scholarly journals The Complex Issue of Urban Trees—Stress Factor Accumulation and Ecological Service Possibilities

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 932
Author(s):  
Monika Czaja ◽  
Anna Kołton ◽  
Piotr Muras

This review paper is the first that summarizes many aspects of the ecological role of trees in urban landscapes while considering their growth conditions. Research Highlights are: (i) Plant growth conditions in cities are worsening due to high urbanization rates and new stress factors; (ii) Urban trees are capable of alleviating the stress factors they are exposed to; (iii) The size and vitality of trees is related to the ecological services they can provide. Our review shows, in a clear way, that the phenomenon of human-related environmental degradation, which generates urban tree stress, can be effectively alleviated by the presence of trees. The first section reviews concerns related to urban environment degradation and its influence on trees. Intense urbanization affects the environment of plants, raising the mortality rate of urban trees. The second part deals with the dieback of city trees, its causes and scale. The average life expectancy of urban trees is relatively low and depends on factors such as the specific location, proper care and community involvement, among others. The third part concerns the ecological and economic advantages of trees in the city structure. Trees affect citizen safety and health, but also improve the soil and air environment. Finally, we present the drawbacks of tree planting and discuss if they are caused by the tree itself or rather by improper tree management. We collect the latest reports on the complicated state of urban trees, presenting new insights on the complex issue of trees situated in cities, struggling with stress factors. These stressors have evolved over the decades and emphasize the importance of tree presence in the city structure.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurore Rimlinger ◽  
Marie-Louise Avana ◽  
Abdon Awono ◽  
Armel Chakocha ◽  
Alexis Gakwavu ◽  
...  

AbstractTrees are a traditional component of urban spaces where they provide ecosystem services critical to urban wellbeing. In the Tropics, urban trees’ seed origins have rarely been characterized. Yet, understanding the social dynamics linked to tree planting is critical given their influence on the distribution of associated genetic diversity. This study examines elements of these dynamics (seed exchange networks) in an emblematic indigenous fruit tree species from Central Africa, the African plum tree (Dacryodes edulis, Burseraceae), within the urban context of Yaoundé. We further evaluate the consequences of these social dynamics on the distribution of the genetic diversity of the species in the city. Urban trees were planted predominantly using seeds sourced from outside the city, resulting in a level of genetic diversity as high in Yaoundé as in a whole region of production of the species. Debating the different drivers that foster the genetic diversity in planted urban trees, the study argued that cities and urban dwellers can unconsciously act as effective guardians of indigenous tree genetic diversity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-172
Author(s):  
Peter Uhrin ◽  
Ján Supuka

AbstractUrbanised landscape represents composed structures of technical and biotic elements where social and economy activities create living space for human society but with strongly changed environment. To dominant characters belong climate changes with increased air temperature, drought and emission load, which has developed wide spectrum of stress factors influencing the urban vegetation. For the assessment of plant growth and adaptation response, we have used Sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) as study model woody plant. In the framework of visual characters, we assessed the following indicators: (a) assimilation organs (leaf necrosis); (b) crown quality (degree of foliage and degree of dead tree crown); (c) trunk and branch quality (mechanical damage, incidence of wood destroying fungus and trunk cavities and callus healing of trunk wounds). Each indicator was assessed in five-point scale, and in the end, the common index of quality was calculated. The quality index achieved 9.33 points in the first and 10.33 in the second evaluation periods in the Nitra city and 2.66 at the both assessed periods in the comparable rural park. In the group of physiological indicators, chlorophyll a fluorescence marker and its Fv/Fm parameter were used. Within three repeating assessment during growing season (June, August and September), the average values reached Fv/Fm = 0.814 in the city and Fv/Fm = 0.829 in rural park. The results confirmed statistical significances between loaded city conditions and relatively clean rural locality. Used markers have shown as appropriate tools for growth response measurements of street trees in a changed urban environment.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0243017
Author(s):  
Aurore Rimlinger ◽  
Marie-Louise Avana ◽  
Abdon Awono ◽  
Armel Chakocha ◽  
Alexis Gakwavu ◽  
...  

Trees are a traditional component of urban spaces where they provide ecosystem services critical to urban wellbeing. In the Tropics, urban trees’ seed origins have rarely been characterized. Yet, understanding the social dynamics linked to tree planting is critical given their influence on the distribution of associated genetic diversity. This study examines elements of these dynamics (seed exchange networks) in an emblematic indigenous fruit tree species from Central Africa, the African plum tree (Dacryodes edulis, Burseraceae), within the urban context of Yaoundé. We further evaluate the consequences of these social dynamics on the distribution of the genetic diversity of the species in the city. Urban trees were planted predominantly using seeds sourced from outside the city, resulting in a level of genetic diversity as high in Yaoundé as in a whole region of production of the species. Debating the different drivers that foster the genetic diversity in planted urban trees, the study argues that cities and urban dwellers can unconsciously act as effective guardians of indigenous tree genetic diversity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 124 ◽  
pp. 102387
Author(s):  
Geoffrey H. Donovan ◽  
Jeffrey P. Prestemon ◽  
David T. Butry ◽  
Abigail R. Kaminski ◽  
Vicente J. Monleon
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Lesińska-Sawicka

Abstract Introduction Cervical cancer and its etiopathogenesis, the age of women in whom it is diagnosed, average life expectancy, and prognosis are information widely covered in scientific reports. However, there is no coherent information regarding which regions—urban or rural—it may occur more often. This is important because the literature on the subject reports that people living in rural areas have a worse prognosis when it comes to detection, treatment, and life expectancy than city dwellers. Material and methods The subjects of the study were women and their knowledge about cervical cancer. The research was carried out using a survey directly distributed among respondents and via the Internet, portals, and discussion groups for women from Poland. Three hundred twenty-nine women took part in the study, including 164 from rural and 165 from urban areas. The collected data enabled the following: (1) an analysis of the studied groups, (2) assessment of the respondents’ knowledge about cervical cancer, and (3) comparison of women’s knowledge depending on where they live. Results The average assessment of all respondents’ knowledge was 3.59, with women living in rural areas scoring 3.18 and respondents from the city—4.01. Statistical significance (p < 0.001) between the level of knowledge and place of residence was determined. The results indicate that an increase in the level of education in the subjects significantly increases the chance of getting the correct answer. In the case of age analysis, the coefficients indicate a decrease in the chance of obtaining the correct answer in older subjects despite the fact that a statistically significant level was reached in individual questions. Conclusions Women living in rural areas have less knowledge of cervical cancer than female respondents from the city. There is a need for more awareness campaigns to provide comprehensive information about cervical cancer to women in rural areas. A holistic approach to the presented issue can solve existing difficulties and barriers to maintaining health regardless of the place of life and residence. Implication for cancer survivors They need intensive care for women’s groups most burdened with risk factors.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 160900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dániel Kondor ◽  
Sebastian Grauwin ◽  
Zsófia Kallus ◽  
István Gódor ◽  
Stanislav Sobolevsky ◽  
...  

Thanks to their widespread usage, mobile devices have become one of the main sensors of human behaviour and digital traces left behind can be used as a proxy to study urban environments. Exploring the nature of the spatio-temporal patterns of mobile phone activity could thus be a crucial step towards understanding the full spectrum of human activities. Using 10 months of mobile phone records from Greater London resolved in both space and time, we investigate the regularity of human telecommunication activity on urban scales. We evaluate several options for decomposing activity timelines into typical and residual patterns, accounting for the strong periodic and seasonal components. We carry out our analysis on various spatial scales, showing that regularity increases as we look at aggregated activity in larger spatial units with more activity in them. We examine the statistical properties of the residuals and show that it can be explained by noise and specific outliers. Also, we look at sources of deviations from the general trends, which we find to be explainable based on knowledge of the city structure and places of attractions. We show examples how some of the outliers can be related to external factors such as specific social events.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 219-230
Author(s):  
Raluca-Daniela Duinea

"The City of Oslo in Jan Erik Vold’s Poems. The aim of this paper is to examine, from a cultural and social perspective, the Norwegian urban areas and everyday situations in Jan Erik Vold’s (b. 1939) poems. Our close-reading technique reveals important social aspects, different places and streets, located in the capital city of Norway, Oslo. These urban poems written by the contemporary Norwegian poet Jan Erik Vold contribute to the reconstruction of a new Norwegian cultural identity as it is reflected in a selection of poems taken from Mor Godhjertas glade versjon. Ja (Mother Goodhearted’s Happy Version. Yes, 1968), followed by the poet’s wanderings in the city of Oslo in En som het Abel Ek (One Named Abel Ek, 1988), and concluding with his bitter social criticism in Elg (Moose, 1989) and IKKE. Skillingstrykk fra nittitallet (Not: Broadsides from the Nineties, 1993). Vold’s urban poems emphasise the transition from nyenkle (new simple), friendly and descriptive poems which present closely the city of Oslo on foot, to short, political and social critical poems from the 90s. Thus, it is of great importance to traverse various urban ‘landscapes’ in different periods of time, beginning with the 1960s, followed by the 80s and the 90s. Keywords: Jan Erik Vold, urban poems, social criticism, Norwegian urban areas, the city of Oslo "


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-34
Author(s):  
Mohammad Sofyan

The purpose of this study is to encourage ownership, responsibility and to develop stakeholders and policy makers for the river normalization program in the pre-construction, construction and post-construction stages. The use of the IPA method to measure community satisfaction in the quadrants on the Importance Performance Matrix map. The results of the study showed that the socialization from the Department of Water and Public Works, when the project was finished, was not in line with community expectations. Flood control projects that have been built, coordination with the contractor at the time of project implementation, socialization from the city government prior to project implementation, socialization from the city government when the project is finished, socialization from the river hall at the time before project implementation, socialization from the river hall at the time the project was completed, dissemination of information from the irrigation service prior to project implementation, and community involvement in project implementation. The process of land clearing, and the price agreement that has been reached. Improved land clearing, and price agreements that have been reached can be reconsidered because their impact on the benefits felt by the community is very small.


Author(s):  
Hasyimsyah Nasution ◽  
Yusnadi Yusnadi ◽  
Zahari Zahari

Development planning in the city of Banda Aceh is still experiencing various problems and shortcomings both in terms of the substantial process of implementation and supervision. This is because there is still a lack of regional planning apparatus both in terms of quantity and quality and not yet optimal public consultation in taking government policy in development that directly impacts the community, then development plan deliberations and official head work unit forums as a mechanism for community involvement in planning development is not yet up to and maximal. Commitment to the political communication of the mayor of Banda Aceh wants to build the community of the city of Banda Aceh as a model of the civil city. This political commitment arose from the results of the geopolitical analysis, the natural conditions of the region, the Aceh provincial regional development policy and the national development vision, and the strong desire of the mayor himself. The Mayor of Paradigama in building the city of Banda Aceh referred to the concept of building the Prophet in Medina.


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