Biodiversity Of Park Research Articles

Assessing the Potential of Prambanan Biodiversity Park for Sustainable Food Resources and Agriculture in Kemudo, Klaten, Central Java

Prambanan Biodiversity Park (TKP), situated in Kemudo, Klaten, Central Java, is an important natural reserve dedicated for preservation of local biodiversity and environmental protection by PT.Sarihusada Generasi Mahardhika. This research investigates the park's potential in providing food resources and supporting agricultural practices for nearby communities. Assessment of plant species is conducted to evaluate the park's biodiversity, including surveys, species identification, mapping. The collected data provides an overview of the park's biodiversity and serves as a baseline for further analysis. The analysis focuses on identifying plant species within the park that hold potential value for food resources and agriculture. This includes studying ecological relationships between species and plants that contribute to pest control in agricultural systems. To understand the local community's perspectives and practices related to food and agriculture, interviews, focus group discussions are conducted, exploring their traditional knowledge and utilization of biodiversity for sustenance and farming. The research finds several potential benefits of utilizing TKP for food resources and agriculture. The diverse flora of the park offers a variety of edible plants, such as Moringa oleifera and fruit-based species, which can enhance local diets and provide nutritional diversity. Furthermore, traditional plants like mojo hold potential as natural pesticides, contributing to pest control in agricultural fields. Integration of biodiversity into local food systems may require capacity building and awareness programs to promote sustainable harvesting and cultivation practices. The research recommends the development of conservation strategies and policies focused on sustainable practices, community participation, and educational initiatives to maximize the potential benefits for local food security and agriculture. This research drive conservation strategies that protect biodiversity and enhance the well-being of the local community. TKP emerges as an invaluable resource capable of supplying essential food provisions and supporting eco-friendly agricultural practices for neighboring communities, thereby emphasizing the criticality of interweaving biodiversity preservation within the framework of local food systems.

Mining Social Media Data to Capture Urban Park Visitors’ Perception of Cultural Ecosystem Services and Landscape Factors

Urban parks not only enhance urban ecology but also play a crucial role in providing cultural ecosystem services (CESs) for the well-being of urban residents. Both artificial and natural landscape factors within parks contribute significantly to the supply of cultural ecosystem services. To explore public perceptions of landscape factors and CESs, this study focused on 25 urban parks in Hangzhou. Social media data uploaded by park visitors from 2018 to 2023 were collected to establish a corresponding CES indicator framework. Combining computer vision with text mining, we assessed the preferences and correlations between visitor-perceived CESs and park landscape factors. The results indicated that the majority of park visitors perceive CESs (80.00%) with overall satisfaction higher than importance. Among them, aesthetic experiences and recreation showed both high satisfaction and importance. In shared social media photos, arbors (19.01%), herbaceous flowers (8.99%), and groves (8.22%) were frequently presented as landscape factors. The study revealed close correlations between user gender, landscape factors, and perceived CES categories, with females contributing more to the perception of both. There were internal correlations within CES categories, with spiritual services, aesthetic experiences, and recreation showing the most significant associations. Different landscape factors impacted CES categories to varying degrees, and biological landscapes formed by plant and animal factors were considered to provide more CESs. These findings are significant for enhancing the quality of ecological services and biodiversity in parks.

Biodiversity and quality of urban green landscape affect mental restorativeness of residents in Multan, Pakistan

IntroductionThe influence of urban green spaces on public health is receiving unprecedented attention. Managing urban greenspaces sustainably requires an understanding of the mechanisms behind the positive effects of urban biodiversity on the wellbeing of residents. Urban parks could improve mental restoration of park users. The restoration potential may be influenced by the biophysical characteristics of the park.MethodsThis study aimed to understand two aspects of urban parks in Multan, Pakistan: (a) How does the perception of biodiversity and the quality of urban parks relate to mental restorativeness of park visitors? (b) What are the determinants of respondents' willingness to pay for the conservation and management of park biodiversity and quality in urban parks? Data were collected from October 2021 to December 2021 through a cross-sectional survey in which 550 park visitors were interviewed from six randomly selected urban parks in Multan. Multiple linear regression analysis, a binary logistic model, and a chi-square test were applied to analyze the data.Results and discussionThe study empirically highlights the positive contribution of park visits to mental restorativeness. Biodiversity and quality were positively correlated with the mental restorativeness of park visitors. Sixty-two percent (62%) of the visitors were reluctant to pay, whereas 38% were ready to pay between Rs. 850/3.7$ and Rs. 1,700/7.4$ each year. Education, occupation, and monthly income significantly positively affected the respondent's WTP attitudes. The study highlights the importance of using urban parks as tools to promote mental restorativeness, combat social stress, and increase urban vegetation cover.

Green space and planning structure optimisation ways in parks and monuments of landscape architecture

Renovation of urban space is not possible without new approaches to the formation of green spaces of the landscape gardening heritage. In restoring parks-monuments of landscape art, simultaneous consideration of ecological and biological foundations, preservation of the historical structure of plantations and landscape planning framework, as well as meeting the modern needs of users of these spaces is an important issue. The research aims to formulate practical recommendations on the main ways to optimise the planning structure and green spaces, as well as means of protecting biodiversity in parks and monuments of landscape art. The study used general scientific methods (analysis and synthesis, field research) and special methods (dendrological, cartographic, historical, and architectural analysis, and computer methods for processing graphic data). During the pre-project stage of the study, the prerequisites for the formation of Zhovtnevyi Park in the structure of the Chernivtsi landscape were identified. A list and description of typical plant species typical for the area were provided. In addition, the pre-project study analysed conflicts in the park, which were divided into the following main groups: transport and pedestrian, functional, natural, anthropogenic, and visual. The interconnection of different types of conflicts and their impact on the conservation of biodiversity of green spaces in the park was revealed. As a result, new elements of the planning structure have been formed that improve the landscape-spatial organisation of the park's territory and contribute to the optimisation of green spaces. The project developed and analysed in this study has selected an assortment of plants that enrich the biodiversity of park plantings and can be used in the design of other urban parks. The example of the project for the maintenance and reconstruction of Zhovtnevyi Park in Chernivtsi demonstrates practical planning approaches and recommendations aimed at maximising the preservation of the natural landscape and enhancing its functional and artistic features

Seasonal land use/land cover change and the drivers in Kafta Sheraro national park, Tigray, Ethiopia

Kafta Sheraro National Park (KSNP) has experienced rapid and consecutive destruction of dry woodland vegetation due to the influence of anthropogenic activities in the past three decades. However, to date, the change in woodland cover and its driving factors have not been addressed. This study aims to assess the spatial and temporal trends of land use/land cover change, seasonal vegetation cover change via the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and human-induced drivers of change that occurred in the KSNP between 1988 and 2018 by using satellite imagery sensors (TM, ETM+, OLI), field observations, and local community interview data. The 2018 image results showed kappa coefficients of the dry season and wet season of 0.90 and 0.845, respectively. There was a continuous decline in woodland (29.38%) and riparian vegetation (47.11%) and an increasing trend in shrub bush land (35.28%), grassland (43.47%), bare land (27.52%), and cultivated land (118.36 km2) over the thirty-year period. Moreover, the results showed that bare land expanded from wet to drier months, while cultivated land and grazing land increased from dry to wet months. Based on the NDVI results, high to moderate vegetation was decreased by 21.47%, while sparse and non-vegetation expanded by 19.8% and 1.7%, respectively. Settlement and agricultural expansion, human-induced fire, firewood collection, gold mining, and charcoal production were the major proximate drivers that negatively affected park resources. Around KSNP, the local communities’ livelihood depends on farming (crop and livestock production). This expansion of farming is the main driver of woodland depletion, which leads to increased resource competition and a challenge for the survival of wildlife. Therefore, urgent sustainable conservation of park biodiversity by encouraging community participation in conservation practices and preparing awareness creation programs should be mandatory.

Population Ecology and Possible Threats to Defassa Waterbuck (Kobus Ellipsiprymnus Defassa) in the Nechsar National Park, Ethiopia

Because of potential conflicts with humans, we investigated the population structure of waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa) in the Nechsar National Park, Ethiopia, from November 2019 to August 2020, using line transect methods. The estimated population was 118 and 104 in the wet and dry seasons, respectively, and averaged 111 (+8) or 0.23/km2. The proportion of each age group averaged 31% adult males, 45% adult females, 12% subadult males, 11% subadult females, and 2% juveniles; the large number of female individuals suggests a healthy and increasing waterbuck population. The distribution of waterbuck sightings among habitat types differed by season (χ2 = 15.97, df = 3,p<0.05). Different conservation measures should be taken to create a conducive environment for waterbuck and large park biodiversity.

Stavovi ispitanika o turizmu u zaštićenim prirodnim područjima: primjer Lonjskog polja

Protected areas have a primary role in preserving the biodiversity of a region and are often valorized as a resource in tourism. The paper is based on the results of an empirical study conducted on a sample of 160 respondents. The main research goal was to determine the opinions and attitudes of the respondents about the development of rural tourism and its impact on the conservation of biodiversity in the Lonjsko polje Nature Park (Park). The results show that 56.9% of respondents consider that pollution caused by human activity has the greatest impact on biodiversity loss, but also that informing visitors about responsible behavior is a way to preserve biodiversity in the Park. Respondents agree with the statement that rural tourism is "eco-friendly" and that a sustainable form of tourism contributes to nature conservation. It was found that age and level of education were not statistically significantly related to the respondents' perception of the impact of rural tourism on biodiversity in nature parks. Respondents are moderate in the view that tourism should not be carried out in nature parks (M = 2.85) or that rural tourism in the park pollutes the environment and disrupts the landscape (M = 2.61). With a high degree of agreement (M = 4.04), respondents believe that the Park has the potential to develop ecotourism.

What Visitors Want From Urban Parks: Diversity, Utility, Serendipity

Urban parks may provide a range of ecosystem services, but community perspectives can influence the conservation of parks and their biodiversity. Cultural ecosystem services, or the non-material benefits that people receive from nature, can prompt a park’s use and motivate a management response from local government. Our study aimed to explore why people visit urban parks, whether the tacit biodiversity of a park influenced visitation, and understand what park visitors notice, and how being in an urban park makes them feel. Combining both human and more-than-human aspects, we carried out park surveys that comprised an ecological survey and short, three-question interview with park visitors. The park surveys were carried out in six parks each in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, and Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand. While the biodiversity of species in parks differed significantly within and between cities, we found no consistent relationships between park biodiversity and the numbers of people in parks nor how being in the parks made participants feel. Some park visitors did say that their reason for being in the park was to engage with nature, but other reasons were also listed, such as to meet friends or use specific park facilities, such as gym equipment or playgrounds. Park visitors valued a diverse range of services and natural utilities, such as shade, from their visit. Many interactions were also serendipitous for visitors due to the proximity of urban parks near residential areas, businesses and transport hubs, or as extensions of their homes. We conclude that although the use of parks was not directly tied to biodiversity per se, visitors considered them to be places where they can interact with nature in a range of ways.

Parks under attack: Brazil's Iguaçu National Park illustrates a globalthreat to biodiversity.

National parks are under attack in many parts of the world, including Brazil, which the Convention on Biodiversity ranks as the world's most biodiverse country. Brazil has been experiencing an unprecedented environmental crisis, and the political situation in the country favors approval of environmentally damaging measures by both the legislative and executive branches of government. A new and largely unreported setback is a proposal in the National Congress for a road cutting the Iguaçu National Park in two. Here, we identify environmental threats from the proposed road and pressures on the park from the surrounding human population. The proposed laws violate Brazil's constitution and would cause immeasurable damage to the park's biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. The road would reduce the cost of transport between two municipalities (counties), but not the cost of transporting soybeans, their main agricultural product. However, the local population would be better served by strengthening its ties to the park and promoting economic alternatives such as tourism, agroforestry, and organic agriculture. The Caminho do Colono road illustrates the danger posed by downgrading the status of protected areas in order to allow environmentally damaging activities. This trend is occurring in many countries and is especially evident in Brazil.

Assessment of environmental threats to the park’s forest ecosystems

Aim. The aim is to assess the environmental threats to Park forest ecosystems and to study the possible links and the long-term consequences of their actions. Methods. Methods use of comparative analysis, classification, ranking of impacts, mathematical processing of data. Results. The main threats to Park forest ecosystems are formulated and evaluated. Deepened some of the methodological effects on criteria for assessment of threats. The classes of danger are defined, the General danger index of threats and correlation communications between groups and criteria of their assessment is calculated. The factors that have the most negative impact on the biodiversity of parks. Conclusions. In the conditions of urban ecosystems there is a strengthening and lengthening of the action of some threats and leveling of other types of impacts. The characteristics of the intensity of action, the time factor and the spatial spread of threats do not have a clear synchronization. The overall hazard index showed the dominance of the intensity and time of the impact of specific threats to the urban ecosystem. Keywords: anthropogenic impact, General hazard index, urban ecosystem, biodiversity.

In Pursuit of Urban Sustainability: Predicting Public Perceptions of Park Biodiversity Using Simple Assessment Tools

In the face of ongoing global species loss, it is vital that urban societies see the value of biodiversity. However, practical strategies to enhance society’s appreciation of biodiversity are limited by the disparity that exists between public perceptions and expert assessments of biodiversity. To enhance our understanding of this disparity, and to provide insight into the visual cues that influence laypeople’s perceptions of biodiversity, four novel non-expert-dependent assessment tools—along with estimates of vegetation cover and bird species richness—were used to examine the attributes of 134 Australian urban parks. Ordinal regression modelling was used to explore the ability of these tools to predict perceptions of biodiversity and naturalness collected via a public questionnaire that yielded 1894 individual green space perception responses from 840 individuals. Despite researchers theorising otherwise, changes in structural variation were too subtle to significantly influence perceptions. Vegetation cover, habitat diversity, and a proposed Urban Park Naturalness Index (UPNI) were the strongest predictors of perceived biodiversity, explaining 31% of respondent perceptions. Bird species richness significantly influenced perceptions of naturalness but not biodiversity. Despite a relatively weak correlation between perceptions and objective measures (Nagelkerke R-squared = 0.307), we demonstrate how subtle changes in assessed attributes significantly affect predicted perceptions of the environment. For example, every additional habitat type within a park increases the odds of it being in a higher perceived biodiversity category by 31.7%. We suggest further development of simple assessment tools, such as the UPNI, that provide valuable insights into human responses to nature, and can aid the sustainable design and management of urban green space.

Plant Community Composition and Biodiversity Patterns in Urban Parks of Portland, Oregon

Urban parks are biodiversity hotspots and are integral components of green infrastructure in urban areas. A variety of land use practices and environmental factors affect urban park biodiversity and vegetation structure, composition, and ecological function, but few studies have compared plant taxonomic composition, structural complexity, and species traits across different types of urban green spaces. The purpose of this study was to better understand the relationships between plant community composition, structural patterns, and environmental and species traits by using a standardized data collection method across different types of urban parks in Portland, Oregon. We examined the potential ways that different types of urban parks preserve native species and/or harbor non-native and invasive species. We used a stratified random sampling design to select 15 parks of different types based on use: 1) recreational-active use parks, 2) natural-passive use parks, and 3) multi-use parks. We found a total of 178 plant species belonging to 141 genera and 65 families. Multivariate analyses, including ordination with non-metric multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis were used to explore vegetation composition data and associations of different species assemblages with environmental variables. One-way analysis of variance was used to test hypotheses about variables associated with diversity. Statistically-significant differences in species richness and biodiversity indices were found between different park types. More native species were found in natural-passive use parks than other park types, more non-native species are found in multi-use parks than the other park types, and more invasive species were found in natural passive-use parks than in recreational-active use parks. Attributes such as natural-passive use park type, wetland habitat, steep slopes, native species origin, non-native species origin, and vine and tree plant forms were those most strongly correlated with the non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination, indicating that these attributes exert the strongest influence on species abundance and distribution with Portland’s urban parks. The findings of this study can assist park managers in their aims to promote native species cover, reduce invasive species presence, or achieve additional management goals for urban parks.

Gold is not green: artisanal gold mining threatens Ranomafana National Park's biodiversity

Gold is not green: artisanal gold mining threatens Ranomafana National Park's biodiversity

La Problematique De Gestion Du Parc National De La Comoe (Pnc) En Cote D’ivoire, Entre La Survie Des Populations Riveraines Et La Conservation De La Biodiversite

The Comoe National Park (CNP), the largest park in West Africa, is one of the twenty largest parks in the world. It undergoes many anthropics pressures, the most intense of its history have been those periods of sociopolitical crisis that Cote d'Ivoire has experienced. The anthropogenic pressures that weigh on this park are most often practiced by the riparian populations for their survival. These pressures are rife despite the State's investigations through the Ivorian Office of Parks and Reserves (OIPR), the structure in charge of the management of protected areas. In view of this situation, a fundamental question arises, how to achieve sustainable conservation of the park's biodiversity without depriving riparian populations of their survival? This study mainly allows to analyze the factors at the origin of the management problem of this park. Through a qualitative approach as well as the appropriate data collection techniques and tools, we identify the problems from three main angles, namely the socio-cultural, economic and institutional characteristics that underlie the sustainable management problem of the CNP.

Economic valuation of biodiversity in South Asia: The case of Dachigam National Park in Jammu and Kashmir (India)

AbstractBiodiversity needs our attention because humans receive a wide range of direct and indirect benefits. Valuation of biodiversity is important to establish the importance of use and non‐use values of biological resources and cost of ignoring them. Against this backdrop, the aim of this study is to capture the recreational value of the national park biodiversity while employing travel cost method. To this end, the value of the economic benefits generated by sustainable management of Dachigam National Park in Jammu and Kashmir (India) is estimated using data from 301 visitors from different parts of the country. Data are analysed using count data models, and results reveal that travel cost method is suitable for valuation of various use values generated by environmental resources such as national parks. Estimated results show that consumer surplus per visitor per visit in present study is equal to Rs. 12,470 (US$197), which translates into an annual monetary recreational value of about Rs. 247,614,828 (approximately US$3,930,395). Demand for tourism services is also found to be fairly insensitive to travel cost/price. Therefore, an increase in entry fee and redistribution of proceeds can improve the physical and financial management of the park.

The effect of urban park landscapes on soil Collembola diversity: A Mediterranean case study

By increasing landscape patchiness and habitat loss, urbanization threatens biodiversity. Its adverse effects may be mitigated by urban parks, in which conditions that promote structural and functional biodiversity contribute to preserve ecosystem processes. Therefore, deep knowledge of urban park biodiversity and of patterns driving species assemblages is required, especially for soil communities which are understudied. This study, conducted in public parks in Montpellier (Southern France), is the first one examining the impact of landscape patterns on Collembola communities. Moreover, soil abiotic properties were analyzed to examine how local factors drive species assemblages in different landscape types. The results of the study highlighted that Collembola community structure is affected by landscape patterns. Specifically, Collembola communities with species-abundance structures typical of late successional stages were found within woody landscapes, whereas those with early successional stage structures were observed in wide turf patches surrounded by other vegetation covers. When turf patches become small and isolated, homogenization was observed in Collembola community composition. From the perspective of urban park planning, managers should consider limiting landscape fragmentation (i.e. interspersion and configuration of impervious surfaces) and preserving landscape diversity (especially through woody vegetation patches). These may promote the development of diverse and structured Collembola communities, indicators of the overall soil quality.

Seasonal changes of biodiversity patterns and habitat conditions in a flooded savanna - The Cameia National Park Biodiversity Observatory in the Upper Zambezi catchment, Angola

Seasonal changes of biodiversity patterns and habitat conditions in a flooded savanna - The Cameia National Park Biodiversity Observatory in the Upper Zambezi catchment, Angola

Evaluating wildlife management by using principles of applied ecology: case studies and implications

Context The broad concepts and generalisations that guide conduct of applied ecology, including wildlife management, have been reviewed and synthesised recently into 22 prescriptive and three empirical principles. Aims The aim of this study was to use these principles to evaluate three on-ground wildlife management programs and assess the utility of the principles themselves. Key results Case studies of long-term management of national park biodiversity impacted by feral pigs (Sus scrofa), and of conservation and harvest of red kangaroos (Macropus rufus) and mallards (Anas platyrhnchos), were selected to provide a representative range of management objectives, spatial scales and land tenures, and to include both native and introduced species. Management documents and a considerable scientific literature were available for all three programs. The results highlight similarities and differences among management activities and demonstrate the 25 principles to differing degrees. Most of the prescriptive principles were demonstrated in both the management and the scientific literature in all three programs, but almost no use was made of the three empirical principles. We propose that use of the prescriptive principles constitutes evidence that these programs meet both societal and scientific expectations. However, the limited use of the empirical principles shows gaps in the three programs. Conclusions The results suggest that evaluating other wildlife management programs against the principles of applied ecology is worthwhile and could highlight aspects of those programs that might otherwise be overlooked. Little use was made of the empirical principles, but the the Effort–outcomes principle in particular provides a framework for evaluating management programs. Implications The effort–outcomes relationship should be a focus of future applied research, and both prescriptive and empirical principles should be integrated into wildlife management programs.

Social involvement and park citizenship as moderators for quality-of-life in a national park

ABSTRACTThis paper contributes to the advancement of quality-of-life research in tourism by examining complex relationships involving direct, mediated, moderated and moderated mediation relationships among the antecedents to quality-of-life. Using a sample of 222 repeat visitors in an Australian national park, the findings indicate positive significant effects of (1) place satisfaction on quality-of-life; (2) place satisfaction on place attachment; (3) place attachment on quality-of-life; (4) park citizenship on place attachment. The findings further support that (5) place attachment mediates the relationship between place satisfaction and quality-of-life; (6) social involvement moderates the relationship between place satisfaction and place attachment; (7) park citizenship moderates the relationship between place satisfaction and place attachment; (8) social involvement moderates the relationship between place attachment and quality-of-life; (9) social involvement moderates the indirect effect of place satisfaction on quality-of-life. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Park managers, for example, need to promote on-site marketing and post-visit communication/interpretation, encouraging repeat visits and behavioural change. Message delivery needs to promote a sense of belonging to the park with personal meaning, creating place distinctiveness. Personal actions to promote include signing petitions supporting the park's biodiversity, and other resources, and volunteering to participate in meetings and other direct actions.

Using a political ecology approach for large scale regional tourism management

Tourism as a conservation tool is often discussed in academic research, yet usually focuses strictly on biodiversity in parks or other boundary areas, rather than destinations as a whole. This paper uses the theoretical context of political ecology to examine and offer insight into factors affecting destination management and conservation on a larger scale where strict environmental measures are not in place. This study uses a mixed methods approach to examine the Lake Simcoe Watershed in Ontario, Canada. The area has no clearly identifiable boundaries and is protected under a federal act for conservation but is not enforced with regard to tourism. Findings show that broader issues such as governance, access, development, leadership and overall awareness affect management in addition to conservation. Conclusions outline that although there is a common interest in the ecological protection of the area, other key economic and social issues of stakeholders must be addressed if environmental concerns are to be resolved.