Riparian thermal conditions across a mixed rural and urban landscape

Abstract Sacred groves (SGs) of India are islets of forests providing ecosystem and spiritual services to man. Studies suggest that SGs are deteriorating on their quality due to urbanization, invasive species, land-use change, and religious modernization. We explored diversity, community, and abundance of overall and different functional groups of litter ants, including Anoplolepis gracilipes – an invasive ant – on paired SG-neighbouring home garden (HG) sites in rural and urban landscape to (a) assess the quality of SGs and (b) examine whether the variation in ant community of the two habitats was predicted by urbanization and abundance of A. gracilipes. We considered species and local contribution to β-diversity to identify species and sites crucial for conservation of sites. Abundance and richness of overall ants, proportional trap incidence of species, and abundance of A. gracilipes were similar on SG and HG, but species diversity and abundance of certain ant functional groups were higher on SG. Ant community of SG was different from HG, but was not affected by urbanization. A. gracilipes and rural SGs contributed the most to β diversity. A. gracilipes gave little pressure on native ant community. The study concludes that SGs, despite invaded by A. gracilipes, have potential for conserving biodiversity.

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Development, Prosperity and Aspirations: A Narrative from the Peri-Urban Areas of Noida

Journal of Land and Rural Studies ◽

10.1177/23210249211051440 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 232102492110514

Author(s):

Bhawna Bali ◽

Neha Bhatia

Keyword(s):

State Government ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Industrial Development ◽

Urban Landscape ◽

Way Of Life ◽

Agrarian Economy ◽

Development Agenda ◽

Rural And Urban ◽

Economic Transformations ◽

The Cost

Urban development at city periphery as a unique process of urbanisation, manifests in distinctive spatial and socio-economic characteristics. The emergence of settlement types—an admixture of rural and urban characteristics—functionally transient between agrarian and non-agrarian economy with pervasive change in land uses and attendant livelihood sources, retreating mode of rural social norms and advancing urban way of life are remarkably obvious in peri-urban landscape of large Indian cities. The resultant socio-economic challenges for peri-urban inhabitants often create chasm between promised development agenda and their aspirations. Delving into the socio-economic transformations on account of land appropriation by the State government for urban and industrial development and ramifications of land negotiations in five peri-urban villages of Noida—this study reveals the discordant side of urbanisation benefitting urban at the cost of rural, and administrative processes which remain oblivious to the aspirations of those whose lands provided the grounds of this development agenda.

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Diet and brood size in rural and urban Northern Goshawks Accipiter gentilis in southern Finland

Avian Biology Research ◽

10.1177/1758155919826754 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 3-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Tapio Solonen ◽

Heikki Lokki ◽

Seppo Sulkava

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Brood Size ◽

Positive Relationship ◽

Urban Landscape ◽

Breeding Habitat ◽

Accipiter Gentilis ◽

Rural And Urban Areas ◽

Rural And Urban ◽

Wilderness Area ◽

Northern Goshawks

The brood size in the Finnish Northern Goshawks seems to be associated with the breeding habitat and the availability of suitable prey. In this study, we examined these relationships in three study areas of different landscape structure in southern Finland, including a recently colonized urban area. The most abundant prey categories found in the food remains of the goshawk included corvids, turdids, columbids, gallinaceous birds, and squirrels. Corvids dominated in the diet samples of all the study areas. The number of turdids and columbids in the samples was significantly higher in both the rural and the urban habitats than in the wilderness area. The number of gallinaceous birds was significantly higher in the wilderness area than in other habitats. Gallinaceous birds, particularly tetraonids, the traditional staple food of the Northern Goshawk in Finland, seemed to be largely compensated by corvids in the wilderness area and by corvids and columbids in the rural and urban areas. The amount of corvids in prey showed a positive relationship with brood size, suggesting some particular importance of this prey in the goshawk diet. In all, diet seemed to explain partly between-landscape variations in the brood size of the goshawk. The brood size was significantly higher in the urban landscape than elsewhere.

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Eco-friendly methods of reducing the consequences of winter maintenance in urban green areas

Folia Horticulturae ◽

10.2478/fhort-2013-0142 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 99-109 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Anna Bach ◽

Bożena Pawłowska ◽

Małgorzata Pietrzak

Keyword(s):

Sodium Chloride ◽

Urban Space ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Urban Landscape ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Thermal Conditions ◽

Sodium Formate ◽

Winter Maintenance ◽

Management Measures ◽

Green Areas

Abstract Trees play a crucial role in the urban environment. They fulfil aesthetic, sociocultural, ecological, health-promoting and economic functions. Urban development and related human activity bring many risks to green areas within urban space. Plants are exposed to stress connected with water, soil and air pollution. Living space, harmful light and thermal conditions, drought, high density and changeable soil pH with excessive salinity are further disadvantages. European and Northern American cities have to cope with a serious danger of tree death. A leading cause is the use of de-icing chemicals in winter, particularly sodium chloride, applied due to its cost-effectiveness and availability. The paper describes traditional de-icing chemicals used in urban areas (NaCl, solid aggregates, CaCl2, MgCl sulphates MgSO4, (NH4)2SO4, urea alcohols and glycols isopropyl alcohol, ethylene glycol, methanol) and newly developed sodium chloride substitutes (calcium magnesium acetate CMA), sodium formate and acetate NaFo/NaAc, potassium carbonate K2CO3). Moreover, prophylactic methods aimed at preventing the negative impact of de-icing campaigns, rules of planning and design of urban landscape, and reasonable management measures and pro-ecological modern technologies reducing and reversing the consequences of harmful actions are presented

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Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Noon-Time Temperature in Selected Cities in Sudan Savanna and Tropical Rainforest Zones of Nigeria

International Journal of Environment and Climate Change ◽

10.9734/ijecc/2020/v10i1230321 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 451-464

Author(s):

I. M. Sule ◽

G. N. Nsofor ◽

A. A. Okhimamhe ◽

J. Mayaki ◽

M. Muhammed

Keyword(s):

Tropical Rainforest ◽

Urban Landscape ◽

Temporal Dynamics ◽

Landscape Planning ◽

Thermal Conditions ◽

Temperature Series ◽

Change Point Detection ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Outdoor Thermal Comfort ◽

Maximum Temperature

Urban centres in Sub-Saharan Africa have been undergoing unprecedented urbanization in the past decades at annual rates of almost 4%; with attendant impacts on the cities’ thermal conditions. This study aimed at characterizing the noon-time maximum temperature of two selected cities each in the Sudan and Tropical Rainforest zones of Nigeria. The study utilized daily ERA Interim (European Reanalysis) grid-based 2 meter above ground daily noontime maximum temperature (°C) data of the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) from 1990 to 2019. R Statistical package version 3.6.1 was employed to detect the trend and seasonality in the maximum noon-time temperature of the four cities using non-parametric Mann-Kendall trend and seasonal trend tests. The statistical properties of the data were first analyzed by graphical examination of the data, using time plots, and boxplots. Also, the normality test of Shapiro-Wilk (S-W test) was applied. Pettitt test was then employed to test for single change-point detection in the temperature series. The study revealed higher mean temperature values of 27.49°C and 25.56°C respectively for Birnin Kebbi and Kano both in the Sudan, and lower temperature values of 24.08°C and 23.17°C respectively for Ibadan and Owerri located in the Tropical rainforest. The Tau statistics for Kano, Ibadan and Owerri are 0.07084, 0.09848 and 0.09113 and the corresponding p-values are 0.0447, 0.0053 and 0.0098 which are less than 0.05 alpha value; indicating significant trends for the three cities. The results also show significant seasonal increase at 0.05 significant levels in the maximum noon-time temperature series for all the locations. The study recommends urban landscape planning and design for optimization of outdoor thermal comfort and creation of heathier urban environments for the city dwellers.

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The spatial diffusion of economic activity in the Oviedo region (1970-2018)

Investigaciones Geográficas ◽

10.14198/ingeo2019.72.09 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 189

Author(s):

Ícaro Obeso Muñiz

Keyword(s):

Rural Areas ◽

Economic Activity ◽

Urban Landscape ◽

Private Investment ◽

Aerial Photographs ◽

Landscape Configuration ◽

Spatial Diffusion ◽

Urban Landscapes ◽

Northern Spain ◽

Rural And Urban

The spread of economic activity in the Oviedo region in northern Spain in recent decades has deeply altered the territorial model. The traditional dichotomy between rural and urban landscapes is blurring, and many functions are being relocated in formerly rural areas. The construction of motorways, and other transport infrastructures, accompanied by the triggering action of both public and private investment, lax legal frameworks, and the amount of flat land, are the main factors that explain the process. Using historic aerial photographs and data gathered by public institutions, this article offers thematic maps to understand the phases and distribution of the spatial diffusion process. The spatial-temporal sequence of landscape changes helps us understand the processes of development in a peri-urban landscape characterised by a diffusion of functions and its role in landscape configuration.

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