scholarly journals Growth Rate Prediction of Ornamental Trees using Regression Functions in Urban Landscapes

Author(s):  
Ramin Abbasgholizadeh ◽  
◽  
Ali Reza Eslami ◽  
Behzad Kaviani ◽  
◽  
...  

Abstract The present study aimed to predict the growth rate of the common urban trees using mathematical equations for the right plantation location in the landscape. Ginkgo biloba, Liquidambar styraciflua L., Parrotia persica, Zelkova carpinifolia, Acer negundo, and Fraxinus rotundifolia Mill. were selected from city of Rasht, Guilan province, in the northern part of Iran. The study used age as the independent variables and height, trunk height, and crown diameter as the dependent variables. The correlation among the variables were analyzed by different regressions (linear, logarithmic, exponential, power, and polynomial). The results showed that polynomial regression functions provided the best determination coefficient to predict the growth parameters with respect to age in the urban green spaces for aesthetic purposes and also, to reduce costs, tackle interference with transit, urban equipment, and finally developing ecosystems sustainably. Polynomial regression functions can be used to predict tree growth in new urban green spaces in terms of environmental factors and age. Keywords: Ecosystems sustainably, Green space, Growth rate, Urban landscape, Ornamental trees

Author(s):  
Orhun Soydan ◽  
Nefise Çetin

Urban green spaces are areas established to meet the recreational needs of urban people. Although green spaces vary from country to country and region in terms of plan and design features, they were basically created to allow people to meet with nature. Parks are the basic components of urban landscapes that provide environmental and social functional value. Urban parks, in particular, provide spaces for outdoor physical activities. In order to take advantage of the opportunities of activities in the parks, users must have convenient access to these resources. One of the most important aspects for researching the use and potential benefits of urban green spaces is the assessment of their geographic accessibility. The widespread use of smart city systems and the gradual expansion of their usage areas increase the importance of spatial analysis. Spatial analyses are used in today’s urban management in the processes of determining social needs, identifying current problems, and putting forward solutions. When spatial analyses are used together with GIS, the field of application develops even more, and it supports local governments in responding to the changing demands of the society for a better life. In the study, the adequacy and accessibility of 160 city parks in Konyaaltı District of Antalya Province were examined. In terms of the adequacy of the parks, the area value of 10 m2 per person determined with the Construction Plan numbered 3194 was taken as basis. In terms of accessibility, distance values of 200, 400, 800, 1,200 meters were examined. Neighborhood boundaries and population information were obtained from the relevant units, and Arc-GIS software was used in the analysis. It was determined that the parks in Konyaaltı district were insufficient in terms of adequacy and accessibility. Finally, suggestions were made in terms of increasing the adequacy of the parks and ensuring accessibility.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shunqi Cheng ◽  
Zhiqiang Liao ◽  
Yu Zhu

Urban green spaces (UGSs) improve the quality of life of urban inhabitants. With the acceleration of urbanization and changes in traffic networks, it remains unclear whether changes in the distribution of UGSs can satisfy the needs of all inhabitants and offer equal services to inhabitants from different socioeconomic backgrounds. This study addresses this issue by analyzing dynamic changes in UGS accessibility in 2012, 2016, and 2020 for inhabitants of the central urban area of Fuzhou in China at the community level. The study introduces multiple transportation modes for an accessibility estimation based on a framework using the two-step floating catchment area method and examines the dynamic changes in community deprivation of UGS accessibility using Kernel regularized least squares, a machine learning algorithm. The results demonstrate that spatial disparities of UGS accessibility exist among the multi-transport modes and vary with time. Communities with high accessibility to UGSs by walking are scattered around the urban area; for accessibility by cycling, the high accessibility regions expand and surround the regions with low accessibility in the core urban areas, forming a semi-enclosed spatial pattern. However, the core urban spatial orientation of UGS accessibility by public transit demonstrates a reverse trend to the above two modes. The spatial pattern of UGS accessibility also varies over time, and the growth rate of accessibility slightly declined during the study period. Furthermore, the increase in UGS accessibility tended to slow from 2016–2020 compared with 2012–2016, and the trend toward equality was also erratic. The degree of deprivation for communities first weakened and was then aggravated, corresponding to the slowdown in the growth rate of accessibility, leading to the persistence existence of social inequality. Moreover, significant deprivation mainly exists among less educated people or those using the cycling and integrated travel modes. Although public transport is developing, deprived communities, such as communities with large proportion of older people, have experienced a decline in access to UGSs by public transport. Based on these findings, the study proposes a policy framework for the balanced distribution of UGSs as part of urbanization.


EDIS ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary G. Lusk ◽  
Don Rainey

The purpose of this article is to present some sound recommendations, known as best management practices (BMPs), for irrigating lawns and other green spaces with reclaimed water (RW). These BMPs are for homeowners and landscaping professionals who use RW to irrigate home lawns or other irrigated green spaces in urban landscapes. Written by Mary G. Lusk and Don Rainey and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Soil and Water Sciences; 4 pages.


Author(s):  
Cariñanos ◽  
Grilo ◽  
Pinho ◽  
Casares-Porcel ◽  
Branquinho ◽  
...  

The impact of allergens emitted by urban green spaces on health is one of the main disservices of ecosystems. The objective of this work is to establish the potential allergenic value of some tree species in urban environments, so that the allergenicity of green spaces can be estimated through application of the Index of Urban Green Zones Allergenicity (IUGZA). Multiple types of green spaces in Mediterranean cities were selected for the estimation of IUGZ. The results show that some of the ornamental species native to the Mediterranean are among the main causative agents of allergy in the population; in particular, Oleaceae, Cupressaceae, Fagaceae, and Platanus hispanica. Variables of the strongest impact on IUGZA were the bioclimatic characteristics of the territory and design aspects, such as the density of trees and the number of species. We concluded that the methodology to assess the allergenicity associated with urban trees and urban areas presented in this work opens new perspectives in the design and planning of urban green spaces, pointing out the need to consider the potential allergenicity of a species when selecting plant material to be used in cities. Only then can urban green areas be inclusive spaces, in terms of public health.


2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Breuste ◽  
Johanna Schnellinger ◽  
Salman Qureshi ◽  
Anna Faggi

AbstractBreuste J., Schnellinger J., Qureshi S., Faggi A.: Urban ecosystem services on the local level: Urban green spaces as providers. Ekologia (Bratislava), Vol. 32, No. 3, p. 209-304, 2013. Ecosystem services are provided at different spatial and service/functional scales. The local level is the basic unit for ecosystem services, especially when it comes to the human dimension of urban landscapes. These services are provided by green elements (patches) or basic complex ecosystems (green areas) which differ from their neighbourhoods through their structures and functions. This study reviews the generally available knowledge on urban green functions and services at the site level and explains them by using own studies in five different cities in three different continents related to distinct ecosystem services. This allows the development of a methodology to evaluate and compare ecosystem services at the site level. The methodology is based at two levels, patch and green space, and includes the relationship with the surrounding green and built-up space. Different urban green space types are characterized by their internal structures of vegetation, size, shape and location in relation to at least a semi-quantitative scaling of their urban ecosystem services. The evaluated urban green spaces are public urban green spaces. The urban ecosystem services assessed include climate regulation, biodiversity, nature experience, recreation and health. The actual urban challenges, such as land use change, adaptation to climate change, demographic change and urban cultural diversity, demand a systematic and very concrete monitoring of urban ecosystem services at the site level.


Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Shruti Lahoti ◽  
Ashish Lahoti ◽  
Rajendra Kumar Joshi ◽  
Osamu Saito

Nagpur is rapidly urbanizing, and in the process witnessing decline in its green status which is one of the identities of the city. The study aims to understand the current species diversity, composition and structure in different classes of greens prevalent in the city. As urban green spaces (UGS) are also reservoirs of carbon stock, the study estimates their biomass. Through rigorous field work, data were collected from 246 sample plots across various UGS classes as pre-stratification. Then the biomass was estimated using non-destructive method with species-specific equation. The diversity of tree species recorded in UGS varies, with high diversity recorded in avenue plantation and institutional compounds. The overall variation in species composition among UGS classes was 36.8%. While in managed greens the species composition was similar, in institutional greens and forest it was different. Particularly, in forest the evenness was high with low diversity and low species richness. The structural distribution indicate lack of old trees in the city, with high number of tree species between diameter classes of 10–40 cm. Biomass was recorded high in road-side plantations (335 t ha−1) and playgrounds (324 t ha−1), and trees with bigger girth size where the main contributors. The dominant species indicates that high growth rate, tolerance to drought and pollution are the key attributes considered for species selection by local authorities. Though the city holds green image, vegetation along the avenues and institutions are stressed, exposed, and threatened by felling activities for grey infrastructure expansions. In such scenario, protection and preservation of older trees is crucial to maintain the carbon stock of the city. In addition, local authorities need to focus on effective afforestation programs through public participation to achieve high survival rate and reduce the maintenance cost. For species selection in addition to phenology and growth rate, tree biomass and life span needs to be considered to significantly enhance the urban environment and increase the benefits derived from UGS.


Author(s):  
Leonora Gonzales ◽  
Dina Magnaye

Urbanization is a global phenomenon which is projected by the United Nations to grow annually at 65 million between 2000 and 2030 in developing countries. As an archipelagic nation, the Philippines is considered as a highly urbanized nation where over three-fourths of its population is estimated to reside in urban areas, posting a proportion of one person residing in rural area for every three in urban area. The National Capital Region (NCR), the core region of the counry, registers a 100% urbanization level and where the most densely populated areas converged. It generally exhibits an urban population growth rate that exceeds the national growth rate. Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, is the second largest and the world’s most densely populated city given its small land area and huge human population. The concentration of people in this city and the urbanization processes are foreseen to create environmental stress leading to potential biodiversity losses coupled with other urban environmental occurrences such as flooding, air pollution, sea level rise, earthquake, subsidence, traffic congestion, water pollution, among others. These natural and man-made hazards pose challenge to the multi-functional uses and various benefits of urban green spaces (UGS). UGS play a significant role in enhancing the quality and resiliency of the environment as well as in improving the health and general well being of city dwellers. It is in this context that the challenges and opportunities of UGS are examined. The paper attempts to identify and determine the factors that influence UGS as basis for urban biodiversity planning and management.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Schwaab ◽  
Ronny Meier ◽  
Gianluca Mussetti ◽  
Sonia Seneviratne ◽  
Christine Bürgi ◽  
...  

AbstractUrban trees influence temperatures in cities. However, their effectiveness at mitigating urban heat in different climatic contexts and in comparison to treeless urban green spaces has not yet been sufficiently explored. Here, we use high-resolution satellite land surface temperatures (LSTs) and land-cover data from 293 European cities to infer the potential of urban trees to reduce LSTs. We show that urban trees exhibit lower temperatures than urban fabric across most European cities in summer and during hot extremes. Compared to continuous urban fabric, LSTs observed for urban trees are on average 0-4 K lower in Southern European regions and 8-12 K lower in Central Europe. Treeless urban green spaces are overall less effective in reducing LSTs, and their cooling effect is approximately 2-4 times lower than the cooling induced by urban trees. By revealing continental-scale patterns in the effect of trees and treeless green spaces on urban LST our results highlight the importance of considering and further investigating the climate-dependent effectiveness of heat mitigation measures in cities.


Spatium ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 8-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Verani ◽  
Georgia Pozoukidou ◽  
Alexandros Sdoukopoulos

It has been proved that urban development patterns affect in various ways cities? environmental quality. To this purpose, one of the factors that have been examined is the role of urban green spaces, in balancing the effects of human activities in dense urban landscapes. One of the major external costs of dense urban environment is smog and greenhouse gas emissions that are heavily related to existing mobility patterns. High levels of concentration of such emissions along with high urban density are considered to be the main reason for cities? environmental degradation. In this context this paper presents the results of a study investigating how urban green spaces can improve air quality, in major transportation axis within the city of Thessaloniki. In order to do so, urban density along the axis, green space per capita, green space spatial distribution, mobility patterns and transport emissions volumes are being considered. Comparison of these indices among the transportation axis under study indicates that there is a positive relation between building density, urban density and volume of emissions observed, while a dispersed rather than a concentrated pattern of green spaces could better help improve cities? environmental quality.


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