Conservation of endemic lizards in New Zealand cities

<p>Globally, biodiversity is in crisis. One contributing factor is the rapid urbanisation of the world’s population. Land cover change associated with urbanisation radically alters ecosystems, making them uninhabitable for many species. Additionally, people who live in cities often have reduced contact with nature and there are fears that a lack of nature experience may diminish concern for the environment and biodiversity among urbanites. For these reasons, people in cities are increasingly being encouraged and empowered to reduce environmental impacts and connect with nature through urban restoration and backyard conservation. Internationally, lizards are a common feature of urban biodiversity but in New Zealand, where many species are threatened, little is known about populations of endemic skinks and geckos in cities. In order to effectively manage urban lizard populations, greater knowledge is needed about where and how lizards are surviving in cities, and what potential exists for their restoration. I investigated species diversity and abundance of lizards in New Zealand cities, making comparisons with historical species distributions to inform urban restoration and investigating the potential role that participatory conservation might play in their protection. To collate current knowledge about past and present distributions of urban-dwelling lizards, I reviewed records for six New Zealand cities from published and unpublished literature and databases. Little research was identified from cities and the majority of lizard records were of one-off sightings, or surveys related to salvage or biosecurity operations. Comparing current species records with historical species distributions, it found that the diversity of lizards in all of the cities has declined dramatically since human colonisation. To begin to fill the identified knowledge gap and to provide baselines for future monitoring, I carried out skink surveys in four cities and trialled a citizen science project that collected public sighting records from residential backyards. Surveys undertaken in urban habitats captured four species of endemic skink: Oligosoma aeneum in Hamilton, O. polychroma, O. aeneum and O. ornatum in Wellington, O. polychroma in Nelson, and O. aff. polychroma Clade 5 in Dunedin. Site occupancy and number of captures were highly variable among the species and cities, with a very high proportion of sites occupied by skinks in Nelson and Wellington compared with Hamilton and Dunedin. Modelling showed O. polychroma catch per unit effort was positively related to rat tracking rates when grass cover was low but showed a negative relationship when grass cover was high. Higher proportions of urban land cover within 500 m were negatively associated with body condition. The public sightings website gathered more than 100 records from around the Wellington region over one summer, suggesting citizen science may be a cost-effective solution for building knowledge about lizards in residential gardens that are otherwise difficult to survey. While skink sightings were reported from all over the city, gecko sightings appeared in clusters. Compared with a random sample of street addresses, both skink and gecko sightings were more common closer to forest land cover, but only skink sightings were more common in backyards that were north facing. Finally, I administered a questionnaire survey to understand how socio- demographic characteristics relate to willingness to engage in three different pro-conservation activities that might benefit lizards: pest mammal trapping, biodiversity monitoring and pest mammal monitoring. Public willingness to engage in all three activities was positively related to respondents’ nature relatedness and nature dosage, while only the two monitoring activities were positively related to education. The relationship between willingness and nature relatedness was weaker for pest trapping than it was for the two monitoring activities, suggesting that willingness to trap may be determined by factors other than environmental concern. Native lizards are an important component of New Zealand’s urban biodiversity. Despite cities having lost significant proportions of their original lizard fauna, a wide variety of habitats in cities still support numerous species. Some of these species seem well adapted to cope with the challenges of urban living, while further research is required to understand whether populations of other species are stable or in decline. To ensure the persistence of lizards in cities, further surveys using a variety of methods should be undertaken to assess lizard diversity and abundance in urban habitats and understand population trends of rare and sparsely distributed species. Public sightings may provide a useful starting point for assessing distribution patterns and allowing the targeting of surveys. In the future, through urban restoration, cities may offer opportunities to conserve a larger proportion of endemic species by reintroducing species that have become regionally extinct.</p>

Conservation of endemic lizards in New Zealand cities

<p>Globally, biodiversity is in crisis. One contributing factor is the rapid urbanisation of the world’s population. Land cover change associated with urbanisation radically alters ecosystems, making them uninhabitable for many species. Additionally, people who live in cities often have reduced contact with nature and there are fears that a lack of nature experience may diminish concern for the environment and biodiversity among urbanites. For these reasons, people in cities are increasingly being encouraged and empowered to reduce environmental impacts and connect with nature through urban restoration and backyard conservation. Internationally, lizards are a common feature of urban biodiversity but in New Zealand, where many species are threatened, little is known about populations of endemic skinks and geckos in cities. In order to effectively manage urban lizard populations, greater knowledge is needed about where and how lizards are surviving in cities, and what potential exists for their restoration. I investigated species diversity and abundance of lizards in New Zealand cities, making comparisons with historical species distributions to inform urban restoration and investigating the potential role that participatory conservation might play in their protection. To collate current knowledge about past and present distributions of urban-dwelling lizards, I reviewed records for six New Zealand cities from published and unpublished literature and databases. Little research was identified from cities and the majority of lizard records were of one-off sightings, or surveys related to salvage or biosecurity operations. Comparing current species records with historical species distributions, it found that the diversity of lizards in all of the cities has declined dramatically since human colonisation. To begin to fill the identified knowledge gap and to provide baselines for future monitoring, I carried out skink surveys in four cities and trialled a citizen science project that collected public sighting records from residential backyards. Surveys undertaken in urban habitats captured four species of endemic skink: Oligosoma aeneum in Hamilton, O. polychroma, O. aeneum and O. ornatum in Wellington, O. polychroma in Nelson, and O. aff. polychroma Clade 5 in Dunedin. Site occupancy and number of captures were highly variable among the species and cities, with a very high proportion of sites occupied by skinks in Nelson and Wellington compared with Hamilton and Dunedin. Modelling showed O. polychroma catch per unit effort was positively related to rat tracking rates when grass cover was low but showed a negative relationship when grass cover was high. Higher proportions of urban land cover within 500 m were negatively associated with body condition. The public sightings website gathered more than 100 records from around the Wellington region over one summer, suggesting citizen science may be a cost-effective solution for building knowledge about lizards in residential gardens that are otherwise difficult to survey. While skink sightings were reported from all over the city, gecko sightings appeared in clusters. Compared with a random sample of street addresses, both skink and gecko sightings were more common closer to forest land cover, but only skink sightings were more common in backyards that were north facing. Finally, I administered a questionnaire survey to understand how socio- demographic characteristics relate to willingness to engage in three different pro-conservation activities that might benefit lizards: pest mammal trapping, biodiversity monitoring and pest mammal monitoring. Public willingness to engage in all three activities was positively related to respondents’ nature relatedness and nature dosage, while only the two monitoring activities were positively related to education. The relationship between willingness and nature relatedness was weaker for pest trapping than it was for the two monitoring activities, suggesting that willingness to trap may be determined by factors other than environmental concern. Native lizards are an important component of New Zealand’s urban biodiversity. Despite cities having lost significant proportions of their original lizard fauna, a wide variety of habitats in cities still support numerous species. Some of these species seem well adapted to cope with the challenges of urban living, while further research is required to understand whether populations of other species are stable or in decline. To ensure the persistence of lizards in cities, further surveys using a variety of methods should be undertaken to assess lizard diversity and abundance in urban habitats and understand population trends of rare and sparsely distributed species. Public sightings may provide a useful starting point for assessing distribution patterns and allowing the targeting of surveys. In the future, through urban restoration, cities may offer opportunities to conserve a larger proportion of endemic species by reintroducing species that have become regionally extinct.</p>

Reinventing the Capital: The Ideological Use of Monumental Architecture in Michael VIII Palaiologos’ Constantinople (1261–1282)

After the recapture of Constantinople (1261), Michael VIII Palaiologos (1259–82) re-shaped the city through extensive building activities. Though scholars have previously considered the involvement of Emperor Michael in the urban restoration of the capital, no attention has been devoted to the links between the different aspects of this programme of renewal. This paper advocates for the presence of an ambitious and systematic urban plan behind Michael VIII’s commissions focussed on the restoration of the southern shore of Constantinople and related to the political, religious, ideological, and aesthetic policies of this emperor.

Evaluating Dual Ecological and Well-Being Benefits from an Urban Restoration Project

The degradation of urban natural spaces reduces their ability to benefit human populations. Restoration can support urban sustainability by improving both the ecological health of these spaces and the public benefits they provide, but studies rarely combine both perspectives. We assessed the ecological and social benefits of an urban river restoration project relative to an unrestored river on the basis of the following four principles: Increasing ecological integrity; benefitting and engaging society; taking account of the past and future; and sustainability. Ecological health at each site was assessed by analyzing macroinvertebrate samples. The social benefits were measured by conducting focus groups with local users of green spaces surrounding the two rivers and comparing their responses. Restoration increased the ecological health of the river and was viewed positively by users, enhancing the river as a space to visit for psychological benefits. However, there were concerns over the erasure of the cultural heritage of the area. Our findings indicate that the long-term sustainability of restoration projects, particularly in urban areas, can be enhanced by integrating ecological and social dimensions. Although short-term ecological improvements may be small, they have the potential to provide a range of benefits for human populations.

Silent Witnesses:

In Silent Witnesses: Modernity, Colonialism, and Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier's Unfinished Plans for Havana, Joseph R. Hartman examines Havana's urbanization under the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado (in power 1925–33), focusing on the largely unrealized plans of French urbanist Forestier and his Franco-Cuban team of architects and planners. Scholars until now have focused on cataloguing the regime's extant monuments, while giving far less attention to Forestier's unbuilt urban works. The Machado regime's building campaign spoke to modern aspirations of Cuban independence and nationhood, but also to enduring colonial paradigms of race, power, and urban space. Interpreting the history of Havana's urbanization requires taking a critical view of Cuba's colonial heritage and the survival into modern times of local and imported colonialist practices. Revisiting this history lends new insights into the cultural stakes of urban restoration efforts ongoing in Havana today.

Bees in the D: A Message of Conservation from an Urban Environment

Examples of urban restoration and rewilding are critical in promoting grass roots efforts to restore ecosystems diversity in built environments. Honey bees are a vital part of many ecosystems, and urban beekeeping is a growing initiative with multiple benefits, spanning from ecological revitalization, to community cooperation, education, and cohesion. Here, we provide our own experience establishing an extensive system of roof top apiaries as cooperative effort between residents, schools, organizations, and businesses in the city of Detroit, Michigan. Our goal was to contribute to both the health of honey bee colonies and the education of their importance to our urban environment, through wide community engagement including interactive children’s educational events. Honey produced from this not-for-profit initiative is donated to local charities and small businesses, for fundraising, and also used for food and beverages in hospitality around the city. Research collaborations with scientists studying honey bee colony health, including the microbiome of honey bees, will explore possible solutions to help protect from pathogens and diseases. Most of all, we hope that this example will be of inspiration to others to take steps towards ecological solutions, in any and every form, within their own communities.

Partitioning (Facade) and Identity in the Historical Context Case of Zonouz City

City, identity, and urban landscape are interconnected with each other. Urban restoration is the final objective of the study and implementation of partitioning in historical contexts. The identity of city and its determining urban elements were always discussed while the urban passages are the most prominent elements in creating the historical context of urban landscape. The present study aimed at investigating the implementation of favorable partitions by considering vitality in historical contexts. This study analyzed the identity, originality, and partitioning to apply the principles defining a logical solution and creating the sense of belonging, collective memories, sense of place, and points related to environmental psychology in the historical contexts. Using some landscape architecture principles by considering some parameters such as originality, identity, and social-cultural elements can contribute to idealizing the identity partitioning to historical contexts and its adjacent points in urban areas. As a result, the identity concepts and parameters can interpret the partitions in terms of thought, design, and implementation of the principles used in the architecture.