Promoting pro-environmental gardening practices: Field experimental evidence for the effectiveness of biospheric appeals

Pro-environmental gardening practices can help to address climate change and biodiversity loss. However, little is known about how urban garden owners can be motivated to engage in such practices. In the present study, we tested the effectiveness of behavior change techniques for the promotion of pollinator-friendly garden flowers in a field experiment. Over a period of three weeks, we observed purchases of a pollinator-friendly seed mixture positioned in the checkout area of a Belgian wholesale store (total number of purchases = 162). Customers were exposed to posters that highlighted either the environmental benefits (e.g., conserving insect biodiversity) or the personal benefits (e.g., having a beautiful garden) of planting the seeds. In comparison to a control condition, seed purchases increased by 82% when environmental benefits were highlighted. The effect of stressing personal benefits was not significant. Our results indicate that pro-environmental gardening practices can be promoted by highlighting their environmental benefits at a point of decision.     

Integrating stakeholders’ demands and scientific knowledge on ecosystem services in landscape planning

The conflict between conservation and timber production is shifting in regions such as Biscay (Basque Country, northern Spain) where planted forests are no longer profitable without public subsidies and environmentalist claim that public subsidies should be reoriented to the regeneration of natural forest. This paper develops an approach that integrates scientific knowledge and stakeholders’ demands to provide decision-making guidelines for the development of new landscape planning strategies while considering ecosystem services. First, a participatory process was conducted to develop a community vision for the region’s sustainable future considering the opportunities and constrains provided by the landscape and its ecosystems. In the participatory process forest management was considered an important driver for the region`s landscape development and forest multi-functionality was envisioned as a feasible attractive alternative. The participatory process identified a knowledge gap on the synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity and carbon storage and how these depend on different forest types. Second, to study the existing synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity and carbon storage and disentangle the identified knowledge gap, a GIS-based research was conducted based on spatially explicit indicators. Our spatial analysis results showed that natural forests’ contribution to biodiversity and carbon storage is higher than that of the plantations with exotic species in the region. The results from the spatial analysis converged with those from the participatory process in the suitability of promoting, where possible and appropriate, natural forest ecosystems restoration. This iterative learning and decision making process is already showing its effectiveness for decision making, with concrete examples of how the results obtained with the applied approach are being included in planning and decision-making processes.     

Getting farming on the agenda: Planning,policymaking, and governance practices of urban agriculture in New York City

How and why is urban agriculture taken up into local food policies and sustainability plans? This paper uses a case study of urban agriculture policymaking in New York City from 2007 to 2011 to examine the power-laden operation of urban environmental governance. It explores several ‘faces of power,’ including overt authority, institutionalized ‘rules of the game,’ and hegemony. It also investigates how multiple actors interact in policymaking processes, including through the construction and use of broad discursive concepts. Findings draw upon analysis of policy documents and semi-structured interviews with 43 subjects engaged in food systems policymaking. Some municipal decision-makers questioned the significance of urban agriculture, due to the challenges of quantifying its benefits and the relative scarcity of open space in the developed city. Yet, these challenges proved insufficient to prevent a coalition of civic activists working in collaboration with public officials to envision plans on food policy that included urban agriculture. Actors created the ‘local/regional food system’ as a narrative concept in order to build broad coalitions and gain entry to the municipal policy sphere. Tracing the roll-out of plans reveals the way in which both the food systems concept and specific policy proposals were repeated and legitimized. Unpacking the dynamics of this iterative policymaking contributes to an understanding of how urban environmental governance happens in this case.     

A comparison of the response of different citrus fruit cultivars to storage temperature

A comparison was made of the response to storage temperatures (0–17°C) of grapefruit ‘Shamouti’ and ‘Valencia’ oranges, and lemon fruit. There was no chilling injury (CI) and the incidence of rot was relatively low at 12°C or higher for all cultivars. At low storage temperatures, however, pitting and subsequent rot development in grapefruit and in ‘Shamouti’ and ‘Valencia’ oranges were highest at 6°C, while in lemon the incidence of these disorders rose with the decrease in storage temperature, and was highest at 2°C. Grapefruit and ‘Shamouti’ oranges exhibited the highest susceptibility to CI, lemon showed an intermediate susceptibility, and ‘Valencia’ orange a very low one. In grapefruit, severe peel pittings that developed in cold storage were covered by mold rots during cold storage and shelf-life, but in ‘Valencia’ and particularly in ‘Shamouti’ oranges the incidence of decay during cold storage was low. During shelf-life, a pronounced CI-induced increase in the incidence of mold rots was evident. This breakdown during shelf-life may be associated with microscopic peel injuries which are formed during cold storage and covered by mold rots during shelf-life. Increased susceptibility of the cultivar to CI could be correlated with an increase in ethanol content at low temperatures.     

Evaluation of carrot and onion cultivars for commercial production in Guyana

Experiments were conducted at two locations (Central Agricultural Station, CAS, Mon Repos, and Black Bush Polder) in Guyana, to evaluate carrot and onion cultivars for adaptability to the climatic conditions. Onion cultivars were tested for the production of dry bulbs as well as for the green tops.‘Chantenay Red Core’, ‘Improved Danvers-126’, ‘Nantes Strong Top’, ‘Nantesa Superior’, and ‘New Kuroda’ carrot produced average yields between 14 and 25 t/ha. Dry bulb yields of ‘Bermuda-986’, ‘Granex’, ‘Red Creole’, ‘San Felipe’, and ‘White Creole’ onion were lowest of all cultivars included in these trials. At the CAS, ‘Texas Grano-502’ and ‘White Alamo’ produced larger onion bulbs with average weights of 82 and 77 g, respectively. At Black Bush Polder ‘El Toro’ produced the largest onion bulbs with an average weight of 77 g. In storage, bulb losses for red onion cultivars, ‘Red Creole’, ‘Red Granex’, ‘Tropicana’, were lowest at all samplings during the 82 days storage period. White onions were most susceptible to loss in storage. Average losses of white onions were 33.3, 63.7, 74.6 and 86.2% at 21, 44, 55, and 82 days in storage, respectively. Storage losses for ‘White Creole’, which was an exception, were 11.1, 35.9, 46.4, and 57.0% for the above-mentioned storage durations respectively. Among four cultivars evaluated for green onion production, ‘Evergreen Bunching’ produced the highest yield (28.6 t/ha).     

The effects of daminozide and under-soil heating on the growth of radish under winter conditions

The growth of radish cultivars ‘Saxa’, ‘Saxerre’, ‘Serra’, ‘Istar’, ‘Cherrybelle’ and ‘Robino’ was compared at 7 and 12°C under winter glasshouse conditions. ‘Serra’ alone produced marketable storage roots by 63 days at 7°C, but root weight was no greater at 12 than at 7°C; only ‘Robino’ produced significantly larger roots at the higher temperature. Under-soil heating applied to ‘Cherrybelle’ and ‘Robino’ grown at an air temperature of 7°C increased root growth, particularly in ‘Cherrybelle’. Daminozide treatment at 7°C increased total and storage root weight and root:shoot ratio of both cultivars. At 12°C, the only significant effect of daminozide treatment was reduced shoot weight in ‘Robino’.     

The effect of storage temperature on quality and decay percentage of ‘Pairi’ and ‘Taimour’ mango fruits

The effects of storage temperatures, especially chilling-temperatures, and the duration of exposure to them, on quality and decay percentage, and on the shelf-life of ‘Pairi’ and ‘Taimour’ mango fruits were studied. ‘Taimour’ fruits had better keeping-quality, storage ability and a longer marketing period than ‘Pairi’ fruits under all storage temperatures. Both cultivars were affected by storing at 0 °C and the severity of chilling was proportional to the duration of cold storage. ‘Taimour’ fruits were less sensitive to chilling-injury than ‘Pairi’ fruits. Storage at 5 °C or slightly higher was the most suitable temperature for both cultivars, followed by 10 °C.     

One size does not fit all: The complex relationship between biodiversity and psychological well-being

Conserving urban biodiversity is often promoted as a ‘win-win’ nature-based solution that can help align public health and biodiversity conservation agendas. Yet, research on the relationship between biodiversity and psychological well-being reveals inconsistent and complex results. This body of research is also restricted to a few socio-cultural and environmental contexts and tends to ignore differences in individual characteristics, such as nature relatedness (i.e., emotional affinity to nature) and ecological knowledge, that can influence people’s experience of biodiversity. The aim of this interdisciplinary research is to explore the relationships between biodiversity and psychological well-being, and test the moderating effect of nature relatedness and ecological knowledge on these relationships. An ecological survey was conducted in 24 small urban gardens in Israel to measure the richness and abundance of birds, butterflies and plants, as well as land cover characteristics. In parallel, a social survey (close-ended questionnaires) was conducted in-situ to measure psychological well-being, nature relatedness, ecological knowledge, perceived species richness and socio-demographic variables. Psychological well-being measures were mostly associated with the cover of woody species, perceived species richness, and to a lesser extent, with actual species richness and abundance, for all taxa. Nature relatedness moderated these relationships. Respondents with high nature relatedness demonstrated positive well-being-richness relationships, while those with intermediate, or low nature relatedness showed no, or even negative relationships, respectively. Opposite relationships were recorded for bird abundance. Overall, individuals demonstrated poor ecological knowledge and this variable moderated only few relations between well-being measures, perceived butterfly richness and bird abundance. Our results demonstrate that one-size-does-not-fit-all when considering the relationship between psychological well-being and biodiversity, and that affinity to nature is a key moderator for this relationship. Designing urban green spaces that provide inclusive and meaningful nature experiences and foster emotional affinity to nature, is therefore key to aligning ecological and social objectives for sustainable urban planning.     

‘徐香’与‘海沃德’猕猴桃冷藏期间组织结构与生理变化差异

以猕猴桃‘徐香’（较不耐贮藏）和‘海沃德’（耐贮藏）果实为试材,研究其在0 ℃贮藏期间生理及组织结构的变化差异,从而探究其与耐贮性的关系。结果表明：贮藏期间两品种果肉硬度均不断下将,‘海沃德’果肉硬度降至10 N的时间为150 d,而‘徐香’仅为95 d;‘徐香’的呼吸高峰和乙烯释放高峰的出现分别较‘海沃德’早20 d和10 d,且峰值分别高出16%和250%。贮藏期间‘徐香’果实的质量减少率也显著高于‘海沃德’。在整个贮藏期间,‘海沃德’果实的淀粉、原果胶、纤维素含量均高于‘徐香’,而淀粉酶（AM）、果胶代谢相关酶（多聚半乳糖醛酸酶PG、果胶甲酯酶PE、β–半乳糖苷酶β-Gal）和纤维素酶（Cx）的活性高峰值均低于‘徐香’。‘海沃德’的表皮毛极显著细短于‘徐香’;且角质层厚度及表皮细胞层数都大于‘徐香’;贮藏期间果肉细胞的形变程度‘海沃德’小于‘徐香’;‘海沃德’的细胞壁厚于‘徐香’,且贮藏期间中胶层分裂缓慢,线粒体较完整。总之,耐贮性好的猕猴桃品种角质层和表皮细胞厚,质量减少率较低,呼吸速率和乙烯释放速率慢,细胞壁酶活性低。     

气调包装对不同青贮核桃商品性的影响

设置"香玲""清香""晋龙1号""强特勒"4个品种分别单独存放、混品("元林""辽1""中林1号""元丰""香玲""清香"随机搭配)存放,共5个处理,用PE40自发气调袋包装,包装量为5 kg,(0±1)℃冷库中存放,观察贮藏期好果率、裂果率变化,筛选了适宜青贮的最佳品种及贮藏方式,以期探明青贮核桃不同品种之间、不同贮藏方式的贮藏效果。结果表明:贮藏第0～75天,裂果率以"晋龙1号"、混品较高,"强特勒"最低,"香玲""清香"居中;好果率以"清香"为最高,混品最低,"香玲""晋龙1号"居中;第90天,好果率以"清香"最高为70%,其余品种均低于60%,混品最低为20%;裂果率以"晋龙1号"最高为70%,其次为混品、"香玲""清香""强特勒"。单一品种存放较混品贮藏效果好;品种间核桃青贮以"清香"为最好,"香玲"和"强特勒"其次;"清香"贮藏天数为90 d,"香玲""强特勒""晋龙1号"均为75 d。     

Carbon storage in a peri-urban neotropical forest: Assessing its potential and patterns of change over half a century

Forest ecosystems are associated with environmental regulation services, such as carbon storage, which is an outstanding service. Carbon fluxes in cities are difficult to estimate due to the scale at which they are addressed, particularly at the local level. In this work, we were interested in determining the carbon stored in the aboveground biomass of the tropical montane cloud forest tree species located on the western periphery of the city of Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. With these data, we interpolated the storage and sequestration over five decades through image satellites and aerial photography of this unique forest. Additionally, to assess this potential as a basis for a biodiversity contribution to city resilience, we conducted phytosociological sampling. Native species such as Quercus xalapensis, Liquidambar styraciflua var. mexicana and Q. lancifolia showed the most significant values of 72.92, 58.79, and 49.14 Mg ha⁻¹, respectively, of carbon. We used phytosociological sampling to better understand structural and functional features of urban forest biodiversity that can contribute to management practices for adaptation to climate change. In addition, the native species currently studied offer an opportunity for the city to implement better-targeted reforestation and ecological restoration programs for integrated landscaping in urban planning. Our results suggest that between 1966 and 2022, there was a forest recovery of 52.4 ha and an increase in urban areas of 63.4 ha, which is equivalent to an increase from 7,700.86 Mg ha⁻¹ in 1966 to 12,620.00 Mg ha⁻¹ in 2022. In this context, it is possible to both recover the vegetation cover and expand the city, thus avoiding part of the loss of ecosystem services that urbanization usually implies. This should be promoted among decision-makers and citizens in urban planning. Recovery processes can take place successfully in some cases even as urban areas expand. This possibility is relevant due to the many contributions that vegetation provides to citizens, including carbon storage. The opportunity to study five decades allows us to know the history, monitor the processes and make a projection to conserve the vegetation and improve management.     

From explanation to application: introducing a practice-oriented ecosystem services evaluation (PRESET) model adapted to the context of landscape planning and management

The development and use of the conceptual framework of ecosystem services (ES) has been very successful in supporting the broad diffusion and application of ES within science and policy communities. However, most of the currently proposed interpretations of the framework neither correlate to environmental planning nor to decision-making contexts at the local and regional scale, which is a potential reason for the slow adoption and practice of the ES conceptual framework. This paper proposes a practice-oriented ES evaluation (PRESET) model specifically adapted to the requirements of local and regional planning and decision-making contexts, and discusses its potential benefits and implications for practice. Through the usage of PRESET we suggest making a distinction between ‘offered ES’, ‘utilized ES’, ‘human input’, and ‘ES benefits’ as relevant information for decision-making. Furthermore, we consider it important to link these decision-support categories to different value dimensions relevant in planning and management practice. PRESET provides guidance to inject the ES concept into planning, but needs to be implemented together with concrete assessment methods, indicators and data. The planning strategic benefits of using PRESET include its reference to existing legislative objectives, avoiding the risk that monetized ES values might dominate decision-making, clarification of human contributions, and easier identification of land use conflicts and synergies. Examples are given for offered and utilized ES, as well as for respective evaluation approaches and instruments of implementation.     

Understanding spontaneous biodiversity in informal urban green spaces: A local-landscape filtering framework with a test on wall plants

In densely urbanized areas, small pockets of vegetated areas such as street verges, vacant lots, and walls can be rich in biodiversity. In spite of their small size, these ‘informal urban greenspaces’ can provide critical ecosystem services to urban residents. Maintaining and enhancing the provisioning of ecosystem services requires a systematic understanding of biodiversity patterns and drivers in informal urban green spaces. The ‘environmental filtering’ (a process of certain species selected by specific environmental conditions) concept in community ecology theory may serve as a useful tool for this goal. We tested a multi-scale filtering framework by examining the spontaneous plant diversity patterns (from 83 surveyed sites) on the vertical surfaces of the ancient city wall of Nanjing, China. We found that the variables representing local-habitat filtering (e.g., wall substrates and aspect) and landscape filtering (including spatial configuration of urban land cover, and nighttime light intensity surrounding the local habitats) can jointly explain substantial fractions of variations in taxonomic diversity (up to ca. 60%) and functional diversity (up to ca. 40%). The explanatory power was stronger in the repaired wall habitats than in the unrepaired counterparts, in line with the prediction that environmental filtering is more pronounced during the early stages of community assembly. While the strength of landscape filtering showed clear scale-dependency, its relative importance consistently outweighs local-habitat filtering across all study scales of 200–1600 m, suggesting that configuration of neighboring landscape context can play an important role in shaping local-scale biodiversity of informal urban green spaces. Our results have useful implications for the study, design, and management of informal urban green spaces. Well-tailored multi-scale filtering frameworks may contribute to understanding urban biodiversity patterns in a systematic way.     

短时升温对桃果实贮藏效应的影响

以大久保桃果实为试材,研究了贮前不同温度(35℃、30℃及常温下,历时2d)处理对桃贮藏效应的影响.结果表明,与30℃处理和对照相比,35℃处理①可提高贮藏期间的果肉硬度;②显著降低贮藏前期果实的呼吸强度;③可溶性同形物含量,与对照相比,不受热处理的影响;④果实贮藏15d,仍能保持良好风味;⑤与对照相比,并不增加果实失重.     

Biodiversity and environmental stressors along urban walking routes

There is increasing focus on designing liveable cities that promote walking. However, urban walking routes can expose people to adverse environmental conditions that reduce health, well-being and biodiversity. Our primary objective is to assess how urban form is associated with environmental quality, including biodiversity, for people moving through urban spaces. We assess a range of environmental conditions that influence human health and biodiversity (temperature, noise and particulate pollution) and biodiversity of three taxa (trees, butterflies and birds) along 700 m public walking routes embedded in 500 m x 500 m grid cells across three UK towns. Cells are selected using random stratification across an urbanisation intensity gradient. Walking routes in more built-up areas were noisier and hotter; noise levels further increased in areas with more industrial land-use and large roads. There was no evidence of vegetation mitigating noise or temperature, but there was some evidence that increased vegetation cover mitigated small particulate pollution. Walking routes in more built-up environments had lower butterfly, bird and native tree species richness, and reduced butterfly abundance. Large roads were associated with reduced bird species richness and increased noise was associated with reduced bird abundance. Most specific measures of vegetation in the surrounding matrix (median patch size, structural complexity at 1.5 m resolution) were not detectably associated with biodiversity along walking routes, indicating minimal beneficial spill-over. Increased garden cover in the surrounding matrix was associated with less abundant and less species-rich butterfly communities. Our results highlight considerable heterogeneity in the environmental quality of urban walking routes and pedestrians’ potential to experience biodiversity along these routes, driven by reduced quality in areas with more built cover. A greater focus is needed on mitigating adverse effects of specific features of the built environment (roads, industrial areas, noise) surrounding walking routes to enhance the co-benefits of more biodiversity and healthier conditions for pedestrians.     

The cold storage life of ‘Dashehari’ mangoes

Cold storage of ‘Dashehari’ mangoes at 7.2° to 7.9°C and relative humidity of 85 to 90 %, harvested on 2 dates after precooling, and after 2 or 4 days exposure to room temperature, revealed that lettuce-green fruits and those with light yellow colour stored successfully for 35 or 25 days respectively. Precooling increased the satisfactory storage life. Even after 2 or 4 days room-temperature storage prior to cold storage, the green fruits were in good condition for 35 days and light yellow fruits for 25 days. These fruits, after removal from cold storage, ripened to a satisfactory palatability.     

A GIS-based mapping methodology of urban green roof ecosystem services applied to a Central European city

Green roofs provide a number of different urban ecosystem services (UESS), e.g. regulation of microclimate, support of air quality improvement, or stormwater retention. To estimate the spatial variation of green roof UESS across an urban area, a GIS-based mapping and spatial analysis methodology was established and applied to the city of Braunschweig, Germany. Based on the analysis of available geodata, in a first step, a quantity of 14,138 rooftops in the study area (14% of all buildings) was found to be generally suitable for greening. This resulted in a green roof area of 3 km². Based on criteria such as roof slope and minimum roof size, nearly two-thirds of these buildings (8596 buildings, 8.6% of total number of buildings) were categorised ‘appropriate’ for greening and subject to green roof UESS analysis.The spatial distribution of green roof UESS was estimated based on the categories thermal urban climate, air quality, stormwater retention and biodiversity. Due to their potential benefits in the four UESS categories an overall assessment resulted in a number of 867 roofs (0.9% of total number of buildings) categorised as ‘high benefit’ from rooftop greening. Another 3550 buildings (3.5%) and 4179 buildings (4.2%) were defined as ‘moderate benefit’ and ‘low benefit’, respectively. The inner city area of Braunschweig appears as a hot-spot of green roof UESS, i.e. higher percentage of ‘high benefit’ green roofs in comparison to residential areas. The proposed method is a simple but straightforward approach to analyse urban green roof UESS and their spatial distribution across a city but it is sensitive to the quality of the available input geodata.     

东方百合鳞茎冷藏解除休眠的养分代谢和酶活性变化

 以自繁的东方百合鳞茎为材料, 研究在2℃、5℃和8℃条件下, 鳞片中淀粉、可溶性总糖、还原糖含量和几种酶活性的变化。在8周的冷藏期内, 淀粉含量持续明显下降, 可溶性糖和还原糖含量增加, CAT、POD、SOD酶的活性在冷藏第1周下降极显著, 而α - 淀粉酶活性在第3周出现峰值, 自冷藏第4周后4种代谢酶活性均处于低水平。本试验中, 不同低温处理间的差异不大, 冷藏第7周后可解除休眠。     

Storage of some local and introduced mango cultivars grown in Trinidad

The fruit characteristics and storage potential of some local and introduced mango cultivars grown in Trinidad were compared. At ambient temperature (28–32°C), fruit could be stored satisfactorily for between 3 and 8 days, after which ripening rapidly occurred. At 14°C, storage life was increased to as much as 18 days (cultivar ‘Graham’). Enclosure of fruits individually in polythene bags increased storage life at either ambient or 14°C temperature, while treatment with 3% Sta-fresh wax increased storage at ambient but not at 14°C. In the case of ‘Doodooth’, which was highly susceptible to anthracnose, treatment of fruit with hot water (52 ± 2°C) containing 500 or 1000 mg l^?4 benomyl for 5 min reduced the incidence of disease. Results are discussed in relation to the export potential of mangoes.