Animal reintroductions in peopled landscapes: moving towards urban-based species restorations in New Zealand

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolanda van Heezik ◽  
Philip J. Seddon
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Habitat Quality ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Adults And Children

Urban areas are highly modified landscapes that can support significant biodiversity, including threatened species, although native species are usually present at low densities and several native species will be absent. The most powerful tool for increasing urban biodiversity is supporting existing biodiversity through appropriately designed and managed public and private greenspaces, and improving habitat quality. However, if a more proactive strategy is required to overcome recolonisation barriers, then reintroduction is another powerful tool to enhance biodiversity across urban landscapes. The health of cities, in terms of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the quality of the nature experiences accessed by adults and children largely depends on how much human communities value and know about nature. While community-driven habitat restorations can improve biodiversity and increase human–nature connection, reintroduction of appropriate species could fill ecological gaps that would otherwise remain empty, and further enrich biodiversity in residents’ nearby neighbourhoods. New Zealand is currently a hotspot of reintroduction activity, but these take place in relatively unmodified terrestrial sites, such as national parks, restored offshore islands, and fenced eco-sanctuaries. We review global examples of animal reintroductions taking place within areas modified by human activity, and, using information elicited from 18 experts, consider potential reintroduction candidates, and consider the benefits, opportunities, challenges, and requirements for the reintroduction of native species into New Zealand’s urban areas.

Urban Transport

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
José van
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Transport ◽  
Transport Sector ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Transport Services ◽  
Ride Sharing ◽  
The World ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Selection Mechanisms

Platformization affects the entire urban transport sector, effectively blurring the division between private and public transport modalities; existing public–private arrangements have started to shift as a result. This chapter analyzes and discusses the emergence of a platform ecology for urban transport, focusing on two central public values: the quality of urban transport and the organization of labor and workers’ rights. Using the prism of platform mechanisms, it analyzes how the sector of urban transport is changing societal organization in various urban areas across the world. Datafication has allowed numerous new actors to offer their bike-, car-, or ride-sharing services online; selection mechanisms help match old and new complementors with passengers. Similarly, new connective platforms are emerging, most prominently transport network companies such as Uber and Lyft that offer public and private transport options, as well as new platforms offering integrated transport services, often referred to as “mobility as a service.”

Assessing Urban Ecosystem Services

2018 ◽  
pp. 183-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marise Barreiros Horta ◽  
Maria Inês Cabral ◽  
Iva Pires ◽  
Laura Salles Bachi ◽  
Ana Luz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Landscape Planning ◽  
Urban Ecosystem ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
Belo Horizonte ◽  
Economic Perspectives

By integrating social, ecological, and economic perspectives, the assessment of ecosystem services (ES) provides valuable information for better targeting landscape planning and governance. This chapter summarizes different participatory approaches for assessing ES in urban areas of three countries. In Belo Horizonte (Brazil), a conceptual framework for the vacant lots ES assessment is presented as an attempt to integrate landscape, social, and political dimensions. In Leipzig (Germany), a combination of site surveys, interviews, and remote sensing provides a valuable data set that fostered a comparative study between two forms of urban gardening. In Lisbon (Portugal), the study is based on interviews that offer a social insight into the horticultural parks situation, which in turn demands a better dialogue with the municipality. In general, the studies demonstrate the potential benefits of utilizing the ES assessment approaches on urban landscapes, especially for better understanding the interactions between people and nature in urban sites.

Distributed Data Management of Daily Car Pooling Problems

2011 ◽  
pp. 408-412
Author(s):  
Roberto Wolfler Calvo ◽  
Fabio de Luigi ◽  
Palle Haastrup ◽  
Vittorio Maniezzo
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
Transfer Velocity ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Transportation Demand ◽  
Freight Transportation Demand ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Public Transportation Systems

The increased human mobility, combined with high use of private cars, increases the load on the environment and raises issues about the quality of life. The use of private cars lends to high levels of air pollution in cities, parking problems, noise pollution, congestion, and the resulting low transfer velocity (and, thus, inefficiency in the use of public resources). Public transportation service is often incapable of effectively servicing non-urban areas, where cost-effective transportation systems cannot be set up. Based on investigations during the last years, problems related to traffic have been among those most commonly mentioned as distressing, while public transportation systems inherently are incapable of facing the different transportation needs arising in modern societies. A solution to the problem of the increased passenger and freight transportation demand could be obtained by increasing both the efficiency and the quality of public transportation systems, and by the development of systems that could provide alternative solutions in terms of flexibility and costs between the public and private ones. This is the rationale behind so-called Innovative Transport Systems (ITS) (Colorni et al., 1999), like car pooling, car sharing, dial-a-ride, park-and-ride, card car, park pricing, and road pricing, which are characterized by the exploitation of innovative organizational elements and by a large flexibility in their management (e.g., traffic restrictions and fares can vary according with the time of day).

scholarly journals Characteristics of fast-food/takeaway-food and restaurant/café-food consumers among New Zealand adults

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 2368-2377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Smith ◽  
Andrew Robert Gray ◽  
Elizabeth Ann Fleming ◽  
Winsome Ruth Parnell
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Alcoholic Beverages ◽  
Nutrition Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Fast Food Consumption

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate: (i) the percentage of the New Zealand (NZ) population reporting fast food/takeaway food and restaurant/café food per day; (ii) examine demographic factors associated with their use; (iii) quantify their contribution to energy intake; and (iv) describe the specific types of foods reported from both sources.DesignTwenty-four hour diet recalls from the cross-sectional 2008/09 NZ Adult Nutrition Survey were used to identify fast-food and restaurant-food consumers.SettingNZ households.SubjectsAdults aged 15 years and older (n 4721).ResultsOverall 28 % reported consuming at least one fast food and 14 % a restaurant food within the 24 h diet recall. Fast-food consumption was not associated with level of education or an area-based measure of socio-economic status, but a higher education was positively associated with restaurant-food consumption. Individual factors such as ethnicity, household size, age, sex and marital status were found to be important influences on the use of fast food and restaurant food. Fast-food consumption was more prevalent among participants living in urban areas, young adults (19–30 years) and Māori compared with NZ European and Others. The most frequently reported fast foods were bread-based dishes, potatoes (including fries) and non-alcoholic beverages.ConclusionsGiven the high reported consumption of fast food by young adults, health promotion initiatives both to improve the nutritional quality of fast-food menus and to encourage healthier food choices would likely make a large impact on the overall diet quality of this group.

scholarly journals EVALUATING THE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE (E-QOL) FOR STUDENTS IN THE URBAN AREAS

2007 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 517-526
Author(s):  
Emma ABASOLO ◽  
Takanori MATSUI ◽  
Osamu SAITO ◽  
Tohru MORIOKA
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Related Quality

scholarly journals Lifestyle Properties, Ecosystem Services, and Biodiversity Protection in Peri-Urban Aotearoa–New Zealand: A Case Study from Peri-Urban Palmerston North

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1345
Author(s):  
Diane Pearson
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Urban Fringe ◽  
Collaborative Action ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand

Intensive agriculture and urbanization are putting pressure on natural capital in Aotearoa–New Zealand (NZ), with native ecosystems and water quality suffering degradation. As the population has increased, so development has pushed into the rural–urban fringe. Over the last 30 years, the number of lifestyle properties in NZ has increased dramatically. Many of these properties have been developed on some of NZ’s most productive soils, meaning a loss of provisioning services from this land. However, given their location, these developments present new opportunities for the enhancement and protection of other ecosystem services. This paper presents the findings of an exploratory study conducted on lifestyle block residents in peri-urban Palmerston North. The results showed that these residents have a good sense of environmental stewardship and a desire to plant native species, improve connectivity, and protect their land from the invasion of pests and weeds. These residents are also quite community-focused and protective of their special place. This creates an excellent basis from which to encourage greater collaborative action towards protecting and enhancing biodiversity and to put in place land management strategies that can enhance natural capital and assist in other ecosystem service protection serving to improve the landscape ecology of peri-urban environments.

scholarly journals Evaluation of the Cost of Ecosystem Services of Urban Landscapes (by the Example of Moscow)

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (12) ◽  
pp. 1975-1986
Author(s):  
O. V. Semenyuk ◽  
G. V. Stoma ◽  
K. S. Bodrov
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Chemical Elements ◽  
Genetic Material ◽  
Economic Assessment ◽  
Cost Calculation ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Ecological State ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Cost

Abstract— The cost of park-recreational, residential, and residential-transport urban landscapes of Moscow has been estimated taking into account land use and the relationships between ecosystem services and ecological functions and properties of individual landscape components. On the basis of the methodology previously proposed by the authors, a wide range of ecosystem services of urban landscapes, mainly associated with soils and their ecological state, has been assessed. The cost of ecosystem services provided by the soil in urban landscapes is 20–30 times higher in comparison with that of green spaces, and some soil services can be considered invaluable because of the difficulty of renewing this natural resource. The cost of ecosystem services of undisturbed soils of park and recreational landscapes is 1.5–2 times higher than that of anthropogenically transformed soils of residential and residential-transport urban territories. The main contribution to the overall cost of ecosystem services of soils in urban landscapes is due to the following services: carbon sequestration, preservation of the genetic material of biota, and filtration and accumulation of chemical elements in the ecosystem. These services can be considered as promising in the monetization of ecosystem services in urban landscapes. The decline in the cost of ecosystem services from park and recreational landscapes to residential and residential-transport landscapes is largely determined by the deterioration of the ecological state of soils. The benefits provided by the natural block of landscapes are comparable to or greater than those of the cultural (human-created) block. In relation to the all-Russia assessment of ecosystem services, a specific feature of urban areas is a significant share (on average, 25%) of the cultural block in the total cost of ecosystem services and a decrease in the cost of regulatory services by about 30%. The results of the economic assessment of ecosystem services of urban landscapes indicate an underestimation of the value of natural components, a significant contribution of soil to the natural block, the need to search for simplified integral indicators of its state, and the presence of cost calculation problems. The methodological approaches and provisional results of this study can be used in urban planning with the aim to preserve the soil cover of urban landscapes and optimize their functioning.

Dietary breadth as a predictor of potential native avian–human conflict in urban landscapes

2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerry E. Charles ◽  
Wayne L. Linklater
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Theoretic Approach ◽  
Landscape Characteristics ◽  
Dietary Breadth ◽  
Human Conflict

Context Avian–human conflict is a growing issue in urban areas, yet studies of conflict tend to be species and situation specific and focus on landscape characteristics that generate or exacerbate the problem. Aims To determine characteristics of bird species that cause conflict in urban areas within their native range and to develop a model that can be used to assess the relative likelihood of a New Zealand species causing conflict in the future. Methods Ecological, behavioural and life-history characteristics of 33 conflict-causing species identified from the literature and 106 randomly selected non-conflict congeners were compared using an information-theoretic approach to multi-model selection and inference. Variables from the confidence set of models were used to develop a model that was applied to the New Zealand urban avifauna to provide a relative measure of a species’ potential to generate conflict. Key results A model including only dietary breadth best explained the conflict (ωi = 0.833). Using dietary breadth, flocking, clutch size, granivory, territoriality and non-ground nesting – the confidence model set – New Zealand’s native pukeko (Porphyrio porphyria), red-billed gull, (Larus scopulinus), and kākā (Nestor meridionalis) were identified as the three species most likely to generate conflict with urban residents. Conclusions Broad dietary requirements may allow a species to take advantage of novel and varied food sources in the urban environment and lead to population growth. Large populations at high density may amplify problems, exceeding residents’ tolerance levels and resulting in conflict. Species characteristics relating to nesting, sociality and body size were found to be uninformative. Implications Species with a broad diet, particularly those identified by this study as having a high potential for conflict, should be the focus of monitoring to identify population growth and the emergence of problems in urban areas. This will allow proactive implementation of management, improving the likelihood of conflict mitigation.

scholarly journals Landscape Architecture and the Quality of Life : The Story of Relativity within the Transitional Settlements

10.36249/52.1 ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 2-13
Author(s):  
Andreja Tutundžić
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Landscape Architecture ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Living Standard

The quality of life and human well-being is often perceived differently, dependable on individuals and groups, as well as within contrasting socio-political circumstances, varying from the many concepts such as respecting the living standard based primarily on income to the benefits that society receives from ecosystems. From the early beginnings as a professional discipline, landscape architecture has been respecting the quality of life and human well-being to a great extent, as a subject of professional interest and accordingly, through approaches used to address it. While those goals are mostly the same, the engagement in the scope and complexity of the discipline is significantly increasing over the years, but still targeting the traditional paradigm - to contribute to the improvement of the living conditions and quality of life. However, the majority of the projects are predominantly dealing with urban areas and the life of the urban population related to the upper- and middle-class social groups. Contrary to the above considerations, there is a layer of social groups of those who are forced to leave their homes in the times of crises, either caused by natural disasters, but even more of those seeking sanctuary due to the political turbulences and wars. The consequences of those tragic events can be found within different communities, including refugee camps or transitional settlements. Those places bring poor living conditions, lack of space, and numerous environmental problems, where even just the provisioning and supporting categories of ecosystem services are dependable on the input of external factors while regulating and cultural categories seems to be almost out of question. This paper describes the results of the “e-scape. Transitional settlement” Project, organized by the Department of Landscape Design and Ecosystem Management at American University in Beirut, in collaboration with the International Federation of Landscape Architecture. The goal of the project was to contribute to the improvement of the living conditions in the transitional settlements including the provision of even elementary ecosystem services in, at least, a bit greater extent. The additional intention was to broaden a methodology and guidelines of landscape architectural interventions within settlements resulting from conflict and natural disasters.

scholarly journals Green areas in an urban area and provision of ecosystem services: a bibliometric and integrative review

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (Supl. 2) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Maycon Jorge Ulisses Saraiva Farinha ◽  
André Geraldo Berezuk ◽  
Luciana Virginia Mario Bernardo
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Urban Planning ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
Man And Nature ◽  
Bibliometric Review ◽  
Process Of Urbanization

The process of urbanization is accomplished by changes in land use, that is, by the interaction between man and nature, so that there is a common loss of green areas in cities. However, the need and importance of green areas inside urban areas has been emphasized in order to provide quality to the provision of ecosystem services. Such services favor the quality of life and human well-being of people living in urban areas. Thus, nature-based solution practices have been encouraged as a form of innovation for urban planning and to overcome problems in cities. An integrative and bibliometric review on urban green areas and ecosystem service provision was proposed from 2009 to 2019. Among the results, there is a growing interest in the topic. There is recognition of the importance of green areas for population needs regarding human physical and mental health. In addition, the need for public actions in favor of urban planning involving the issue is recognized in order to provide equal access to existing areas and/or in areas that will be created.

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