Garden Size Research Articles

Conservation of Plant Diversity in Rural Homegardens with Cultural and Geographical Variation in Three Districts of Barak Valley, Northeast India1

Homegardens are recognized worldwide as sustainable agroforestry systems that are repositories of species and genetic diversity. Species diversity and composition of homegardens are influenced by a number of environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural factors. The present study examines the tree species diversity in the homegardens of different cultural groups of Barak Valley, Assam, Northeast India. Complete enumeration was done for diversity analysis in 181 homegardens from 38 villages in the three districts of the Valley. Factors affecting plant diversity were analyzed, and the floristic composition of the homegardens was found to vary with garden size, ethnicity of the homegarden owners, and geographical parameters such as location and altitude. Results indicate high plant diversity, with a total of 161 tree species identified from 47 families. Tea garden labor communities were comparatively found to hold more diversity in their homegardens. Similarity and cluster analysis revealed the distinctness of the majority of the homegardens, and seven groups of homegardens with very low distance were revealed. Homegardens were also found to maintain considerable conservation value as repositories of many underutilized, wild, and rare plant species. Biodiversity conservation in the homegardens was found to be linked to the multiple values of the different plant species to the homegardeners and further highlight the concept of the “conservation through use” approach. For the preservation of such traditional agroforestry systems, which also have the potential to provide options for adaptation to climate change, proper documentation of traditional knowledge concerning the different plant species and the human-nature interaction in the homegardens is necessary before such systems are completely lost.

Pollination service to urban agriculture in San Francisco, CA

Urban agriculture can increase the sustainability of cities by reducing their ecological footprint, conserving biodiversity, and improving quality of life in a city. Given the environmental, economic and social value of urban agriculture, it is important to understand the ecosystem services that sustain it. We experimentally investigated how pollination by wild bees affects tomato production on 16 urban agriculture sites in San Francisco, CA. By comparing four pollination service indicators (fruit set, fruit mass, yield, and seed set) in four pollination treatments (open, artificial-self, artificial-cross, control), we were able to determine that tomatoes pollinated by wild bees significantly outperform the control in terms of all four pollination service indicators measured. Furthermore, the results of this study indicate that urban areas can support adequate pollination service to urban agriculture, regardless of garden size, garden age, or proportion of impervious surface in the surrounding matrix, and that floral resource density is a major factor influencing pollination service.

Vulnerable Groups’ Involvement in Small-scale Vegetable Production: A Panacea for Poverty and Food Insecurity?

ABSTRACTEfforts to eradicate poverty and food insecurity among Batswana vulnerable groups through small-scale vegetable production programs do not appear to change their economic outlook. These groups were investigated to determine the contribution of their involvement in the program to eradication of poverty and increasing food security. A pretested interview schedule was used to source information from respondents. Mean garden size was 72 m2 with a profit margin of P684.00 (P = Pula, Batswana currency; 1 P = US$0.11) on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and P1,140.00 on spinach (Spinacea oleracea L.). Over 70.0% of respondents spent between 13.7 and 19.3 hours weekly on garden activities. Benefits derived included food (53.8%), income (46.2%), utility bills (43.8%), clothing (10.0%), and furniture (3.8%). Small-scale vegetable production has potential for contributing to improving income security among vulnerable groups.

Easy-to-Use Look-Up Hydrologic Design Charts of a Soak-Away Rain Garden in Singapore

As catchments become urbanized due to population growth the impervious surfaces created by buildings and pavements in the expense of permeable soil, depressions, and vegetation cause rainwater to flow rapidly over the landscape. To mitigate the adverse impact of urbanization such as increased flooding and depleted groundwater recharge, around the world, several best management practices, in other words, green infrastructures have been practised, and soak-away rain garden is one of them. However, to have a rapid assessment of soak-away rain gardens on a range of potential hydrologic conditions (e.g., size of the soak-away rain garden, saturated hydraulic conductivity of the in-situ soil, and saturated hydraulic conductivity of the filter media), hydrologic design guidelines or design charts of soak-away rain gardens that are specific for local conditions are not currently available for many regions including Singapore. Thus, in this paper, with a design hyetograph of 3-month average rainfall intensities of Singapore, hydrologic design charts, especially, design charts on overflow volume (as a % of total runoff volume) of soak-away rain gardens are established for a range of potential hydrologic conditions by developing a mathematical model based on Richard’s equation using COMSOL Multiphysics, a finite element analysis and solver software package for various physics and engineering applications. These easy-to-use look-up hydrologic design charts will be of great utility for local managers in the design of soak-away rain gardens.

Nutrition Intervention and Homestead Kitchen Gardening-Improving Nutritional Security in Rural Livelihoods

The magnitude of malnutrition and the ignorance about the relationship between food and health among a majority of the population at all levels necessitates the need for nutrition education. This approach in long term may promote self-reliance and self support in the communities. Nutrition intervention programmes have been taken up and are being implemented by the central, state governments and voluntary agencies with a view to improve the nutritional status and health of the vulnerable sections of the population. Homestead gardening can play a significant role in improving food security for rural households as well as middle class urban households in developing country like India. The present study explained about a cost effective technology for the optimal nutrient intake to achieve the nutritional security among resource poor people. The occupation and family size were positively associated with food security. The results revealed that there is a positive relation between family size and area of kitchen garden.

정신병원 옥외공간의 이용행태 및 선호요인 분석

This study was conducted in order to analyze user behavior and preference factors in the outdoor spaces of mental hospitals. Among hospitals with 250 or more beds, 5 hospitals were selected in consideration of size of garden and diversity of garden elements. The subject of the study was restricted to mild cases of schizophrenia while 30~50 patients were selected on the recommendation of their doctor from 5 hospitals, respectively. The physical environment was analyzed, focusing on space components, after visiting the sites of study. A face to face interview method was selected in consideration of patients' cognitive abilities, a total of 230 questionnaires were used for the analysis. The results of the study can be summarized as follows. Rest facilities occupy the largest numbers in the components of garden, and those are followed by landscape facilities, walking/exercise facilities, and experience facilities. Outdoor walking/exercise programs are classified into group walks and free walks with most patients taking group walks. Most of the patients visit these outdoor spaces every day but some of them rarely use the outdoor areas. In order to increase the efficiency of using these outdoor spaces, the percentage of space for ensuring a sense of control should properly harmonize with the percentage of space to facilitate patients in having social contact. With regard to the reasons for preferring the most widely-used outdoor spaces, landscape/environment property was the most important, followed by functionality and then accessibility. Major activities in the preferred space are mainly composed of walking/exercise and rest. The preferred facilities are waterscape facilities such as ponds, waterfalls and fountains, rest facilities such as pergolas and shade trees, and lawn. It was understood that naturalness should be considered to be the most important factor in constructing a new healing garden, followed by aesthetics and amenities. Single facilities rated by preference for introduction were flower beds, trails, and lawn. According to type, waterscape facilities such as fountains, ponds, waterfalls and waterwheels were most preferred. Space for natural distraction and programs for the cultivation of flower beds were also preferred. The ideal image of a healing garden should be bright, familiar, and orderly as a whole, having plenty of introduced 정신병원 옥외공간의 이용행태 및 선호요인 분석 Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture 166 한국조경학회지 제 42권 6호(2014년 12월) 73 facilities. Open spaces were preferred to enclosed spaces. Finally, the image of a garden that helps patients feel calm was thought to be that of the most ideal garden.

Utamu wa Afrika (the sweet taste of Africa): The vegetable garden as part of resettled African refugees' food environment

AbstractAimTo examine the role of gardening as a component of resettled African refugees' food environment.MethodsThis was a qualitative study that collected data using in‐depth interviews from 13 gardeners who were purposively sampled to include those participating in community and home gardens. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was used to identify themes in the data.ResultsThematic analysis of the interviews revealed three emerging themes: food provision (access, availability and affordability), enhanced wellbeing (mental and physical) and barriers encountered in the food environment (limited knowledge on crop seasonality, size of garden and cost of manure). By having access to a vegetable garden, participants were able to access healthy foods and utilise familiar and culturally acceptable foods.ConclusionsThrough gardening, the resettled refugees' traditional foods are not only made available but easily accessible at little or no cost ensuring households are able to make healthy food choices. The pillars of food security—food availability, access, utilisation and stability—are enhanced through gardening, making community and home gardens an important component of the resettled refugees' food environment.

English

Onion is an important horticultural vegetable in the urban Zimbabwe market. In Zimbabwe there is a need to improve the yield of onions on garden size areas utilizing locally available materials thereby avoiding purchased inputs which are often unavailable or inaccessible due to no supply or prohibitive price. The present study investigates the effects of trash grass and sawdust mulches in combination with organic and inorganic fertilizers on onion growth and yield. When the two mulching materials were compared, trash grass mulch favored the growth of onions more than sawdust mulch. Mulching improved soil water retention capacity, improved soil structure and suppressed weeds. These features played a significant role in the performance and ultimately the yield of onions. Similarly, total plant weight, aerial leaf weight, bulb weight and yields plot were also higher for samples taken from plots with trash grass mulch than those mulched with sawdust. This work also sought to evaluate mulching materials and fertilizer types on the various components of the onion plant at different stages of development and hence their contribution to the final yield. Trash grass in combination with organic and inorganic fertilizer the final yield improved by 160% and 310%, respectively. As for sawdust, final yield improved by 103% and 275% for combinations with organic and inorganic fertilizer respectively. The effect of fertilizer types alone on the growth and yield of onions was less dramatic than that of mulch.

Examining floristic boundaries between garden types at the global scale

Gardens represent important sources of goods and services for their owners. This functionality translates directly into the types of plants cultivated in a given garden, and terminology has been developed to distinguish each category of garden according to its purpose. The factors explaining the differentiation and distribution of gardens have not previously been explored at the global scale. In this study, the plant lists for 44 sets of gardens from around the world were analyzed to explore their taxonomic similarities and the factors shaping each garden. Several biophysical and socioeconomic variables were examined at the appropriate scale for their roles in garden species distribution. Physical and climatic factors (temperature, rainfall, potential evapotranspiration and distance between settlements) were found to be significantly related with species makeup; all of these factors were less important than GDP per person, a proxy for household income, which was determined to be the primary driver of garden composition. All of the studied socioeconomic factors, such as language similarity among settlements and population density, were significant drivers of species distribution. However, the present analysis omits a number of variables due to data unavailability, such as garden size and owner gender, which have been previously recognized as influences on garden plant composition. The genera cultivated in different gardens were found to be very different from each other, and the definitions of each type are hard to establish from these data alone. Finally, the implications of likely future income variations, such those caused by severe economic crisis, and global climate change on bio-cultural diversity and food security are discussed.

A Benchmarking System for Domestic Water Use

The national demand for water in the UK is predicted to increase, exacerbated by a growing UK population, and home-grown demands for energy and food. When set against the context of overstretched existing supply sources vulnerable to droughts, particularly in increasingly dense city centres, the delicate balance of matching minimal demands with resource secure supplies becomes critical. When making changes to "internal" demands the role of technological efficiency and user behaviour cannot be ignored, yet existing benchmarking systems traditionally do not consider the latter. This paper investigates the practicalities of adopting a domestic benchmarking system (using a band rating) that allows individual users to assess their current water use performance against what is possible. The benchmarking system allows users to achieve higher benchmarks through any approach that reduces water consumption. The sensitivity of water use benchmarks are investigated by making changes to user behaviour and technology. The impact of adopting localised supplies (i.e., Rainwater harvesting—RWH and Grey water—GW) and including "external" gardening demands are investigated. This includes the impacts (in isolation and combination) of the following: occupancy rates (1 to 4); roof size (12.5 m2 to 100 m2); garden size (25 m2 to 100 m2) and geographical location (North West, Midlands and South East, UK) with yearly temporal effects (i.e., rainfall and temperature). Lessons learnt from analysis of the proposed benchmarking system are made throughout this paper, in particular its compatibility with the existing Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) accreditation system. Conclusions are subsequently drawn for the robustness of the proposed system.

Vulnerability of native and exotic urban birds to housing densification and changing gardening and landscaping trends

Variation in densities of native and exotic urban-adapted birds across suburban habitats may reveal levels of adaptation that predict vulnerability to habitat modification over time. We investigated the densities of the eight most common exotic and native birds in a southern hemisphere city across suburbs of varying housing density, vegetative cover and garden vegetation characteristics to determine whether avian population densities are maintained across variations in habitat structure that mirror current temporal trends in land use and landscaping/gardening preferences. We also tested whether densities of birds in residential areas bordering undeveloped patches were higher due to spill-over from patches. Densities of all four native species were highest in undeveloped patches and these species were largely absent from high density housing areas. While densities of two exotic species (blackbird, song thrush) were slightly higher in suburbs with greater vegetation complexity, they were still present in higher density housing suburbs in significant numbers. Common starlings were similarly abundant across all residential habitats and house sparrow density increased in higher density housing areas. Blackbirds appeared least vulnerable to housing densification and landscaping and gardening trends because they were abundant across all habitats, including undeveloped patches. Densities of native birds were higher in residential areas bordering undeveloped patches indicating spill-over was occurring and emphasising the role that patches could play in boosting city-wide native bird abundances. Native birds are vulnerable to reductions in garden size and vegetation complexity that should have little or positive effects on populations of common exotic species.

Factors Influencing Households' Firewood Consumption in the Western Pamirs, Tajikistan

Firewood is a major energy source, especially in many high mountainous regions in developing countries where other energy sources are limited. In the mountainous regions of Tajikistan, current energy consumption is limited owing to geographic isolation and numerous challenges—including in the energy sector—that emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Tajikistan's independence. The sudden disruption of external supplies of energy forced people to rely on locally available but scarce biomass resources, such as firewood and animal dung. We conducted an empirical study to gain an understanding of current household energy consumption in the Western Pamirs of Tajikistan and the factors that influence firewood consumption. For this purpose, we interviewed members of 170 households in 8 villages. We found that, on average, households consumed 355 kg of firewood, 253 kWh of electricity, 760 kg of dung, and 6 kg of coal per month in the winter of 2011–2012. Elevation, size of a household's private garden, and total hours of heating had a positive relationship with firewood consumption, and education level and access to a reliable supply of electricity showed a negative relationship.

Homestead greening is widespread amongst the urban poor in three medium-sized South African towns

Trees in urban areas are important sources of ecosystem services and benefits. In most towns the bulk of urban biodiversity, and trees specifically, are found in homestead gardens. But there is only limited understanding of the tree holdings in such gardens, and how they vary within and between towns, especially for developing countries where rapid urbanisation and high poverty influence the use of and reliance on land and local resources. We report on the nature of tree holdings in private gardens of poorer suburbs in three medium-sized towns along a gradient of decreasing mean annual rainfall in northern South Africa. A total of 3 217 trees were enumerated across 450 randomly selected homesteads. Most (90 %) households had at least one tree on their homestead, with an average of 7.7 ± 6.1 trees. Most householders had planted the trees themselves. The density of trees declined along the moisture gradient. Within towns, tree density was positively related to garden size, which in turn was related to relative affluence and age of the suburb. Newer and poorer suburbs had the fewest trees per household. Sixty-two tree species were recorded, which were dominated by alien species, especially fruit trees. There was no relationship between the moisture gradient and tree species richness per household, but within towns there was a difference between suburbs, being lowest in the newest suburbs. Numbers of trees and species per household was positively related to age of the household head.

Agro-ecosystem and socio-economic role of homegarden agroforestry in Jabithenan District, North-Western Ethiopia: implication for climate change adaptation.

Homegarden agroforestry is believed to be more diverse and provide multiple services for household than other monocropping system and this is due to the combination of crops, trees and livestock. The aim of this study was to assess socio-economic and agro-ecological role of homegardens in Jabithenan district, North-western Ethiopia. Two sites purposively and two villages randomly from each site were selected. Totally 96 households; in which 48 from homegarden agroforestry user and 48 from non-tree based garden user were selected for this study. Socio-economic data and potential economic and agro-ecosystem role of homegarden agroforestry over non-tree based garden were collected by using semi-structured and structured questionnaires to the households. Homegarden agroforestry significantly (P < 0.05) improved the farmers cash income than non-tree based garden. With insignificant garden size; homegarden agroforestry practice provides good socio-economical and agro-ecological service for farmers which have a higher implication for climate change adaptation than non-tree based garden.

Influência do ambiente no desenvolvimento de colônias iniciais de formigas cortadeiras (Atta sexdens rubropilosa)

Anualmente, as colônias maduras de Atta spp. produzem formigas aladas, machos e fêmeas, que abandonam a colônia na qual foram produzidas para formarem novas colônias e, dessa forma, continuarem a perpetuação da espécie. A fundação de colônias de Atta spp. sempre envolve grande esforço da rainha, única responsável pelo cultivo do fungo e pelos cuidados consigo mesma e com sua prole. Nesse período de fundação ocorre o consumo de grande parte de suas reservas. O presente estudo investigou como o ambiente influencia o desenvolvimento das colônias recém-fundadas de Atta sexdens rubropilosa. Para tanto, foram comparadas colônias de campo coletadas cinco meses após a revoada e colônias mantidas em laboratório desde o voo nupcial. Foram analisados o peso e o tamanho da população (número de operárias, de larvas, de pupas e de ovos), o tamanho das operárias, o volume e peso do jardim de fungo e o esforço para a fundação dos ninhos (teor de lipídeos e peso das rainhas). Comparadas às colônias de campo, as colônias de laboratório apresentaram maiores valores no tamanho e no peso da população, no volume e no peso do jardim de fungo. As medidas das operárias, por classe de tamanho, não variaram entre as colônias de campo e de laboratório. O esforço da fundação dos ninhos foi maior nas colônias de campo, cujas rainhas apresentaram menor porcentagem de lipídeos e menor peso em relação às colônias de laboratório. Esses resultados demonstram que o ambiente exerce forte influência no desenvolvimento das colônias durante a fase de fundação, bem como sobre o status fisiológico das rainhas, sendo, portanto, a sobrevivência, o desenvolvimento e o sucesso da colônia reflexos das condições do ambiente e do esforço da rainha.

Garden Size, Householder Knowledge, and Socio-Economic Status Influence Plant and Bird Diversity at the Scale of Individual Gardens

Domestic gardens collectively cover substantial areas within cities and play an important role in supporting urban biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The extent of their contribution to urban biodiversity is ultimately determined by the attitudes, motivations, and practices of their owners. We identified variables characterizing individual householders and their properties that explained variation in perennial plant and avian species richness and plant diversity among 55 gardens in New Zealand. The size of the vegetated area was most important in explaining bird and plant diversity, independent of property size. Also important and positively associated with plant richness were socio-economic status and ability to discriminate between native and exotic species. Median housing age and neighborhood green space were less important. Contrary to expectations, better educated householders who demonstrated pro-environmental orientation (NEP) did not necessarily have gardens with greater plant diversity, however, people with higher NEP scores tended to have gardens with more structurally complex vegetation. Similar variables were important in explaining native and exotic species richness, but higher exotic plant diversity was associated with older people with smaller properties of lower value. Avian species richness increased primarily with vegetated area, but also the areas of beds and hedges. We demonstrate that although householder knowledge is an important determinant of garden biodiversity, vegetated area is most important. Promoting urban garden biodiversity requires that larger vegetated properties be supported and encouraged, and that planners should consider biodiversity when formulating policies concerning garden size, property size, and consents that may result in a progressive increase in the proportion of built over/paved areas.

Soil contamination by Toxocara spp. eggs in a University in Mexico City

The contamination levels of Toxocara spp. eggs in soil samples from a university campus in Mexico City were evaluated and analysed according to garden size, and were related with the percentage of Toxocara spp. eggs and its viability according to the soil characteristics. A total of 1458 soil samples collected in 15 gardens (six large and nine small) were analysed by sedimentation-flotation with zinc sulphate solution on at 33%. Contamination was low (12.9%), and egg viability was high (65.5%). The size of the garden had no influence on the presence and viability of Toxocara spp. eggs. Contamination was negatively correlated with the percentage of vegetation (r = -0. 61, P < 0.01) and the viability was negatively associated with the percentage of clay in the soil samples (r = -0.51, P < 0.04). The size of the garden did not influence the presence and viability of Toxocara spp. eggs.

Biosocial and bionumerical diversity of variously sized home gardens in Tabasco, Mexico

The evaluation of species and structural diversity of home gardens strongly depends on the methods used. We distinguish the biosocial and the bionumerical method. The first is widely used and takes data of the whole population of trees of home gardens to calculate diversity. The bionumerical method calculates diversity from data of a fixed number of randomly selected trees. We apply both methods to analyze if structural and species diversity varies with home garden size, a theme of considerable conservation interest, and compare results. We inventoried the tree component of a sample of 61 home gardens from rural areas in Tabasco, Mexico, which we assigned to three size categories: small (≤1,000 m2), medium sized (>1,000 and ≤2,000 m2), and large home gardens (>2,000 m2). Average species richness and Shannon diversity indices determined by the biosocial method were significantly different among home garden size classes. Average species richness determined by the bionumerical method did not differ among size classes. Both methods showed highest total observed and estimated species richness in the large home gardens, which contain many unique species. Both methods showed similar overall species composition among size classes and highest structural diversity in large home gardens. We conclude that it is important for conservation to maintain large home gardens in local mosaics, and that the biosocial and bionumerical methods are complementary. The bionumerical method allows straight comparison of population diversity within and among systems, but lacks attention for rare and unique species. The biosocial method evaluates how much diversity families custody.

Urban Infestation Patterns of Argentine Ants,Linepithema humile, in Los Angeles

Infestations of buildings by Argentine ants,Linepithema humile(Mayr), were monitored on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles. Foraging ant activity peaked during the hotter months of the year. The mean monthly maximum temperature, but not rainfall, positively correlated with indoor infestation frequency. Neither garden size nor the predominant groundcover vegetation correlated with the number of foraging ants at baits within gardens. Although the number of foraging ants outside a building varied over 40-fold, ant density in gardens did not predict the likelihood of infestation within the building. Also, the type of vegetative groundcover employed did not predict infestation frequency. There was, however, a significant negative relationship between the size of the garden outside of a building and the number of infestations. Given the large foraging area ofL. humileworkers, buildings next to small gardens may be infested simply because they lie within the “normal” foraging area of a colony. The best predictor of which rooms were infested within buildings was the presence of a water source. Thus providing water for ant colonies outside and away from buildings may be one method of integrated pest management to reduce the proclivity of ants to infest structures.

The Second-Home Rental Market: A Hedonic Analysis of the Effect of Different Characteristics and a High-Market-Share Intermediary on Price

The phenomenon of second homes has been little studied in the tourism economics literature. Residential tourism can represent more than 50% of housing in tourist areas like the Costa Brava in Spain. This article uses hedonic techniques to analyse the market value of the attributes that explain the overall price of a representative sample of second-home rentals. The explanatory variables of this overall price include characteristics such as number of rooms, housing area size, garden size, swimming pool, housing type, distribution channel, municipality, sea views, distance to the beach and seasonality. This study therefore provides tools to assist the decision making of the main agents involved: stakeholders and policy makers.