Prevalence of enterotoxigenic <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis> virulence genes from scouring piglets in Zimbabwe

World-wide, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) and verotoxigenic E. coli (VTEC)-induced diarrhea are economically important for porcine producers. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence of toxin and fimbrial genes among E. coli isolated from diarrheic piglets from randomly selected piggeries in Zimbabwe.We used multiplex PCR for screening STa, STb, LT, and Stx-2e toxins. Subsequently F4, F5, F6, F18 and F41 fimbriae genes were screened in toxin positive isolates. Toxin positive strains lacking tested fimbriae genes were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, agglutination and agglutination inhibition tests. Approximately 32% of the 1,984 isolates tested positive for STa, STb, LT or Stx-2e genes. Of these, approximately 81% had F4, F5, F6, F18 or F41 fimbriae genes. The remaining toxin positive strains lacked tested fimbriae genes and appeared to either express F1-like fimbriae, or lacked fimbriae. The data constitute an important framework for implementation of prevention measures, such as using relevant fimbriae-based vaccines against ETEC induced diarrhea or VTEC-induced edema.     

Pesticide use on cereal crops and changes in the abundance of butterflies on arable farmland in England

A survey of butterfly numbers on two plots of arable farmland in southern England in 1984 was carried out using the transect method of Pollard et al. (1975). On one plot the field edges were left unsprayed with pesticides (herbicides, fungicides and insecticides) from 1 January and on the other all fields were fully sprayed in accordance with normal farming practice. Sprayed and unsprayed transect sections were paired up according to adjacent field boundary habitat type.A total of 868 butterflies were recorded on the unsprayed plot compared to 297 on the sprayed plot. Of the 17 species recorded on more than one survey section, 13 were significantly more abundant on the unsprayed treatment. Butterfly species whose larval host plants occurred in unsprayed field edges showed slightly larger differences in number between treatments than species less able to breed in weedy cereal crops.The results suggest that pesticide use on cereal crops may reduce butterfly numbers and that arable farmland is a habitat in need of further study for butterfly conservation.     

A balancing act: Biodiversity and human wellbeing considerations in the management of urban forest in a global biodiversity hotspot

Environmental and urban forest managers in cities located in highly biodiverse regions may need to balance biodiversity conservation with the provision of ecosystem services to people. However, striking this balance is not easy and many competing factors influence the decision-making process. Set in the Perth Metropolitan Area, located in the global biodiversity hotspot of the Southwestern Australia Floristic Province, this study aimed to understand: (i) the extent to which a benefits-oriented approach is used by local governments to optimise biodiversity and human wellbeing urban forest outcomes, and (ii) what other factors influence the decision-making process shaping urban forest composition. Using a social-ecological framework, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 29 local government practitioners. We found that biodiversity conservation is actively considered in the planning and management of urban forest in natural areas and parks, but rarely in streetscapes. Maximising shade and cooling, and to a lesser extent enhancing sense of place, were the key benefits actively sought in streetscapes. Parks appeared to straddle the middle ground as areas with most flexibility to accommodate multiple biodiversity and human wellbeing benefits. Yet, benefits were only some of a multitude of social-ecological factors influencing the decision-making process shaping urban forest composition. In particular, streetscapes were affected by a large number of social and political factors (e.g., perceived risk and nuisance, ad-hoc decisions by elected members), many of them leading to suboptimal urban forest outcomes. For a benefits-oriented approach to prevail in complex and contested urban spaces it is important that the decision-making process is evidence-informed and capable of handling the challenges and conflicts that are likely to arise. Reactive decision-making results in a conservative, “safe” species palette that over time defines streetscapes by what they do not do (creating disservices) rather than what they do (delivering multiple biodiversity and wellbeing benefits), which ultimately is not a desired outcome in the context of an increasingly urbanized world.     

Adolescents’ perceptions of park characteristics that discourage park visitation

Parks are key amenities of liveable cities that support physical activity and social interaction. However, parks are often not well attended by adolescents, and little is known about what park characteristics may discourage adolescents from visiting parks. The aim of this study was to explore what park characteristics adolescents perceive as most likely to discourage park visitation. Adolescents (n = 444, 13–18 years, 53% female) from seven schools in diverse areas of Melbourne, Australia completed an online survey at school. In response to an open-ended question, participants listed three park characteristics that would most likely discourage their park visitation. Content analysis was performed to determine categories of park characteristics from the coded responses. The six most frequently stated park characteristics that would discourage park visitation related to: play equipment (e.g., small/children’s playgrounds, no play equipment, no swings; 44% of participants mentioned the category at least once); social factors (e.g., crowded parks, presence of undesirable people; 32%); natural environment (e.g., small/no grassy space, large grassy open space; 28%); maintenance (e.g., dirty facilities, rubbish; 23%); sport/recreation features (e.g., skate park; 20%); and amenities (e.g., no shade, toilets, drink taps; 19%). To encourage more adolescents to increasingly visit parks, it is imperative for stakeholders to address the park features that they perceive as unappealing to ensure that park design caters to this important age group.     

Animals in urban green spaces in relation to mental restorative quality

Despite the important roles that animals play in ecosystems, their functions in urban green spaces are often overlooked. To fill this gap, this study explored the effects of four animal species on the mental restorative quality of urban green spaces by comparing observers’ response to pictures with and without animals. The results indicated that swans, deer, and pigeons which were unthreatening to humans could significantly improve mental restoration of observers, and comparatively, swans had the strongest effect. Conversely, unleashed dogs were a potential threat to humans, and decreased the mental restorative quality of urban green spaces. The mechanism of animals’ effects on mental restoration and the differential effects of four animal species were discussed. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study addressing the mental health impacts of animals in landscapes, and the results suggest that “animal-inclusive landscape design” has a positive impact on urban green spaces.     

Urban parks,value uplift and green gentrification: An application of the spatial hedonic model in the city of Brisbane

This paper explores the impact of urban parks on real estate prices making use of a hedonic price approach. Focusing on Brisbane, Australia, as a case study site, we use spatial hedonic models to analyse housing sales data across 15,000 sales transactions to investigate the effects of parks on nearby housing prices, paying attention to park typology and classification. Our findings indicate that recreational and sport parks are differently associated with price variations. The study also examines a specific and significant inner-city park currently undergoing a major redevelopment—namely Victoria Park. Our analysis of the Victoria Park site seeks to quantify the value uplift, that is, the future increase in property prices as a result of the transformation of the current private golf course in this location into a new publicly accessible parkland. This study’s property economics modelling analysis indicates the conversion of Victoria Park from a golf course to public parkland will increase property prices by an average of 3 % for properties located within 750 m of the park. The article concludes with a discussion of value capture opportunities that these findings present as well as challenges of green gentrification for this and similar urban renewal projects and possible policy responses.     

Park availability,accessibility, and attractiveness in relation to the least and most vulnerable inhabitants

With this paper, we enrich the environmental justice debate by investigating differences in the provision of parks in Lodz, Poland, at three levels: availability, accessibility, and attractiveness. A park is ‘available’ when it exists within a suitable distance from where we live; it is ‘accessible’ when we feel that we are welcome there, and we can freely reach and safely use this park; it is ‘attractive’ when we willingly want to use it and spend time there. Our research hypothesis is that the most vulnerable groups of inhabitants concentrate around parks whose provision is affected by the largest number of barriers at each of the three levels, while the least vulnerable benefit from the vicinity of parks that are the least affected. Apart from the statistical analysis – the correlation between the indicators that represent the three levels of park provision and those that represent the most and least economically vulnerable using Pearson’s coefficient – we scrutinize three case study parks. The results confirm that there are inequalities at the level of attractiveness for the most vulnerable groups; meanwhile, no statistically significant results were recorded for the least vulnerable groups. The differences would probably be more explicit had socioeconomic segregation been higher in Lodz. The results may also be influenced by the unique postsocialist and postindustrial legacy of our city. The ongoing revitalization of the city center and the increased activity of developers may exclude the most vulnerable inhabitants and deepen segregation.