Private Yards Research Articles

Attributes of private yards along a rural-urban gradient in China highlight opportunities and limits to increase trees to benefit biodiversity and climate

Attributes of private yards along a rural-urban gradient in China highlight opportunities and limits to increase trees to benefit biodiversity and climate

Understanding Ixodes ricinus occurrence in private yards: influence of yard and landscape features

BackgroundLyme borreliosis is the most frequent zoonotic disease in the northern hemisphere and is transmitted by ticks of the genus Ixodes. Although many people are bitten by ticks in private yards, our understanding of the factors associated with their presence in these areas remains limited. To address this gap, we used a citizen science approach to identify the local and landscape features associated with tick presence in yards.MethodsThis study was conducted near Nancy, a city in northeastern France, from 2020 to 2022. Citizen scientists collected ticks in their yard on a single event (n = 185) and measured 13 yard features. Additionally, we computed 11 features related to the landscape composition and spatial configuration surrounding these yards. Using generalized linear mixed models, we determined the yard and landscape features associated with the presence of ticks and nymphal Ixodes ricinus (hereafter nymphs), the life stage, and species that mostly bite humans.ResultsDespite a low density, ticks were found in 32% of the yards, including yards in urbanized areas. At the transect level, the likelihood of finding a nymph was nearly three times higher in transects shaded by vegetation compared to those in open areas, with no relationship between nymph occurrence and transect location or grass height. At the yard level, the occurrence of ticks and nymphs was related to both yard and landscape characteristics. Nymph and tick occurrence were more than twice as high in yards with signs of deer and a wood/brush pile compared to those without these characteristics, and increased with the connectivity of vegetation areas and the percentage of forest areas in the landscape.ConclusionsOur study reveals that private yards across an urbanization gradient are locations of tick exposure with tick presence linked to both yard and landscape factors. These findings emphasize the importance of public awareness regarding tick exposure in yards and provide crucial insights for future public health prevention campaigns.

Residents and their trees: a quali-quantitative study of preferences, attitudes and social factors affecting trees planted in private yards in China

Residents and their trees: a quali-quantitative study of preferences, attitudes and social factors affecting trees planted in private yards in China

Green treasures: Investigating the biodiversity potential of equine yards through the presence and quality of landscape features in the Netherlands.

At a time of mounting ecological crises and biodiversity loss, there is an urgent need for nature-based solutions. Equestrian properties cover a considerable proportion of the European rural and peri-urban landscape and provide much potential for integrating ecosystem services, such as the inclusion of small landscape features. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and quality of landscape features (LF) to help determine how the equine sector can contribute to the agro-ecological transition. Using a citizen science approach, 87 commercial and 420 private yard owners reported the type, frequency and geometric dimension of LFs and additional biodiversity enhancing features. A hierarchical multivariate regression was used to determine how equine property characteristics explain variation in the Percentage Property Coverage (PPC) of LFs. The model explained 47% of the variation of PPC. The variables that explained significant variation in PPC included Yard size, Number of LFs, Tree rows, Fruit orchard, Wild hedges, Flowering strips, Buffer strips, Embankments and Cluttered corners. Commercial yards are significantly larger with significantly more horses and on average only 9% (±13.87%) of the property was covered by LFs whilst private yards had significantly more coverage of LFs with on average 12% (±14.77%). These findings highlight the substantial yet untapped potential of equine yards in fostering biodiversity, suggesting that the equine sector could play an important role in the agro-ecological transition. To encourage more biodiverse-inclusive yard designs, tailored strategies should consider the diverse factors influencing equine yard design, including existing knowledge, client demands, financial considerations, and equine health and welfare.

The public–private divide and seasonal variation shape bird diversity in greenspaces of two neighboring midwestern USA cities

Greenspaces are increasingly valued for supporting biodiversity in urbanized landscapes. Previous research efforts have emphasized the importance of public land such as parks and nature preserves for biodiversity, yet private yards in residential neighborhoods also have great potential for species conservation. Our study considered the importance of adjacent public and private greenspaces for urban bird diversity. We surveyed birds in public parks (n = 39) and private yards (n = 41) distributed across neighboring twin cities (Champaign and Urbana) in Illinois, USA, to assess potential differences in bird diversity across: (1) the public–private divide; (2) seasons (winter vs. summer); and (3) the two cities. We found a seasonal interaction across the public–private divide. In summer, communities in private yards were a subset of those found in public parks, whereas in winter, both private yards and public parks hosted equally diverse yet distinct species assemblages. Between the two cities, Urbana supported greater bird diversity and a distinct species assemblage compared to the warmer, more urbanized city of Champaign. Our results demonstrate that both public parks and private yards play key roles in supporting native bird diversity, but also highlight that these roles can shift across seasons. Furthermore, we show that neighboring cities within the same conurbation can differ substantially in bird community structure and diversity. Our findings reinforce the importance of maintaining heterogeneous landscape mosaics and combining land sparing and land sharing approaches to maximize bird diversity in urban areas.

Perception and acceptance towards water reuse in the Southeast United States: A public survey

The growing global water crisis has increased the need for alternative water sources. Among the potential solutions to mitigate the current challenging situation, water reuse has been considered and implemented, especially during the past decade. Public perception/acceptance represents one of the most common challenges related to the wide implementation of water reuse. To evaluate its public awareness and better understand the reasons behind the public skepticism for outdoor and indoor activities, a survey was conducted in the Southeast United States. The survey included open-ended questions, questions with five-point Likert scales, and multiple-choice questions. A total of 203 responses were considered for the final analysis. Participants, mostly in the 18–60 age range, hold at least a high school diploma (94 %). The age of the participants had an association with the knowledge related to the wastewater treatment method adopted in their household (chi squared, X2 = 28.8, p = 0.055). Participants 1) selected the U.S. EPA as the most credible organization in the field of drinking water, 2) were more willing to use recycled water for removing road dust, watering private yards or non-edible crops, public toilets, and firefighting than for watering edible crops/orchards or livestock feed, and 3) were reluctant to use recycled water when direct-human contact or ingestion can occur. While only 8 % were willing to use recycled water for drinking, the addition of further treatments combined with environmental regulations, frequent sampling campaigns, and educational activities highlighting possible treatments and potential benefits related to water reuse, will increase the participants' willingness to implement water reuse more widely.

Zoonotic implications of white-footed mice habitat selection and territoriality in fragmented landscapes.

White-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) populations can thrive in fragmented suburban and urban parks and residential spaces and play a pivotal role in the spread and prevalence of tick-borne diseases. We collected spatial data on 58 individual mice living at the intersection of county park land and residential land in suburban Howard County, MD, U.S.A. We analyzed mouse density, home-range size and overlap, and a Bayesian mixed-effects model to identify the habitats where they were found relative to where they were caught, as well as a resource selection function for general habitat use. We found that as mouse density increased, home-range size decreased. The overlap indices and the resource selection function supported territoriality coupled with site-specific space use in these suburban mouse populations. While mice occurred in open areas, forest edge, and forest, they showed a strong preference for forested areas. Interestingly, mice captured only 30 to 40 m into the forest rarely used the nearby private yards or human structures and this has direct implications for the placement of rodent-targeted tick control treatments. Our study supports the need for zoonotic disease management frameworks that are based on site-specific land cover characteristics as well as specific management objectives.

Improving Community Health, Economy and Food Security through the Cultivation of Tanaman Obat Keluarga (TOGA) the Community of Jambenenggang Village, Kebonpedes District (Group 8 Food Security Division)

This activity aims to describe to the community about improving health, economy and food security through the production of family medicinal plants (TOGA) in Jambenenggang Village, Kebonpedes District, Sukabumi Regency. Based on its geographical location, Jambenenggang village is a rural village so most of the people are farmers. In addition, Jambenenggang village has potential for development, one of which is the many plants used in family medicine. The method used in the implementation of this group 8 KKM service is socialization, training in making family medicines with plants grown in private yards. The result is that every family stays healthy, their body's immunity is maintained, they have land that can be cared for and utilized by the community so that it can help economic conditions and increase village food security

Private trees contribute uniquely to urban forest diversity, structure and service-based traits

The urban forest provides our communities with a host of benefits through the delivery of ecosystem services. To properly quantify and sustain these benefits, we require a strong baseline understanding of forest structure and diversity. To date, fine-scale work considering urban forest diversity and ecosystem services has often been limited to trees on public land, considering only one or two green space types. However, the governance of urban green spaces means tree species composition is influenced by management decisions at various levels, including by institutions, municipalities, and individual landowners responsible for their care. Using a mixed-method approach combining a traditional field-inventory and community science project, we inventoried urban trees in the residential neighbourhood of Notre-Dame-de-Grȃce, Montreal. We assessed how tree diversity, composition and structure varies across multiple green space types in the public and private domain (parks, institutions, street rights of way and private yards) at multiple scales. We assessed how service-based traits – traits capturing aspects of plant form and functions that urban residents find beneficial – differed across green space types, with implications for the distribution of ecosystem services across the urban landscape. Green space types displayed meaningful differences in tree diversity, structure, and service-based traits. For example, the inclusion of private trees contributed an additional 52 species (>30% of total species) not found in the local public tree inventory. Trees on private land also tended to be smaller than those in the public domain. Beyond patterns of tree richness, size, and abundance we also observed differences in the composition of tree species and service-based traits at site-scales, particularly between street rights-of way and private yards. While species composition varied considerably across street blocks, blocks were very similar to one another in terms of mean service-based traits. Contrastingly, while species composition was similar from yard to yard, yards differed significantly in mean service-based trait values. Our work emphasises that public tree inventories are unlikely to be fully representative of urban forest composition, structure, and benefits, with implications for urban forest management at larger spatial scales.

Local plant richness predicts bee abundance and diversity in a study of urban residential yards

Understanding the drivers of biodiversity in cities is a central goal of urban ecology. There is currently intense scientific and public interest in the factors that influence pollinator diversity in cities and their surroundings. Existing studies point to a variety of landscape and local factors as potentially important, including urbanization (often defined as impervious surface cover in the surrounding lands), tree canopy cover and the diversity and abundance of locally flowering plants. However, few studies have sought to weigh the relative importance of these predictors of bee community metrics. Using a set of 27 residential yards chosen to represent a gradient of both urbanization and tree canopy cover at a landscape scale, we used pan trapping and netting to assess the abundance and diversity of local bee communities across the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Surprisingly, the landscape factors (urbanization and tree cover) described only a tiny fraction (< 1%) of the total variance in bee abundance and diversity across sites. This was true regardless of the scale of analysis at which the landscape factors were measured. Instead, a yard's floral richness, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, its floral abundance, emerged as the most important predictors of a yard's bee community abundance and diversity. Our study offers an important counterpoint to a growing body of work emphasizing the impacts of landscape factors on bee communities. Instead, our research suggests that improving bee floral resources by increasing the plant species richness and abundance locally is a powerful tool to support bee conservation, regardless of the level of urbanization or tree cover in the surrounding landscape. Our work highlights that the practice of promoting ‘bee-friendly’ plantings in private yards, currently being undertaken by a number of non-profits around the world, can play an important role in restoring and maintaining urban pollinator communities.

Bio-Delignification of Green Waste (GW) in Co-Digestion with the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW) to Enhance Biogas Production

The organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) is recognized as a suitable substrate for the anaerobic digestion (AD) process and is currently considered a mature technology. A promising strategy to enhance biogas yield and productivity is the co-digestion of OFMSW with other organic biomass, such as green waste (GW), a mixture of leaves, grass, and woody materials originated from private yards and public greenspace management. The main limitation to the use of GW for biogas production is the high percentage of the lignocellulosic fraction, which makes necessary a pretreatment of delignification to dissolve the recalcitrant structure. In this study, a new strategy of sustainable bio-delignification using the white-rot fungi Bjerkandera adusta (BA) in comparison with other chemical pretreatments were investigated. Untreated and treated GW were, respectively, submitted to anaerobic co-digestion with OFMSW. AD processes were carried out in a lab-scale plant for 30 days in thermophilic conditions (55 °C). Biogas cumulative production was increased by about 100% in the case of treated GW compared with that of just OFMSW, from 145 to 289 Nm3 CH4/ton SV, and productivity almost doubled from 145 to 283 Nm3/ton FM * day. The measured average methane content values in the cumulative biogas were 55% from OFMSW and 54% from GW. Moreover, over 95% of the biogas was produced in 20 days, showing the potential opportunity to reduce the AD time.

Thinking outside the park: recommendations for camera trapping mammal communities in the urban matrix

AbstractUrbanization is increasing globally, fragmenting habitats and prompting human–wildlife conflict. Urban wildlife research is concurrently expanding, but sampling methods are often biased towards large and intact habitats in public green spaces, neglecting the far more abundant, but degraded, habitats in the urban matrix. Here, we introduce the Five P’s of Urban Ecology—Partnerships, Planning, Placements, Public participation and Processing—as a path to overcoming the logistical barriers often associated with camera-trapping in the urban matrix. Though the Five P’s can be applied to a variety of urban sampling methods, we showcase the camera-trapping efforts of the DC Cat Count project in Washington, DC, as a case study. We compared occupancy models for eight urban mammal species using broad categorizations of land cover and local land use to determine drivers of mammal occurrence within the urban matrix as compared with urban habitat patches. Many native species maintained a strong association with large, semi-natural green spaces, but occupancy was not limited to these locations, and in some cases, the use of private yards and the built environment were not notably different. Furthermore, some species exhibited higher occupancy probabilities in developed areas over green spaces. Though seemingly intuitive, we offer advice on how to greatly reduce habitat-biased sampling methods in urban wildlife research and illustrate the importance of doing so to ensure accurate results that support the formation of effective urban planning and policy.

Compact development and adherence to stay-at-home order during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal investigation in the United States

In the absence of a vaccine and medical treatments, social distancing remains the only option available to governments in order to slow the spread of global pandemics such as COVID-19 and save millions of lives. Despite the scientific evidence on the effectiveness of social distancing measures, they are not being practiced uniformly across the U.S. Accordingly, the role of compact development on the level of adherence to social distancing measures has not been empirically studied. This longitudinal study employs a natural experimental research design to investigative the impacts of compact development on reduction in travel to three types of destinations representing a range of essential and non-essential trips in 771 metropolitan counties in the U.S during the shelter-in-place order amid the COVID-19 pandemic. We employed Multilevel Linear Modeling (MLM) for the three longitudinal analyses in this study to model determinants of reduction in daily trips to grocery stores, parks, and transit stations; using travel data from Google and accounting for the hierarchical (two-level) structure of the data. We found that the challenges of practicing social distancing in compact areas are not related to minimizing essential trips. Quite the opposite, residents of compact areas have significantly higher reduction in trips to essential destinations such as grocery stores/pharmacies, and transit stations. However, residents of compact counties have significantly lower reduction in their trips to parks possibly due to the smaller homes, lack of private yards, and the higher level of anxiety amid the pandemic. This study offers a number of practical implications and directions for future research.

Study of the unknown vine genotype found in Abkhazia

The territory of Abkhazia belongs to the region of origin of the cultivated grapevine. Wild forms, intermediate forms between wild and cultivated grapevines and a variety of local native cultivars grow here. In the one of the private yards, a grapevine was found, the name and exact origin of which is not known. The vine showed no signs of fungal diseases in the humid conditions of the region during the absence of chemical treatment. The grape harvest was used to make red wine. DNA-fingerprinting of the unknown genotype was performed to determine its origin. Analysis of the identified DNA profile for 9 SSR loci in the international VIVC database did not reveal coincides with any known cultivar. The methods of Principal coordinates analysis and Bayesian analysis were used to compare the unknown genotype with the genotypes of Vitis vinifera L of several geographic groups and varieties - interspecific hybrids. The closest genotype to the unknown form is the variety Isabella (V. labrusca L. × V. vinifera L).

Addition of Thiourea Host Monomer to Polymer Flocculants to Improve Selectivity of Phosphate Sorption

Inorganic phosphate is a common nutrient that is applied as a fertilizer to both agricultural fields as well as urban settings such as private yards, public parks and other urban landscaping. While phosphate typically binds tightly to soil, movement of phosphate off of application sites can occur through soil erosion. The soil and its bound phosphate can then end up in surface waters such as rivers and lakes. Phosphate found in surface water bodies exists both as bound to the suspended clay as well as that free in solution. Elevated phosphate concentration in surface waters can lead to algal blooms and eutrophication. While the phosphate bound to clay in suspension in surface water bodies can be removed by commercially available polymer flocculants, the phosphate that is free in solution is more challenging as it is usually found in low concentrations and other anionic salts are generally present in higher concentrations. To remove phosphate from contaminated water systems, where other anions exist at higher concentrations, it is favorable to have a method of removal that is selective for phosphate. As a proof of principle, thiourea derivatized polymer flocculants were examined for the selective removal of phosphate in the presence of competing anions. The polymer flocculants exhibited selectivity for phosphate through hydrogen bonding and were effective at removing up to 43% of phosphate from simulated wastewater. Computational studies and 1H NMR were used to investigate the selectivity of the thiourea monomer for phosphate over competing anions such as chloride and sulfate.

New data on Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae) from Bulgaria

The Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is considered to be one of the world’s most destructive fruit pests because of its global distribution, wide host range and rapid dispersal. In the period 1956–2006, transient populations of the pest have been reported regularly in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) initiated monitoring of C. capitata in 15 regions of the country. The surveys were conducted during the period 2013–2018, using Jackson traps with attractant trimedlure and Tephri traps with Biolure. The presence of adults of C. capitata was confirmed in peach, apple and mixed orchards, as well as in private yards at five locations in southern and south-eastern Bulgaria: Blagoevgrad, Kyustendil, Pazardzhik, Plovdiv and Sliven. The results from the five-year monitoring showed a variable abundance of C. capitata adults captured in different years and localities. The highest mean captures were recorded in 2014 (195) and 2018 (422), no specimen of the C. capitata was found in 2017. In 2018 the most abundant captures were from fruit gardens in Plovdiv (297♀;65♂) and Sliven (18♀; 22♂). Over the entire study period, the lowest rate of adult captures was in July and August (only a few individuals in traps in each region). The population abundance began to increase at the beginning of mid-September and a peak was observed at the beginning of mid-October. The results on the seasonal population fluctuations obtained are similar to data from neighbouring countries: northern Greece, Montenegro, Croatia, Romania, and Turkey.

Perceptions and preferences for urban trees across multiple socio-economic contexts in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Urban trees are vital components of urban ecosystems, and thus important for environmental quality, urban sustainability, and quality of life in cities. Regrettably, urban trees are sometimes unequally distributed both between and within towns, a pattern largely associated with differences in the social environment of cities and historical patterns of development, and the dearth in strategic management plans and systematic monitoring of the existing urban forest. Most management plans focus on ecological and arboricultural aspects at the expense of the social, and studies examining perceptions in relation urban forests are largely from developed countries. Accordingly, we conducted a study to examine the perceptions and preferences regarding urban trees of 1200 residents from 10 urban areas across multiple socio-economic contexts in South Africa. We found that most (87%) urban residents have positive perceptions of trees. This was supported by emphasis placed on the importance of urban trees for quality of life in towns by >70% of respondents. However, >70% of respondents were dissatisfied with both the appearance of their streets and the insufficient number of street trees. They emphasized their preference for having trees both on the street and in their private yards, highlighting an array of benefits provided by urban trees. Incorporating residents’ perceptions and preferences of urban greening into plans and strategies towards urban forest establishment and management is a crucial strategy towards the reduction of disparities in urban forest distribution. Furthermore, it contributes to the establishment of an urban forest that accommodates user-needs based on user preferences, while also serving the needs of the broader natural environment.

Youth perceptions of equine ethics at regional 4-H horse shows

Water treadmills (WTs) are becoming increasingly popular as rehabilitation and training tools. Concerns have been raised among equine professionals about injury development/exacerbation after WT use, and little knowledge of optimal WT use is available. The aim of this study was to determine how WTs are being used, using an international survey-based approach, with a view to informing future research. Venues were identified through internet searches and WT manufacturers. A questionnaire inquired about venue setup, caseload overview, and protocol overview. A case-specific questionnaire generated information about individual sessions. One hundred and twenty venue questionnaires were distributed and 41 responses (34%) were obtained; nine of these venues contributed 608 case-specific questionnaires. Water treadmills were found mostly at educational and rehabilitation centers, with four on private yards. Horse fitness, previous experience, age, weight and veterinary condition influenced individual protocols. All centers habituated their cases for 2–3 sessions, for an average of 16 minutes in hock or fetlock depth water. Significant differences between training and rehabilitation sessions were identified (deeper water, slower walk speed and longer duration for training compared to rehabilitation; P ≤ .023 for all three variables). Water treadmills were most frequently used for rehabilitation in horses with ligament and tendon injuries. Water treadmill habituation is important, and protocols were similar between venues. Water treadmills' usage was 60%:40% between training:rehabilitation with protocols varying significantly between venues.

Contribution of non‐native plants to the phylogenetic homogenization of U.S. yard floras

AbstractCultivation and spread of non‐native plant species may result in either phylogenetic homogenization (increasing similarity) or differentiation (decreasing similarity) of urban floras. However, it is unknown how non‐native species influence homogenization of cultivated versus spontaneously occurring species in cities, and which traits are associated with species that promote homogenization versus differentiation. In this study, we compared homogenization effects of cultivated and spontaneous non‐native species in yard floras across and within seven widely distributed U.S. cities. Additionally, we explored which traits explained their particular contribution to homogenization. We recorded plant presence/absence in 178 private yards distributed among seven metropolitan statistical areas in the United States. We compared phylogenetic homogenization effects of non‐native species within both the cultivated and spontaneous species pools using phylogenetic dissimilarities and the homogenization index. Then, we expressed contributions of non‐native species to the homogenization of each pool as a function of two different sets of plant functional traits using phylogenetic generalized least square (PGLS) models across and within cities. Across cities, spontaneous non‐native species homogenized, and cultivated non‐native species differentiated, yard floras. Within the spontaneous pool, short, small‐seeded non‐native plants and non‐native grasses significantly homogenized yard floras. Within the cultivated pool, species contribution to homogenization was best predicted by plant height, presence of showy flowers, and growth form, with non‐native grasses significantly homogenizing cultivated yard floras. Within cities, non‐native species—whether they were cultivated or spontaneous—consistently homogenized yard floras of the three northern cities and differentiated yard floras of three of the four southern cities, suggesting that homogenization processes are context‐ and scale‐dependent. Likewise, traits explaining homogenization differed substantially among cities. The inconsistent patterns among cities in the plant traits that promoted homogenization of both cultivated and spontaneous species suggest that local environmental and anthropogenic conditions of individual cities imposed strong constraints on trait selection. Linking plant functional traits that promote homogenization with residents’ preferences for vegetation may further enhance understanding of how yard plant communities assemble at regional and local scales.

Drivers of plant species richness and phylogenetic composition in urban yards at the continental scale

As urban areas increase in extent globally, domestic yards play an increasingly important role as potential contributors to ecosystem services and well-being. These benefits largely depend on the plant species richness and composition of yards. We aim to determine the factors that drive plant species richness and phylogenetic composition of cultivated and spontaneous flora in urban yards at the continental scale, and how these potential drivers interact. We analyzed plant species richness and phylogenetic composition of cultivated and spontaneous flora of 117 private yards from six major metropolitan areas in the US. Yard plant species richness and phylogenetic composition were expressed as a function of biophysical and socioeconomic variables and yard characteristics using linear mixed-effects models and spatially explicit structural equation modeling. Extreme temperatures largely determined yard species richness and phylogenetic composition at the continental scale. Precipitation positively predicted spontaneous richness but negatively predicted cultivated richness. Only the phylogenetic composition of the spontaneous flora was associated with precipitation. The effect of lower temperatures and precipitation on all yard diversity parameters was partly mediated by yard area. Among various socioeconomic variables, only education level showed a significant effect on cultivated phylogenetic composition. Our results support the hypothesis that irrigation compensates for precipitation in driving cultivated yard plant diversity at the continental scale. Socioeconomic variables among middle and upper class families have no apparent influence on yard diversity. These findings inform the adaptation of US urban vegetation in cities in the face of global change.