Green Spaces In Urban Areas Research Articles

Flora of herbaceous and arboreous plants in Komaba Campus of the University of Tokyo, Japan.

BackgroundRecent studies revealed that green spaces in urban areas are critical for conservation of native biodiversity and that assessment of the present flora of green spaces in urban areas is critical for protection of the native biodiversity. The Komaba Campus of the University of Tokyo embraces a relevant green area, located in a highly urbanised area in Tokyo Metropolis (35.66 N 139.68 E, Japan). The total area of this Campus is 25.4 ha, from which, 4.5 ha are covered by vegetation. Although intense urbanisation can be observed around the Campus, new insect species had been reported for the Campus area, suggesting that the biodiversity on the Campus still demands some attention. Differently from fauna surveys, no flora survey has been done for more than 30 years on the Campus. In this study, we have extensively surveyed the plants diversity on the Komaba Campus of the University of Tokyo, aiming for an update of the plants list on this green urban area in Tokyo.New informationThe survey covered all herbaceous and arboreous plants growing wild on the Campus. Garden plants were excluded in this survey because these plants were supposed to be cultivated. The final dataset contained, in total, 324 taxa, from which 234 were herbaceous plants and 90 were arboreous plants. The top three taxa are as follows: Poaceae (38 taxa), Asteraceae (34 taxa) and Rosaceae (14 taxa), respectively. This is the first update to the Flora of the Komaba Campus of the University of Tokyo in 30 years and represent an important contribution to conservation of native species in the Tokyo metropolis.

Nature Experiences of Older People for Active Ageing: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Co-Design of Community Gardens

In Western countries, the concepts of healthy ageing and active ageing, that is, concepts that favour health, participation, and security to increase the quality of life of older people, have become key issues. Hence, the effective design of public green spaces in urban areas is crucial, as visiting these areas encourages social relations and interactions in natural, healthy contexts. Consistent with these perspectives, existing landscape design criteria emphasise the importance of considering not only the functional and aesthetic elements, but also the ecosystemic and biophilic relationships between people and the environment, producing positive effects for both. To maximise the impact of such design criteria, proper engagement strategies are desirable, both to assign an active role to older people themselves and to inform the fine-tuning of the design process according to the specific needs of the local population. This study presents an interdisciplinary co-design method that encourages and informs a biophilic approach by describing the experiences of people in natural environments, actual and designed, through the application of attention restoration theory (ART). The case study was developed through six focus group meetings with older people for the co-design of a restorative area in a community garden in the Ortica district in Milan (Italy). Results show how the main needs expressed by participants can be classified into the ART factors of “compatibility” (a multifunctional garden), “fascination” (sense of contact with nature), and “being away” (metaphorical escape from nursing homes). The garden designed includes biophilic principles that respond to such needs, and specific links with designed elements were identified. For example, “being away” (e.g., isolation from daily routine and visual occlusion of the surroundings) and “compatibility” (e.g., pergola and aesthetic value) are the factors that include the elements that more satisfactorily answer previous needs. “Fascination” also includes many positive aspects, allowing space for improvements (e.g., more water elements, interaction with animals). Implications of the method are discussed, including the importance of subjective experience in informing design, the use of different psychological constructs to describe it, and the methodological alternatives for psychological assessment.

Assessing the inequities in access to peri-urban parks at the regional level: A case study in China’s largest urban agglomeration

Access to peri-urban parks (PUPs) has recently gained considerable attention because of the limited green space in urban areas that cannot meet residents’ increasing demands for engaging with nature. Here, we aim to assess the accessibility to PUPs and monitor the underserved areas in the context of urban agglomeration, and to examine the inequities across districts with heterogeneous social groups. A Huff-2SFCA (Huff-two step floating catchment area) model was developed to evaluate the PUP accessibility. In addition, we adopted 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 min as the threshold of travel time to identify the areas that are underserved by PUPs. Welch's ANOVA test (one-way ANOVA with unequal variances) was used to monitor the disparities in PUP accessibility among different cities, and a bivariate correlation was used to explore the associations between PUP accessibility and socioeconomic variables. Factor analysis (using varimax rotation) was then applied to cluster socioeconomic indicators into three factors, which were further divided into four quartiles. Lastly, the average value of PUP accessibility in each quartile group was calculated and compared to measure inequities. The Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration (YRDUA), China’s largest urban agglomeration, was selected as the case study. The results suggested the following: 1) PUP accessibility increases while the number of underserved subdistricts decreases as the threshold value of travel time increases from 30 to 150 min, and 90 min is a ‘turning point’, after which an increasingly small difference is suggested both in PUP accessibility and underserved subdistricts; 2) there are statistically significant disparities in PUP accessibility across different cities in YRDUA; and 3) the socioeconomically disadvantaged districts have fewer opportunities to enjoy PUP services, while districts with lower social status groups or higher ethnic minority populations were not treated unequally. Our findings contribute to the environmental justice paradigm by assessing the inequities in access to PUPs over an extensive geographical scope, which could help decision-makers formulate effective policies and strategies for improving nature exposure from a regional planning perspective.

Green spaces and risk of dementia-related mortality among the elderly in urban areas in Belgium: a 13-year follow-up census-based study

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Living in greener areas is associated with slower cognitive decline among the elderly, but few studies have explored the link with dementia-related mortality. This study examines the relationship between residential surrounding greenness and dementia-related mortality in the five largest urban areas in Belgium. METHODS: We used data from the 2001 Belgian census linked to mortality register data during 2001-2014. We included individuals aged 60 years or older and living in the agglomerations of Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liege in 2001. Exposure to residential surrounding greenness was assessed using the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) within 500-m buffer from the residential address registered in 2001. We used ICD-10 codes to identify general dementia-related mortality including any neurodegenerative diseases (F00-F03, G12.2, G20-G22, G30-G31 and G35), and four types of dementia-related mortality: Alzheimer’s disease (G30); vascular dementia (F01); unspecified dementia (F03); and Parkinson’s disease (G20-G22). To define our cases, we considered any mention to dementia in the death certificate (i.e., as original, immediate, additional or intermediate cause of death). Cox proportional hazard models were conducted to obtain hazard ratios (HR) for dementia-related mortality for an IQR increase in surrounding greenness. Models were adjusted for age, gender, migrant background, education, housing tenure and PM2.5. RESULTS:In total, 1,089,215 individuals were included at baseline (2001). 6.1% died from neurodegenerative diseases during follow-up (1.9% Alzheimer’s disease, 0.5% vascular dementia, 0.4% Parkinson’s disease and 2.8% unspecified dementia). Surrounding greenness was inversely associated with all outcomes of dementia-related mortality, excepting Parkinson’s disease. These relationships remained significant after adjustment for all the covariates considered, but not with unspecified dementia after including PM2.5. The strongest beneficial association after complete adjustment was found for vascular dementia (HR 0.91, 95%CI: 0.86, 0.96). CONCLUSIONS:Our findings suggest that living close to green spaces in urban areas might reduce dementia-related mortality risk among the elderly. KEYWORDS: Green space, Neurodegenerative outcomes, Mortality

Metropolitan children's physical fitness: The relationship between overweight and obesity prevalence, socioeconomic status, urban green space access, and physical activity

Children’s access to green spaces in urban areas is highly associated with their physical and psychological wellbeing. In the last two decades, children’s access to urban outdoors has reduced, and concerns about children’s physical health have increased. The number of overweight and obese children has considerably risen from both developing and developed countries. Turkey is a developing country, where studies about childhood obesity and its relationship with access and use to urban green spaces are limited.Therefore, this study first investigates the relationship between children’s visits to urban green spaces and age, gender, proximity, quality and physical health; Second, it also investigates obesity prevalence in school children (aged six to eighteen) and identifies the relationship between physical fitness and availability of green spaces close to children’s living arrangements, visits to green spaces, regular physical activity in green spaces and socioeconomic status (SES). This study includes 2668 student from 24 state schools in 4 different districts of Istanbul. In each region, two schools from each education level (primary, secondary and high school) were retrieved. Physical fitness indicators (weight and height) were measured, and children were asked to take part in questionnaires about their green space use.This study identified that children were more likely to visit green areas, if they were existed within proximity to their homes and quality of urban green spaces was an essential factor for visits. Visiting green spaces were significantly correlated with age, and younger children were more likely to visit compared to older children. A quarter of children (25.67 %) were overweight or obese. Gender [0.82; p=0.038), and age [Age<10 was 2.06; p= 0.000 and Age 10−14 was 1.93; p = 0.000) were statistically significant variables for overweight and obesity. It was identified that odds of children who lived in gated communities, being overweight or obese were 29 % [1.29; p=0,048] higher then children living in traditional neighbourhoods. Children visiting urban green spaces for physical activity were 29 % [0.71; p=0.032) less likely to be under the risk of being overweight or obese. The study identified obesity prevalence is higher in younger children, which might indicate a growing number of overweight and obese children and needs monitoring in the future.

Development of Urban Green Spaces for Achieving Ecological and Social Benefits of Urban Areas in Sri Lanka

Green spaces create a link between human beings and the environment around them to enhance the quality of human life and benefits for both. But the reductions of green spaces in urban areas lead to several environmental and social problems world-wide. This study focused to find the required sites for Urban Green Space (UGS) development to gain ecological and social benefits in Rathnapura Municipal Council. Six Grama Niladhari Divisions were selected for the study. Accordingly, digitized Google Earth Pro satellite images in 2019 and population data in 2018 were used for analysing existing UGS. According to that geometric calculation, buffer, near, and weighted sum tools in ArcMap 10.4 were used to analyses data. Green Space Per Capita Index (GSPCI) was calculated to find whether the existing UGS is enough or not for the healthy living of the residents based on recommendation scales of World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations (UN) as 9m² and 30m² green spaces per person respectively. It has been found the study area is exceeding both recommended levels. Whatever the GSPCI, the study has found Mihindugama, Rathnapura Town North and West have required approximately 114624, 8474, and 38617 square meters of additional UGS respectively according to buffer analysis based on GSPCI regard to UN recommendations. Weighted sum analysis has found that approximately 18% of land highly required UGS. Meanwhile, the study has revealed Mihindugama, Kospelawinna, and New Town have a shortage of UGS near the residential areas. Moreover, the study shows there is a potential to develop UGS in the area by approaching existing re-sources. As consequences of this study will provide ideas for mitigating urban issues and guide to fulfil the additionally required UGS to better development.by the above findings for the benefit of future online learning and to carry out such educational activities without interruption.

The Integration of Nature-Based Solutions into Climate Adaptation Policy and Planning in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is regarded as one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in South Asia due to its unique geographical location and socio-economic conditions. Natural disasters, changing temperatures, precipitation, and sea level rise have affected agricultural production, infrastructure, and livelihoods in the country. To face these challenges, nature-based solutions (NbS) can address climate change adaptation, protection and management of natural ecosystems, and biodiversity conservation. For example, in Bangladesh, coastal mangroves can protect communities from storm surge and sea level rise, forests in hilly regions can prevent landslides, and green spaces in urban areas can reduce heat stress and promote the well-being of inhabitants. However, effective design, implementation, and upscaling of NbS requires support from national policies and plans. This study reviews relevant Bangladeshi national policies from the past three decades to investigate NbS as a potential framework to address climate change and societal challenges in the country. We systematically analyzed twenty policy documents across three sectors: national development; disaster management and climate change; and environment and forest. Our study found growing emphasis on preservation, protection, and management of natural ecosystems in the national policies. However, our analysis showed that among the twenty policies, nineteen of them have no direct mention of NbS terminology. Instead, the policies include various strategies and terminologies that fall under the NbS umbrella, such as ecosystem-based adaptation, ecosystem services, and green and eco-building. However, these policies are still widely missing specific implementation guidelines, robust financial support, and institutional mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating NbS initiatives in Bangladesh. We recommend several policy actions to facilitate effective and inclusive NbS interventions in Bangladesh: enhance inter-ministry cooperation; develop national funding support; develop a national promotional campaign; pursue evidence-based research and capacity-building activities; and involve youth, marginalized people, and women. These actions can optimize the benefits of NbS to enhance the country’s resilience against climate change and foster sustainable development.

Insect biodiversity of urban green spaces in Penang Island, Malaysia

Declining biodiversity is receiving much attention around the world and green spaces in urban areas can help enhance biodiversity by creating habitat for living organisms especially from the class Insecta. Insects maintain biodiversity on earth and play a key role in the regulation as well as dynamics of many ecosystem services. Insect conservation especially in urban areas can be done by protecting the beneficial habitat from human activity and creating an environment with modifications to facilitate the target insect’s conservation such as creating green roof spaces. In this study, the richness of insect species was assessed from two different vegetation arrangements, vertical and horizontal, from different sampling sites and noting their light intensity, solar radiation and relative humidity. There was no significant correlation between insect species richness and all the three abiotic factors (p > 0.05). However, different plant types; flowering and non-flowering, were found to affect the richness of insect species, with relatively more insect species present at study sites with flowering plants compared to study sites with non-flowering plants (p < 0.05). This information can help to develop a sustainable and comprehensive environment in urban areas.

Green Spaces in Residential Areas of Dar es Salaam City: Types, Coverage and Uses

Green spaces in urban areas including in Dar es Salaam City provide multiple ecological, social and economic benefits. Despite their benefits they are inadequately documented in terms types, coverage and uses. This paper attempts to provide information on types, coverage and uses of green space in Dar es Salaam City. A number of methods including literature review, interpretation of remotely sensed image, interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires were used to document city greenery. The research findings show that residential greenery is made up of greenery found within and external to plots. The dominant green spaces external to residential plots were natural and semi natural vegetation while within plots were woody plants, plots farms vegetable and ornamental gardens. Distribution of greenery varied among the wards due to differences in building density and distance from the city centre. Natural and semi natural vegetation increased with decrease of building density and increase of distance from the city centre, while the number of plots with trees for shade increased with increase of building density. Only Kawe ward that had greenery above Tanzania space planning standards, the other three wards which are informal settlements had green space deficit. Three quarters of the households use green spaces for shade provision and cooling, two thirds as a source of food products and a quarter for recreation and aesthetic purposes. The study reveals that Dar es Salaam City residents invest predominantly on shade trees in their residential plots compared to other green space types.

Rapid identification of urban green space using Planetscope satellite image and artificial intelligence

Urban green open space is areas in a city or town filled with vegetation to support socio-ecological functions. These areas have increasingly threatened as a result of being converted to urban infrastructures. As an essential feature of city infrastructure, urban green space should be monitored according to the spatial plan of the city area. However, the space that has been assigned to the urban green space is not a match for its current use. One of the problems that caused urban green space usage mismatch is difficulties in identifying urban green space changes. Planetscope satellite imagery is a high-resolution satellite image that can be used to identify open green spaces in urban areas. In this research, we used an artificial intelligence method to develop a pixel classification process for accurate and efficient identification of the green open space. The results showed that Planetscope satellite imagery and artificial intelligence methods had 99% accuracy in monitoring green open spaces. The use of this technology can assist in the early detection of green open space changes effectively and efficiently.

Isolation of Actinomycetes with Cellulolytic and Antimicrobial Activities from Soils Collected from an Urban Green Space in the Philippines.

Actinomycetes are one of the most important groups of soil bacteria that are recognized as sources of commercially important enzymes and antimicrobials. Actinomycetes, however, are largely underestimated and uncharacterized in underexplored habitats such as green spaces in urban areas. This study aimed to isolate actinomycetes from soils in the University of the Philippines Diliman campus and determine their cellulolytic and antimicrobial activities. A total of 235 isolates were purified from the soil samples collected. Cellulolytic and antimicrobial activities were observed in 114 and 18 isolates, respectively. The cell-free supernatants of 31 isolates exhibited high cellulolytic activities. Two isolates, in particular EWLG2 and EPNA9, had 0.596 FPU and 0.885 FPU cellulolytic activity, respectively. Seven isolates exhibited antimicrobial activities in the screening methods used. The crude extracts of isolates AWLG9, AWLG8, AWLG10, AULG1, APLG2, and AWLG13 had minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) values ranging from 31.25 µg/mL to 500 µg/mL against Candida spp. Isolates AULG1 and EPLG5 were active against the bacterial test microorganisms and had MIC values ranging from 250 µg/mL to 500 µg/mL. DNA sequencing identified the isolates which exhibited high cellulolytic and antimicrobial activities as Bacillus sp. and Streptomyces sp., with percent identities ≥98%. This study shows that green spaces are rich sources of soil microorganisms that have cellulolytic and antimicrobial activities. It is recommended that the isolates obtained in this study be examined further for possible applications in bioethanol production and pharmacology.

Remote Sensing for Ecosystem Services and Urban Sustainability

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how geospatial technologies, especially remote sensing, can play a leading role in defining urban sustainability based on the evaluation of demand and supply of ecosystem services (ES ). A brief review of sustainable development and urban sustainability will be given followed by demonstrations of the need for green spaces in cities, and the consequences of fragmentation of green spaces on biodiversity. Although there are no substantive figures for desirable levels of green spaces in urban areas for the benefit of inhabitants, the paper proposes minimum desirable areal percentages. The paper defines natural capital and ES and the procedures adopted by researchers in balancing the supply and demand for ES for urban areas. The genuine progress indicator is presented as a measure of assessing human welfare, but it is not pursued as an indicator of sustainability. Examples of the applications of remote sensing technologies for determining supply and demand of ES are reviewed as are the potential of the supply and demand of ES to support decision-making in urban areas, to ensure that development decisions are sustainable and are in the best interests of the urban residents who depend on ES for their life support.

Socioeconomic Differences in Walking Time of Children and Adolescents to Public Green Spaces in Urban Areas-Results of the German Environmental Survey (2014-2017).

Public green spaces have a high potential for a positive impact on people’s health and wellbeing, especially in urban areas. Studies on environmental justice indicate socially unequal access possibilities to urban green spaces. This article presents results on associations between individual socioeconomic position (SEP) and walking time from home to public green spaces in young people living in urban areas with more than 20,000 inhabitants in Germany. Data were derived from the German Environmental Survey for Children and Adolescents 2014–2017 (GerES V), the environmental module of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS Wave 2). The sample comprises 1149 participants aged 3 to 17 years. A total of 51.5% of the participants reach a public green space on foot within five and 72.8% within ten minutes from home. The lower the participant’s SEP, the longer the walking time. Logistic regression models controlling for age group, sex, migration background, and region of residence show that participants with a low SEP have a significantly higher risk (odds ratio = 1.98; 95% confidence interval: 1.31–2.99) of needing more than ten minutes to walk from home to a public green space than participants with a high SEP. GerES V data indicate that young people living in urban areas in Germany do not equally benefit from the health-promoting potential of green spaces, which is an important aspect of environmental health inequalities.

Planning Strategy for the Reduction of Runoff Using Urban Green Space

Urban green space plays an important role in treating stormwater. In a highly dense urban environment, it is difficult to create large areas of green space. To utilize green space in urban areas effectively, locating an effective green space type is important. In this study, we examined the effect of green space on runoff reduction by comparing different green space setting scenarios. By changing the green space area ratio, green space structure, street tree type, and rainfall duration and amount, we compared the runoff rates. The results showed that the green space area ratio was more effective when more than 10% of the area was green space, and the runoff reduction rate was decreased more effectively when the tree canopy LAI (leaf area index) value increased from 2 to 2.5 than when the LAI value was higher. Green space was more effective at lower intensities of rainfall events. Different green space structures cause other effects on evaporation and soil infiltration. Each strategy needs to be implemented correctly for green infrastructure policy purposes.

Residing in urban areas with higher green space is associated with lower mortality risk: A census-based cohort study with ten years of follow-up

BackgroundEpidemiological studies suggest that residing close to green space reduce mortality rates. We investigated the relationship between long-term exposure to residential green space and non-accidental and cardio-respiratory mortality. MethodsWe linked the Belgian 2001 census to population and mortality register follow-up data (2001–2011) among adults aged 30 years and older residing in the five largest urban areas in Belgium (n = 2,185,170 and mean follow-up time 9.4 years). Residential addresses were available at baseline. Exposure to green space was defined as 1) surrounding greenness (2006) [normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and modified soil-adjusted vegetation index (MSAVI2)] within buffers of 300 m, 500 m, and 1000 m; 2) surrounding green space (2006) [Urban Atlas (UA) and CORINE Land Cover (CLC)] within buffers of 300 m, 500 m, and 1000 m; and 3) perceived neighborhood green space (2001). Cox proportional hazards models with age as the underlying time scale were used to probe into cause-specific mortality (non-accidental, respiratory, COPD, cardiovascular, ischemic heart disease (IHD), and cerebrovascular). Models were adjusted for several sociodemographic variables (age, sex, marital status, country of birth, education level, employment status, and area mean income). We further adjusted our main models for annual mean (2010) values of ambient air pollution (PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and BC, one at a time), and we additionally explored potential mediation with the aforementioned pollutants. ResultsHigher degrees of residential green space were associated with lower rates of non-accidental and respiratory mortality. In fully adjusted models, hazard ratios (HR) per interquartile range (IQR) increase in NDVI 500 m buffer (IQR: 0.24) and UA 500 m buffer (IQR: 0.31) were 0.97 (95%CI 0.96–0.98) and 0.99 (95%CI 0.98–0.99) for non-accidental mortality, and 0.95 (95%CI 0.93–0.98) and 0.97 (95%CI 0.96–0.99) for respiratory mortality. For perceived neighborhood green space, HRs were 0.93 (95%CI 0.92–0.94) and 0.94 (95%CI 0.91–0.98) for non-accidental and respiratory mortality, respectively. The observed lower mortality risks associated with residential exposure to green space were largely independent from exposure to ambient air pollutants. ConclusionWe observed evidence for lower mortality risk in associations with long-term residential exposure to green space in most but not all studied causes of death in a large representative cohort for the five largest urban areas in Belgium. These findings support the importance of the availability of residential green space in urban areas.

Application of Deep Learning Method to Vegetation Survey in Preserved Green Spaces in Urban Areas

Application of Deep Learning Method to Vegetation Survey in Preserved Green Spaces in Urban Areas

Measuring the accessibility of public green spaces in urban areas using web map services

The important ecological and recreational functions of public green spaces for metropolitan regions have been increasingly recognized, especially in the last few decades in developing countries that experienced rapid urbanization at the cost of ecological land. This study developed a green accessibility index (GAI) that quantifies the efficiency of accessing different levels of public green spaces. The GAI used the improved estimation method by using web map services, which can acquire information such as optimized path choices and corresponding time-cost information in different trip modes. Taking Shanghai as a case, this study measured and mapped the accessibility of different types of public green spaces at the spatial resolution of 50 m. The results illustrated that the Central Activities Zone had the highest accessibility, whereas most rural areas beyond the Inner Ring Road had low accessibility, except for some parts dotted with several public parks. Overall, the accessibility decreased from the city core to the urban periphery within the Outer Ring Road. This study proposed an improved method to estimate the green space accessibility at a much finer scale with high accuracy, due to the advantages of the data provided by web map services. This method can be an effective tool in planning public green spaces, and can be adapted to plan other public service facilities.

Pandemia y huida de las aglomeraciones. La nueva demanda de alojamientos en entornos menos densos y en contacto con la vegetación y la fauna

En este trabajo se examina el encaje jurídico de la demanda de aumento de zonas verdes y de contacto con la naturaleza tras la pandemia de COVID-19. En concreto, se examina esta cuestión tanto en las zonas urbanas ya consolidadas como en las de nuevo crecimiento y en las zonas rurales o bajo protección especial. Estamos ante un evidente rechazo de la idea de aglomeración y ante un incremento de la presión favorable a la construcción de viviendas en zonas rurales y boscosas. Por otra parte, la legislación deberá favorecer el aumento de los espacios verdes en los ámbitos urbanos. Esto podría implicar un reajuste en las relaciones del ser humano con otras especies vegetales y animales adaptadas a un entorno antrópico.

6th Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning

This editorial is an overview of a Special Issue of Land entitled “Selected Papers from the6th Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning: Adapting and Expanding Contracting Cities.” This Special Issue of land contains six papers—most of which were presented at the 6th Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning (Fábos et al. 2019) held at the University of Massachusetts Amherst 28–30 March 2019.The Fábos conference theme was to explore the social and economic potential of linear green spaces in urban areas that are declining or expanding.

An underrated habitat: Residential gardens support similar mammal assemblages to urban remnant vegetation

Urban environments offer substantial opportunities for wildlife conservation as they commonly overlap the distribution of native species and comprise structurally complex and diverse habitats. Conservation strategies within urban environments currently focus on enhancing or maintaining natural remnant vegetation despite the variety of smaller greenspaces that are known to support wildlife. Residential gardens in particular comprise a major component of the total greenspace in urban areas and offer numerous resources that can be used by multiple taxa, and may therefore represent an important, yet unrealised opportunity for conservation. In this study we aimed to further the understanding of the potential value of gardens for biodiversity conservation by comparing the diversity, presence, abundance and reproductive activity of mammals in gardens to natural urban bushland remnants. We demonstrate that gardens support a similar diversity of native mammals as urban bushland and that the presence, abundance and reproductive activity for most native mammals was similar in both bushland and gardens. With the exception of domestic pets, the presence and abundance of introduced species was not higher in gardens compared to urban bushland. Our study highlights that the potential role of residential gardens for biodiversity conservation should not be overlooked. Given that novel urban ecosystems will continue to expand, inclusion of gardens in wildlife conservation and management actions is likely to greatly increase our ability to conserve wildlife in urban habitats.