scholarly journals Using Citizen Science to Help Monitor Urban Landscape Changes and Drive Improvements

GI_Forum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 336-343
Author(s):  
Karin Wannemacher ◽  
Barbara Birli ◽  
Tobias Sturn ◽  
Richard Stiles ◽  
Inian Moorthy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Landscape Changes

scholarly journals Evaluating human–coyote encounters in an urban landscape using citizen science

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Drake ◽  
Shelli Dubay ◽  
Maximilian L Allen
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Human Observer ◽  
Public Outreach ◽  
The Public ◽  
Paved Road ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Human Wildlife Conflict

Abstract Coyotes are ubiquitous in habitats across North America, including in urban areas. Reviews of human–coyote encounters are limited in scope and analysis and predominantly document encounters that tend to be negative, such as human–wildlife conflict, rather than benign experiences. The objective of our study was to use citizen science reports of human–coyote interactions entered into iNaturalist to better understand the range of first person accounts of human–coyote encounters in Madison, WI. We report 398 citizen science accounts of human–coyote encounters in the Madison area between October 2015 and March 2018. Most human–coyote encounters occurred during coyote breeding season and half of all encounters occurred in moderate development land cover. Estimated level of coyote aggressiveness varied significantly, with 90% of citizen scientists scoring estimated coyote aggression as a 0 and 7% scoring estimated aggression as a 1 on a 0–5 scale (with 0 being calm and 5 being aggressive). Our best performing model explaining the estimated distance between the human observer and a coyote (our proxy for a human–coyote encounter) included the variables distance to nearest paved road, biological season of the year relative to coyote life history, and time of day/night. We demonstrate that human–coyote interactions are regularly more benign than negative, with almost all first-hand reported human–coyote encounters being benign. We encourage public outreach focusing on practices that can foster benign encounters when educating the public to facilitate human–coyote coexistence.

The not-yet-tropical: mapping recombinant ecologies in a Sydney suburb

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-352
Author(s):  
Ilaria Vanni ◽  
Alexandra Crosby
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Humid Climate ◽  
Urban Green Spaces ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
Science Projects ◽  
Different Order ◽  
Green Corridors

Mapping and fitness apps, government agencies and departments, and citizen science projects provide a wealth of data on urban green spaces, charting parks, reserves, and green corridors in and around Sydney. These maps represent vegetation as surface and, as Doreen Massey in the 2005 book For Space noted about other types of Western maps, detach the observer from the object of their gaze. The authors argue that, in order to make recombinant ecologies present, as well as visible, we need a different order of maps, able to place the observer back in the thick of things, and to capture the entanglements between humans and more-than-human gatherings. This, they maintain, requires a shift to mapping as an embodied methodology that brings together walking, visual documentation and drawing. To do this, they present three walking maps of plants imagined as ‘tropical’ growing in Marrickville, a suburb in Gadigal-Wangal Country in Sydney’s inner west, an area located in the ‘sub-tropical humid’ climate zone map. Through the generation of three plant-led walking maps, they reveal recombinant Marrickville ecologies. They show how plants redesign the urban landscape and engender everyday practices in the gardens, verges, and non-cultivated parcels of land and, in doing so, contribute to sensing the suburb as tropical.

scholarly journals Flood dynamics: A geoecological approach using historical cartography and giscience in the city of petrópolis (Βrazil)

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-92
Author(s):  
Manoel do C. FERNANDES ◽  
◽  
David HEESOM ◽  
Michael A. FULLEN ◽  
Fernando S. ANTUNES
Keyword(s):  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Drainage Network ◽  
Landscape Changes ◽  
Flood Events ◽  
Landscape Processes ◽  
Historical District ◽  
Historical Cartography ◽  
And Function ◽  
Flood Dynamics ◽  
The City

Dynamics, structure and function are geoecological characteristics that define landscapes. These characteristics help explain landscape processes, such as floods. This article analyses geoecological variables to understand flood dynamics in the original historical district of Petrópolis City (Brazil). Concepts and techniques of historical cartography and GIScience were used to analyse geoecological variables in three river basins (Quitandinha, Palatino and Piabanha) within the study area. Each basin had a river island which was excavated and removed. The Quitandinha River Basin had the largest river island (965 m2), the highest Edification Index (44.12%) and the most favourable geomorphological indices for the occurrence of floods. Hence, the basin recorded 93% of flood events within the three basins. Multiple geoecological variables influence flood dynamics. In this urban landscape, changes in the drainage network, intensified by disorderly urbanization and geomorphological processes, are extremely important in understanding flooding processes.

From rural to urban: landscape changes in north-west Italy over two centuries

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-76
Author(s):  
Marco Isaia ◽  
Consolata Siniscalco ◽  
Guido Badino
Keyword(s):  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Landscape Changes ◽  
North West

scholarly journals Creating the Urban Farmer’s Almanac with Citizen Science Data

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 294
Author(s):  
Kathleen L. Prudic ◽  
J. Keaton Wilson ◽  
Michelle C. Toshack ◽  
Katharine L. Gerst ◽  
Alyssa Rosemartin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Management Decision ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Science Data ◽  
Insect Management ◽  
Insect Biodiversity ◽  
Management Decision Making

Agriculture has long been a part of the urban landscape, from gardens to small scale farms. In recent decades, interest in producing food in cities has grown dramatically, with an estimated 30% of the global urban population engaged in some form of food production. Identifying and managing the insect biodiversity found on city farms is a complex task often requiring years of study and specialization, especially in urban landscapes which have a complicated tapestry of fragmentation, diversity, pollution, and introduced species. Supporting urban growers with relevant data informs insect management decision-making for both growers and their neighbors, yet this information can be difficult to come by. In this study, we introduced several web-based citizen science programs that can connect growers with useful data products and people to help with the who, what, where, and when of urban insects. Combining the power of citizen science volunteers with the efforts of urban farmers can result in a clearer picture of the diversity and ecosystem services in play, limited insecticide use, and enhanced non-chemical alternatives. Connecting urban farming practices with citizen science programs also demonstrates the ecosystem value of urban agriculture and engages more citizens with the topics of food production, security, and justice in their communities.

scholarly journals Spatial Forecasting of the Landscape in Rapidly Urbanizing Hill Stations of South Asia: A Case Study of Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka (1996–2037)

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 1743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manjula Ranagalage ◽  
Ruci Wang ◽  
M. H. J. P. Gunarathna ◽  
D. M. S. L. B. Dissanayake ◽  
Yuji Murayama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Landscape Changes ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Lulc Changes ◽  
Urban Rural

Forecasting landscape changes is vital for developing and implementing sustainable urban planning. Presently, apart from lowland coastal cities, mountain cities (i.e., hill stations) are also facing the negative impacts of rapid urbanization due to their economic and social importance. However, few studies are addressing urban landscape changes in hill stations in Asia. This study aims to examine and forecast landscape changes in the rapidly urbanizing hill station of Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka. Landsat data and geospatial techniques including support vector machines, urban–rural gradient, and statistical analysis were used to map and examine the land use/land cover (LULC) change in Nuwara Eliya during the 1996–2006 and 2006–2017 periods. The multilayer perceptron neural network-Markov model was applied to simulate future LULC changes for 2027 and 2037. The results show that Nuwara Eliya has been directly affected by rapid urban development. During the past 21 years (1996–2017), built-up areas increased by 1791 ha while agricultural land declined by 1919 ha due to augmented urban development pressure. The pressure of urban development on forest land has been relatively low, mainly due to strict conservation government policies. The results further show that the observed landscape changes will continue in a similar pattern in the future, confirming a significant increase and decrease of built-up and agricultural land, respectively, from 2017 to 2037. The changes in agricultural land exhibit a strong negative relationship with the changes in built-up land along the urban–rural gradient (R2 were 0.86 in 1996–2006, and 0.93 in 2006–2017, respectively). The observed LULC changes could negatively affect the production of unique upcountry agricultural products such as exotic vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, and world-famous Ceylon tea. Further, unplanned development could cause several environmental issues. The study is important for understanding future LULC changes and suggesting necessary remedial measures to minimize possible undesirable environmental and socioeconomic impacts.

scholarly journals The Power of Citizen Science to Quantify Ecological Risks in Cities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Breanna J. Putman ◽  
Riley Williams ◽  
Enjie Li ◽  
Gregory B. Pauly
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Impervious Surface ◽  
Habitat Modification ◽  
Widespread Species ◽  
Parasitism Rates ◽  
Impervious Surface Cover

AbstractUrbanization is an extreme form of habitat modification that can alter ecological relationships among organisms, but these can be hard to study because much of the urban landscape is inaccessible private property. We show that citizen science can be a powerful tool to overcome this challenge. We used photo-vouchered observations submitted to the citizen science platform iNaturalist to assess predation and parasitism across urbanization gradients in a secretive yet widespread species, the Southern Alligator Lizard (Elgaria multicarinata), in Southern California, USA. From photographs, we quantified predation risk by assessing tail injuries and quantified parasitism rates by counting tick loads on lizards. We estimated urbanization intensity by determining percent impervious surface around each lizard observation. We found that tail injuries increased with age of the lizard and with urbanization, suggesting that urban areas are riskier habitats, likely because of elevated populations of predators such as outdoor cats. Conversely, parasitism decreased with urbanization likely due to a loss of mammalian hosts and anti-tick medications used on companion animals. Moreover, our citizen science approach allowed us to generate a large dataset on a secretive species extremely rapidly and at an immense spatial scale that facilitated quantitative measures of urbanization (e.g. percent impervious surface cover) as opposed to qualitative measures (e.g. urban vs rural). This study demonstrates that citizen science is allowing researchers to answer ecological questions that otherwise would go unanswered.

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