Sacred sites as habitats of culturally important plant species in an Indian megacity

Cultural ecosystem services related to urban green spaces contribute significantly to liveable cities. While previous studies highlight the intersection of cultural ecosystem services with societal values, spiritual or religious values associated with urban nature have received less attention. In India, as in other parts of the world, sacred sites are known for their biological richness, but analyses from urban sacred sites are largely missing. Based on a stratified random sampling approach, we analysed the cultivated and wild plant species assemblages of 69 sacred sites in the megacity of Bengaluru, India, in relation to biological and cultural features, and parameters related to the urban matrix and type of sacred sites (temple vs. katte). Unlike other urban studies, we found a dominance of native species in the cultivated and spontaneous species pools (121 species in total), with Ficus religiosa and Azadirachta indica as most frequently planted species. Culturally relevant species prevailed in the species pool (89%), with overlaps between religious (36%), medicinal (50%) and ornamental (62%) plants; only 11% of species were weeds. Urban matrix parameters (age of development, housing density) and size and type of sacred sites were related to differences in species assemblages. We identified key species for different classes of age and housing density, and for types of sacred sites. Our study demonstrates that urban sacred sites have an important potential in harbouring both native and culturally significant species that can support urban livelihoods in developing countries by a range of cultural and provisioning ecosystem services, including medicinal uses. As such sites are conserved by communities for spiritual or cultural beliefs, local biodiversity can be enhanced, e.g. by adapting management practices through community participation. This would strengthen the important contribution of sacred sites within the green infrastructure of rapidly growing megacities.     

The economic benefits and costs of trees in urban forest stewardship: A systematic review

Understanding the benefits provided by urban trees is important to justify investment and improve stewardship. Many studies have attempted to quantify the benefits of trees in monetary terms, though fewer have quantified the associated costs of planting and maintaining them. This systematic review examines the methods used to jointly analyse the costs and benefits of trees in the urban landscape, assesses the relative balance of benefits and costs, and attempts to understand the wide variation in economic values assigned in different studies. The benefits most frequently studied are those related to environmental regulation and property values, and the available data show that these usually outweigh the costs. Aesthetic, amenity, and shading benefits have also been shown to provide significant economic benefits, while benefits in terms of water regulation, carbon reduction and air quality are usually more modest. Variation in benefits and costs among studies is attributed largely to differences in the species composition and age structure of urban tree populations, though methodological differences also play a role. Comparison between studies is made difficult owing to differences in spatiotemporal scope, and in the way urban forest composition and demographic structure were reported. The overwhelming majority of studies concern deciduous trees in Northern America, and much less is known about urban forests in other regions, especially in the tropics. Future work should thus seek to fill these knowledge gaps, and standardise research protocols across cities. In light of ambitious goals in many cities to increase tree cover, ongoing advances in valuation methods need to provide a more comprehensive accounting of benefits and costs, and to better integrate economic assessment into the decision-making process.     

Tracing regime influence on urban community gardening: How resource dependence causes barriers to garden longer term sustainability

This article explores how resource dependence leads to barriers to urban community gardening. Nine barriers to urban gardening were identified: finance, space, organizational structure, water, external damage, soil, communication, interpersonal issues, and participation issues. Using process tracing and grounded theory, we found that these barriers could be divided into three groups: primary, secondary, and participation barriers. Primary barriers are caused and directly influenced by the regime, whereas secondary barriers are the result of decisions and actions taken while addressing the primary barriers. All of these barriers cause frustration and affects the ability of the gardens to retain and acquire new members. This affects the longer term sustainability of the gardens and their potential to contribute to an urban governance transition.     

基于遥感指数的草原火后植被恢复研究

草原火是草原生态系统重要的干扰因子，严重影响着系统的结构与功能。基于遥感数据，以2015年“4·16”特大草原火灾为例，利用ENVI和ArcGIS等软件，分别对NDVI和GPP指数及火烧严重度下的植被恢复过程进行定量分析。结果表明，基于NDVI和GPP指数的火后植被恢复过程表现相似，不同年份植被恢复情况存在一定差异。火灾发生当年（2015年）火烧迹地植被恢复状况高于未发生火灾区域，而在火后第1年（2016年）却又稍低于未发生火灾区域，直到火后第2年（2017年），火烧迹地植被基本恢复到火前状态。同时，不同火烧严重度下的植被恢复过程在存在明显差异。草原火灾发生后当年（2015年），中强度火烧下植被恢复最好，其次是轻度，重度表现最差。草原火烧严重度对植被恢复的影响，主要表现在火后第1个植被生长季。在之后的年份里，由于草原更新能力强大，不同火烧严重度对草原植被的影响不明显。本研究可丰富草原火灾及火烧迹地植被恢复等相关研究成果，同时为草原火灾管理和草原生态系统的可持续发展提供科学依据。     

Can trail spatial attributes predict trail use level in urban forest park? An examination integrating GPS data and space syntax theory

Understanding users’ spatial distribution in forest park is crucial for providing visitors with quality recreation experiences and for park planning and management. Utilizing users’ spatial distribution data, this study aims at investigating associations between trail use level and trail spatial attributes, through examining two large urban forest parks (Gongqing forest park and Paotaiwan forest park) in Shanghai, China. Users’ spatial distribution was measured utilizing GPS trackers with the interval of 10 seconds. This study conceptualizes trail spatial attributes as trail metric attributes and trail configurational attributes. Trail metric attributes include trail mean distance to gates, length, width and level of enclosure, which are calculated based on park map and on-site observation. We computed trail configurational attributes utilizing space syntax theory, which comprise measures of global integration, control, and connectivity. Trail connection with features/facilities, visual connection with water and shading are included as covariate variables. In total, we obtained 134 valid samples in Gongqing forest park and 210 valid samples in Paotaiwan forest park for analysis. Multivariate regression analyses indicate that when involving covariate variables, consistently in both parks, a greater trail usage is significantly related to trail shorter mean distance to park gate, trail width wider than 3 meters, higher global integration and higher control values. Collectively, these four trail spatial attributes explained 31.7 % (p < 0.001) and 27.3 % (p < 0.001) of the variances in trail use level in Gongqing forest park and Paotaiwan forest park. These findings provide direct implications to park designers and managers for providing visitors with different desirable social conditions, and ultimately improve users’ experiences and satisfactions.     

长安区城市森林建设思路探讨

本文探讨了如何在西安市近郊长安区发展城市森林,以适应西安现代国际化大都市建设发展的需要。     

高原鼠兔对草地植被的危害及防治阈值研究

对高原鼠兔在不同时期的危害特征进行了研究，针对该鼠在补偿危害期和非补偿危害期的危害量提出了一种估算方法，得出其群体全年平均危害量β（干重）为4．94kg／只。同时根据春季灭鼠率（k）、秋季种群数量变化的预测值（λ）以及群体平均危害量（β）等参数估算可挽回损失值y。当可挽回损失值与成本参数（c）相等时，春季防治的经济阈值（x）为19．09只／hm^2或63．6个洞口／hm^2。     

新建县沙生植被的保护与开发利用

以农业生产为支柱产业的新建县地处鄱阳湖流域，区域内沙生植被较脆弱。随着经济与人口的快速增长及农、林、旅游业的大发展，如何保护县域内沙生植被、更好的开发和利用这种资源十分重要。在分析新建县沙生植被现状及影响其生长的主要因素的基础上，就该地区内沙生植被的保护和开发利用提出建议。     

高等级公路植被护坡工程技术发展初探

依据恢复生态学原理,在探讨植被护坡技术现状的基础上,对高等级公路植被护坡工程技术中的生物治理和工程治理进行分析,提出了植被护坡工程设计原则、技术发展趋势和建议.     

宁陕县城区生态环境治理工程初探

介绍并分析宁陕县城区及周边地区“8．29”惨遭洪水、泥石流袭击,生态环境遭到严重破坏的情况,提出了城区生态环境方面存在的问题,同时在规划设计方案中运用生态治理技术,以工程造林的方法,探求城区生态环境建设的新模式。