scholarly journals Habitat Studies Identifying Potential Trees for Urban Paved Environments: A Case Study from Qinling Mt., China

2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 261-271
Author(s):  
Henrik Sjöman ◽  
Anders Busse Nielsen ◽  
Stephan Pauleit ◽  
Mats Olsson
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Qinling Mountains ◽  
Air Humidity ◽  
Seasonally Dry ◽  
Varied Range ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Harsh Conditions

Trees in urban paved environments are highly exposed to heat, low air humidity, periods of critical water stress, high soil lime content and soil pH, limited soil volume, pollutants, and de-icing salts. Combined with the challenges of climate change and the threat of disease and pest infestations, this has led to considerable and persistent arguments for using a more varied range of trees, including stress-tolerant species, at urban paved sites. Extensive fieldwork was carried out in the Qinling Mountains, China, in a search for tree species suitable for urban paved sites in northern parts of central Europe and in adjoining milder parts of northern Europe (CNE-region), where tree species are exposed to seasonally dry and harsh conditions. The study identified habitats in the Qinling Mountain range that are similar to those at sites in paved environments, and analyzed the growth and performance of different tree species in these habitats. A total of 25 tree species representing 21 genera were found, of which 14 species were identified as specialist colonizers of warm, dry south-facing slopes where site conditions are similar to those in paved environments of the CNE-region.

scholarly journals Can Trait-Based Schemes Be Used to Select Species in Urban Forestry?

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Watkins ◽  
Andrew Hirons ◽  
Henrik Sjöman ◽  
Ross Cameron ◽  
James D. Hitchmough
Keyword(s):  
Tree Species ◽  
Urban Forestry ◽  
Species Selection ◽  
Functional Ecology ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Ecological Traits ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Specific Variation ◽  
The Right

Urban forests in northern Europe are threatened by climate change and biosecurity risks, and in response, city planners are urged to select a wider portfolio of tree species to mitigate the risks of species die-off. However, selecting the right species is a challenge, as most guidance available to specifiers focuses on ecosystem service delivery rather than the information most critical to tree establishment: the ability of a species to tolerate the stresses found in a given place. In this paper, we investigate the potential of using ecological techniques to describe ecological traits at the level of species selection, and the potential of functional ecology theories to identify species that are not widely discussed or specified at present but might be suitable. We collected trait data on 167 tree species across 37 genera, including 38 species within a case study genus, Magnolia L., and tested four theories that posit ways in which traits trade off against each other in predictable ways. We found that at this scale, most species recommended for urban forestry tend to be ordinated along an axis of variation describing pace of life and stress tolerance, and that most Magnolia species are described as being fast-growing rather than stress-tolerant, although there is a degree of inter-specific variation. Further, we found that only one theory offers a succinct and reliable way of describing physiological strategies but translating ecological theory into a form appropriate for urban forestry will require further work.

scholarly journals Herbaceous Plants for Climate Adaptation and Intensely Developed Urban Sites In Northern Europe: A Case Study From the Eastern Romanian Steppe

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Sjöman ◽  
Patrick Bellan ◽  
James Hitchmough ◽  
Adrian Oprea
Keyword(s):  
Field Survey ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Initial Information ◽  
Species Tolerance ◽  
Future Potential ◽  
And Performance

AbstractIn the increasingly compact city, services currently provided for in parks will in future be compressed into smaller green unit-structures, often associated with paved surfaces. Left-over spaces in urban environments, such as traffic roundabouts and strips along paths, roads and other corridors, will be important in the future city in order to deliver different eco-system services, especially stormwater management. It is therefore essential to start now to develop the knowledge and experience needed to create sustainable plantings for these sites. This paper presents the findings of a field survey in eastern Romania that sought to identify potential species for urban paved plantings in the Scandinavian region (northern Europe). The research approach is rooted in the hypothesis that studies of natural vegetation systems and habitats where plants are exposed to environmental conditions similar to those in inner-city environments can: 1) identify new or non-traditional species and genotypes adapted to urban environments; and 2) supply information and knowledge about their use potential concerning growth, flowering, life form, etc. In total, 117 different herbaceous species, all of which experience water stress regimes comparable to those in urban paved sites in Scandinavia. The initial information obtained from this field survey present a base of knowledge of which species that have a future potential for use in urban environment, which is of great importance in the following work within this project instead of testing species randomly without this knowledge of the species tolerance and performance in similar habitats.

Theoretizing A New Sustainable Business Event: Extension of Mair and Jago Model

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Norol Hamiza Zamzuri ◽  
Khairil Wahidin Awang ◽  
Yuhanis Abdul Aziz ◽  
Zaiton Samdin
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Knowledge Resources ◽  
Business Events ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Event Based

The growth of the event sector is underpinned by the demand of organizing a business event.  Thus, it leads to an increase in economic and social impact. However, the problems from the growth of this sector potentially results from the use of several event materials, transportation and infrastructure development.  Organizing a green event is seen as one of the strategies to reduce the environmental impact.  Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore the issues involved throughout the process of greening an event by applying Mair and Jago Model.  Semi-structured interviews were conducted with event managers from six Malaysia business event companies that encourage green practices during their event.  Findings suggest that impact, initiative, support and performance motivates event organizers in organizing a green event.  It has also been found that knowledge, resources and behaviour are the barriers faced by event organizers throughout the process of organizing a green event.  Based on the findings it appears that two important factors have emerged from the data collection and analysis that showed a deviation from the Mair and Jago Model, namely “impact” for the motivation element and “support” for the barrier element.  The main limitation of this study was the scope of the study; as it only focuses on business events.  However, as the main purpose of this study is to explore the issues of organizing a green event, it has been found that there are other issues need to be explored in other contexts and geographical area.  Apart from this, as this is a case study, it can only replicate according to the circumstances of this case study. However, this study can be generalized in terms of the theory that has emerged from it.  It is suggested that further research should explore more issues in other contexts and geographical areas. 

scholarly journals Integrating dark diversity and functional traits to enhance nature conservation of epiphytic lichens: a case study from Northern Italy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Pires Ferraz Trindade ◽  
Meelis Pärtel ◽  
Carlos Pérez Carmona ◽  
Tiina Randlane ◽  
Juri Nascimbene
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Nature Conservation ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Growth Form ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Epiphytic Lichens ◽  
Mountain Areas ◽  
High Elevations ◽  
Harsh Conditions

AbstractMountains provide a timely opportunity to examine the potential effects of climate change on biodiversity. However, nature conservation in mountain areas have mostly focused on the observed part of biodiversity, not revealing the suitable but absent species—dark diversity. Dark diversity allows calculating the community completeness, indicating whether sites should be restored (low completeness) or conserved (high completeness). Functional traits can be added, showing what groups should be focused on. Here we assessed changes in taxonomic and functional observed and dark diversity of epiphytic lichens along elevational transects in Northern Italy spruce forests. Eight transects (900–1900 m) were selected, resulting in 48 plots and 240 trees, in which lichens were sampled using four quadrats per tree (10 × 50 cm). Dark diversity was estimated based on species co-occurrence (Beals index). We considered functional traits related to growth form, photobiont type and reproductive strategy. Linear and Dirichlet regressions were used to examine changes in taxonomic metrics and functional traits along gradient. Our results showed that all taxonomic metrics increased with elevation and functional traits of lichens differed between observed and dark diversity. At low elevations, due to low completeness and harsh conditions, both restoration and conservation activities are needed, focusing on crustose species. Towards high elevations, conservation is more important to prevent species pool losses, focusing on macrolichens, lichens with Trentepohlia and sexual reproduction. Finally, dark diversity and functional traits provide a novel tool to enhance nature conservation, indicating particular threatened groups, creating windows of opportunities to protect species from both local and regional extinctions.

scholarly journals Laboratory-Scale Processing and Performance Assessment of Ti–Ta High-Temperature Shape Memory Spring Actuators

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Paulsen ◽  
H. Dumlu ◽  
D. Piorunek ◽  
D. Langenkämper ◽  
J. Frenzel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Shape Memory ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
Wire Drawing ◽  
Fast Heating ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Arc Melting ◽  
Ω Phase ◽  
And Performance

AbstractTi75Ta25 high-temperature shape memory alloys exhibit a number of features which make it difficult to use them as spring actuators. These include the high melting point of Ta (close to 3000 °C), the affinity of Ti to oxygen which leads to the formation of brittle α-case layers and the tendency to precipitate the ω-phase, which suppresses the martensitic transformation. The present work represents a case study which shows how one can overcome these issues and manufacture high quality Ti75Ta25 tensile spring actuators. The work focusses on processing (arc melting, arc welding, wire drawing, surface treatments and actuator spring geometry setting) and on cyclic actuator testing. It is shown how one can minimize the detrimental effect of ω-phase formation and ensure stable high-temperature actuation by fast heating and cooling and by intermediate rejuvenation anneals. The results are discussed on the basis of fundamental Ti–Ta metallurgy and in the light of Ni–Ti spring actuator performance.

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