Analysis of Landform and Land Cover: Potentials for Urban Biodiversity Conservation against Rising Temperatures

The increasing number of people living in towns and cities across the world places ever growing pressures on, and demands of urban ecosystems. Research indicates that a diminution in the extent, quality and associated functions of urban green networks as a result of development pressure risks decline in urban biodiversity and the potential human benefits to be derived from nature rich urban environments. Adopting a case study approach, this research investigates ecological and socio-cultural priorities for conserving urban biodiversity and how these perspectives align within the theoretical framework and practice of green infrastructure planning. In doing so the research adds to a limited but growing body of evidence that describes the vital contribution of urban biodiversity to place making and how related policy and practice could better respond. The research took place in Swindon, UK, a town undergoing continued expansion and regeneration. Broadleaf plantation woodlands, as a widespread habitat and ubiquitous component of the town’s urban landscape, provided the venue for concurrent ecological and ethnographic explorations of the biodiverse qualities of place. Field studies of the richness and abundance of woodland dwelling beetles ran alongside observation of, and interviews with residents via regular and extended participation in Swindon’s health walks groups. The findings add to previous research highlighting the significance of the intricate and interlacing network of open spaces forming much of urban green infrastructure as wildlife habitats. Critically, the research also reveals the ways and depths to which common-place ‘everyday’ nature encountered in such settings is embedded within residents’ sense of place. The findings imply that urban biodiversity conservation goals should place much greater emphasis on local, small and inter-connecting greenspaces often dismissed in planning policy and conservation practice. Establishing such goals within strengthened green infrastructure planning frameworks and founded on a broader definition of urban biodiversity to encompass socio-cultural dimensions, could realise substantial benefits for environmental, personal and societal well-being.

Get full-text (via PubEx)

Urban green infrastructures and ecological networks for urban biodiversity conservation

Urban Biodiversity ◽

10.9774/gleaf.9781315402581_13 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 186-199 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Emily S. Minor ◽

Elsa C. Anderson ◽

J. Amy Belaire ◽

Megan Garfinkel ◽

Alexis Dyan Smith

Keyword(s):

Biodiversity Conservation ◽

Ecological Networks ◽

Urban Biodiversity ◽

Urban Green ◽

Urban Biodiversity Conservation

Get full-text (via PubEx)

Green space relations with residential values in downtown Tokyo – implications for urban biodiversity conservation

Local Environment ◽

10.1080/13549830701581697 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 141-157 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yoichi Kumagai ◽

Yoriyuki Yamada

Keyword(s):

Biodiversity Conservation ◽

Green Space ◽

Urban Biodiversity ◽

Urban Biodiversity Conservation

Get full-text (via PubEx)

Assessment of Habitat Change Processes within the Oti-Keran-Mandouri Network of Protected Areas in Togo (West Africa) from 1987 to 2013 Using Decision Tree Analysis

Sci ◽

10.3390/sci2010001 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Aniko Polo-Akpisso ◽

Kperkouma Wala ◽

Ouattara Soulemane ◽

Fousseni Folega ◽

Koffi Akpagana ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Cover ◽

Decision Tree ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Biodiversity Conservation ◽

Average Rate ◽

Habitat Change ◽

Change Processes ◽

Natural Habitats ◽

Time Periods ◽

Land Cover Maps

Biodiversity conservation planning is highly important in the current context of global change. Biodiversity conservation can be achieved by understanding changes in land use at the landscape scale. Such understanding is needed to reverse the unprecedented pressure on natural resources that has been reported by many studies conducted on biodiversity conservation within the Oti-Keran-Mandouri protected areas. Land cover maps reflecting different dates (1987, 2000, and 2013) and depicting different management systems, with overall accuracy ranging from 73% to 79%, were analyzed to understand the processes that lead to habitat degradation within these protected areas. The nature of change, within a given land cover class, was determined by comparing land cover maps on different dates using a decision tree algorithm that compares the number of patches, their areas, and their perimeters at different time periods (T1 and T2). Specifically, two time-periods were considered for this analysis: 1987–2000 and 2000–2013. Croplands and settlements increased at an average of 108.13% and 5.45%, respectively, from 1987 to 2000. From 2000 to 2013, croplands gained from all other land categories and continued to increase at a rate of 11.77% per year, whereas forests and savannas decreased at an annual average rate by 5.79% and 2.32%, respectively. The dominant processes of habitat change from 1987 to 2000 were the creation of forests, dissection of savannas, attrition of wetlands, and creation of croplands. Meanwhile, from 2000 to 2013, there was attrition of forests, as well as attrition of savannas, dissection of wetlands, and aggregation of croplands. In general, from 1987 to 2013, natural habitats regressed and were replaced by croplands; forests, savannas, and wetlands decreased at an average annual percentage 5.74%, 3.94%, and 2.02%, respectively, whereas croplands increased at an average annual rate of 285.39% of their own area. Aggregation, attrition, dissection, and creation were the main habitat change processes identified for the overall period from 1987 to 2013. There was habitat loss in forests and savannas and habitat fragmentation in wetland due to attrition and dissection, respectively. Identifying and understanding habitat change processes would enable the taking of appropriate biodiversity conservation actions.

Get full-text (via PubEx)

Linking Spatio-Temporal Land Cover Change to Biodiversity Conservation in the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal

Diversity ◽

10.3390/d5020335 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 335-351 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Nakul Chettri ◽

Kabir Uddin ◽

Sunita Chaudhary ◽

Eklabya Sharma

Keyword(s):

Land Cover ◽

Biodiversity Conservation ◽

Land Cover Change ◽

Spatio Temporal ◽

Wildlife Reserve

Get full-text (via PubEx)