusions were: (1) The accessibility of green space increased by 27.97% on average after considering RQGS and ignoring RQGS could underestimate the accessibility of green space, particularly in the residential quarter with high housing prices near the city center. (2) The regression coefficients of housing prices with PPA and TGSA were 0.042 (p < 0.01) and 0.160 (p < 0.001), respectively, indicating that the advantages of high-income groups in RQGS may further exacerbate the inequity of urban green space accessibility. The research conclusions may provide a scientific basis for optimizing the spatial structure of green space in urban areas and ensuring the equitable distribution of green space.     

How many people should be in the urban forest? A comparison of trail preferences of Vienna and Sapporo forest visitor segments

Differences in trail preferences for social conditions of visitors to forests in Vienna and Sapporo were investigated in 2006 using a standardised image-based stated choice approach. On-site visitors to two comparable peri-urban forests – the Lobau Forest in Vienna, Austria (n=373), and the Nopporo Forest in Sapporo, Japan (n=256) – evaluated the same sets of computer manipulated images depicting 128 trail scenarios with different levels of social stimulation. Latent class segmentations, in three sub-segments of similar sizes, differentiated by partly opposite preferences for social conditions, were derived for both samples. A positive contribution of social stimulation to preferences was found for about 17% of Nopporo and 9% of Lobau respondents, while for close to 50% of Lobau respondents and 38% of Nopporo respondents very low levels of social stimulation were preferred. The results indicate that urban forests should be managed for users with a desire for low social densities as well as a denser social setting providing some levels of social stimulation.     

How to accurately assess cultural ecosystem services by spatial value transfer? An answer based on the analysis of urban parks

Cultural ecosystem services (CESs) intangibly influence many aspects of public daily life, and when evaluating them, it is difficult to obtain perception data. Spatial value transfer predicts the ecosystem service value of policy sites based on the spatial associations of study sites with services value. This approach has the potential to produce an evaluation without perception data. Previous studies have preliminarily researched the validity and effects of using spatial value transfer to evaluate CESs, but, there are doubts about the transfer performance of indicators, differences among various CES types, and the impact of the physical environment. This study examines the above key points of spatial value transfer in depth, with urban parks as the study area to assess three types of CES values that are closely related to human well-being: aesthetic, historical and recreational value. Two popular indicators, area under the curve statistics and transfer error rate, are used to evaluate transfer performance. The results reveal that historical values have the best transfer performance, and transfer error is lower in transfers from small locations to large locations with environmental variable combinations that include road network, water coverage and attraction distribution. The transfer error rate indicator could not only assess the overall transfer performance but also generate maps to reflect the distribution and value of transfer error. We suggest that more knowledge of minor differences in physical factors and developing specific transfer coefficients for them are necessary to enhance the accuracy of CES evaluation by spatial value transfer.     

Too hot to handle? On the cooling capacity of urban green spaces in a Neotropical Mexican city

Urban areas are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, which can be mitigated by urban vegetation through shading and evapotranspiration. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of spatially explicit information on the cooling capacity of green infrastructure for most Latin American cities. In this study, we employed Land Surface Temperature (LST) of the Neotropical Mexican city of Xalapa to (1) analyze its Surface UHI (SUHI) compared to its peri and extra-urban areas, (2) to assess the cooling capacity of urban green spaces larger than 1 ha, and (3) to evaluate the role of green spaces’ size, shape and their surrounding tree cover percentage (Tc) on green spaces cooling range. We evaluated the cooling range of green spaces and their relationships with green spaces metrics and Tc via a linear mixed-effect model and identified threshold values for the variables at 25 m, 50 m, 100 m, and 200 m from the borders of green spaces through Classification and Regression Trees. Xalapa exhibits a SUHI of 1.70 °C compared to its peri-urban area and 4.95 °C to the extra-urban area. Green spaces > 2 ha mitigated heat at ~2 °C and the cooling range was influenced by the size of green spaces ≥ 2.8 ha and Tc > 21% at 50 m and only by Tc surrounding the green spaces at 100 m and 200 m. This shows that the size threshold of urban green spaces should be complemented with the presence of Tc starting at least 50 m to maximize the cooling capacity provided by the green infrastructure. Planning agendas should account for the interaction between the size of green spaces and the cumulative cooling effect of scattered vegetation inside urban areas towards compact green cities to cope with urban warming.