Linden trees are favourable host plants for phytoseiid generalists in urban environment

The role of urban forestry has become increasingly important in the context of sustainability, both from an environmental context, and from a developmental context. Greenery in an urban environment has demonstrable implications for health, air quality, aesthetics, and land value, as described broadly across the literature. Until recently, studies on green urban canopies and housing prices have been limited in their methodology by using aerial-perspective data. The MIT Senseable City Lab in 2015 developed the Treepedia project, which uses Google Street View images to quantify greenery levels in urban environments. Using the green view index (GVI) data from the Treepedia project, street-level greenery densities were compared against housing prices across Toronto. Models for different property types, accounting for characteristic, locational, and demographic variables, were estimated. It was determined that a statistically significant relationship between street-level greenery and housing prices exists in Toronto for detached homes, semi-detached homes, row/townhouse units, condo apartments, and condo townhouses.

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When Urban Environment Is Restorative: The Effect of Walking in Suburbs and Forests on Psychological and Physiological Relaxation of Young Polish Adults

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11050591 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 591 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Emilia Janeczko ◽

Ernest Bielinis ◽

Roman Wójcik ◽

Małgorzata Woźnicka ◽

Wojciech Kędziora ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Environment ◽

Urban Space ◽

Negative Symptoms ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Psychological State ◽

Forest Environment ◽

Forest Bathing ◽

Urban Greenery ◽

Positive Feelings ◽

The Impact

Background and Objectives: Physical activity, recreation and walks successfully counteract negative symptoms of stress in people, especially in large cities, and have many positive psychological and physiological effects. There are many studies showing that contact with nature plays an important role in the regeneration of the human body. The city is not without green enclaves such as forests, parks or greenery along the streets. However, it is not entirely clear how the different physical characteristics of the urban space affect mood improvement, increase of positive feelings, vitality level, etc. Materials and Methods: In the study, two urban environments (apartment and green suburbs) were used, as well as two forests (coniferous and deciduous) to measure the impact of these environments on human physiological and psychological relaxation during a walk in a randomized experiment. The participants of the experiment were 75 young adult Poles studying in the largest Polish agglomeration, Warsaw. Before each experiment, the physiological and psychological state of the participant was measured indoors (pre-test). Four psychological questionnaires were used in the project (Profile of Mood States; Positive and Negative Affect Schedule; Restorative Outcome Scale; Subjective Vitality Scale), and physiological measurements (heart rate, blood pressure) before and after the short walking program were evaluated. Results: As a result of the analyses, it was shown that both staying in an urban environment with greenery and staying in a forest environment have a positive effect on the physiological and psychological relaxation of the subjects. A short walk in the suburbs was no less attractive than a walk in the forest in fall. The above indicates that various places with urban vegetation can be successfully used for recreation, just as in a forest where forest bathing is practiced. This indicates that different places with urban greenery can be successfully used for recreation, as can the forests where forest bathing is carried out.

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Urban Riverscapes: Reconnecting Urban Environments With the River Landscape

10.26686/wgtn.17139368 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Elle Fairgray

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Urban Environment ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Flood Protection ◽

Protection Measures ◽

Rainfall Events ◽

Culture History ◽

River Flood ◽

Pass Through

<p>Water is a fundamental component of New Zealand’s landscape, culture, history and identity. It is moving, changing form, accumulating and dispersing, it is ever changing never in the same context twice. Rivers are a single representation of this process in which we experience water in the landscape. New Zealand has beautiful and intense water ways that pass through urban environments, yet due to the flood protection measures in place, they are disconnected from the urban environment. They are difficult to access and do not hold a presence in our growing urban environment which they once had significance in. Stopbanks are the most common form of river flood protection infrastructure in New Zealand. They treat the river as a static element without giving them the space to move, flood and meander. They create a physical barrier between the urban environment and river space and do not respond to the differences of rivers and urban environments. Growing urbanisation is increasing the pressure on stormwater infrastructure and growing the risk and effects of flooding. Increasing magnitude and frequency of rainfall events is only putting more pressure on flood protection infrastructure and stopbank infrastructure is crumbling under the pressure. Urban environments are requiring a larger level of flood protection that the traditional stopbank can provide. This thesis is an investigation into the role of stopbanks for flood protection in urban river spaces and their effect of the experiential and ecological experience of the river. This investigation, developed through an analysis of the Waiwhakaiho River in New Plymouth, the Waikanae River in Kapiti and the Waipoua River in the Waiarapa informs a redesign of flood protection measures in New Zealand medium sized towns to repair the disconnection of the urban environment to the river.</p>

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Growing Value: Describing The Nature Of The Relationship Between Street-Level Greenery and Housing Prices in Toronto

10.32920/14639640.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Spencer Bridgwater

Keyword(s):

Urban Environment ◽

Housing Prices ◽

Urban Forestry ◽

Demographic Variables ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Developmental Context ◽

Street Level ◽

The Relationship ◽

Aerial Perspective

The role of urban forestry has become increasingly important in the context of sustainability, both from an environmental context, and from a developmental context. Greenery in an urban environment has demonstrable implications for health, air quality, aesthetics, and land value, as described broadly across the literature. Until recently, studies on green urban canopies and housing prices have been limited in their methodology by using aerial-perspective data. The MIT Senseable City Lab in 2015 developed the Treepedia project, which uses Google Street View images to quantify greenery levels in urban environments. Using the green view index (GVI) data from the Treepedia project, street-level greenery densities were compared against housing prices across Toronto. Models for different property types, accounting for characteristic, locational, and demographic variables, were estimated. It was determined that a statistically significant relationship between street-level greenery and housing prices exists in Toronto for detached homes, semi-detached homes, row/townhouse units, condo apartments, and condo townhouses.

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Urban Riverscapes: Reconnecting Urban Environments With the River Landscape

10.26686/wgtn.17139368.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Elle Fairgray

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Urban Environment ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Flood Protection ◽

Protection Measures ◽

Rainfall Events ◽

Culture History ◽

River Flood ◽

Pass Through

<p>Water is a fundamental component of New Zealand’s landscape, culture, history and identity. It is moving, changing form, accumulating and dispersing, it is ever changing never in the same context twice. Rivers are a single representation of this process in which we experience water in the landscape. New Zealand has beautiful and intense water ways that pass through urban environments, yet due to the flood protection measures in place, they are disconnected from the urban environment. They are difficult to access and do not hold a presence in our growing urban environment which they once had significance in. Stopbanks are the most common form of river flood protection infrastructure in New Zealand. They treat the river as a static element without giving them the space to move, flood and meander. They create a physical barrier between the urban environment and river space and do not respond to the differences of rivers and urban environments. Growing urbanisation is increasing the pressure on stormwater infrastructure and growing the risk and effects of flooding. Increasing magnitude and frequency of rainfall events is only putting more pressure on flood protection infrastructure and stopbank infrastructure is crumbling under the pressure. Urban environments are requiring a larger level of flood protection that the traditional stopbank can provide. This thesis is an investigation into the role of stopbanks for flood protection in urban river spaces and their effect of the experiential and ecological experience of the river. This investigation, developed through an analysis of the Waiwhakaiho River in New Plymouth, the Waikanae River in Kapiti and the Waipoua River in the Waiarapa informs a redesign of flood protection measures in New Zealand medium sized towns to repair the disconnection of the urban environment to the river.</p>

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Relationships

10.1093/oso/9780198827238.003.0006 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Philip James

Keyword(s):

Urban Environment ◽

Companion Animals ◽

Domestic Animals ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Select Group ◽

Exotic Pets

Relationships between organisms within urban environments are many and varied. Plants are found in many households, and in addition to the benefits derived from their decorative properties, they also purify the air by removing pollutants. Over the course of history some animals have become domesticated: cows, horses, goats, providing food and transport. Of these, a select group have become companions (cats, dogs, and more exotic pets). Such domesticated and companion animals are an important part of the overall biology of urban environments and these relationships are explored and discussed. Some former companion or domestic animals have become feral, and other animals have never been domesticated and live freely in the urban environment. Some of these animals have beneficial relationships with humans whereas others are parasitic or are considered pests. These relationships are the focus for the later part of the exploration set out in this chapter.

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What is the urban environment and what is biology?

10.1093/oso/9780198827238.003.0001 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Philip James

Keyword(s):

Urban Environment ◽

Urban Environments ◽

First Century ◽

Final Part ◽

Global Spread ◽

Twenty First Century ◽

Genes To Ecosystems ◽

Micro Organisms ◽

Initial Focus

The two main themes contained within the title The Biology of Urban Environments are explored. The initial focus is on urban environments. A discussion of the origins of cities and the global spread of urbanization leads on to a consideration of urban environments in the twenty-first century. In the second section, the focus switches to biology. The scope of the discipline is set out in terms of both the range of sub-disciplines and of biological scales. It is established from this discussion that in this book the topics considered span from genes to ecosystems and will be illustrated by examples of the biology of micro-organisms, plants, and animals. Importantly humans will be included within this consideration: our biology is affected by urban environments. The final part presents the structure of the book.

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Influence of Land Use on Avian Diversity in North African Urban Environments

Land ◽

10.3390/land10040434 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 434

Author(s):

Hani Amir Aouissi ◽

Alexandru-Ionuţ Petrişor ◽

Mostefa Ababsa ◽

Maria Boştenaru-Dan ◽

Mahmoud Tourki ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Green Infrastructure ◽

Diversity Index ◽

Research Question ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Ecological Group ◽

Avian Diversity ◽

North African ◽

Index Method ◽

Urban Green Spaces

Land cover and use changes are important to study for their impact on ecosystem services and ultimately on sustainability. In urban environments, a particularly important research question addresses the relationship between urbanization-related changes and biodiversity, subject to controversies in the literature. Birds are an important ecological group, and useful for answering this question. The present study builds upon the hypothesis according to which avian diversity decreases with urbanization. In order to answer it, a sample of 4245 observations from 650 sites in Annaba, Algeria, obtained through the point abundance index method, were investigated by computing Shannon-Wiener’s diversity index and the species richness, mapping them, and analyzing the results statistically. The findings confirm the study hypothesis and are relevant for planning, as they stress the role of urban green spaces as biodiversity hotspots, and plead for the need of connecting them. From a planning perspective, the results emphasize the need for interconnecting the green infrastructure through avian corridors. Moreover, the results fill in an important lack of data on the biodiversity of the region, and are relevant for other similar Mediterranean areas. Future studies could use the findings to compare with data from other countries and continents.

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First record of albino lowland tapirs (Tapirus terrestris Linnaeus 1758) in an important Brazilian Atlantic Forest hotspot

Mammalia ◽

10.1515/mammalia-2019-0084 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 84 (6) ◽

pp. 601-604

Author(s):

Mariana Bueno Landis ◽

Luciano Candisani ◽

Leticia Prado Munhoes ◽

João Carlos Zecchini Gebin ◽

Frineia Rezende ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Atlantic Forest ◽

Scientific Research ◽

First Record ◽

Brazilian Atlantic Forest ◽

Tapirus Terrestris

AbstractAlbinism is the absence of pigmentation or coloration and is rarely found in nature. In this study we examined photos and videos obtained by cameras traps in the Legado das Águas Reserve. In the images, we identified two albino lowland tapirs. The results highlight the necessity of understanding the genetic diversity of lowland tapir populations and the important role of the professional photography associated with scientific research.

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