Analyzing growth and mortality in a subtropical urban forest ecosystem

Treesearch

Alicia B. Lawrence; Fancisco J. Escobedo; Christina L. Staudhammera; Wayne Zipperer Zipperer

2012-01-01

Information on urban tree growth, mortality and in-growth is currently being used to estimate urban forest structure changes and ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration. This study reports on tree diameter growth and mortality in 65 plots distributed among four land use categories, which were established in 2005/2006 in Gainesville, Florida, USA and were re-...

Determining the Ecosystem Services Important for Urban Landscapes

EPA Science Inventory

Urban ecosystems present special considerations and challenges in researching and evaluating ecosystem functions and services. A case study of nitrate retention and loss in forested, urban wetlands illustrates these challenges. Water table dynamics, in situ nitrogen cy...

Understanding the structure

Treesearch

David J. Nowak

1994-01-01

Urban forests are complex ecosystems created by the interaction of anthropogenic and natural processes. One key to better management of these systems is to understand urban forest structure and its relationship to forest functions. Through sampling and inventories, urban foresters often obtain structural information (e.g., numbers, location, size, and condition) on...

Science in the city: Urban trees, forests, and people

Treesearch

Kathleen L. Wolf

2016-01-01

The article, intended for professional and manager audiences, is an overview of current research in urban forestry. Topics include tree science, forest risks, forest management and assessment, ecosystem services, and urban socio-ecological systems (including governance and stewardship).

Effects of forest regrowth and urbanization on ecosystem carbon storage in a rural–urban gradient in the Southeastern United States

Treesearch

Chi Zhang; Hanqin Tian; Shufen Pan; Mingliang Liu; Graeme Lockaby; Erik B. Schilling; John Stanturf

2008-01-01

Forest regrowth after cropland abandonment and urban sprawl are two counteracting processes that have influenced carbon (C) sequestration in the southeastern United States in recent decades. In this study, we examined patterns of land-use/landcover change and their effect on ecosystem C storage in three west Georgia counties (Muscogee,...

Eutrophication of an Urban Forest Ecosystem: Causes and Effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bednova, O. V.; Kuznetsov, V. A.; Tarasova, N. P.

2018-01-01

The combined use of methods of passive dosimetry of the status of atmospheric air, phytoindication, and cartographic visualization of data made it possible to elaborate and substantiate approaches to evaluation of the effect of atmospheric air contamination on the eutrophication of forest ecosystems under urban conditions.

Modeling urban host tree distributions for invasive forest insects using a two-step approach

Treesearch

Mark J. Ambrose; Frank H. Koch; Denys Yemshanov; P. Eric Wiseman

2015-01-01

Many alien insect species currently impacting forested ecosystems in North America first appeared in urban forests. Unfortunately, despite serving as critical gateways for the human-mediated spread of these and other forest pests, urban forests remain less well documented than their “natural” forest counterparts. While Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data provide...

Urban forest ecosystem analysis using fused airborne hyperspectral and lidar data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alonzo, Mike Gerard

Urban trees are strategically important in a city's effort to mitigate their carbon footprint, heat island effects, air pollution, and stormwater runoff. Currently, the most common method for quantifying urban forest structure and ecosystem function is through field plot sampling. However, taking intensive structural measurements on private properties throughout a city is difficult, and the outputs from sample inventories are not spatially explicit. The overarching goal of this dissertation is to develop methods for mapping urban forest structure and function using fused hyperspectral imagery and waveform lidar data at the individual tree crown scale. Urban forest ecosystem services estimated using the USDA Forest Service's i-Tree Eco (formerly UFORE) model are based largely on tree species and leaf area index (LAI). Accordingly, tree species were mapped in my Santa Barbara, California study area for 29 species comprising >80% of canopy. Crown-scale discriminant analysis methods were introduced for fusing Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometry (AVIRIS) data with a suite of lidar structural metrics (e.g., tree height, crown porosity) to maximize classification accuracy in a complex environment. AVIRIS imagery was critical to achieving an overall species-level accuracy of 83.4% while lidar data was most useful for improving the discrimination of small and morphologically unique species. LAI was estimated at both the field-plot scale using laser penetration metrics and at the crown scale using allometry. Agreement of the former with photographic estimates of gap fraction and the latter with allometric estimates based on field measurements was examined. Results indicate that lidar may be used reasonably to measure LAI in an urban environment lacking in continuous canopy and characterized by high species diversity. Finally, urban ecosystem services such as carbon storage and building energy-use modification were analyzed through combination of aforementioned methods and the i-Tree Eco modeling framework. The remote sensing methods developed in this dissertation will allow researchers to more precisely constrain urban ecosystem spatial analyses and equip cities to better manage their urban forest resource.

Greener cities: U.S. Forest Service software package helps cities manage their urban treescape

Treesearch

Jim Kling; Greg Featured: McPherson

2008-01-01

Urban forests don't get the recognition that natural forests do. They don't encompass sweeping vistas and magnificent views and they don't provide critical habitat to endangered species. Nevertheless, they are vital. More than 90 percent of all Californians live, work, and play in urban forests. Trees in the urban landscape provide vital ecosystem...

Urban Forest Ecosystem Service Optimization, Tradeoffs, and Disparities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bodnaruk, E.; Kroll, C. N.; Endreny, T. A.; Hirabayashi, S.; Yang, Y.

2014-12-01

Urban land area and the proportion of humanity living in cities is growing, leading to increased urban air pollution, temperature, and stormwater runoff. These changes can exacerbate respiratory and heat-related illnesses and affect ecosystem functioning. Urban trees can help mitigate these threats by removing air pollutants, mitigating urban heat island effects, and infiltrating and filtering stormwater. The urban environment is highly heterogeneous, and there is no tool to determine optimal locations to plant or protect trees. Using spatially explicit land cover, weather, and demographic data within biophysical ecosystem service models, this research expands upon the iTree urban forest tools to produce a new decision support tool (iTree-DST) that will explore the development and impacts of optimal tree planting. It will also heighten awareness of environmental justice by incorporating the Atkinson Index to quantify disparities in health risks and ecosystem services across vulnerable and susceptible populations. The study area is Baltimore City, a location whose urban forest and environmental justice concerns have been studied extensively. The iTree-DST is run at the US Census block group level and utilizes a local gradient approach to calculate the change in ecosystem services with changing tree cover across the study area. Empirical fits provide ecosystem service gradients for possible tree cover scenarios, greatly increasing the speed and efficiency of the optimization procedure. Initial results include an evaluation of the performance of the gradient method, optimal planting schemes for individual ecosystem services, and an analysis of tradeoffs and synergies between competing objectives.

Enhancing early detection of exotic pests in agricultural and forest ecosystems using an urban-gradient framework.

PubMed

Colunga-Garcia, Manuel; Magarey, Roger A; Haack, Robert A; Gage, Stuart H; Qi, Jiaquo

2010-03-01

Urban areas are hubs of international transport and therefore are major gateways for exotic pests. Applying an urban gradient to analyze this pathway could provide insight into the ecological processes involved in human-mediated invasions. We defined an urban gradient for agricultural and forest ecosystems in the contiguous United States to (1) assess whether ecosystems nearer more urbanized areas were at greater risk of invasion, and (2) apply this knowledge to enhance early detection of exotic pests. We defined the gradient using the tonnage of imported products in adjacent urban areas and their distance to nearby agricultural or forest land. County-level detection reports for 39 exotic agricultural and forest pests of major economic importance were used to characterize invasions along the gradient. We found that counties with more exotic pests were nearer the urban end of the gradient. Assuming that the exotic species we analyzed represent typical invaders, then early detection efforts directed at 21-26% of U.S. agricultural and forest land would likely be able to detect 70% of invaded counties and 90% of the selected species. Applying an urban-gradient framework to current monitoring strategies should enhance early detection efforts of exotic pests, facilitating optimization in allocating resources to areas at greater risk of future invasions.

Vegetation composition and structure of woody plant communities along urban interstate corridors in Louisville, KY, U.S.A

Treesearch

Tara L. E. Trammell; Margaret M. Carreiro

2011-01-01

Urban forests adjacent to interstate corridors are understudied ecosystems across cities. Despite their small area, these forests may be strategically located to provide large ecosystem services due to their ability to act as a barrier against air pollutants and noise as well as to provide flood control. The woody vegetation composition and structure of forests...

Analyzing the causal factors of carbon stores in a subtropical urban forest

Treesearch

William Headlee; Richard Hall; C. Staudhammer; T. Brandeis; and Other

2014-01-01

Studies of forests and urban forest ecosystems have documented the various biophysical and socioeconomic correlates of carbon storage. Tree cover in particular is often used as a determinant of carbon storage for local and national level urban forest assessments. However, the relationships among variables describing the biophysical and socioeconomic environment and...

A Guide to Assessing Urban Forests

Treesearch

David Nowak

2013-01-01

Urban forests provide numerous ecosystem services. To quantify these services and guide management to sustain these services for future generations, the structure or composition of the forest must be assessed. There are two basic ways of assessing the structure or composition of the urban forest: Bottom-up approach. Field-based assessments to measure the physical...

Urban forests

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Eric J. Greenfield

2016-01-01

Trees and forests are resources that significantly affect the health and well-being of people who live in urban areas where more than 80 percent of the U.S. population resides. These trees within our cities and communities provide many ecosystem services and values to both urban and rural populations. Healthy urban and rural forests are critical for sustaining quality...

Gainesville's urban forest canopy cover

Treesearch

Francisco Escobedo; Jennifer A. Seitz; Wayne Zipperer

2009-01-01

Ecosystem benefits from trees are linked directly to the amount of healthy urban forest canopy cover. Urban forest cover is dynamic and changes over time due to factors such as urban development, windstorms, tree removals, and growth. The amount of a city's canopy cover depends on its land use, climate, and people's preferences. This fact sheet examines how...

Soil nitrogen levels are linked to decomposition enzyme activities along an urban-remote tropical forest gradient

Treesearch

D. F. Cusack

2013-01-01

Urban areas in tropical regions are expanding rapidly, with significant potential to affect local ecosystem dynamics. In particular, nitrogen (N) availability may increase in urban-proximate forests because of atmospheric N deposition. Unlike temperate forests, many tropical forests on highly weathered soils have high background N availability, so plant growth is...

Restoring ecosystem resilience to urban forests using Dutch elm disease-tolerant American elm trees

Treesearch

Charles E. Flower; Cornelia C. Pinchot; James M. Slavicek

2017-01-01

Urban forests contribute significantly to human health and environmental quality (Sanesi et al. 2011). As such, maintaining healthy urban forests resilient to pollution (atmospheric and soil), high temperatures, compacted soils, and poor drainage is critical. However, these forests have been hard hit by development, pests, and pathogens, consequently reshaping their...

Urban forest sustainability in the United States

Treesearch

David J. Nowak

2017-01-01

Urban forests in the United States provide numerous ecosystem services that vary in magnitude across the country and are valued in the billions of dollars per year. Urban tree cover has been on the decline in recent years. Numerous forces for change will continue to alter urban forests in the coming years (i.e., development, climate change, insects and diseases,...

Forecasting Urban Forest Ecosystem Structure, Function, and Vulnerability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steenberg, James W. N.; Millward, Andrew A.; Nowak, David J.; Robinson, Pamela J.; Ellis, Alexis

2017-03-01

The benefits derived from urban forest ecosystems are garnering increasing attention in ecological research and municipal planning. However, because of their location in heterogeneous and highly-altered urban landscapes, urban forests are vulnerable and commonly suffer disproportionate and varying levels of stress and disturbance. The objective of this study is to assess and analyze the spatial and temporal changes, and potential vulnerability, of the urban forest resource in Toronto, Canada. This research was conducted using a spatially-explicit, indicator-based assessment of vulnerability and i-Tree Forecast modeling of temporal changes in forest structure and function. Nine scenarios were simulated for 45 years and model output was analyzed at the ecosystem and municipal scale. Substantial mismatches in ecological processes between spatial scales were found, which can translate into unanticipated loss of function and social inequities if not accounted for in planning and management. At the municipal scale, the effects of Asian longhorned beetle and ice storm disturbance were far less influential on structure and function than changes in management actions. The strategic goals of removing invasive species and increasing tree planting resulted in a decline in carbon storage and leaf biomass. Introducing vulnerability parameters in the modeling increased the spatial heterogeneity in structure and function while expanding the disparities of resident access to ecosystem services. There was often a variable and uncertain relationship between vulnerability and ecosystem structure and function. Vulnerability assessment and analysis can provide strategic planning initiatives with valuable insight into the processes of structural and functional change resulting from management intervention.

Forecasting Urban Forest Ecosystem Structure, Function, and Vulnerability.

PubMed

Steenberg, James W N; Millward, Andrew A; Nowak, David J; Robinson, Pamela J; Ellis, Alexis

2017-03-01

The benefits derived from urban forest ecosystems are garnering increasing attention in ecological research and municipal planning. However, because of their location in heterogeneous and highly-altered urban landscapes, urban forests are vulnerable and commonly suffer disproportionate and varying levels of stress and disturbance. The objective of this study is to assess and analyze the spatial and temporal changes, and potential vulnerability, of the urban forest resource in Toronto, Canada. This research was conducted using a spatially-explicit, indicator-based assessment of vulnerability and i-Tree Forecast modeling of temporal changes in forest structure and function. Nine scenarios were simulated for 45 years and model output was analyzed at the ecosystem and municipal scale. Substantial mismatches in ecological processes between spatial scales were found, which can translate into unanticipated loss of function and social inequities if not accounted for in planning and management. At the municipal scale, the effects of Asian longhorned beetle and ice storm disturbance were far less influential on structure and function than changes in management actions. The strategic goals of removing invasive species and increasing tree planting resulted in a decline in carbon storage and leaf biomass. Introducing vulnerability parameters in the modeling increased the spatial heterogeneity in structure and function while expanding the disparities of resident access to ecosystem services. There was often a variable and uncertain relationship between vulnerability and ecosystem structure and function. Vulnerability assessment and analysis can provide strategic planning initiatives with valuable insight into the processes of structural and functional change resulting from management intervention.

Growing the urban forest: tree performance in response to biotic and abiotic land management

Treesearch

Emily E. Oldfield; Alexander J. Felson; D. S. Novem Auyeung; Thomas W. Crowther; Nancy F. Sonti; Yoshiki Harada; Daniel S. Maynard; Noah W. Sokol; Mark S. Ashton; Robert J. Warren; Richard A. Hallett; Mark A. Bradford

2015-01-01

Forests are vital components of the urban landscape because they provide ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, storm-water mitigation, and air-quality improvement. To enhance these services, cities are investing in programs to create urban forests. A major unknown, however, is whether planted trees will grow into the mature, closed-canopied forest on which...

A ground-based method of assessing urban forest structure and ecosystem services

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Daniel E. Crane; Jack C. Stevens; Robert E. Hoehn; Jeffrey T. Walton; Jerry Bond

2008-01-01

To properly manage urban forests, it is essential to have data on this important resource. An efficient means to obtain this information is to randomly sample urban areas. To help assess the urban forest structure (e.g., number of trees, species composition, tree sizes, health) and several functions (e.g., air pollution removal, carbon storage and sequestration), the...

Nitrogen fluxes and retention in urban watershed ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Groffman, P.M.; Law, N.L.; Belt, K.T.; Band, L.E.; Fisher, G.T.

2004-01-01

Although the watershed approach has long been used to study whole-ecosystem function, it has seldom been applied to study human-dominated systems, especially those dominated by urban and suburban land uses. Here we present 3 years of data on nitrogen (N) losses from one completely forested, one agricultural, and six urban/suburban watersheds, and input-output N budgets for suburban, forested, and agricultural watersheds. The work is a product of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, a long-term study of urban and suburban ecosystems, and a component of the US National Science Foundation's long-term ecological research (LTER) network. As expected, urban and suburban watersheds had much higher N losses than did the completely forested watershed, with N yields ranging from 2.9 to 7.9 kg N ha-1 y-1 in the urban and suburban watersheds compared with less than 1 kg N ha-1 y -1 in the completely forested watershed. Yields from urban and suburban watersheds were lower than those from an agricultural watershed (13-19.8 kg N ha-1 y-1). Retention of N in the suburban watershed was surprisingly high, 75% of inputs, which were dominated by home lawn fertilizer (14.4 kg N ha-1 y-1) and atmospheric deposition (11.2 kg N ha-1 y-1). Detailed analysis of mechanisms of N retention, which must occur in the significant amounts of pervious surface present in urban and suburban watersheds, and which include storage in soils and vegetation and gaseous loss, is clearly warranted.

Neighbourhood-scale urban forest ecosystem classification.

PubMed

Steenberg, James W N; Millward, Andrew A; Duinker, Peter N; Nowak, David J; Robinson, Pamela J

2015-11-01

Urban forests are now recognized as essential components of sustainable cities, but there remains uncertainty concerning how to stratify and classify urban landscapes into units of ecological significance at spatial scales appropriate for management. Ecosystem classification is an approach that entails quantifying the social and ecological processes that shape ecosystem conditions into logical and relatively homogeneous management units, making the potential for ecosystem-based decision support available to urban planners. The purpose of this study is to develop and propose a framework for urban forest ecosystem classification (UFEC). The multifactor framework integrates 12 ecosystem components that characterize the biophysical landscape, built environment, and human population. This framework is then applied at the neighbourhood scale in Toronto, Canada, using hierarchical cluster analysis. The analysis used 27 spatially-explicit variables to quantify the ecosystem components in Toronto. Twelve ecosystem classes were identified in this UFEC application. Across the ecosystem classes, tree canopy cover was positively related to economic wealth, especially income. However, education levels and homeownership were occasionally inconsistent with the expected positive relationship with canopy cover. Open green space and stocking had variable relationships with economic wealth and were more closely related to population density, building intensity, and land use. The UFEC can provide ecosystem-based information for greening initiatives, tree planting, and the maintenance of the existing canopy. Moreover, its use has the potential to inform the prioritization of limited municipal resources according to ecological conditions and to concerns of social equity in the access to nature and distribution of ecosystem service supply. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Basic theory and research method of urban forest ecology].

PubMed

He, Xingyuan; Jin, Yingshan; Zhu, Wenquan; Xu, Wenduo; Chen, Wei

2002-12-01

With the development of world economy and the increment of urban population, the urban environment problem hinders the urban sustainable development. Now, more and more people realized the importance of urban forests in improving the quality of urban ecology. Therefore, a new subject, urban forest ecology, and correlative new concept frame in the field formed. The theoretic foundation of urban forest ecology derived from the mutual combination of theory relating to forest ecology, landscape ecology, landscape architecture ecology and anthrop-ecology. People survey the development of city from the view of ecosystem, and regard the environment, a colony of human, animals and plants, as main factors of the system. The paper introduces systematically the urban forest ecology as follows: 1) the basic concept of urban forest ecology; 2) the meaning of urban forest ecology; 3) the basic principle and theoretic base of urban forest ecology; 4) the research method of urban forest ecology; 5) the developmental expectation of urban forest ecology.

Atmospheric pollutants in peri-urban forests of Quercus ilex: evidence of pollution abatement and threats for vegetation.

PubMed

García-Gómez, Héctor; Aguillaume, Laura; Izquieta-Rojano, Sheila; Valiño, Fernando; Àvila, Anna; Elustondo, David; Santamaría, Jesús M; Alastuey, Andrés; Calvete-Sogo, Héctor; González-Fernández, Ignacio; Alonso, Rocío

2016-04-01

Peri-urban vegetation is generally accepted as a significant remover of atmospheric pollutants, but it could also be threatened by these compounds, with origin in both urban and non-urban areas. To characterize the seasonal and geographical variation of pollutant concentrations and to improve the empirical understanding of the influence of Mediterranean broadleaf evergreen forests on air quality, four forests of Quercus ilex (three peri-urban and one remote) were monitored in different areas in Spain. Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ammonia (NH3), nitric acid (HNO3) and ozone (O3) were measured during 2 years in open areas and inside the forests and aerosols (PM10) were monitored in open areas during 1 year. Ozone was the only air pollutant expected to have direct phytotoxic effects on vegetation according to current thresholds for the protection of vegetation. The concentrations of N compounds were not high enough to directly affect vegetation but could be contributing through atmospheric N deposition to the eutrophization of these ecosystems. Peri-urban forests of Q. ilex showed a significant below-canopy reduction of gaseous concentrations (particularly NH3, with a mean reduction of 29-38%), which indicated the feasibility of these forests to provide an ecosystem service of air quality improvement. Well-designed monitoring programs are needed to further investigate air quality improvement by peri-urban ecosystems while assessing the threat that air pollution can pose to vegetation.

Vegetation composition and structure of forest patches along urban-rural gradients

Treesearch

W.C. Zipperer; G.R. Guntenspergen

2009-01-01

The urban landscape is highly altered by human activities and is a mosaic of different land covers and land uses. Imbedded in this are forest patches of different origins (Zipperer et al .• 1997). How these patches influence and are influenced by the urban landscape is of ecological importance when managing the urban forest for ecosystem goods and services.

i-Tree and urban FIA—what's the connection?

Treesearch

David J. Nowak

2015-01-01

The i-Tree program (www.itreetools.org) was developed to assess ecosystem services and values from trees and forests based on measured forest data. The i-Tree program is currently being integrated with FIA data to assess various ecosystem services and values from urban FIA data. This presentation will overview the history and use of i-Tree; the various tools of i-Tree...

Modelling the Spatial-temporal Variation of Urban/peri-urban Forests and Their Ecosystem Services: a Case Study of North-West Sydney

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Odeh, I. A.; Zou, X. L.

2015-12-01

In terms of total terrestrial sequestered carbon, the global soils and forests are recognized as the predominant C sinks. Even though urban forests stored a relatively small proportion of the total terrestrial C, they also provide other important ecosystem services such as improving air quality, cooling effect in buildings and aesthetics. Thus in view of these environmental services the quantification of urban tree is increasingly viewed as essential to the understanding of how these ecosystem services can be optimized. The aims of this paper are to: i) quantify the spatial-temporal distribution of urban forests in Northwest Sydney using remote sensing techniques; ii) determine the total urban C-storage over many decades; iii) apply UFORE model to estimate air pollutant removal ability of urban forest. The results revealed the estimated total trees in Northwest Sydney in 2011was approximately 2.3 million. These urban forests potentially store an estimated 1.3 million tons of carbon in various forms such as biomass, soil carbon, etc. The relative carbon sequestration rate of these trees was estimated to be about 20,500 tC/yr (equivalent to AUD 467,000/year). Furthermore, the results show that trees near buildings can potentially avoid AUD 12.9 million of energy cost every year and 70000 tons of carbon emission, the latter which is equivalent to additional savings of nearly AUD 1.6 million per year. We also estimated that urban forests in the study area could potentially remove about 44,600 tons of pollutants (mainly greenhouse gases) annually equivalent to a saving of about AUD 409 million per year. Thus the results reveal the spatial-temporal variation of urban vegetation in the last twenty year between 1991 and 2011. The study has showcased the importance and potential role of urban forests in preserving carbon and thus reducing GHG emissions into atmosphere. Furthermore, these results highlight the significant value of urban forests in term of pollutant removal. The significance of these outcomes, if extrapolated to other cities of Australia and the world, is huge.

Allometric equations for urban ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) in Oakville, Southern Ontario, Canada

Treesearch

Paula J. Peper; Claudia P. Alzate; John W. McNeil; Jalil Hashemi

2014-01-01

Tree growth equations are an important and common tool used to effectively assess the yield and determine management practices in forest plantations. Increasingly, they are being developed for urban forests, providing tools to assist urban forest managers with species selection, placement, and estimation of management costs and ecosystem services. This study describes...

Atlanta households’ willingness to increase urban forests to mitigate cimate change

Treesearch

Y. Tran; J. P.  Siry; J. M.  Bowker; N. C.  Poudyal

2017-01-01

Investments in urban forests have been increasing in many US cities. Urban forests have been shownto provide countless ecosystem benefits with many addressing climate change issues, such as seques-tering carbon, reducing air pollution, and decreasing the heat island effect. Individual groups within theAmerican public may not respond to the issue of climate change in...

Foliar nitrogen characteristics of four tree species planted in New York City forest restoration sites

Treesearch

Nancy Falxa-Raymond; Matthew I. Palmer; Timon McPhearson; Kevin L. Griffin

2014-01-01

Urban forests provide important environmental benefits, leading many municipal governments to initiate citywide tree plantings. However, nutrient cycling in urban ecosystems is difficult to predict, and nitrogen (N) use in urban trees may be quite different from use in rural forests. To gain insight into these biogeochemical and physiological processes, we compared...

Land use context and natural soil controls on plant community and soil nitrogen and carbon dynamics in urban and rural forests

Treesearch

Peter M. Groffman; Richard V. Pouyat; Mary L. Cadenasso; Wayne C. Zipperer; Katalin Szlavecz; Ian D. Yesilonis; Lawrence E. Band; Grace S. Brush

2006-01-01

Forests embedded in an urban matrix are a useful venue for investigating the effects of multiple factors such as climate change, altered disturbance regimes and species invasions on forest ecosystems. Urban forests also represent a significant land area, with potentially important effects on landscape and regional scale nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) storage and flux. We...

IMPACTS OF AIR POLLUTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE ON FOREST ECOSYSTEMS - EMERGING RESEARCH NEEDS

EPA Science Inventory

Outcomes from the 22nd meeting for Specialists in Air Pollution Effects on Forest Ecosystems "Forests under Anthropogenic Pressure - Effects of Air Pollution, Climate Change and Urban Development", September 10-16, 2006, Riverside, CA, USA are summarized. Tropospheric ozone is st...

Evaluating green infrastructure in urban environments using a multi-taxa and functional diversity approach.

PubMed

Pinho, Pedro; Correia, Otília; Lecoq, Miguel; Munzi, Silvana; Vasconcelos, Sasha; Gonçalves, Paula; Rebelo, Rui; Antunes, Cristina; Silva, Patrícia; Freitas, Catarina; Lopes, Nuno; Santos-Reis, Margarida; Branquinho, Cristina

2016-05-01

Forested areas within cities host a large number of species, responsible for many ecosystem services in urban areas. The biodiversity in these areas is influenced by human disturbances such as atmospheric pollution and urban heat island effect. To ameliorate the effects of these factors, an increase in urban green areas is often considered sufficient. However, this approach assumes that all types of green cover have the same importance for species. Our aim was to show that not all forested green areas are equal in importance for species, but that based on a multi-taxa and functional diversity approach it is possible to value green infrastructure in urban environments. After evaluating the diversity of lichens, butterflies and other-arthropods, birds and mammals in 31 Mediterranean urban forests in south-west Europe (Almada, Portugal), bird and lichen functional groups responsive to urbanization were found. A community shift (tolerant species replacing sensitive ones) along the urbanization gradient was found, and this must be considered when using these groups as indicators of the effect of urbanization. Bird and lichen functional groups were then analyzed together with the characteristics of the forests and their surroundings. Our results showed that, contrary to previous assumptions, vegetation density and more importantly the amount of urban areas around the forest (matrix), are more important for biodiversity than forest quantity alone. This indicated that not all types of forested green areas have the same importance for biodiversity. An index of forest functional diversity was then calculated for all sampled forests of the area. This could help decision-makers to improve the management of urban green infrastructures with the goal of increasing functionality and ultimately ecosystem services in urban areas. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Detection and Characterization of Urbanization, Industrialization, and Longwall Mining Impacts on Forest Ecosystems Through the Use of GiS and Remote Sensing Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pfeil-McCullough, Erin Kathleen

Urbanization has far reaching and significant effects on forest ecosystems, directly through urban development and indirectly through supportive processes such as coal mining and agriculture. Urban processes modify the landscape leading to altered hillslope hydrology, increased disturbance, and the introduction of non-native forest pathogens. This dissertation addresses several challenges in our ability to detect these urbanization impacts on forests via geospatial analyses. The role of forests in urban hydrological processes has been extensively studied, but the impacts of urbanized hydrology on forests remain poorly examined. This dissertation documented impacts to hydrology and forests at variety of temporal and spatial scales: 1) A geospatial comparison of the historic and contemporary forests of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania revealed substantial shifts in tree species, but less change in the species soil moisture preference. These results document additional evidence that increased heterogeneity in urban soil moisture alters forest structure. 2) To examine soil moisture changes, impacts of longwall mine subsidence were assessed by using a Landsat based canopy moisture index and hot spot analysis tools at the forest patch scale. Declines in forest canopy moisture were detected over longwall mines as mining progressed through time, and results contradicted assumptions that the hydrological impacts overlying LMS recover within 4-5 years following subsidence of undermined land. 3) Utilizing a landslide susceptibility model (SINMAP), increases in landslide susceptibility were predicted in Pittsburgh, PA based on several scenarios of ash tree loss to the emerald ash borer (EAB), a bark beetle that rapidly kills ash trees. This model provides a tool to predict changes in landslide susceptibility following tree loss, increasing the understanding of urban forest function and its role in slope stability. Detecting how urbanized hydrology impacts forest health, function, and development is fundamental to sustaining the services forests provide. Results from this dissertation will ultimately allow improvements in the management and protection of both trees and water resources in urban systems and beyond.

Where the woodland ends: How edges affect landscape structure and physiological responses of Quercus agrifolia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Chant, Timothy Paul

Forests and woodlands are integral parts of ecosystems across the globe, but they are threatened by a variety of factors, including urbanization and introduced forest pathogens. These two forces are fundamentally altering ecosystems, both by removing forest cover and reshaping landscapes. Comprehending how these two processes have changed forest ecosystems is an important step toward understanding how the affected systems will function in the future. I investigated the range of edge effects that result from disturbance brought about by forest pathogens and urbanization in two coastal oak woodlands in Marin County, California. Oak woodlands are a dynamic part of California's landscape, reacting to changes in their biotic and abiotic environments across a range of spatial and temporal scales. Sudden Oak Death, caused by the introduced forest pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, has led to widespread mortality of many tree species in California's oak woodlands. I investigated how the remaining trees respond to such rapid changes in canopy structure (Chapter 2), and my results revealed a forest canopy quick to respond to the new openings. Urbanization, another disturbance regime, operates on a longer time scale. Immediately following urban development, forest edges are strikingly linear, but both forest processes and homeowner actions likely work in concert to disrupt the straight edge (Chapter 3). Forest edges grew more sinuous within 14 years of the initial disturbance, and continued to do so for the remainder of the study, another 21 years. Individual Quercus agrifolia trees also respond to urban edges decades after disturbance (Chapter 4), and their reaction is reflected in declining stable carbon isotope values (delta13C). This change suggests trees may have increased their stomatal conductance in response to greater water availability, reduced their photosynthetic rate as a result of stress, or some combination of both. Edges have far reaching and long lasting effects on forest structure and function. Investigations of their impacts on multiple spatial and temporal scales are important in determining the range of effects they have on forest ecosystems. Studies that combine remote sensing, geographic information systems, and field studies may help us understand the ecological consequences of forest edges.

Particle deposition in a peri-urban Mediterranean forest.

PubMed

Fares, Silvano; Savi, Flavia; Fusaro, Lina; Conte, Adriano; Salvatori, Elisabetta; Aromolo, Rita; Manes, Fausto

2016-11-01

Urban and peri-urban forests provide a multitude of Ecosystem Services to the citizens. While the capacity of removing carbon dioxide and gaseous compounds from the atmosphere has been tested, their capacity to sequestrate particles (PM) has been poorly investigated. Mediterranean forest ecosystems are often located nearby or inside large urban areas. This is the case of the city of Rome, Italy, which hosts several urban parks and is surrounded by forested areas. In particular, the Presidential Estate of Castelporziano is a 6000 ha forested area located between the Tyrrhenian coast and the city (25 km downtown of Rome). Under the hypothesis that forests can ameliorate air quality thanks to particle deposition, we measured fluxes of PM1, 2.5 and 10 with fast optical sensors and eddy covariance technique. We found that PM1 is mainly deposited during the central hours of the day, while negligible fluxes were observed for PM 2.5 and 10. A Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model (HYSPLIT v4) simulated PM emission from traffic areas in the city of Rome and showed that a significant portion of PM is removed by vegetation in the days when the plume trajectory meets the urban forest. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of natural and novel organic carbon sources on denitrification in forest, degraded urban, and restored streams

EPA Science Inventory

Organic carbon is important in regulating ecosystem function, and its source and abundance may be altered by urbanization. We investigated shifts in organic carbon quantity and quality associated with urbanization and ecosystem restoration, and its potential effects on denitrific...

The urban forest and ecosystem services: impact on urban water, heat, and pollution cycles at the tree, street, and city scale

Treesearch

S. J. Livesley; E. G. McPherson; C. Calfapietra

2016-01-01

Many environmental challenges are exacerbated within the urban landscape, such as stormwater runoff and flood risk, chemical and particulate pollution of urban air, soil and water, the urban heat island, and summer heat waves. Urban trees, and the urban forest as a whole, can be managed to have an impact on the urban water, heat, carbon and pollution cycles. However,...

Carbon stocks in urban forest remnants: Atlanta and Baltimore as case studies. Chapter 5.

Treesearch

Ian D. Yesilonis; Richard V. Pouyat

2012-01-01

Urban environments influence carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles of forest ecosystems by altering plant biomass, litter mass and chemistry, passive and active pools of C and N, and the occurrence and activity of decomposer organisms. It is difficult to determine the net effect of C storage due to the number of environmental factors exerting stress on urban forests....

Urbanization in the US: land use trends, impacts on forest area, projections, and policy considerations

Treesearch

Ralph Alig

2010-01-01

Since World War II, socio-economic drivers of US urbanization such as population totals and personal income levels have increased substantially. Human land use is the primary force driving changes in forest ecosystem attributes including forest area, which is the focus of this paper. The percentage of the US population residing in urban areas is higher than that in...

Climate differentiates forest structure across a residential macrosystem

EPA Science Inventory

The extent of urban ecological homogenization depends on how humans build, inhabit, and manage cities. Morphological and socio-economic facets of neighborhoods can drive the homogenization of forest cover, thus affecting urban ecological and hydrological processes, and ecosystem...

Exotic weeds and fluctuating microclimate can constrain native plant regeneration in urban forest restoration.

PubMed

Wallace, K J; Laughlin, Daniel C; Clarkson, Bruce D

2017-06-01

Restoring forest structure and composition is an important component of urban land management, but we lack clear understanding of the mechanisms driving restoration success. Here we studied two indicators of restoration success in temperate rainforests: native tree regeneration and epiphyte colonization. We hypothesized that ecosystem properties such as forest canopy openness, abundance of exotic herbaceous weeds, and the microclimate directly affect the density and diversity of native tree seedlings and epiphytes. Relationships between environmental conditions and the plant community were investigated in 27 restored urban forests spanning 3-70 years in age and in unrestored and remnant urban forests. We used structural equation modelling to determine the direct and indirect drivers of native tree regeneration and epiphyte colonization in the restored forests. Compared to remnant forest, unrestored forest had fewer native canopy tree species, significantly more light reaching the forest floor annually, and higher exotic weed cover. Additionally, epiphyte density was lower and native tree regeneration density was marginally lower in the unrestored forests. In restored forests, light availability was reduced to levels found in remnant forests within 20 years of restoration planting, followed shortly thereafter by declines in herbaceous exotic weeds and reduced fluctuation of relative humidity and soil temperatures. Contrary to expectations, canopy openness was only an indirect driver of tree regeneration and epiphyte colonization, but it directly regulated weed cover and microclimatic fluctuations, both of which directly drove the density and richness of regeneration and epiphyte colonization. Epiphyte density and diversity were also positively related to forest basal area, as large trees provide physical habitat for colonization. These results imply that ecosystem properties change predictably after initial restoration plantings, and that reaching critical thresholds in some ecosystem properties makes conditions suitable for the regeneration of late successional species, which is vital for restoration success and long-term ecosystem sustainability. Abiotic and biotic conditions that promote tree regeneration and epiphyte colonization will likely be present in forests with a basal area ≥27 m 2 /ha. We recommend that urban forest restoration plantings be designed to promote rapid canopy closure to reduce light availability, suppress herbaceous weeds, and stabilize the microclimate. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Assessment of ecosystem services provided by urban forests: public lands withinthe Urban Growth Boundary of Corvallis, Oregon

EPA Science Inventory

One recent research focus of EPA is quantifying a range of ecosystem services, the benefits that ecosystems provide to humans, in order to promote informed natural resource management decisions and to assess the effectiveness of existing environmental policies. A case study is u...

Assessment of ecosystem services provided by urban forests: Public lands within the Urban growth Boundary of Corvallis, oregon

EPA Science Inventory

One recent research focus of EPA is quantifying a range of ecosystem services, the benefits that ecosystems provide to humans, in order to promote informed natural resource management decisions and to assess the effectiveness of existing environmental policies. A case study is u...

Climate change, human communities, and forests in rural, urban, and wildland-urban interface environments

Treesearch

David N. Wear; Linda A. Joyce

2012-01-01

Human concerns about the effects of climate change on forests are related to the values that forests provide to human populations, that is, to the effects on ecosystem services derived from forests. Service values include the consumption of timber products, the regulation of climate and water quality, and aesthetic and spiritual values. Effects of climate change on...

Emerald ash borer impacts on visual preferences for urban forest recreation settings

Treesearch

Arne Arnberger; Ingrid E. Schneider; Martin Ebenberger; Renate Eder; Robert C. Venette; Stephanie A. Snyder; Paul H. Gobster; Ami Choi; Stuart Cottrell

2017-01-01

Extensive outbreaks of the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis; EAB), an invasive forest insect, are having serious impacts on the cultural ecosystem services of urban forests in the United States and other countries. Limited experience with how such outbreaks might affect recreational opportunities prompted this investigation of visitors to a...

Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus storage across a growing season by the herbaceous layer in urban and preserved temperate hardwood forests

Treesearch

Michaeleen Gerken Golay; Janette Thompson; Randall Kolka; Kris Verheyen

2016-01-01

Question: Herbaceous plant communities in hardwood forests are important for maintaining biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, such as nutrient storage. Are there differences in herbaceous layer nutrient storage for urban park and state preserve forests, and is there seasonal variation? Location:...

Mapping urban forest structure and function using hyperspectral imagery and lidar data

Treesearch

Michael Alonzo; Joseph P. McFadden; David J. Nowak; Dar A. Roberts

2016-01-01

Cities measure the structure and function of their urban forest resource to optimize forest managementand the provision of ecosystem services. Measurements made using plot sampling methods yield useful results including citywide or land-use level estimates of species counts, leaf area, biomass, and air pollution reduction. However, these quantities are statistical...

Chicago's urban forest ecosystem: results of the Chicago Urban Forest Climate Project

Treesearch

Gregory E. McPherson; David J. Nowak; Rowan A. Rowntree

1994-01-01

Results of the 3-year Chicago Urban Forest Climate Project indicate that there are an estimated 50.8 million trees in the Chicago area of Cook and DuPage Counties; 66 percent of these trees rated in good or excellent condition. During 1991, trees in the Chicago area removed an estimated 6,145 tons of air pollutants, providing air cleansing valued at $9.2 million...

How are America's private forests changing? An integrated assessment of forest management, housing pressure, and urban development in alternate emissions scenarios

Treesearch

Pinki Mondal; Brett J. Butler; David B. Kittredge; Warren K. Moser

2013-01-01

Private forests are a vital component of the natural ecosystem infrastructure of the United States, and provide critical ecosystem services including clean air and water, energy, wildlife habitat, recreational services, and wood fiber. These forests have been subject to conversion to developed uses due to increasing population pressures. This study examines the...

Impacts of air pollution and climate change on forest ecosystems - emerging research needs

Treesearch

Elena Paoletti; Bytnerowicz; Chris Andersen; Algirdas Augustaitis; Marco Ferretti; Nancy Grulke; Madeleine S. Gunthardt-goerg; John Innes; Dale Johnson; Dave Karnosky; Jessada Luangjame; Rainer Matyssek; Steven McNulty; Gerhard Muller-Starck; Robert Musselman; Kevin Percy

2007-01-01

Outcomes from the 22nd meeting for Specialists in Air Pollution Effects on Forest Ecosystems "Forests under Anthropogenic Pressure – Effects of Air Pollution, Climate Change and Urban Development", September 10–16, 2006, Riverside, CA, are summarized. Tropospheric or ground-level ozone (O3) is still the phytotoxic...

Nitrogen cycling process rates across urban ecosystems.

PubMed

Reisinger, Alexander J; Groffman, Peter M; Rosi-Marshall, Emma J

2016-09-21

Nitrogen (N) pollution of freshwater, estuarine, and marine ecosystems is widespread and has numerous environmental and economic impacts. A portion of this excess N comes from urban watersheds comprised of natural and engineered ecosystems which can alter downstream N export. Studies of urban N cycling have focused on either specific ecosystems or on watershed-scale mass balances. Comparisons of specific N transformations across ecosystems are required to contextualize rates from individual studies. Here we reviewed urban N cycling in terrestrial, aquatic, and engineered ecosystems, and compared N processing in these urban ecosystem types to native reference ecosystems. We found that net N mineralization and net nitrification rates were enhanced in urban forests and riparian zones relative to reference ecosystems. Denitrification was highly variable across urban ecosystem types, but no significant differences were found between urban and reference denitrification rates. When focusing on urban streams, ammonium uptake was more rapid than nitrate uptake in urban streams. Additionally, reduction of stormwater runoff coupled with potential decreases in N concentration suggests that green infrastructure may reduce downstream N export. Despite multiple environmental stressors in urban environments, ecosystems within urban watersheds can process and transform N at rates similar to or higher than reference ecosystems. © FEMS 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Effects of land cover change on litter decomposition and soil greenhouse gas fluxes in subtropical Hong Kong

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ngar Wong, Chun; Lai, Derrick Yuk Fo

2017-04-01

Nowadays, over 50% of the world's population live in urbanized areas and the level of urbanization varies substantially across countries. Intense human activities and management associated with urbanization can alter the microclimate and biogeochemical processes in urban areas, which subsequently affect the provision of ecosystem services and functions. Litter decomposition and soil greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange play an important role in governing nutrient cycling and future climate change, respectively. Yet, the effects of urbanization on these two biogeochemical processes remain uncertain and not well understood, especially in subtropical and high-density cities. This study aims to examine the effects of urbanization on decomposition and GHG fluxes among four land covers- natural forest, urban forest, farmland and roadside planter, in Hong Kong based on litterbag experiment and closed chamber measurements for one full year. Litter decomposition rate was significantly lower in farmland than in other land cover types. Significant differences in CO2 emission were detected among the four land cover types (p<0.05), with the highest and lowest CO2 emissions being recorded in farmland and roadside planter, respectively. CH4 emission varied significantly among the land covers as well (p<0.05), with the highest and lowest CH4 emissions being recorded in farmland and urban forest, respectively. Farmland and urban forest showed the highest and lowest mean N2O fluxes, respectively. The emission of CO2 was positively correlated with soil potassium content, while CH4 and N2O flux increased markedly with soil temperature and nitrate nitrogen content, respectively. The results obtained in this study will enhance our understanding on urban ecosystem and be useful for recommending sustainable management strategies for conservation of ecosystem services in urban areas.

Nitrogen fluxes and retention in urban watershed ecosystems

Treesearch

Peter M. Groffman; Neely L. Law; Kenneth T. Belt; Lawrence E. Band; Gary T. Fisher

2004-01-01

Although the watershed approach has long been used to study whole-ecosystem function, it has seldom been applied to study human-dominated systems, especially those dominated by urban and suburban land uses. Here we present 3 years of data on nitrogen (N) losses from one completely forested, one agricultural, and six urban/suburban watersheds, and input--output N...

The structure, function and value of urban forests in California communities

Treesearch

E. Gregory McPherson; Qingfu Xiao; Natalie S. van Doorn; John de Goede; Jacquelyn Bjorkman; Allan Hollander; Ryan M. Boynton; James F. Quinn; James H. Thorne

2017-01-01

This study used tree data from field plots in urban areas to describe forest structure in urban areas throughout California. The plot data were used with numerical models to calculate several ecosystem services produced by trees. A series of transfer functions were calculated to scale-up results from the plots to the landscape using urban tree canopy (UTC) mapped at 1-...

Species composition of forested natural communities near freshwater hydrological features in an urbanizing watershed of west-central Florida

Treesearch

Melissa H Friedman; Michael G.  Andreu; Wayne Zipperer; Rob J.  Northrop; Amr  Abd-Elrahman

2015-01-01

Natural communities near freshwater hydrological features provide important ecosystem functions and services. As human populations increase, forested landscapes become increasingly fragmented and deforested, which may result in a loss of the functions and services they provide. To investigate the current state of forested natural communities in the rapidly urbanizing...

Assessment of soil quality in different ecosystems (with soils of Podolsk and Serpukhov districts of Moscow oblast as examples)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gavrilenko, E. G.; Ananyeva, N. D.; Makarov, O. A.

2013-12-01

The values of the soil-ecological index and microbiological parameters (the carbon of microbial biomass Cmic, its ratio to the total organic carbon Cmic/Corg, and basal respiration) were determined for the soddy-podzolic, soddy-gley, bog-podzolic, meadow alluvial, and gray forest soils under different land uses (forest, fallow, cropland, and urban areas) in the Podolsk and Serpukhov districts of Moscow oblast (237 and 45 sampling points, respectively). The soil sampling from the upper 10 cm (without the litter horizon) was performed in September and October. To calculate the soil-ecological index, both soil (physicochemical and agrochemical) and climatic characteristics were taken into account. Its values for fallow, cropland, and urban ecosystems averaged 70.2, 72.8, and 64.2 points ( n = 90, 17, and 24, respectively). For the soils of forest ecosystems, the average value of the soil-ecological index was lower (54.4; n = 151). At the same time, the micro-biological characteristics of the studied forest soils were generally higher than those in the soils of fallow, cropland, and urban ecosystems. In this context, to estimate the soil quality in different ecosystems on the basis of the soil-ecological index, the use of a correction coefficient for the biological properties of the soils (the Cmic content) was suggested. The ecological substantiation of this approach for assessing the quality of soils in different ecosystems is presented in the paper.

Effects of Land Cover Change on Soil Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Subtropical Hong Kong

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, C. N.; Lai, D. Y. F.

2016-12-01

Nowadays, over 50% of the world's population live in urbanized areas and the level of urbanization varies substantially across countries. Intense human activities and management associated with urbanization can alter the microclimate and biochemical processes in urban areas, which subsequently affect the provision of ecosystem services and functions. Soil greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange plays an important role in governing future climate change. Yet, the effects of urbanization on soil GHG exchange remain uncertain and not well understood. This study aims to examine the effects of urbanization on GHG fluxes among four land covers- natural forest, urban forest, farmland and roadside planter in Hong Kong based on closed chamber measurements for one full year. CO2 emission significantly varied among land covers (p<0.05), with the highest and lowest CO2 emissions being recorded in roadside planter and farmland, respectively. The N2O flux was highest in roadside planter whereas the lowest flux was recorded in urban forest, though the difference in N2O fluxes was only statistically significant at a level of 0.1. No significant difference of CH4 emission was found among all the land covers. Emission of CO2 increased markedly with soil organic matter content, while N2O flux increased markedly with total Kjeldahl nitrogen content. The results obtained in this study will enhance our understanding on urban ecosystem and be useful for recommending sustainable management strategies for conservation of ecosystem services in urban areas.

Woody vegetation and soil characteristics of residential forest patches and open spaces along an urban-to-rural gradient

Treesearch

Benjamin L. Reichert; Sharon R. Jean-Philippe; Christopher Oswalt; Jennifer Franklin; Mark Radosevich

2015-01-01

As the process of urbanization advances across the country, so does the importance of urban forests, which include both trees and the soils in which they grow. Soil microbial biomass, which plays a critical role in nutrient transformation in urban ecosystems, is affected by factors such as soil type and the availability of water, carbon, and nitrogen. The aim of this...

Expanding the vision of the Experimental Forest and Range network to urban areas

Treesearch

J. Morgan Grove

2014-01-01

After 100 years, the USDA Forest Service has emerging opportunities to expand the Experimental Forest and Range (EFR) network to urban areas. The purpose of this expansion would be to broaden the types of ecosystems studied, interdisciplinary approaches used, and relevance to society of the EFR network through long-term and large-scale social-ecological projects in...

Invasive species overarching priorities to 2029

Treesearch

Kelly Burnett; Susan J. Frankel; Melody Keena; Mee-Sook Kim; Ned B. Klopfenstein; Michael E. Ostry; Carolyn Hull Sieg

2010-01-01

Invasive species are one of the greatest threats to forest, range, aquatic, and urban forest ecosystem health. They contribute to the endangerment of native species and may lead to other severe ecological and financial consequences in our Nation’s wildlands and urban forests. Costs the public pays for damage, losses, and control efforts are estimated at more than $138...

The Moving Edge: Perspectives on the Southern Wildland-Urban Interface

Treesearch

Martha C. Monroe; Alison W. Bowers; L. Annie Hermansen

2003-01-01

To better understand the wildland-urban interface across the 13 Southern States and to identify issues to be covered in the USDA Forest Service report, "Human Influences on Forest Ecosystems: The Southern Wildland-Urban Interface Assessment," 12 focus groups were conducted in 6 of the Southern States in May and June 2000. The groups were guided through a...

Effect of plot and sample size on timing and precision of urban forest assessments

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Jeffrey T. Walton; Jack C. Stevens; Daniel E. Crane; Robert E. Hoehn

2008-01-01

Accurate field data can be used to assess ecosystem services from trees and to improve urban forest management, yet little is known about the optimization of field data collection in the urban environment. Various field and Geographic Information System (GIS) tests were performed to help understand how time costs and precision of tree population estimates change with...

Adopting public values and climate change adaptation strategies in urban forest management: A review and analysis of the relevant literature.

PubMed

Ordóñez Barona, Camilo

2015-12-01

Urban trees are a dominant natural element in cities; they provide important ecosystem services to urban citizens and help urban areas adapt to climate change. Many rationales have been proposed to provide a purpose for urban forest management, some of which have been ineffective in addressing important ecological and social management themes. Among these rationales we find a values-based perspective, which sees management as a process where the desires of urban dwellers are met. Another perspective is climate change adaptation, which sees management as a process where urban forest vulnerability to climate change is reduced and resilience enhanced. Both these rationales have the advantage of complementing, enhancing, and broadening urban forest management objectives. A critical analysis of the literature on public values related to urban forests and climate change adaptation in the context of urban forests is undertaken to discuss what it means to adopt these two issues in urban forest management. The analysis suggests that by seeing urban forest management as a process by which public values are satisfied and urban-forest vulnerabilities to climate change are reduced, we can place issues such as naturalization, adaptive management, and engaging people in management at the centre of urban forest management. Focusing urban forest management on these issues may help ensure the success of programs focused on planting more trees and increasing citizen participation in urban forest management. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An assessment of coarse woody debris dynamics in an urban forest

Treesearch

Michael K. Crosby; Helen Petre; Justin Sims; Rachel Butler

2016-01-01

Determining the amount of coarse woody debris (CWD) in an urban forest is essential to developing management strategies to maintain ecosystem function while minimizing hazards to local residents. It is also an essential variable used for the assessment and monitoring of carbon dynamics and fire fuel loads in forests. Plots were established and CWD measured in Marshall...

Forest carbon trends in the Southern United States

Treesearch

Robert A. Mickler; James E. Smith; Linda S. Heath

2004-01-01

Forest, agricultural, rangeland, wetland, and urban landscapes have different rates of carbon (C) sequestration and total C sequestration potential under alternative management options. Future changes in the proportion and spatial distribution of land use could increase or decrease the capacity of areas to sequester C in terrestrial ecosystems. As the ecosystems within...

Applying ecosystem management to urban forestry

Treesearch

Wayne C. Zipperer

2007-01-01

During the 1990s, the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service shifted from commodity production management to ecosystem-based management (Overbay, 1992). Although definitions of ecosystem-based management vary by objectives, the principle had four primary elements: (1) maintaining viable populations of native species, (2) representing native ecosystems...

Urban forest ecosystem services: A case study in Corvallis,Oregon

EPA Science Inventory

Background/Questions/Methods One EPA research focus is quantifying ecosystem services, benefits that ecosystems provide to humans, in order to promote informed natural resource management decisions and to assess the effectiveness of existing environmental policies. A case study...

Temporal changes in potential regulating ecosystem services driven by urbanization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Carla; Amorim, Inês; Pires, Evanilton; Kalantari, Zahra; Walsh, Rory; Ferreira, António

2017-04-01

Ecosystem services (ES) are understood to be the capacity of the landscape of a particular area to provide goods and services to society. In terms of human benefits, four categories of ES are usually considered: provisioning (e.g. seafood), regulating (e.g. climate regulation, air quality, water purification and natural hazard protection), supporting (e.g. maintenance of biodiversity), and cultural (e.g. recreation). The potential supply of ecosystem services has receive increasing interest as a tool for natural resource management. Nevertheless, the capacity to supply ES depends on biophysical conditions, as well as climate and land-use changes, induced by human activities. This study aims to investigate the potential for regulating ecosystem service supply of a Portuguese peri-urban catchment, and attempts to understand the temporal changes in ES over the last decades driven by urbanization. The study was developed in Ribeira dos Covões catchment (6.2 km2), in Portugal. Due to its proximity to Coimbra, a major city in the central region of Portugal, the catchment has undergone major land-use changes over the last half-century. Since 1958, the agricultural area, comprising mainly olives and arable land, has declined from 48% to 4%, due to increases in urban land (from 8% to 40%) and forest (from 44% to 53%), as well as a temporary creation of open spaces (from 0% to 3%). The nature of forest cover also changed, from native species, such as oaks (Quercus sp.), to commercial timber plantations, mostly of Pinus pinaster L. and Eucaliptus globulus L.. Urbanization became more pronounced after 1973, exhibiting a discontinuous pattern until 1995, and then later more continuous urban areas through the infilling of areas between the earlier urban cores. Quantification of regulating ES in the study catchment was achieved using GIS techniques, in order to gain a spatial dimension of ES distribution (Burkhard et al., 2009). Mapping ecosystem service capacities at a 5×5m resolution involved the use of CORINE land cover data and aerial photographs, available for the years 1958, 1973, 1979, 1990, 1995, 2002, 2007 and 2012. The resulting land-use maps include 11 land cover classes: equipment and infrastructure, discontinuous urban fabric, continuous urban fabric, natural areas with shrubs and herbaceous plants, softwoods, hardwoods, mixed forest, permanent crops, arable land, bare soil and water bodies. Quantitative assessment of regulating services of these land-use classes was achieved based on interviews with 31 experts. Each expert prepared a matrix using a scale from "0" to "5", where "0" refers to the land cover as having no capacity to provide regulating services, while 5 indicates that the land cover provides a wide range of ecosystem services. A final matrix was prepared based on mean values of all the experts. This matrix was then integrated with the land-use maps of different years to generate a spatially explicit potential ecosystem service supply model. The results showed decreasing ecosystem regulation services over time, mainly due to increasing urban area but also changes on forest types. The methodology used can be easily applied to test distinct urbanization scenarios, thus, providing a valuable support for urban planning.

Performance testing to identify climate-ready trees

Treesearch

E.Gregory McPherson; Alison M. Berry; Natalie S. van Doorn

2018-01-01

Urban forests produce ecosystem services that can benefit city dwellers, but are especially vulnerable to climate change stressors such as heat, drought, extreme winds and pests. Tree selection is an important decision point for managers wanting to transition to a more stable and resilient urban forest structure. This study describes a five-step process to identify and...

Shifts in leaf litter breakdown along a forest-pasture-urban gradient in Andean streams.

PubMed

Iñiguez-Armijos, Carlos; Rausche, Sirkka; Cueva, Augusta; Sánchez-Rodríguez, Aminael; Espinosa, Carlos; Breuer, Lutz

2016-07-01

Tropical montane ecosystems of the Andes are critically threatened by a rapid land-use change which can potentially affect stream variables, aquatic communities, and ecosystem processes such as leaf litter breakdown. However, these effects have not been sufficiently investigated in the Andean region and at high altitude locations in general. Here, we studied the influence of land use (forest-pasture-urban) on stream physico-chemical variables (e.g., water temperature, nutrient concentration, and pH), aquatic communities (macroinvertebrates and aquatic fungi) and leaf litter breakdown rates in Andean streams (southern Ecuador), and how variation in those stream physico-chemical variables affect macroinvertebrates and fungi related to leaf litter breakdown. We found that pH, water temperature, and nutrient concentration increased along the land-use gradient. Macroinvertebrate communities were significantly different between land uses. Shredder richness and abundance were lower in pasture than forest sites and totally absent in urban sites, and fungal richness and biomass were higher in forest sites than in pasture and urban sites. Leaf litter breakdown rates became slower as riparian land use changed from natural to anthropogenically disturbed conditions and were largely determined by pH, water temperature, phosphate concentration, fungal activity, and single species of leaf-shredding invertebrates. Our findings provide evidence that leaf litter breakdown in Andean streams is sensitive to riparian land-use change, with urban streams being the most affected. In addition, this study highlights the role of fungal biomass and shredder species (Phylloicus; Trichoptera and Anchytarsus; Coleoptera) on leaf litter breakdown in Andean streams and the contribution of aquatic fungi in supporting this ecosystem process when shredders are absent or present low abundance in streams affected by urbanization. Finally, we summarize important implications in terms of managing of native vegetation and riparian buffers to promote ecological integrity and functioning of tropical Andean stream ecosystems.

Towards a network of Urban Forest Eddy Covariance stations: a unique case study in Naples

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guidolotti, Gabriele; Pallozzi, Emanuele; Esposito, Raffaela; Mattioni, Michele; Calfapietra, Carlo

2015-04-01

Urban forests are by definition integrated in highly human-made areas, and interact with different components of our cities. Thanks to those interactions, urban forests provide to people and to the urban environment a number of ecosystem services, including the absorption of CO2 and air pollutants thus influencing the local air quality. Moreover, in urban areas a relevant role is played by the photochemical pollution which is strongly influenced by the interactions between volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). In several cities, a high percentage of VOC is of biogenic origin mainly emitted from the urban trees. Despite their importance, experimental sites monitoring fluxes of trace gases fluxes in urban forest ecosystems are still scarce. Here we show the preliminary results of an innovative experimental site located in the Royal Park of Capodimonte within the city of Naples (40°51'N-14°15'E, 130 m above sea level). The site is mainly characterised by Quercus ilex with some patches of Pinus pinea and equipped with an eddy-covariance tower measuring the exchange of CO2, H2O, N2O, CH4, O3, PM, VOCs and NOx using state-of-the art instrumentations; it is running since the end of 2014 and it is part of the large infrastructural I-AMICA project. We suggest that the experience gained with research networks such as Fluxnet and ICOS should be duplicated for urban forests. This is crucial for carbon as there is now the ambition to include urban forests in the carbon stocks accounting system. This is even more important to understand the difficult interactions between anthropogenic and biogenic sources that often have negative implications for urban air quality. Urban environment can thus become an extraordinary case study and a network of such kind of stations might represent an important strategy both from the scientific and the applicative point of view.

Reach-scale effects of riparian forest cover on urban stream ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Roy, A.H.; Faust, C.L.; Freeman, Mary C.; Meyer, J.L.

2005-01-01

We compared habitat and biota between paired open and forested reaches within five small streams (basin area 10?20 km2) in suburban catchments (9%?49% urban land cover) in the Piedmont of Georgia, USA. Stream reaches with open canopies were narrower than forested reaches (4.1 versus 5.0 m, respectively). There were no differences in habitat diversity (variation in velocity, depth, or bed particle size) between open and forested reaches. However, absence of local forest cover corresponded to decreased large wood and increased algal chlorophyll a standing crop biomass. These differences in basal food resources translated into higher densities of fishes in open (9.0 individuals?m?2) versus forested (4.9 individuals?m?2) reaches, primarily attributed to higher densities of the herbivore Campostoma oligolepis. Densities of terrestrial invertebrate inputs were higher in open reaches; however, trends suggested higher biomass of terrestrial inputs in forested reaches and a corresponding higher density of terrestrial prey consumed by water column feeding fishes. Reach-scale biotic integrity (macroinvertebrates, salamanders, and fishes) was largely unaffected by differences in canopy cover. In urbanizing areas where catchment land cover drives habitat and biotic quality, management practices that rely exclusively on forested riparian areas for stream protection are unlikely to be effective at maintaining ecosystem integrity.

From the litter up and the sky down: Perspectives on urban ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The structure of the urban forest represents the complex product of local biophysical conditions, socio-economic milieu, people preferences and management with rare counterparts in rural forests. However, urban forest structure, as similarly observed in rural forests, affects key ecological and hydrological processes as well as the plethora of organisms regulating these processes. This seminar talk will firstly present key mechanisms regulating urban eco-hydrological processes “from a litter up” perspective. In particular, fine scale effects of urban forest structure upon i) organic matter decomposition, and comminution, ii) community-assembly of decomposers, detritivores, and ecosystem engineers (i.e. bacteria, litter-dwelling macrofauna, ants), and iii) stormwater runoff infiltration and interception will be discussed. The second part of this intervention will look at the structure of the urban forest “from a sky down” perspective. Recent findings from large scale LiDAR investigations will be presented to discuss social and biophysical drivers affecting urban forest structure at sub-continental scale, as well as short-term tree loss dynamics across residential landscapes, and how these can potentially affect eco-hydrological processes at large scale. Urban forest structure, as similarly observed in rural forests, affects key ecological and hydrological processes as well as the plethora of organisms regulating these processes.

Nesting tree characteristics of heronry birds of urban ecosystems in peninsular India: implications for habitat management

PubMed Central

Sinu, Palatty Allesh

2017-01-01

Abstract Wetland ecosystems, particularly the mangrove forest, are the primary wild habitat of heronry birds. However, urban ecosystems have become a favorite breeding habitat of these birds. To provide inputs into the habitat management for conservation of these birds, we investigated the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of nesting trees of heronry birds in the urban environment of the North Kerala region of peninsular India. Census on nesting trees was done in 3 major microhabitats of the urban ecosystem: avenues of national highways and towns, nonresidential plots, and residential areas apart from the mangrove islets in the peri-urban locality. The study found that 174 trees of 22 species hosted 1,928 heronry bird nests in the urban habitats; mangrove forests, although plentiful in the study area, hosted only about 20% of the total nests encountered in the study. Rain trees Samanea saman (43.7%) were the most available nesting tree. The greatest number of nests and nesting trees were encountered on the roads of urban areas, followed by nonresidential areas and residential areas. The differences in the observed frequencies of nesting trees in 3 microhabitats and in 3 types of roads (national highways > state highways > small pocket road) were significant. Canopy spread, girth size, and quality of the trees predicted the tree selection of the heronry birds in urban environments. Therefore, we recommend proper management and notification of the identified nesting trees as protected sites for the conservation of herorny birds. PMID:29492020

Nesting tree characteristics of heronry birds of urban ecosystems in peninsular India: implications for habitat management.

PubMed

Roshnath, Ramesh; Sinu, Palatty Allesh

2017-12-01

Wetland ecosystems, particularly the mangrove forest, are the primary wild habitat of heronry birds. However, urban ecosystems have become a favorite breeding habitat of these birds. To provide inputs into the habitat management for conservation of these birds, we investigated the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of nesting trees of heronry birds in the urban environment of the North Kerala region of peninsular India. Census on nesting trees was done in 3 major microhabitats of the urban ecosystem: avenues of national highways and towns, nonresidential plots, and residential areas apart from the mangrove islets in the peri-urban locality. The study found that 174 trees of 22 species hosted 1,928 heronry bird nests in the urban habitats; mangrove forests, although plentiful in the study area, hosted only about 20% of the total nests encountered in the study. Rain trees Samanea saman (43.7%) were the most available nesting tree. The greatest number of nests and nesting trees were encountered on the roads of urban areas, followed by nonresidential areas and residential areas. The differences in the observed frequencies of nesting trees in 3 microhabitats and in 3 types of roads (national highways > state highways > small pocket road) were significant. Canopy spread, girth size, and quality of the trees predicted the tree selection of the heronry birds in urban environments. Therefore, we recommend proper management and notification of the identified nesting trees as protected sites for the conservation of herorny birds.

Global topics and novel approaches in the study of air pollution, climate change and forest ecosystems.

PubMed

Sicard, Pierre; Augustaitis, Algirdas; Belyazid, Salim; Calfapietra, Carlo; de Marco, Alessandra; Fenn, Mark; Bytnerowicz, Andrzej; Grulke, Nancy; He, Shang; Matyssek, Rainer; Serengil, Yusuf; Wieser, Gerhard; Paoletti, Elena

2016-06-01

Research directions from the 27th conference for Specialists in Air Pollution and Climate Change Effects on Forest Ecosystems (2015) reflect knowledge advancements about (i) Mechanistic bases of tree responses to multiple climate and pollution stressors, in particular the interaction of ozone (O3) with nitrogen (N) deposition and drought; (ii) Linking genetic control with physiological whole-tree activity; (iii) Epigenetic responses to climate change and air pollution; (iv) Embedding individual tree performance into the multi-factorial stand-level interaction network; (v) Interactions of biogenic and anthropogenic volatile compounds (molecular, functional and ecological bases); (vi) Estimating the potential for carbon/pollution mitigation and cost effectiveness of urban and peri-urban forests; (vii) Selection of trees adapted to the urban environment; (viii) Trophic, competitive and host/parasite relationships under changing pollution and climate; (ix) Atmosphere-biosphere-pedosphere interactions as affected by anthropospheric changes; (x) Statistical analyses for epidemiological investigations; (xi) Use of monitoring for the validation of models; (xii) Holistic view for linking the climate, carbon, N and O3 modelling; (xiii) Inclusion of multiple environmental stresses (biotic and abiotic) in critical load determinations; (xiv) Ecological impacts of N deposition in the under-investigated areas; (xv) Empirical models for mechanistic effects at the local scale; (xvi) Broad-scale N and sulphur deposition input and their effects on forest ecosystem services; (xvii) Measurements of dry deposition of N; (xviii) Assessment of evapotranspiration; (xix) Remote sensing assessment of hydrological parameters; and (xx) Forest management for maximizing water provision and overall forest ecosystem services. Ground-level O3 is still the phytotoxic air pollutant of major concern to forest health. Specific issues about O3 are: (xxi) Developing dose-response relationships and stomatal O3 flux parameterizations for risk assessment, especially, in under-investigated regions; (xxii) Defining biologically based O3 standards for protection thresholds and critical levels; (xxiii) Use of free-air exposure facilities; (xxiv) Assessing O3 impacts on forest ecosystem services. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A collaborative fire hazard reduction/ecosystem restoration stewardship project in a Montana mixed ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir/western larch wildland urban interface

Treesearch

Steve Slaughter; Laura Ward; Michael Hillis; Jim Chew; Rebecca McFarlan

2004-01-01

Forest Service managers and researchers designed and evaluated alternative disturbance-based fire hazard reduction/ecosystem restoration treatments in a greatly altered low-elevation ponderosa pine/Douglas-fir/western larch wildland urban interface. Collaboratively planned improvement cutting and prescribed fire treatment alternatives were evaluated in simulations of...

Management adaptation to fires in the wildland-urban risk areas in Spain

Treesearch

Gema Herrero-Corral

2013-01-01

Forest fires not only cause damage to ecosystems but also result in major socio-economic losses and in the worst cases loss of human life. Specifically, the incidence of fires in the overlapping areas between building structures and forest vegetation (wildland-urban interface, WUI) generates highly-complex emergencies due to the presence of people and goods....

The deep human prehistory of global tropical forests and its relevance for modern conservation.

PubMed

Roberts, Patrick; Hunt, Chris; Arroyo-Kalin, Manuel; Evans, Damian; Boivin, Nicole

2017-08-03

Significant human impacts on tropical forests have been considered the preserve of recent societies, linked to large-scale deforestation, extensive and intensive agriculture, resource mining, livestock grazing and urban settlement. Cumulative archaeological evidence now demonstrates, however, that Homo sapiens has actively manipulated tropical forest ecologies for at least 45,000 years. It is clear that these millennia of impacts need to be taken into account when studying and conserving tropical forest ecosystems today. Nevertheless, archaeology has so far provided only limited practical insight into contemporary human-tropical forest interactions. Here, we review significant archaeological evidence for the impacts of past hunter-gatherers, agriculturalists and urban settlements on global tropical forests. We compare the challenges faced, as well as the solutions adopted, by these groups with those confronting present-day societies, which also rely on tropical forests for a variety of ecosystem services. We emphasize archaeology's importance not only in promoting natural and cultural heritage in tropical forests, but also in taking an active role to inform modern conservation and policy-making.

Modeling ozone uptake by urban and peri-urban forest: a case study in the Metropolitan City of Rome.

PubMed

Fusaro, Lina; Mereu, Simone; Salvatori, Elisabetta; Agliari, Elena; Fares, Silvano; Manes, Fausto

2018-03-01

Urban and peri-urban forests are green infrastructures (GI) that play a substantial role in delivering ecosystem services such as the amelioration of air quality by the removal of air pollutants, among which is ozone (O 3 ), which is the most harmful pollutant in Mediterranean metropolitan areas. Models may provide a reliable estimate of gas exchanges between vegetation and atmosphere and are thus a powerful tool to quantify and compare O 3 removal in different contexts. The present study modeled the O 3 stomatal uptake at canopy level of an urban and a peri-urban forest in the Metropolitan City of Rome in two different years. Results show different rates of O 3 fluxes between the two forests, due to different exposure to the pollutant, management practice effects on forest structure and functionality, and environmental conditions, namely, different stressors affecting the gas exchange rates of the two GIs. The periodic components of the time series calculated by means of the spectral analysis show that seasonal variation of modeled canopy transpiration is driven by precipitation in peri-urban forests, whereas in the urban forest seasonal variations are driven by vapor pressure deficit of ambient air. Moreover, in the urban forest high water availability during summer months, owing to irrigation practice, leads to an increase in O 3 uptake, thus suggesting that irrigation may enhance air phytoremediation in urban areas.

Biophysical control of whole tree transpiration under an urban environment in Northern China

Treesearch

Lixin Chen; Zhiqiang Zhang; Zhandong Li; Jianwu Tang; Peter Caldwell; et al

2011-01-01

Urban reforestation in China has led to increasing debate about the impact of urban trees and forests on water resources. Although transpiration is the largest water flux leaving terrestrial ecosystems, little is known regarding whole tree transpiration in urban environments. In this study, we quantified urban tree transpiration at various temporal scales and examined...

Urban forests sustain diverse carrion beetle assemblages in the New York City metropolitan area

PubMed Central

Fusco, Nicole A.; Zhao, Anthony

2017-01-01

Urbanization is an increasingly pervasive form of land transformation that reduces biodiversity of many taxonomic groups. Beetles exhibit a broad range of responses to urbanization, likely due to the high functional diversity in this order. Carrion beetles (Order: Coleoptera, Family: Silphidae) provide an important ecosystem service by promoting decomposition of small-bodied carcasses, and have previously been found to decline due to forest fragmentation caused by urbanization. However, New York City (NYC) and many other cities have fairly large continuous forest patches that support dense populations of small mammals, and thus may harbor relatively robust carrion beetle communities in city parks. In this study, we investigated carrion beetle community composition, abundance and diversity in forest patches along an urban-to-rural gradient spanning the urban core (Central Park, NYC) to outlying rural areas. We conducted an additional study comparing the current carrion beetle community at a single suburban site in Westchester County, NY that was intensively surveyed in the early 1970’s. We collected a total of 2,170 carrion beetles from eight species at 13 sites along this gradient. We report little to no effect of urbanization on carrion beetle diversity, although two species were not detected in any urban parks. Nicrophorus tomentosus was the most abundant species at all sites and seemed to dominate the urban communities, potentially due to its generalist habits and shallower burying depth compared to the other beetles surveyed. Variation between species body size, habitat specialization, and % forest area surrounding the surveyed sites also did not influence carrion beetle communities. Lastly, we found few significant differences in relative abundance of 10 different carrion beetle species between 1974 and 2015 at a single site in Westchester County, NY, although two of the rare species in the early 1970’s were not detected in 2015. These results indicate that NYC’s forested parks have the potential to sustain carrion beetle communities and the ecosystem services they provide. PMID:28316891

Urban forests sustain diverse carrion beetle assemblages in the New York City metropolitan area.

PubMed

Fusco, Nicole A; Zhao, Anthony; Munshi-South, Jason

2017-01-01

Urbanization is an increasingly pervasive form of land transformation that reduces biodiversity of many taxonomic groups. Beetles exhibit a broad range of responses to urbanization, likely due to the high functional diversity in this order. Carrion beetles (Order: Coleoptera, Family: Silphidae) provide an important ecosystem service by promoting decomposition of small-bodied carcasses, and have previously been found to decline due to forest fragmentation caused by urbanization. However, New York City (NYC) and many other cities have fairly large continuous forest patches that support dense populations of small mammals, and thus may harbor relatively robust carrion beetle communities in city parks. In this study, we investigated carrion beetle community composition, abundance and diversity in forest patches along an urban-to-rural gradient spanning the urban core (Central Park, NYC) to outlying rural areas. We conducted an additional study comparing the current carrion beetle community at a single suburban site in Westchester County, NY that was intensively surveyed in the early 1970's. We collected a total of 2,170 carrion beetles from eight species at 13 sites along this gradient. We report little to no effect of urbanization on carrion beetle diversity, although two species were not detected in any urban parks. Nicrophorus tomentosus was the most abundant species at all sites and seemed to dominate the urban communities, potentially due to its generalist habits and shallower burying depth compared to the other beetles surveyed. Variation between species body size, habitat specialization, and % forest area surrounding the surveyed sites also did not influence carrion beetle communities. Lastly, we found few significant differences in relative abundance of 10 different carrion beetle species between 1974 and 2015 at a single site in Westchester County, NY, although two of the rare species in the early 1970's were not detected in 2015. These results indicate that NYC's forested parks have the potential to sustain carrion beetle communities and the ecosystem services they provide.

Natural abundance N stable isotopes in plants and soils as an indicator of N deposition hotspots in urban environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trammell, T. L.

2017-12-01

The natural abundance of stable isotopes in plants and soils has been utilized to understand ecological phenomenon. Foliar δ15N is an integrator of soil δ15N, atmospheric N sources, and fractionation processes that occur during plant N uptake, plant N assimilation, and mycorrhizal associations. The amount of reactive N in the environment has greatly increased due to human activities, and urban ecosystems experience excess N deposition that can have cascading effects on plants and soils. Foliar δ15N has been shown to increase with increasing N deposition and nitrification rates suggesting increased foliar δ15N occurs with greater N inputs as a result of accelerated soil N cycling. Thus, foliar δ15N can be an indication of soil N availability for plant uptake and soil N cycling rates, since high N availability results in increased soil N cycling and subsequent loss of 14N. Limited research has utilized foliar and soil δ15N in urban forests to assess the importance of plant uptake of atmospheric N deposition and to gain insight about ecosystem processes. Previous investigations found foliar δ15N of mature trees in urban forests is not only related to elevated pollutant-derived N deposition, but also to soil N availability and soil N cycling rates. Similarly, enriched foliar δ15N of urban saplings was attributed to soil characteristics that indicated higher nitrification, thus, greater nitrate leaching and low N retention in the urban soils. These studies demonstrate the need for measuring the δ15N of various plant and soil N sources while simultaneously measuring soil N processes (e.g., net nitrification rates) in order to use natural abundance δ15N of plants and soils to assess N sources and cycling in urban forests. A conceptual framework that illustrates biogenic and anthropogenic controls on nitrogen isotope composition in urban plants and soils will be presented along with foliar and soil δ15N from urban forests across several cities as a proof of concept. Foliar and soil 15N can be extremely useful when N sources are isotopically distinct, patterns are detectable, or multiple tools are used simultaneously to understand N cycling. N cycles tightly in most ecosystems, thus δ15N in plants and soils can provide information about N source and availability to ecosystems.

Human impacts on genetic diversity in forest ecosystems

Treesearch

F. Thomas Ledig

1992-01-01

Humans have converted forest to agricultural and urban uses, exploited species, fragmented wildlands. changed the demographic structure of forests, altered habitat, degraded the environment with atmospheric and soil pollutants, introduced exotic pests and competitors, and domesticated favored species. None of they activities is new; perhaps with the exception of...

[Estimation on value of water and soil conservation of agricultural ecosystems in Xi' an metropolitan, Northwest China].

PubMed

Yang, Wen-yan; Zhou, Zhong-xue

2014-12-01

With the urban eco-environment increasingly deteriorating, the ecosystem services provided by modern urban agriculture are exceedingly significant to maintain and build more suitable environment in a city. Taking Xi' an metropolitan as the study area, based on remote sensing data, DEM data and the economic and social statistics data, the water and soil conservation service of the agricultural ecosystems was valued employing the remote sensing and geographic information system method, covering the reduction values on land waste, soil fertility loss and sediment loss from 2000 to 2011, and analyzed its changes in time and space. The results showed that during the study period, the total value of water and soil conservation service provided by agricultural systems in Xi' an metropolitan was increased by 46,086 and 33.008 billion yuan respectively from period of 2000 to 2005 and from 2005 to 2011. The cultivated land (including grains, vegetables and other farming land), forest (including orchard) and grassland provided higher value on the water and soil conservation service than waters and other land use. Ecosystem service value of water and soil conserva- tion provided by agriculture was gradually decreasing from the southern to the northern in Xi' an metropolitan. There were significantly positive relationship between the ecosystem service value and the vegetation coverage. Forest, orchard and grassland distributed intensively in the southern which had higher vegetation coverage than in northern where covered by more cultivated land, sparse forest and scattered orchard. There were significantly negative correlation between the urbanization level and the value of water and soil conservation. The higher level of urbanization, the lower value there was from built-up area to suburban and to countryside within Xi' an metropolitan.

Leaf breakdown in streams differing in catchment land use

USGS Publications Warehouse

Paul, M.J.; Meyer, J.L.; Couch, C.A.

2006-01-01

1. The impact of changes in land use on stream ecosystem function is poorly understood. We studied leaf breakdown, a fundamental process of stream ecosystems, in streams that represent a range of catchment land use in the Piedmont physiographic province of the south-eastern United States. 2. We placed bags of chalk maple (Acer barbatum) leaves in similar-sized streams in 12 catchments of differing dominant land use: four forested, three agricultural, two suburban and three urban catchments. We measured leaf mass, invertebrate abundance and fungal biomass in leaf bags over time. 3. Leaves decayed significantly faster in agricultural (0.0465 day-1) and urban (0.0474 day-1) streams than in suburban (0.0173 day-1) and forested (0.0100 day-1) streams. Additionally, breakdown rates in the agricultural and urban streams were among the fastest reported for deciduous leaves in any stream. Nutrient concentrations in agricultural streams were significantly higher than in any other land-use type. Fungal biomass associated with leaves was significantly lower in urban streams; while shredder abundance in leaf bags was significantly higher in forested and agricultural streams than in suburban and urban streams. Storm runoff was significantly higher in urban and suburban catchments that had higher impervious surface cover than forested or agricultural catchments. 4. We propose that processes accelerating leaf breakdown in agricultural and urban streams were not the same: faster breakdown in agricultural streams was due to increased biological activity as a result of nutrient enrichment, whereas faster breakdown in urban streams was a result of physical fragmentation resulting from higher storm runoff. ?? 2006 The Authors.

Flux-based Enrichment Ratios of Throughfall and Stemflow Found to Vary Significantly within Urban Fragments and Along an Urban-to-Rural Gradient

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dowtin, A. L.; Levia, D. F., Jr.

2017-12-01

Throughfall and stemflow are important inputs of water and solutes to forest soils in both rural and urban forests. In metropolitan wooded ecosystems, a number of factors can affect flux-based enrichment ratios, including combustion of fossil fuels and proximity to industry. Use of flux-based enrichment ratios provides a means by which this modification of net precipitation chemistry can be quantified for both throughfall and stemflow, and allows for a characterization of the relative contributions of stemflow and throughfall in the delivery of nutrients and pollutants to forest soils. This study utilizes five mixed deciduous forest stands along an urban-to-rural gradient (3 urban fragments, 1 suburban fragment, and a portion of 1 contiguous rural forest) within a medium-sized metropolitan region of the United States' Northeast megalopolis, to determine how the size, shape, structure, and geographic context of remnant forest fragments determine hydrologic and solute fluxes within them. In situ observations of throughfall and stemflow (the latter of which is limited to Quercus rubra and Quercus alba) within each study plot allow for an identification and characterization of the spatial variability in solute fluxes within and between the respective sites. Preliminary observations indicate significant intra-site variability in solute concentrations as observed in both throughfall and stemflow, with higher concentrations along the respective windward edges of the study plots than at greater depths into their interiors. Higher flux-based stemflow enrichment ratios, for both Q. rubra and Q. alba, were also evident for certain ions (i.e., S2-, NO3-) in the urban forest fragments, with significantly lower ratios observed at the suburban and rural sites. Findings from this research are intended to aid in quantifying the spatial variability of the hydrologic and hydrochemical ecosystem service provisions of remnant metropolitan forest fragments. This research is supported in part by National Science Foundation grant Reference Number BCS-1459116.

Regional differences of urbanization in the conterminous U.S. on upland forest land cover, 1973-2011

USGS Publications Warehouse

Auch, Roger F.; Drummond, Mark A.; Xian, George Z.; Sayler, Kristi L.; Acevedo, William; Taylor, Janis

2016-01-01

In this U.S. Geological Survey study of forest land cover across the conterminous U.S. (CONUS), specific proportions and rates of forest conversion to developed (urban) land were assessed on an ecoregional basis. The study period was divided into six time intervals between 1973 and 2011. Forest land cover was the source of 40% or more of the new urban land in 35 of the 84 ecoregions located within the CONUS. In 11 of these ecoregions this threshold exceeded in every time interval. When the percent of change, forest to urban, was compared to the percent of forest in each ecoregion, 58 ecoregions had a greater percent of change and, in six of those, change occurred in every time interval. Annual rates of forest to urban land cover change of 0.2% or higher occurred in 12 ecoregions at least once and in one ecoregion in all intervals. There were three ecoregions where the above conditions were met for nearly every time interval. Even though only a small number of the ecoregions were heavily impacted by forest loss to urban development within the CONUS, the ecosystem services provided by undeveloped forest land cover need to be quantified more completely to better inform future regional land management.

Air contaminants and litter fall decomposition in urban forest areas: The case of São Paulo - SP, Brazil.

PubMed

Lamano Ferreira, Maurício; Portella Ribeiro, Andreza; Rodrigues Albuquerque, Caroline; Ferreira, Ana Paula do Nascimento Lamano; Figueira, Rubens César Lopes; Lafortezza, Raffaele

2017-05-01

Urban forests are usually affected by several types of atmospheric contaminants and by abnormal variations in weather conditions, thus facilitating the biotic homogenization and modification of ecosystem processes, such as nutrient cycling. Peri-urban forests and even natural forests that surround metropolitan areas are also subject to anthropogenic effects generated by cities, which may compromise the dynamics of these ecosystems. Hence, this study advances the hypothesis that the forests located at the margins of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (MRSP), Brazil, have high concentrations of atmospheric contaminants leading to adverse effects on litter fall stock. The production, stock and decomposition of litter fall in two forests were quantified. The first, known as Guarapiranga forest, lies closer to the urban area and is located within the MRSP, approximately 20km from the city center. The second, Curucutu forest, is located 70km from the urban center. This forest is situated exactly on the border of the largest continuum of vegetation of the Atlantic Forest. To verify the reach of atmospheric pollutants from the urban area, levels of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu) adsorbed on the litter fall deposited on the soil surface of the forests were also quantified. The stock of litter fall and the levels of heavy metals were generally higher in the Guarapiranga forest in the samples collected during the lower rainfall season (dry season). Non-metric multidimensional scaling multivariate analysis showed a clear distinction of the sample units related to the concentrations of heavy metals in each forest. A subtle difference between the units related to the dry and rainy seasons in the Curucutu forest was also noted. Multivariate Analysis of Variance revealed that both site and season of the year (dry or rainy) were important to differentiate the quantity of heavy metals in litter fall stock, although the analysis did not show the interaction between these two factors. Precipitation appeared to be an important factor to disperse air pollutants; one method to better regulate this process is the development and integration of green infrastructure at city level, which might contribute to nature-based solutions. Results suggest that although the Curucutu forest is not very far from the MRSP, which could result in heavy metal levels similar to those observed in the Guarapiranga forest, the weather conditions, geographic location and rainfall rates might act as efficient physical barriers against the dispersion of pollutants in the urban area. However, it is important to highlight that in the period studied (2012-2013), MRSP presented unusual features during the winter period marked by the highest levels of precipitation which was due to several numbers of frontal systems and also due to their permanence for a couple days in the region. Thus, it is recommended to continue this study in order to obtain a database for characterizing the seasonal variation of air pollution levels in the litter fall and their adverse effects on ecosystem processes in these remnants of the Atlantic Forest. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Diverse effects of degree of urbanisation and forest size on species richness and functional diversity of plants, and ground surface-active ants and spiders

PubMed Central

Melliger, Ramona Laila; Rusterholz, Hans-Peter; Baur, Bruno

2018-01-01

Urbanisation is increasing worldwide and is regarded a major driver of environmental change altering local species assemblages in urban green areas. Forests are one of the most frequent habitat types in urban landscapes harbouring many native species and providing important ecosystem services. By using a multi-taxa approach covering a range of trophic ranks, we examined the influence of degree of urbanisation and forest size on the species richness and functional diversity of plants, and ground surface-active ants and spiders. We conducted field surveys in twenty-six forests in the urban region of Basel, Switzerland. We found that a species’ response to urbanisation varied depending on trophic rank, habitat specificity and the diversity indices used. In plants, species richness decreased with degree of urbanisation, whereas that of both arthropod groups was not affected. However, ants and spiders at higher trophic rank showed greater shifts in species composition with increasing degree of urbanisation, and the percentage of forest specialists in both arthropod groups increased with forest size. Local abiotic site characteristics were also crucial for plant species diversity and species composition, while the structural diversity of both leaf litter and vegetation was important for the diversity of ants and spiders. Our results highlight that even small urban forests can harbour a considerable biodiversity including habitat specialists. Nonetheless, urbanisation directly and indirectly caused major shifts in species composition. Therefore, special consideration needs to be given to vulnerable species, including those with special habitat requirements. Locally adapted management practices could be a step forward to enhance habitat quality in a way to maximize diversity of forest species and thus ensure forest ecosystem functioning; albeit large-scale factors also remain important. PMID:29920553

Diverse effects of degree of urbanisation and forest size on species richness and functional diversity of plants, and ground surface-active ants and spiders.

PubMed

Melliger, Ramona Laila; Braschler, Brigitte; Rusterholz, Hans-Peter; Baur, Bruno

2018-01-01

Urbanisation is increasing worldwide and is regarded a major driver of environmental change altering local species assemblages in urban green areas. Forests are one of the most frequent habitat types in urban landscapes harbouring many native species and providing important ecosystem services. By using a multi-taxa approach covering a range of trophic ranks, we examined the influence of degree of urbanisation and forest size on the species richness and functional diversity of plants, and ground surface-active ants and spiders. We conducted field surveys in twenty-six forests in the urban region of Basel, Switzerland. We found that a species' response to urbanisation varied depending on trophic rank, habitat specificity and the diversity indices used. In plants, species richness decreased with degree of urbanisation, whereas that of both arthropod groups was not affected. However, ants and spiders at higher trophic rank showed greater shifts in species composition with increasing degree of urbanisation, and the percentage of forest specialists in both arthropod groups increased with forest size. Local abiotic site characteristics were also crucial for plant species diversity and species composition, while the structural diversity of both leaf litter and vegetation was important for the diversity of ants and spiders. Our results highlight that even small urban forests can harbour a considerable biodiversity including habitat specialists. Nonetheless, urbanisation directly and indirectly caused major shifts in species composition. Therefore, special consideration needs to be given to vulnerable species, including those with special habitat requirements. Locally adapted management practices could be a step forward to enhance habitat quality in a way to maximize diversity of forest species and thus ensure forest ecosystem functioning; albeit large-scale factors also remain important.

Land Use and Watersheds: Human Influence on Hydrology and Geomorphology in Urban and Forest Areas. Water Science and Application Series

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wigmosta, Mark S.; Burges, S J.

2001-10-01

What is the effect of urbanization and forest use on hydrologic and geomorphic processes? How can we develop land use policies that minimize adverse impacts on ecosystems while sustaining biodiversity? Land Use and Watersheds: Human Influence on Hydrology and Geomorphology in Urban and Forest Areas addresses these issues and more. By featuring watersheds principally in the American Pacific Northwest, and the effects of timber harvesting and road construction on stream flow, sediment yield and landslide occurrence, scientists can advance their understanding of what constitutes appropriate management of environments with similar hydro-climatic-geomorphic settings worldwide.

Using iTree Model in Clark County, Nevada

EPA Science Inventory

Ecosystem services are the services and benefits that human populations obtain from nature. Whether surrounded by a forested, coastal, or urban area, ecosystems provide recreation, food, shelter, cleaner air and water. As the climate and environment change due to human activity,...

Accounting for urban biogenic fluxes in regional carbon budgets.

PubMed

Hardiman, Brady S; Wang, Jonathan A; Hutyra, Lucy R; Gately, Conor K; Getson, Jackie M; Friedl, Mark A

2017-08-15

Many ecosystem models incorrectly treat urban areas as devoid of vegetation and biogenic carbon (C) fluxes. We sought to improve estimates of urban biomass and biogenic C fluxes using existing, nationally available data products. We characterized biogenic influence on urban C cycling throughout Massachusetts, USA using an ecosystem model that integrates improved representation of urban vegetation, growing conditions associated with urban heat island (UHI), and altered urban phenology. Boston's biomass density is 1/4 that of rural forests, however 87% of Massachusetts' urban landscape is vegetated. Model results suggest that, kilogram-for-kilogram, urban vegetation cycles C twice as fast as rural forests. Urban vegetation releases (R E ) and absorbs (GEE) the equivalent of 11 and 14%, respectively, of anthropogenic emissions in the most urban portions of the state. While urban vegetation in Massachusetts fully sequesters anthropogenic emissions from smaller cities in the region, Boston's UHI reduces annual C storage by >20% such that vegetation offsets only 2% of anthropogenic emissions. Asynchrony between temporal patterns of biogenic and anthropogenic C fluxes further constrains the emissions mitigation potential of urban vegetation. However, neglecting to account for biogenic C fluxes in cities can impair efforts to accurately monitor, report, verify, and reduce anthropogenic emissions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Discerning fragmentation dynamics of tropical forest and wetland during reforestation, urban sprawl, and policy shifts.

PubMed

Gao, Qiong; Yu, Mei

2014-01-01

Despite the overall trend of worldwide deforestation over recent decades, reforestation has also been found and is expected in developing countries undergoing fast urbanization and agriculture abandonment. The consequences of reforestation on landscape patterns are seldom addressed in the literature, despite their importance in evaluating biodiversity and ecosystem functions. By analyzing long-term land cover changes in Puerto Rico, a rapidly reforested (6 to 42% during 1940-2000) and urbanized tropical island, we detected significantly different patterns of fragmentation and underlying mechanisms among forests, urban areas, and wetlands. Forest fragmentation is often associated with deforestation. However, we also found significant fragmentation during reforestation. Urban sprawl and suburb development have a dominant impact on forest fragmentation. Reforestation mostly occurs along forest edges, while significant deforestation occurs in forest interiors. The deforestation process has a much stronger impact on forest fragmentation than the reforestation process due to their different spatial configurations. In contrast, despite the strong interference of coastal urbanization, wetland aggregation has occurred due to the effective implementation of laws/regulations for wetland protection. The peak forest fragmentation shifted toward rural areas, indicating progressively more fragmentation in forest interiors. This shift is synchronous with the accelerated urban sprawl as indicated by the accelerated shift of the peak fragmentation index of urban cover toward rural areas, i.e., 1.37% yr-1 in 1977-1991 versus 2.17% yr-1 in 1991-2000. Based on the expected global urbanization and the regional forest transition from deforested to reforested, the fragmented forests and aggregated wetlands in this study highlight possible forest fragmentation processes during reforestation in an assessment of biodiversity and functions and suggest effective laws/regulations in land planning to reduce future fragmentation.

Discerning Fragmentation Dynamics of Tropical Forest and Wetland during Reforestation, Urban Sprawl, and Policy Shifts

PubMed Central

Gao, Qiong; Yu, Mei

2014-01-01

Despite the overall trend of worldwide deforestation over recent decades, reforestation has also been found and is expected in developing countries undergoing fast urbanization and agriculture abandonment. The consequences of reforestation on landscape patterns are seldom addressed in the literature, despite their importance in evaluating biodiversity and ecosystem functions. By analyzing long-term land cover changes in Puerto Rico, a rapidly reforested (6 to 42% during 1940–2000) and urbanized tropical island, we detected significantly different patterns of fragmentation and underlying mechanisms among forests, urban areas, and wetlands. Forest fragmentation is often associated with deforestation. However, we also found significant fragmentation during reforestation. Urban sprawl and suburb development have a dominant impact on forest fragmentation. Reforestation mostly occurs along forest edges, while significant deforestation occurs in forest interiors. The deforestation process has a much stronger impact on forest fragmentation than the reforestation process due to their different spatial configurations. In contrast, despite the strong interference of coastal urbanization, wetland aggregation has occurred due to the effective implementation of laws/regulations for wetland protection. The peak forest fragmentation shifted toward rural areas, indicating progressively more fragmentation in forest interiors. This shift is synchronous with the accelerated urban sprawl as indicated by the accelerated shift of the peak fragmentation index of urban cover toward rural areas, i.e., 1.37% yr−1 in 1977–1991 versus 2.17% yr−1 in 1991–2000. Based on the expected global urbanization and the regional forest transition from deforested to reforested, the fragmented forests and aggregated wetlands in this study highlight possible forest fragmentation processes during reforestation in an assessment of biodiversity and functions and suggest effective laws/regulations in land planning to reduce future fragmentation. PMID:25409016

[Assessment of shallow groundwater nitrate concentrations in typical terrestrial ecosystems of Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN) during 2004-2009].

PubMed

Xu, Zhi-Wei; Zhang, Xin-Yu; Sun, Xiao-Min; Yuan, Guo-Fu; Wang, Sheng-Zhong; Liu, Wen-Hua

2011-10-01

The nitrate-N (NO3(-) -N) concentrations of 38 shallow groundwater wells from 31 of the typical terrestrial ecosystems on Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN) were assessed using the monitoring data from 2004 to 2009. The results showed that the average values of NO3(-) -N concentrations were significantly higher in the agricultural (4.85 mg x L(-1) +/- 0.42 mg x L(-1)), desert (oasis) (3.72 mg x L(-1) +/- 0.42 mg x L(-1)) and urban ecosystems (3.77 mg x L(-1) 0.51 mg x L(-1)) than in the grass (1.59 mg x L(-1) +/- 0.35 mg L(-1)) and forest ecosystems (0.39 mg x L(-1) +/- 0.03 mg x L(-1)). Nitrate was the major form of nitrogen, with between 56% to 88% of nitrogen in the nitrate-N form in the shallow groundwater of desert (oasis), urban and agricultural ecosystems. Nitrate-N concentrations for some agricultural ecosystems (Ansai, Yanting, Yucheng) and desert (oasis) ecosystems (Cele, Linze, Akesu) analysis exceeded the 10 mg x L(-1) World Health Organization drinking water standards between 14.3% and 84.6%. Significant seasonality was found in Ansai, Fengqiu, Yanting agricultural ecosystems and the Beijing urban ecosystem using the relatively high frequency monitoring data, with the higher nitrate concentrations usually found during summer and winter months. The monitoring results indicated that the shallow groundwater of agricultural ecosystems was contaminated by agricultural management practices, i.e. fertilization, while the shallow groundwater of forest ecosystems was under natural condition with no contamination from human activities.

A mangrove creek restoration plan utilizing hydraulic modeling

EPA Science Inventory

Despite the valuable ecosystem services provided by mangrove ecosystems they remain threatened around the globe. As a result, the restoration of mangrove forests has become an important topic of research. Urban development has been a primary cause for mangrove destruction and d...

Controls on Nitrogen Retention and Loss in Urban and Rural Forest Ecosystems.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Templer, P. H.

2011-12-01

Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels and production of fertilizer, have increased the amount of nitrogen deposited onto terrestrial ecosystems. In addition to changes in atmospheric deposition of nitrogen, other human-induced disturbances have led to dramatic shifts in forest composition of the United States over the last 100 years. Tree species composition of many forests is changing in response to introduced pests and pathogens, competition with introduced plant species and changes in climate. Understanding the combined effects of increased nitrogen inputs and changes in plant species composition on forest nitrogen cycling is critical to our understanding of forest biogeochemistry and nutrient budgets. Despite several decades of research on the effects of atmospheric nitrogen deposition, there is still significant uncertainty about the factors that regulate nitrogen retention and loss in forest ecosystems. The use of natural abundance stable isotopes of nitrogen and oxygen has proven to be a powerful tool for tracing the sources of nitrate in water, from inputs to leaching, as it moves through an ecosystem. The evaluation of natural abundance nitrogen values in atmospheric deposition has been used to partition sources of nitrogen, such as coal-fired power plants vs. tailpipe exhaust, since each of their isotopic signatures is distinct. Similarly, natural abundance oxygen values of nitrate in atmospheric inputs and soil leachate have been used as a tool to partition sources of nitrate between precipitation and nitrate produced microbially during nitrification. We measured the natural abundance isotopic composition of nitrate to quantify rates of nitrogen inputs to the forest and to determine rates of nitrogen losses from healthy, declining and preemptively cut eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) stands in both an urban forest at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, MA, and a rural forest at Harvard Forest in Petersham, MA. The hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae Annand), an introduced aphid-like insect from Japan, threatens hemlock stands throughout the eastern United States. The hemlock woolly adelgid was first reported in forests of the eastern United States in the early 1950s and is currently leading to mortality of eastern hemlock trees from Georgia to Massachusetts. We found that rates of nitrogen inputs to the forest floor were 4-5 times greater, and rates of nitrogen losses via leachate were more than ten times greater, at the Arnold Arboretum compared to Harvard Forest. Our results also show that current management regimes used to control the hemlock woolly adelgid, such as salvage cutting, may be reducing nitrogen losses in urban areas due to rapid regrowth of vegetation and the associated uptake of nitrogen by those plants. In contrast, cutting of trees in rural areas may be leading to proportionately greater losses of nitrogen in those sites, though the total magnitude of nitrogen lost is still smaller than in urban sites. Results of this study suggest that the combination of the hemlock woolly adelgid, atmospheric nitrogen inputs and management practices lead to changes in the nitrogen cycle within eastern hemlock forest ecosystems.

Survey of subterranean termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) utilization of temperate forests

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Both native and invasive subterranean termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), including the Formosan subterranean termite, are well known pests of urban areas, but little is known about their distribution or impact in forest ecosystems of the southeastern United States. Recently harvested timber stump...

Soil microbial respiration (CO2) of natural and anthropogenically-transformed ecosystems in Moscow region, Russia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivashchenko, Kristina; Ananyeva, Nadezhda; Rogovaya, Sofia; Vasenev, Viacheslav

2016-04-01

The CO2 concentration in modern atmosphere is increasing and one of the most reasons of it is land use changing. It is related not only with soil plowing, but also with growing urbanization and, thereby, forming the urban ecosystems. Such conversion of soil cover might be affected by efflux CO2 from soil into atmosphere. The soil CO2 efflux mainly supplies by soil microorganisms respiration (contribution around 70-90%) and plant roots respiration. Soil microbial respiration (MR) is determined in the field (in situ) and laboratory (in vitro) conditions. The measurement of soil MR in situ is labour-consuming, and for district, region and country areas it is difficult carried. We suggest to define the MR of the upper highest active 10 cm mineral soil layer (in vitro) followed by the accounting of area for different ecosystems in large region of Russia. Soils were sampled (autumn, 2011) in natural (forest, meadow) and anthropogenically-transformed (arable, urban) ecosystems of Sergiev-Posad, Taldom, Voskresenk, Shatura, Serpukhov and Serbryanye Prudy districts in Moscow region. In soil samples (total 156) the soil MR (24 h, 22°C, 60% WHC) were measured after preincubation procedure (7 d., 22°C, 55% WHC). The soil MR ranged from 0.13 (urban) to 5.41 μg CO2-C g-1 h-1 (meadow), the difference between these values was 42 times. Then, the soil MR values (per unit soil weight) were calculated per unit soil area (1 m2), the layer thickness of which was 0.1 m (soil volume weight was equaled 1 g cm-3). The high MR values were noted for forests soil (832-1410 g CO2-C m-2 yr-1) of studied districts, and the low MR values were for arable and urban soils (by 1.6-3.2 and 1.3-2.7 times less compared to forests, respectively). The MR rate of urban soil in Voskresenk district was comparable to that of corresponding meadows and it was even higher (in average by 2.3 times) in Serpukhov district. The soil MR rate of studied cities was higher by 20%, than in corresponding arable soils (438-517 g CO2-C m-2 yr-1). Furthermore, we took into account the area of different ecosystems, which achieves 47% for forests, 6, 30 and 5% for meadows, arable and cities, respectively, of total area in studied districts. It turns that the soil MR of forests area was highest reaching 281-1391 thousand tons CO2-C yr-1. The soil MR of meadows area was reached 15-76 thousand tons CO2-C yr-1, that was by 1.6-2.7 times lower than those in cities of the most urbanized districts (Sergiev-Posad, Voskresenk and Serpukhov). Suggested approach allows us to compare soil MR (main biogenic CO2 source) of different ecosystems' area in Moscow region. It was shown that urban soils might be significant source of CO2 in atmosphere, therefore they should be taken into account for balance calculation of carbon cycle, and especially at regional level. This approach might useful for express assessment of microbial soil CO2 efflux, soil ecological monitoring, and predictive estimation of soil CO2 efflux for a wide range of ecosystems, including human activities disturbed ones.

Ecosystem services in managing residential landscapes: priorities, value dimensions, and cross-regional patterns

Treesearch

K.L. Larson; K.C. Nelson; S.R. Samples; S.J. Hall; N. Bettez; J. Cavender-Bares; P.M. Groffman; M. Grove; J.B. Heffernan; S.E. Hobbie; J. Learned; J.L. Morse; C. Neill; L.A. Ogden; Jarlath O' Neil-Dunne; D.E. Pataki; C. Polsky; R. Roy Chowdhury; M. Steele; T.L.E. Trammell

2016-01-01

Although ecosystem services have been intensively examined in certain domains (e.g., forests and wetlands), little research has assessed ecosystem services for the most dominant landscape type in urban ecosystems—namely, residential yards. In this paper, we report findings of a cross-site survey of homeowners in six U.S. cities to 1) examine how residents subjectively...

Mapping regional patterns of large forest fires in Wildland-Urban Interface areas in Europe.

PubMed

Modugno, Sirio; Balzter, Heiko; Cole, Beth; Borrelli, Pasquale

2016-05-01

Over recent decades, Land Use and Cover Change (LUCC) trends in many regions of Europe have reconfigured the landscape structures around many urban areas. In these areas, the proximity to landscape elements with high forest fuels has increased the fire risk to people and property. These Wildland-Urban Interface areas (WUI) can be defined as landscapes where anthropogenic urban land use and forest fuel mass come into contact. Mapping their extent is needed to prioritize fire risk control and inform local forest fire risk management strategies. This study proposes a method to map the extent and spatial patterns of the European WUI areas at continental scale. Using the European map of WUI areas, the hypothesis is tested that the distance from the nearest WUI area is related to the forest fire probability. Statistical relationships between the distance from the nearest WUI area, and large forest fire incidents from satellite remote sensing were subsequently modelled by logistic regression analysis. The first European scale map of the WUI extent and locations is presented. Country-specific positive and negative relationships of large fires and the proximity to the nearest WUI area are found. A regional-scale analysis shows a strong influence of the WUI zones on large fires in parts of the Mediterranean regions. Results indicate that the probability of large burned surfaces increases with diminishing WUI distance in touristic regions like Sardinia, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, or in regions with a strong peri-urban component as Catalunya, Comunidad de Madrid, Comunidad Valenciana. For the above regions, probability curves of large burned surfaces show statistical relationships (ROC value > 0.5) inside a 5000 m buffer of the nearest WUI. Wise land management can provide a valuable ecosystem service of fire risk reduction that is currently not explicitly included in ecosystem service valuations. The results re-emphasise the importance of including this ecosystem service in landscape valuations to account for the significant landscape function of reducing the risk of catastrophic large fires. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Communities in Urban Parks Are Similar to Those in Natural Forests but Shaped by Vegetation and Park Age

PubMed Central

Liu, Xinxin; Kotze, D. Johan; Jumpponen, Ari; Francini, Gaia; Setälä, Heikki

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi are important mutualists for the growth and health of most boreal trees. Forest age and its host species composition can impact the composition of ECM fungal communities. Although plentiful empirical data exist for forested environments, the effects of established vegetation and its successional trajectories on ECM fungi in urban greenspaces remain poorly understood. We analyzed ECM fungi in 5 control forests and 41 urban parks of two plant functional groups (conifer and broadleaf trees) and in three age categories (10, ∼50, and >100 years old) in southern Finland. Our results show that although ECM fungal richness was marginally greater in forests than in urban parks, urban parks still hosted rich and diverse ECM fungal communities. ECM fungal community composition differed between the two habitats but was driven by taxon rank order reordering, as key ECM fungal taxa remained largely the same. In parks, the ECM communities differed between conifer and broadleaf trees. The successional trajectories of ECM fungi, as inferred in relation to the time since park construction, differed among the conifers and broadleaf trees: the ECM fungal communities changed over time under the conifers, whereas communities under broadleaf trees provided no evidence for such age-related effects. Our data show that plant-ECM fungus interactions in urban parks, in spite of being constructed environments, are surprisingly similar in richness to those in natural forests. This suggests that the presence of host trees, rather than soil characteristics or even disturbance regime of the system, determine ECM fungal community structure and diversity. IMPORTANCE In urban environments, soil and trees improve environmental quality and provide essential ecosystem services. ECM fungi enhance plant growth and performance, increasing plant nutrient acquisition and protecting plants against toxic compounds. Recent evidence indicates that soil-inhabiting fungal communities, including ECM and saprotrophic fungi, in urban parks are affected by plant functional type and park age. However, ECM fungal diversity and its responses to urban stress, plant functional type, or park age remain unknown. The significance of our study is in identifying, in greater detail, the responses of ECM fungi in the rhizospheres of conifer and broadleaf trees in urban parks. This will greatly enhance our knowledge of ECM fungal communities under urban stresses, and the findings can be utilized by urban planners to improve urban ecosystem services. PMID:28970220

Watershed Land Use and Seasonal Variation Constrain the ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

While watershed and local scale controls on stream metabolism have been independently investigated, little is known about how controls exerted at these different scales interact to determine stream metabolic rates, or how these interactions vary across seasons. To address this knowledge gap, we measured ecosystem metabolism in four urban and four reference streams in northern Kentucky, USA, with paired closed and open riparian canopies, during each of the four seasons of the year. Gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (ER), and net ecosystem production (NEP) were all best predicted by models with season as a main effect, but interactions between season, canopy and watershed varied for each response. Urban streams exhibited higher GPP during most seasons, likely due to elevated nutrient loads. Open canopy reaches in both urban and forested streams supported higher rates of GPP than the closed canopy reaches during the summer and fall when the overhead vegetation shaded the closed reaches. Surprisingly, the effect of canopy cover on GPP was similar among urban and forested streams. The combination of watershed and local-scale controls resulted in urban streams that alternated between net heterotrophy (NEP 0) between seasons with and without dense canopy cover. This finding has management relevance because net production can lead to accumulation of algal biomass and associated issues like dissolved oxygen sags at night. Our study reinforces

Use of FIA data and GIS to characterize the effects of fragmentation on the forests of New Hampshire

Treesearch

Randall S. Morin; Andrew Lister; James Doyle

2009-01-01

Urbanization, and the resulting fragmentation of forest land, are of great concern across the world and continues to affect many facets of natural ecosystems. Due to development pressure, this is especially true in the northeastern United States. Assessments of regional and national forest fragmentation highlight where forest fragmentation has occurred at one point in...

Economic Impacts of Non-Native Forest Insects in the Continental United States

Treesearch

Juliann E. Aukema; Brian Leung; Kent Kovacs; Corey Chivers; Jeffrey Englin; Susan J. Frankel; Robert G. Haight; Thomas P. Holmes; Andrew M. Liebhold; Deborah G. McCullough; Betsy Von Holle

2011-01-01

Reliable estimates of the impacts and costs of biological invasions are critical to developing credible management, trade and regulatory policies. Worldwide, forests and urban trees provide important ecosystem services as well as economic and social benefits, but are threatened by non-native insects. More than 450 non-native forest insects are established in the United...

A dynamic invasive species research vision: Opportunities and priorities 2009-29

Treesearch

2010-01-01

Invasive species significantly impact U.S. ecosystems and are one of the greatest threats to forest, rangeland, and urban forest health. They have contributed to increases in fire frequency and intensity; reduced water resources, forest growth, and timber; and negatively affected native species and their habitats throughout the United States. Global trade, climate...

Forest Service Global Change Research Strategy, 2009-2019

Treesearch

Allen Solomon; Richard Birdsey; Linda A. Joyce; Jennifer Hayes

2009-01-01

In keeping with the research goals of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, the Research and Development agenda of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), helps define climate change policy and develop best management practices for forests (both rural and urban) and grasslands. These actions are taken to sustain ecosystem health, adjust management...

Methane uptake in urban forests and lawns.

PubMed

Groffman, Peter M; Pouyat, Richard V

2009-07-15

The largest natural biological sink for the radiatively active trace gas methane (CH4) is bacteria in soils that consume CH4 as an energy and carbon source. This sink has been shown to be sensitive to nitrogen (N) inputs and alterations of soil physical conditions. Given this sensitivity, conversion of native ecosystems to urban, suburban, and exurban managed lawns thus has potential to affect regional CH4 budgets. We measured CH4 fluxes monthly from four urban forest, four rural forest and four urban lawn plots in the Baltimore, MD, metropolitan area from 2001 to 2005. Our objectives were to evaluate the effects of urban atmospheric and land use change on CH4 uptake and the importance of these changes relative to other greenhouse forcings in the urban landscape. Rural forests had a high capacity for CH4 uptake (1.68 mg m(-2) day(-1)). This capacity was reduced in urban forests (0.23 mg m(-2) day(-1)) and almost completely eliminated in lawns. Possible mechanisms for these reductions include increases in atmospheric N deposition and CO2 levels, fertilization of lawns, and alteration of soil physical conditions that influence diffusion. Although conversion of native forests to lawns had dramatic effects on CH4 uptake, these effects do not appear to be significant to statewide greenhouse gas forcing.

Factors affecting long-term mortality of residential shade trees: evidence from Sacramento, California

Treesearch

Yekang Ko; Jun-Hak Lee; E. Gregory McPherson; Lara A. Roman

2015-01-01

Urban tree survival is essential to sustain the ecosystem services of urban forests and monitoring is needed to accurately assess benefits. While some urban forestry studies have reported street tree survival, little is known about the factors influencing residential yard tree survival, especially over the long-term. We assessed residential shade tree survival in...

Human influences on forest ecosystems: the southern wildland-urban interface assessment: summary report

Treesearch

Edward A. Macie; L. Annie Hermansen

2003-01-01

This summary report synthesizes the findings contained in the Southern Wildland-Urban Interface Assessment (General Technical Report SRS-55). The Assessment provides a review of critical wildland-urban interface issues, challenges, and needs for the Southern United States. Topics include population and demographic trends, economic and tax issues, land use planning and...

Air pollution removal by urban forests in Canada and its effect on air quality and human health

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Satoshi Hirabayashi; Marlene Doyle; Mark McGovern; Jon Pasher

2018-01-01

Urban trees perform a number of ecosystem services including air pollution removal, carbon sequestration, cooling air temperatures and providing aesthetic beauty to the urban landscape. Trees remove air pollution by intercepting particulate matter on plant surfaces and absorbing gaseous pollutants through the leaf stomata. Computer simulations with local environmental...

Urban forest structure, ecosystem services and change in Syracuse, NY

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Robert E. Hoehn; Allison R. Bodine; Eric J. Greenfield; Jarlath O' Neil-Dunne

2013-01-01

The tree population within the City of Syracuse was assessed using a random sampling of plots in 1999, 2001 and 2009 to determine how the population and the ecosystem services these trees provide have changed over time. Ecosystem services and values for carbon sequestration, air pollution removal and changes in building energy use were derived using the i-Tree Eco...

Assessing the impact of urbanization on regional net primary productivity in Jiangyin County, China.

PubMed

Xu, C; Liu, M; An, S; Chen, J M; Yan, P

2007-11-01

Urbanization is one of the most important aspects of global change. The process of urbanization has a significant impact on the terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle. The Yangtze Delta region has one of the highest rates of urbanization in China. In this study, carried out in Jiangyin County as a representative region within the Yangtze Delta, land use and land cover changes were estimated using Landsat TM and ETM+ imagery. With these satellite data and the BEPS process model (Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator), the impacts of urbanization on regional net primary productivity (NPP) and annual net primary production were assessed for 1991 and 2002. Landsat-based land cover maps in 1991 and 2002 showed that urban development encroached large areas of cropland and forest. Expansion of residential areas and reduction of vegetated areas were the major forms of land transformation in Jiangyin County during this period. Mean NPP of the total area decreased from 818 to 699 gCm(-2)yr(-1) during the period of 1991 to 2002. NPP of cropland was only reduced by 2.7% while forest NPP was reduced by 9.3%. Regional annual primary production decreased from 808 GgC in 1991 to 691 GgC in 2002, a reduction of 14.5%. Land cover changes reduced regional NPP directly, and the increasing intensity and frequency of human-induced disturbance in the urbanized areas could be the main reason for the decrease in forest NPP.

Recognizing the ‘sparsely settled forest’: Multi-decade socioecological change dynamics and community exemplars

Treesearch

Derek B. Van Berkel; Bronwyn Rayfield; Sebastián Martinuzzi; Martin J. Lechowicz; Eric White; Kathleen P. Bell; Chris R. Colocousis; Kent F. Kovacs; Anita T. Morzillo; Darla K. Munroe; Benoit Parmentier; Volker C. Radeloff; Brian J. McGill

2018-01-01

Sparsely settled forests (SSF) are poorly studied, coupled natural and human systems involving rural communities in forest ecosystems that are neither largely uninhabited wildland nor forests on the edges of urban areas. We developed and applied a multidisciplinary approach to define, map, and examine changes in the spatial extent and structure of both the landscapes...

Quick Assessment Protocols for Measuring Relative Ecological Significance of Terrestrial Ecosystem

EPA Science Inventory

Land use change in USEPA’s Region 5 (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin) is occurring rapidly, particularly with the loss of agricultural land and gain in forest and urbanized land use. The risk of losing habitats and ecosystems that are critical to the h...

Air pollution: worldwide effects on mountain forests

Treesearch

Anne M. Rosenthal; Andrzej Featured: Bytnerowicz

2004-01-01

Widespread forest decline in remote areas of the Carpathian Mountains has been linked to air pollution from urban and industrial regions. Besides injuring plant tissues directly, pollutants may deposit to soils and water, drastically changing susceptible ecosystems. Researcher Andrzej Bytnerowicz has developed effective methods for assessing air quality over wildlands...

Are Urban Ecosystem Services Useful for a Sustainable City?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenerette, D.

2014-12-01

In meeting the needs of rapidly expanding city residents, ecosystem functioning within the urban boundary may provide several key services ranging from life-sustaining services such as climate regulation and food production to services associated with recreation and aesthetics. In contrast, ecosystem disservices are associated with ecosystem characteristics that have a negative impact on residents and range from potentially injurious components such as increasing pollutant exposure or additional resource requirements such as irrigation water. Identifying trade-offs in both services and disservices is a priority for assessing how ecosystem functioning influences urban residents. Such assessments require a baseline understanding of their rates of production and acutely need expanded monitoring and modeling. Recent efforts at quantifying ecosystem services and disservices have relied on combinations of direct field surveys, in-situ environmental sensor networks, and remotely sensed vegetation. While much work has been conducted within single metropolitan regions, expanded efforts are underway to analyze networks of urban sites. Here I highlight recent findings associated with urban ecosystem services associated with variation in urban forests and urban gardens as two contrasting ecosystem types within a city. These research efforts are leading to improved understanding of the variation in the production of and specific desires for ecosystem services and disservices. Initial data across several studies suggests desires for services show sensitivity to both socioeconomic status as suggested by a hierarchy of needs hypothesis and local environmental conditions as suggested by an environmental determinism hypothesis. Consequently, the production of ecosystem services also varies dramatically across socioeconomic and climate gradients. Future projections of the rates of service production are highly uncertain with likely strong nonlinearities in responses to urban conditions. Designing for sustainable ecosystem services within cities such that benefits are maximized and costs are minimized as we prepare for a near future with 2.5 billion more urban residents.

Soil carbon in urban forest ecosystems

Treesearch

Richard V. Pouyat; Jonathan Russell-Anelli; Ian D. Yesilonis; Peter M. Groffman

2003-01-01

In the contiguous 48 states of the United States, urban areas increased twofold between 1969 and 1994 and currently occupy 3.5% of the land, or 2.81 x 107 ha (Dwyer et al., 1998). On a global scale, more than 476,000 ha of arable land are converled annually to urban areas (World Resources Institute, 1996). This conversion has the potential to...

Urban residents' perceptions of birds in the neighborhood: Biodiversity, cultural ecosystem services, and disservices

Treesearch

J. Amy Belaire; Lynne M. Westphal; Christopher J. Whelan; Emily S. Minor

2015-01-01

As our world becomes increasingly urbanized, cities are often where we come into contact with the natural world—not just in parks and urban nature preserves, but in more familiar places like residential yards. We conducted bird surveys and social surveys in Chicago-area residential landscapes near forest preserves (primarily in middle- and high-income areas)...

Monitoring urban tree cover using object-based image analysis and public domain remotely sensed data

Treesearch

L. Monika Moskal; Diane M. Styers; Meghan Halabisky

2011-01-01

Urban forest ecosystems provide a range of social and ecological services, but due to the heterogeneity of these canopies their spatial extent is difficult to quantify and monitor. Traditional per-pixel classification methods have been used to map urban canopies, however, such techniques are not generally appropriate for assessing these highly variable landscapes....

Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Communities in Urban Parks Are Similar to Those in Natural Forests but Shaped by Vegetation and Park Age.

PubMed

Hui, Nan; Liu, Xinxin; Kotze, D Johan; Jumpponen, Ari; Francini, Gaia; Setälä, Heikki

2017-12-01

Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi are important mutualists for the growth and health of most boreal trees. Forest age and its host species composition can impact the composition of ECM fungal communities. Although plentiful empirical data exist for forested environments, the effects of established vegetation and its successional trajectories on ECM fungi in urban greenspaces remain poorly understood. We analyzed ECM fungi in 5 control forests and 41 urban parks of two plant functional groups (conifer and broadleaf trees) and in three age categories (10, ∼50, and >100 years old) in southern Finland. Our results show that although ECM fungal richness was marginally greater in forests than in urban parks, urban parks still hosted rich and diverse ECM fungal communities. ECM fungal community composition differed between the two habitats but was driven by taxon rank order reordering, as key ECM fungal taxa remained largely the same. In parks, the ECM communities differed between conifer and broadleaf trees. The successional trajectories of ECM fungi, as inferred in relation to the time since park construction, differed among the conifers and broadleaf trees: the ECM fungal communities changed over time under the conifers, whereas communities under broadleaf trees provided no evidence for such age-related effects. Our data show that plant-ECM fungus interactions in urban parks, in spite of being constructed environments, are surprisingly similar in richness to those in natural forests. This suggests that the presence of host trees, rather than soil characteristics or even disturbance regime of the system, determine ECM fungal community structure and diversity. IMPORTANCE In urban environments, soil and trees improve environmental quality and provide essential ecosystem services. ECM fungi enhance plant growth and performance, increasing plant nutrient acquisition and protecting plants against toxic compounds. Recent evidence indicates that soil-inhabiting fungal communities, including ECM and saprotrophic fungi, in urban parks are affected by plant functional type and park age. However, ECM fungal diversity and its responses to urban stress, plant functional type, or park age remain unknown. The significance of our study is in identifying, in greater detail, the responses of ECM fungi in the rhizospheres of conifer and broadleaf trees in urban parks. This will greatly enhance our knowledge of ECM fungal communities under urban stresses, and the findings can be utilized by urban planners to improve urban ecosystem services. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Ancient Maya impacts on the Earth's surface: An Early Anthropocene analog?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beach, Tim; Luzzadder-Beach, Sheryl; Cook, Duncan; Dunning, Nicholas; Kennett, Douglas J.; Krause, Samantha; Terry, Richard; Trein, Debora; Valdez, Fred

2015-09-01

The measure of the "Mayacene," a microcosm of the Early Anthropocene that occurred from c. 3000 to 1000 BP, comes from multiple Late Quaternary paleoenvironmental records. We synthesized the evidence for Maya impacts on climate, vegetation, hydrology and the lithosphere, from studies of soils, lakes, floodplains, wetlands and other ecosystems. Maya civilization had likely altered local to regional ecosystems and hydrology by the Preclassic Period (3000-1700 BP), but these impacts waned by 1000 BP. They altered ecosystems with vast urban and rural infrastructure that included thousands of reservoirs, wetland fields and canals, terraces, field ridges, and temples. Although there is abundant evidence that indicates the Maya altered their forests, even at the large urban complex of Tikal as much as 40% of the forest remained intact through the Classic period. Existing forests are still influenced by ancient Maya forest gardening, particularly by the large expanses of ancient stone structures, terraces, and wetland fields that form their substrates. A few studies suggest deforestation and other land uses probably also warmed and dried regional climate by the Classic Period (1700-1100 BP). A much larger body of research documents the Maya impacts on hydrology, in the form of dams, reservoirs, canals, eroded soils and urban design for runoff. Another metric of the "Mayacene" are paleosols, which contain chemical evidence for human occupation, revealed by high phosphorus concentrations and carbon isotope ratios of C4 species like maize in the C3-dominated tropical forest ecosystem. Paleosol sequences exhibit "Maya Clays," a facies that reflects a glut of rapidly eroded sediments that overlie pre-Maya paleosols. This stratigraphy is conspicuous in many dated soil profiles and marks the large-scale Maya transformation of the landscape in the Preclassic and Classic periods. Some of these also have increased phosphorous and carbon isotope evidence of C4 species. We synthesize and provide new evidence of Maya-period soil strata that show elevated carbon isotope ratios (δ13C), indicating the presence of C4 species in typical agricultural sites. This is often the case in ancient Maya wetland systems, which also have abundant evidence for the presence of several other economic plant species. The "Mayacene" of c. 3000 to 1000 BP was thus a patchwork of cities, villages, roads, urban heat islands, intensive and extensive farmsteads, forests and orchards. Today, forests and wetlands cover much of the Maya area but like so many places, these are now under the onslaught of the deforestation, draining, and plowing of the present Anthropocene.

Urban ecosystem services: tree diversity and stability of tropospheric ozone removal.

PubMed

Manes, Fausto; Incerti, Guido; Salvatori, Elisabetta; Vitale, Marcello; Ricotta, Carlo; Costanza, Robert

2012-01-01

Urban forests provide important ecosystem services, such as urban air quality improvement by removing pollutants. While robust evidence exists that plant physiology, abundance, and distribution within cities are basic parameters affecting the magnitude and efficiency of air pollution removal, little is known about effects of plant diversity on the stability of this ecosystem service. Here, by means of a spatial analysis integrating system dynamic modeling and geostatistics, we assessed the effects of tree diversity on the removal of tropospheric ozone (O3) in Rome, Italy, in two years (2003 and 2004) that were very different for climatic conditions and ozone levels. Different tree functional groups showed complementary uptake patterns, related to tree physiology and phenology, maintaining a stable community function across different climatic conditions. Our results, although depending on the city-specific conditions of the studied area, suggest a higher function stability at increasing diversity levels in urban ecosystems. In Rome, such ecosystem services, based on published unitary costs of externalities and of mortality associated with O3, can be prudently valued to roughly US$2 and $3 million/year, respectively.

Institute of forest tree breeding: Improvement and gene conservation of iconic tree species in the 21st Century

Treesearch

C. Dana Nelson; Jennifer L. Koch

2017-01-01

Our nation’s forests and forest trees are undergoing unprecedented stress from invasive pathogens and pests, climate change, land fragmentation, and urbanization. Some of these stresses are acute, either regionally or locally, and are having significant negative impacts on regional and local economies and ecosystems. Managing and improving the genetic resources of...

Microbial Communities in the Vertical Atmosphere: Effects of Urbanization and the Natural Environment in Four North American Ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Docherty, K. M.; Lemmer, K. M.; Domingue, K. D.; Spring, A.; Kerber, T. V.; Mooney, M. M.

2017-12-01

Airborne transport of microbial communities is a key component of the global ecosystem because it serves as a mechanism for dispersing microbial life between all surface habitats on the planet. However, most of our understanding of airborne microbial distribution is derived from samples collected near the ground. Little is understood about how the vertical layers of the air may act as a habitat filter or how local terrestrial ecosystems contribute to a vast airborne microbial seedbank. Specifically, urbanization may fundamentally alter the terrestrial sources of airborne microbial biodiversity. To address this question, we conducted airborne sampling at minimally disturbed natural sites and paired urban sites in 4 different North American ecosystems: shortgrass steppe, desert scrub, eastern deciduous forest, and northern mesic forest. All natural area sites were co-located with NEON/Ameriflux tower sites collecting atmospheric data. We developed an airborne sampling platform that uses tethered helikites at 3 replicate locations within each ecosystem to launch remote-controlled sampler payloads. We designed sampler payloads to collect airborne bacteria and fungi from 150, 30 and 2 m above the ground. Payload requirements included: ability to be disinfected and remain contaminant-free during transport, remote open/close functionality, payload weight under 6 lbs and automated collection of weather data. After sampling for 6 hours at each location, we extracted DNA collected by the samplers. We also extracted DNA from soil and plant samples collected from each location, and characterized ground vegetation. We conducted bacterial 16S amplicon-based sequencing using Mi-Seq and sequence analysis using QIIME. We used ArcGIS to determine percent land use coverage. Our results demonstrate that terrestrial ecosystem type is the most important factor contributing to differences in airborne bacterial community composition, and that communities differed by ecosystem. The signature of the specific ecosystem, and whether it was located in a natural or urban area, was evident in both near-surface and higher altitude samples. This suggests that continued urbanization and increases in impervious surface area can fundamentally change sources of atmospheric biodiversity and distribution patterns.

Connecting people with ecosystems in the 21st century: an assessment of our nation's urban forests.

Treesearch

John F. Dwyer; David J. Nowak; Mary Heather Noble; Susan M. Sisinni

2000-01-01

Urban areas (cities, towns, villages, etc.) cover 3.5 percent of the 48 conterminous states and contain more than 75 percent of the population. urban areas, about 3.8 billion trees cover 27.1 percent of the land. On a broader scale, metropolitan areas (urban counties) cover 24.5 percent of the conterminous United States and contain 74.4 billion trees that cover 33.4...

The role of the Forest Service in the economics of invasive species research

Treesearch

Jeffrey P Prestemon; Thomas P. Holmes

2010-01-01

Invasive species increasingly influence various sectors of the economy through their effects on agricultural, forest, range, aquatic, and urban ecosystems. Policymakers evaluating the actual and potential effects of invasive species are concerned with allocating scarce taxpayer resources among a variety of competing governmental actions. To make allocation choices,...

Modeling and Spatially Distributing Forest Net Primary Production at the Regional Scale

Treesearch

R.A. Mickler; T.S. Earnhardt; J.A. Moore

2002-01-01

Abstract - Forest, agricultural, rangeland, wetland, and urban landscapes have different rates of carbon sequestration and total carbon sequestration potential under alternative management options. Changes in the proportion and spatial distribution of land use could enhance or degrade that area’s ability to sequester carbon in terrestrial ecosystems...

Urban tree mortality: a primer on demographic approaches

Treesearch

Lara A. Roman; John J. Battles; Joe R. McBride

2016-01-01

Realizing the benefits of tree planting programs depends on tree survival. Projections of urban forest ecosystem services and cost-benefit analyses are sensitive to assumptions about tree mortality rates. Long-term mortality data are needed to improve the accuracy of these models and optimize the public investment in tree planting. With more accurate population...

[Automated mapping of urban forests' disturbance and recovery in Nanjing, China].

PubMed

Lyu, Ying-ying; Zhuang, Yi-lin; Ren, Xin-yu; Li, Ming-shi; Xu, Wang-gu; Wang, Zhi

2016-02-01

Using Landsat TM/ETM dense time series observations spanning from 1987 to 2011, taking Laoshan forest farm and Purple Mountain as the research objects, the landsat ecosystem disturbance adaptive processing system (Ledaps) algorithm was used to generate surface reflectance datasets, which were fed to the vegetation change tracker model (VCT) model to derive urban forest disturbance and recovery products over Nanjing, followed by an intensive validation of the products. The results showed that there was a relatively high spatial agreement for forest disturbance products mapped by VCT, ranging from 65.4% to 95.0%. There was an apparent fluctuating forest disturbance and recovery rate over time, and the change trend of forest disturbance occurring at the two sites was roughly similar, but forest recovery was obviously different. Forest coverage in Purple Mountain was less than that in Laoshan forest farm, but the forest disturbance and recovery rates in Laoshan forest farm were larger than those in Purple Mountain.

Strengthening Carbon Sinks in Urban Soils to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lorenz, K.

2010-12-01

Urban lands comprise the most intensively transformed lands on earth. Urban land cover changed from 0.01% of the global ice-free land area in 1700 to 0.5% in 2002. Globally, urbanization is now the primary process of land cover transformation. Urbanization accentuates conversion of natural or agricultural lands to urban soils with altered biological, chemical and physical properties. Soil functions particularly important in urban ecosystems are the protection against damages by intense precipitation and flooding, retention and immobilization of contaminants, production of clean water, and buffering of climate extremes, mainly through evaporative cooling. Because of their disturbance by human activities, urban soils have distinct properties. In contrast to natural soils, human-made materials dominate or strongly influence urban soils as human activities constitute important soil-forming factors in urban ecosystems. Soils whose properties and pedogenesis are dominated by their technical origin are classified as Technosols in the World Reference Base (WRB) for Soil Resources. They contain large proportions of artifacts, or are sealed by technic hard rock. Technosols include soils from wastes (e.g., landfills, sludge, cinders, mine spoils and ashes), pavements with their underlying unconsolidated materials, soils with geomembranes and constructed soils in human-made materials. However, Technosols and their properties have not yet been studied extensively. Yet, a greater understanding of urban soil properties is urgently needed to assess their biogeochemical cycles and role in the global carbon (C) cycle, and to manage their ecosystem services for the well-being of the urban population. Studies of biogeochemical cycles in urban soils of Stuttgart, Germany, have shown that soils from as deep as 1.9-m depth contain significant amounts of microbial biomass and are metabolically active. Buried organic matter (OM) rich artifacts where frequently observed originating from a long industrial history and devastations during World War II. In most surface soils in Stuttgart, however, OM was dominated by plant litter derived compounds but in one urban soil anthropogenic OM and black carbon (BC) dominated soil organic carbon (SOC) as indicated by bloch decay solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Artifacts such as municipal solid waste, construction waste, and fragments of charcoal, coal and glass were also found in urban forest soil profiles to 1-m depth in Columbus, OH. To this depth, about 150 Mg SOC ha-1 were stored and, thus, more than in urban forest soils of Baltimore, MD, and New York City, NY. However, the contribution of litter derived vs. artifact derived OM compounds such as BC has not been assessed for urban soils in the U.S.. In summary, studies on biogeochemical cycles in urban ecosystems must include the entire soil profile as anthropogenic activities may create Technosols with properties not encountered in soils of natural ecosystems. As urban ecosystems are major sources of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), Technosols may be tailor-made to imitate natural soils with high SOC pools and long carbon mean residence times. Thus, the C sink in urban soils must be strengthened to mitigate and adapt urban ecosystems to abrupt climate change.

Carrion Beetles Visiting Pig Carcasses during Early Spring in Urban, Forest and Agricultural Biotopes of Western Europe

PubMed Central

Dekeirsschieter, Jessica; Verheggen, François J.; Haubruge, Eric; Brostaux, Yves

2011-01-01

Carrion beetles are important in terrestrial ecosystems, consuming dead mammals and promoting the recycling of organic matter into ecosystems. Most forensic studies are focused on succession of Diptera while neglecting Coleoptera. So far, little information is available on carrion beetles postmortem colonization and decomposition process in temperate biogeoclimatic countries. These beetles are however part of the entomofaunal colonization of a dead body. Forensic entomologists need databases concerning the distribution, ecology and phenology of necrophagous insects, including silphids. Forensic entomology uses pig carcasses to surrogate human decomposition and to investigate entomofaunal succession. However, few studies have been conducted in Europe on large carcasses. The work reported here monitored the presence of the carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) on decaying pig carcasses in three selected biotopes (forest, crop field, urban site) at the beginning of spring. Seven species of Silphidae were recorded: Nicrophorus humator (Gleditsch), Nicrophorus vespillo (L.), Nicrophorus vespilloides (Herbst), Necrodes littoralis L., Oiceoptoma thoracica L., Thanatophilus sinuatus (Fabricius), Thanatophilus rugosus (L.). All of these species were caught in the forest biotope, and all but O. thoracica were caught in the agricultural biotope. No silphids were caught in the urban site. PMID:21867439

Historical and contemporary cultural ecosystem service values in the rapidly urbanizing city state of Singapore.

PubMed

Thiagarajah, Jharyathri; Wong, Shermaine K M; Richards, Daniel R; Friess, Daniel A

2015-11-01

Cultural ecosystem services are a function of people and place, so may change as a location transitions from rural to urban. Singapore has undergone rapid urbanization after its independence in 1965, with a concomitant decline in natural habitat extent and accessibility. Using coastal mangrove forests as a case study habitat, changing cultural values were explored with a novel array of techniques, including qualitative archival analysis (photographs, oral histories), current sources (publically uploaded social media photographs), and surveys of (a) the general public and (b) visitors to publically accessible mangroves. Cultural value changed through time, with a significant transition from intrinsic, intrapersonal values (spiritual, cultural heritage) to instrumental, interpersonal values (recreation, education). Additionally, cultural value varied between different mangroves depending on their public accessibility, and the evolving degree of human interaction with the ecosystem as urban development occured. Cultural values change as development transitions, though mangroves still play an important cultural role in a heavily urbanized environment.

Riparian influences on stream fish assemblage structure in urbanizing streams

USGS Publications Warehouse

Roy, A.H.; Freeman, B.J.; Freeman, Mary C.

2007-01-01

We assessed the influence of land cover at multiple spatial extents on fish assemblage integrity, and the degree to which riparian forests can mitigate the negative effects of catchment urbanization on stream fish assemblages. Riparian cover (urban, forest, and agriculture) was determined within 30 m buffers at longitudinal distances of 200 m, 1 km, and the entire network upstream of 59 non-nested fish sampling locations. Catchment and riparian land cover within the upstream network were highly correlated, so we were unable to distinguish between those variables. Most fish assemblage variables were related to % forest and % urban land cover, with the strongest relations at the largest spatial extent of land cover (catchment), followed by riparian land cover in the 1-km and 200-m reach, respectively. For fish variables related to urban land cover in the catchment, we asked whether the influence of riparian land cover on fish assemblages was dependent on the amount of urban development in the catchment. Several fish assemblage metrics (endemic richness, endemic:cosmopolitan abundance, insectivorous cyprinid richness and abundance, and fluvial specialist richness) were all best predicted by single variable models with % urban land cover. However, endemic:cosmopolitan richness, cosmopolitan abundance, and lentic tolerant abundance were related to % forest cover in the 1-km stream reach, but only in streams that had <15% catchment urban land cover. In these cases, catchment urbanization overwhelmed the potential mitigating effects of riparian forests on stream fishes. Together, these results suggest that catchment land cover is an important driver of fish assemblages in urbanizing catchments, and riparian forests are important but not sufficient for protecting stream ecosystems from the impacts of high levels of urbanization.

Conservation and restoration of forest trees impacted by non-native pathogens: the role of genetics and tree improvement

Treesearch

R.A. Sniezko; L.A. Winn

2017-01-01

North American native tree species in forest ecosystems, as well as managed forests and urban plantings, are being severely impacted by pathogens and insects. The impacts of these pathogens and insects often increase over time, and they are particularly acute for those species affected by non-native pathogens and insects. For restoration of affected tree species or for...

Estimating carbon sequestration in the piedmont ecoregion of the United States from 1971 to 2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Liu, Jinxun; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Zhu, Zhiliang; Heath, Linda S.; Tan, Zhengxi; Wilson, Tamara; Sherba, Jason T.; Zhou, Decheng

2016-01-01

Background: Human activities have diverse and profound impacts on ecosystem carbon cycles. The Piedmont ecoregion in the eastern United States has undergone significant land use and land cover change in the past few decades. The purpose of this study was to use newly available land use and land cover change data to quantify carbon changes within the ecoregion. Land use and land cover change data (60-m spatial resolution) derived from sequential remotely sensed Landsat imagery were used to generate 960-m resolution land cover change maps for the Piedmont ecoregion. These maps were used in the Integrated Biosphere Simulator (IBIS) to simulate ecosystem carbon stock and flux changes from 1971 to 2010. Results: Results show that land use change, especially urbanization and forest harvest had significant impacts on carbon sources and sinks. From 1971 to 2010, forest ecosystems sequestered 0.25 Mg C ha−1 yr−1, while agricultural ecosystems sequestered 0.03 Mg C ha−1 yr−1. The total ecosystem C stock increased from 2271 Tg C in 1971 to 2402 Tg C in 2010, with an annual average increase of 3.3 Tg C yr−1. Conclusions: Terrestrial lands in the Piedmont ecoregion were estimated to be weak net carbon sink during the study period. The major factors contributing to the carbon sink were forest growth and afforestation; the major factors contributing to terrestrial emissions were human induced land cover change, especially urbanization and forest harvest. An additional amount of carbon continues to be stored in harvested wood products. If this pool were included the carbon sink would be stronger. Keywords: Land-use change, Carbon change, Piedmont ecoregion, IBIS model

Impacts of Air Pollution and Climate Change on Forest Ecosystems — Emerging Research Needs

PubMed Central

Paoletti, Elena; Bytnerowicz, Andrzej; Andersen, Chris; Augustaitis, Algirdas; Ferretti, Marco; Grulke, Nancy; Günthardt-Goerg, Madeleine S.; Innes, John; Johnson, Dale; Karnosky, Dave; Luangjame, Jesada; Matyssek, Rainer; McNulty, Steven; Müller-Starck, Gerhard; Musselman, Robert; Percy, Kevin

2007-01-01

Outcomes from the 22nd meeting for Specialists in Air Pollution Effects on Forest Ecosystems “Forests under Anthropogenic Pressure Effects of Air Pollution, Climate Change and Urban Development”, September 1016, 2006, Riverside, CA, are summarized. Tropospheric or ground-level ozone (O3) is still the phytotoxic air pollutant of major interest. Challenging issues are how to make O3 standards or critical levels more biologically based and at the same time practical for wide use; quantification of plant detoxification processes in flux modeling; inclusion of multiple environmental stresses in critical load determinations; new concept development for nitrogen saturation; interactions between air pollution, climate, and forest pests; effects of forest fire on air quality; the capacity of forests to sequester carbon under changing climatic conditions and coexposure to elevated levels of air pollutants; enhanced linkage between molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology, and morphological traits. PMID:17450274

Modeling the Ecosystem Services Provided by Trees in Urban Ecosystems: Using Biome-BGC to Improve i-Tree Eco

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Molly E.; McGroddy, Megan; Spence, Caitlin; Flake, Leah; Sarfraz, Amna; Nowak, David J.; Milesi, Cristina

2012-01-01

As the world becomes increasingly urban, the need to quantify the effect of trees in urban environments on energy usage, air pollution, local climate and nutrient run-off has increased. By identifying, quantifying and valuing the ecological activity that provides services in urban areas, stronger policies and improved quality of life for urban residents can be obtained. Here we focus on two radically different models that can be used to characterize urban forests. The i-Tree Eco model (formerly UFORE model) quantifies ecosystem services (e.g., air pollution removal, carbon storage) and values derived from urban trees based on field measurements of trees and local ancillary data sets. Biome-BGC (Biome BioGeoChemistry) is used to simulate the fluxes and storage of carbon, water, and nitrogen in natural environments. This paper compares i-Tree Eco's methods to those of Biome-BGC, which estimates the fluxes and storage of energy, carbon, water and nitrogen for vegetation and soil components of the ecosystem. We describe the two models and their differences in the way they calculate similar properties, with a focus on carbon and nitrogen. Finally, we discuss the implications of further integration of these two communities for land managers such as those in Maryland.

Biotechnological efforts for preserving and enhancing temperate hardwood tree biodiversity, health, and productivity

Treesearch

Paula M. Pijut; Shaneka S. Lawson; Charles H. Michler

2011-01-01

Hardwood tree species in forest, plantation, and urban environments (temperate regions of the world) are important biological resources that play a significant role in the economy and the ecology of terrestrial ecosystems, and they have aesthetic and spiritual value. Because of these many values of hardwood tree species, preserving forest tree biodiversity through the...

Developing Custom Fire Behavior Fuel Models for Mediterranean Wildland-Urban Interfaces in Southern Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elia, Mario; Lafortezza, Raffaele; Lovreglio, Raffaella; Sanesi, Giovanni

2015-09-01

The dramatic increase of fire hazard in wildland-urban interfaces (WUIs) has required more detailed fuel management programs to preserve ecosystem functions and human settlements. Designing effective fuel treatment strategies allows to achieve goals such as resilient landscapes, fire-adapted communities, and ecosystem response. Therefore, obtaining background information on forest fuel parameters and fuel accumulation patterns has become an important first step in planning fuel management interventions. Site-specific fuel inventory data enhance the accuracy of fuel management planning and help forest managers in fuel management decision-making. We have customized four fuel models for WUIs in southern Italy, starting from forest classes of land-cover use and adopting a hierarchical clustering approach. Furthermore, we provide a prediction of the potential fire behavior of our customized fuel models using FlamMap 5 under different weather conditions. The results suggest that fuel model IIIP (Mediterranean maquis) has the most severe fire potential for the 95th percentile weather conditions and the least severe potential fire behavior for the 85th percentile weather conditions. This study shows that it is possible to create customized fuel models directly from fuel inventory data. This achievement has broad implications for land managers, particularly forest managers of the Mediterranean landscape, an ecosystem that is susceptible not only to wildfires but also to the increasing human population and man-made infrastructures.

Developing Custom Fire Behavior Fuel Models for Mediterranean Wildland-Urban Interfaces in Southern Italy.

PubMed

Elia, Mario; Lafortezza, Raffaele; Lovreglio, Raffaella; Sanesi, Giovanni

2015-09-01

The dramatic increase of fire hazard in wildland-urban interfaces (WUIs) has required more detailed fuel management programs to preserve ecosystem functions and human settlements. Designing effective fuel treatment strategies allows to achieve goals such as resilient landscapes, fire-adapted communities, and ecosystem response. Therefore, obtaining background information on forest fuel parameters and fuel accumulation patterns has become an important first step in planning fuel management interventions. Site-specific fuel inventory data enhance the accuracy of fuel management planning and help forest managers in fuel management decision-making. We have customized four fuel models for WUIs in southern Italy, starting from forest classes of land-cover use and adopting a hierarchical clustering approach. Furthermore, we provide a prediction of the potential fire behavior of our customized fuel models using FlamMap 5 under different weather conditions. The results suggest that fuel model IIIP (Mediterranean maquis) has the most severe fire potential for the 95th percentile weather conditions and the least severe potential fire behavior for the 85th percentile weather conditions. This study shows that it is possible to create customized fuel models directly from fuel inventory data. This achievement has broad implications for land managers, particularly forest managers of the Mediterranean landscape, an ecosystem that is susceptible not only to wildfires but also to the increasing human population and man-made infrastructures.

Differential Impact of Passive versus Active Irrigation on Urban Forests in Semiarid Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luketich, A. M.; Papuga, S. A.; Crimmins, M.

2017-12-01

The network of trees within a city provides a variety of ecosystem services such as flood mitigation and reduced heat island effects. To maintain these `urban forests' in semiarid cities, the use of scarce water resources for irrigation is often necessary. Rainwater harvesting has been widely adopted in Tucson, AZ as a sustainable water source for trees, but the effects of passive water harvesting versus active irrigation on tree canopy productivity and microclimate is largely unquantified. We hypothesize that regardless of whether trees are passively or actively irrigated, deep soil moisture will be elevated compared to natural conditions; however, we expect that increased deep soil moisture conditions will be more frequent using active irrigation. Additionally, we hypothesize that similar to natural settings, urban trees will need access deep soil moisture for transpiration. Therefore, we expect that actively irrigated trees will have more periods of transpiration than passively irrigated trees and that this will result in elevated and sustained phenological activity. We also expect that this difference will translate to more ecosystem services for a longer portion of the year in actively irrigated urban forests. Here, we compare key ecohydrological indicators of passive and active irrigation systems at two sites in Tucson, AZ. Our measurements include soil moisture, transpiration, air temperature, soil temperature, below- and within- canopy temperatures, and canopy phenology. Our first year of results suggest there are differences in transpiration, canopy greening and microclimate between the two irrigation techniques and that the magnitude of these differences are highly seasonal. This research can help to improve understanding of the practices and function of green infrastructure in semiarid cities and inform models that attempt to aggregate the influence of these urban forests for understanding watershed management strategies.

Importance of riparian forests in urban catchments contingent on sediment and hydrologic regimes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Roy, A.H.; Freeman, Mary C.; Freeman, B.J.; Wenger, S.J.; Meyer, J.L.; Ensign, W.E.

2006-01-01

Forested riparian corridors are thought to minimize impacts of landscape disturbance on stream ecosystems; yet, the effectiveness of streamside forests in mitigating disturbance in urbanizing catchments is unknown. We expected that riparian forests would provide minimal benefits for fish assemblages in streams that are highly impaired by sediment or hydrologic alteration. We tested this hypothesis in 30 small streams along a gradient of urban disturbance (1–65% urban land cover). Species expected to be sensitive to disturbance (i.e., fluvial specialists and “sensitive” species that respond negatively to urbanization) were best predicted by models including percent forest cover in the riparian corridor and a principal components axis describing sediment disturbance. Only sites with coarse bed sediment and low bed mobility (vs. sites with high amounts of fine sediment) had increased richness and abundances of sensitive species with higher percent riparian forests, supporting our hypothesis that response to riparian forests is contingent on the sediment regime. Abundances of Etheostoma scotti, the federally threatened Cherokee darter, were best predicted by models with single variables representing stormflow (r2 = 0.34) and sediment (r2 = 0.23) conditions. Lentic-tolerant species richness and abundance responded only to a variable representing prolonged duration of low-flow conditions. For these species, hydrologic alteration overwhelmed any influence of riparian forests on stream biota. These results suggest that, at a minimum, catchment management strategies must simultaneously address hydrologic, sediment, and riparian disturbance in order to protect all aspects of fish assemblage integrity.

Importance of riparian forests in urban catchments contingent on sediment and hydrologic regimes.

PubMed

Roy, Allison H; Freeman, Mary C; Freeman, Byron J; Wenger, Seth J; Ensign, William E; Meyer, Judith L

2006-04-01

Forested riparian corridors are thought to minimize impacts of landscape disturbance on stream ecosystems; yet, the effectiveness of streamside forests in mitigating disturbance in urbanizing catchments is unknown. We expected that riparian forests would provide minimal benefits for fish assemblages in streams that are highly impaired by sediment or hydrologic alteration. We tested this hypothesis in 30 small streams along a gradient of urban disturbance (1-65% urban land cover). Species expected to be sensitive to disturbance (i.e., fluvial specialists and "sensitive" species that respond negatively to urbanization) were best predicted by models including percent forest cover in the riparian corridor and a principal components axis describing sediment disturbance. Only sites with coarse bed sediment and low bed mobility (vs. sites with high amounts of fine sediment) had increased richness and abundances of sensitive species with higher percent riparian forests, supporting our hypothesis that response to riparian forests is contingent on the sediment regime. Abundances of Etheostoma scotti, the federally threatened Cherokee darter, were best predicted by models with single variables representing stormflow (r(2) = 0.34) and sediment (r(2) = 0.23) conditions. Lentic-tolerant species richness and abundance responded only to a variable representing prolonged duration of low-flow conditions. For these species, hydrologic alteration overwhelmed any influence of riparian forests on stream biota. These results suggest that, at a minimum, catchment management strategies must simultaneously address hydrologic, sediment, and riparian disturbance in order to protect all aspects of fish assemblage integrity.

Tree Productivity Enhanced with Conversion from Forest to Urban Land Covers.

PubMed

Briber, Brittain M; Hutyra, Lucy R; Reinmann, Andrew B; Raciti, Steve M; Dearborn, Victoria K; Holden, Christopher E; Dunn, Allison L

2015-01-01

Urban areas are expanding, changing the structure and productivity of landscapes. While some urban areas have been shown to hold substantial biomass, the productivity of these systems is largely unknown. We assessed how conversion from forest to urban land uses affected both biomass structure and productivity across eastern Massachusetts. We found that urban land uses held less than half the biomass of adjacent forest expanses with a plot level mean biomass density of 33.5 ± 8.0 Mg C ha(-1). As the intensity of urban development increased, the canopy cover, stem density, and biomass decreased. Analysis of Quercus rubra tree cores showed that tree-level basal area increment nearly doubled following development, increasing from 17.1 ± 3.0 to 35.8 ± 4.7 cm(2) yr(-1). Scaling the observed stem densities and growth rates within developed areas suggests an aboveground biomass growth rate of 1.8 ± 0.4 Mg C ha(-1) yr(-1), a growth rate comparable to nearby, intact forests. The contrasting high growth rates and lower biomass pools within urban areas suggest a highly dynamic ecosystem with rapid turnover. As global urban extent continues to grow, cities consider climate mitigation options, and as the verification of net greenhouse gas emissions emerges as critical for policy, quantifying the role of urban vegetation in regional-to-global carbon budgets will become ever more important.

Tree Productivity Enhanced with Conversion from Forest to Urban Land Covers

PubMed Central

Briber, Brittain M.; Hutyra, Lucy R.; Reinmann, Andrew B.; Raciti, Steve M.; Dearborn, Victoria K.; Holden, Christopher E.; Dunn, Allison L.

2015-01-01

Urban areas are expanding, changing the structure and productivity of landscapes. While some urban areas have been shown to hold substantial biomass, the productivity of these systems is largely unknown. We assessed how conversion from forest to urban land uses affected both biomass structure and productivity across eastern Massachusetts. We found that urban land uses held less than half the biomass of adjacent forest expanses with a plot level mean biomass density of 33.5 ± 8.0 Mg C ha-1. As the intensity of urban development increased, the canopy cover, stem density, and biomass decreased. Analysis of Quercus rubra tree cores showed that tree-level basal area increment nearly doubled following development, increasing from 17.1 ± 3.0 to 35.8 ± 4.7 cm2 yr-1. Scaling the observed stem densities and growth rates within developed areas suggests an aboveground biomass growth rate of 1.8 ± 0.4 Mg C ha-1 yr-1, a growth rate comparable to nearby, intact forests. The contrasting high growth rates and lower biomass pools within urban areas suggest a highly dynamic ecosystem with rapid turnover. As global urban extent continues to grow, cities consider climate mitigation options, and as the verification of net greenhouse gas emissions emerges as critical for policy, quantifying the role of urban vegetation in regional-to-global carbon budgets will become ever more important. PMID:26302444

Urban-Wildland Fire Defense Strategy, Precision Prescribed Fire: The Los Angeles County Approach

Treesearch

Scott E. Franklin

1987-01-01

In the County of Los Angeles, critical conditions at the urban-wildland interface range from concentrated development to dispersed development; elevations from sea levelto 5000 feet with diverse ecosystems characterized by coastal sage scrub, Chamise, sumac, Ceanothus, Toyon, oak woodlands, pine forests, and desert sage; air quality impacts; sediment production; public...

Rainfall interception by Santa Monica’s municipal urban forest

Treesearch

Q. Xiao; E.G. McPherson

2004-01-01

Tree health is a critical parameter for evaluating urban ecosystem health and sustainability. Tradi­tionally, this parameter has been derived from field surveys. We used multispectral remote sensing data and GIS techniques to determine tree health at the University of California, Davis. The study area (363 ha) contained 8,962 trees of 215 species. Tree health...

Assessment of the potential of urban organic carbon dynamics to off-set urban anthropogenic emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gottschalk, P.; Churkina, G.; Wattenbach, M.; Cubasch, U.

2010-12-01

The impact of urban systems on current and future global carbon emissions has been a focus of several studies. Many mitigation options in terms of increasing energy efficiency are discussed. However, apart from technical mitigation potential urban systems also have a considerable biogenic potential to mitigate carbon through an optimized management of organic carbon pools of vegetation and soil. Berlin city area comprises almost 50% of areas covered with vegetation or largely covered with vegetation. This potentially offers various areas for carbon mitigation actions. To assess the mitigation potentials our first objective is to estimate how large current vegetation and soil carbon stocks of Berlin are. We use publicly available forest and soil inventories to calculate soil organic carbon of non-pervious areas and forest standing biomass carbon. This research highlights data-gaps and assigns uncertainty ranges to estimated carbon resources. The second objective is to assess the carbon mitigation potential of Berlin’s vegetation and soils using a biogeochemical simulation model. BIOME-BGC simulates carbon-, nitrogen- and water-fluxes of ecosystems mechanistically. First, its applicability for Berlin forests is tested at selected sites. A spatial application gives an estimate of current net carbon fluxes. The application of such a model allows determining the sensitivity of key ecosystem processes (e.g. carbon gains through photosynthesis, carbon losses through decomposition) towards external drivers. This information can then be used to optimise forest management in terms of carbon mitigation. Initial results of Berlin’s current carbon stocks and its spatial distribution and preliminary simulations results will be presented.

Trace metal concentrations in forest and lawn soils of Paris region (France) along a gradient of urban pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ludovic, Foti

2017-04-01

Urban soils differ greatly from natural ones as they are located in areas of intense anthropogenic activity (e.g. pollution, physical disturbance, surface transformation). Urban soils are a crucial component of urban ecosystems, especially in public green spaces, and contribute to many ecosystem services from the mitigation of urban heat island to recreational services. In the last decade, the study of urban soils has emerged as an important frontier in environmental research, at least because of their impact on the quality of life of urban populations, because of the services they deliver and because they are more and more recognized as a valuable resource. One of the key issues is the pollution of urban soils because they receive a variety of deposits from local (vehicle emissions, industrial discharges, domestic heating, waste incineration and other anthropogenic activities) and from remote sources (through atmospheric transport). Typical contaminants include persistent toxic substances, such as trace metals (TMs) that have drawn wide attention due to their long persistence in the environment, their tendency to bioaccumulate in the food chain and their toxicity for humans and other organisms. Concentrations, spatial distributions, dynamics, impacts and sources of TMs (e.g. industry or fossil fuels combustion) have attracted a global interest in urban soils and are the subject of ongoing research (e.g. ecotoxicological urban ecology). Some studies have already documented soil pollution with TMs at both the town and regional scales. So far, several monitoring programs (e.g. National Network for the long term Monitoring of Forest Ecosystem, Regional Monitoring Quality of Soil in France) and studies have been carried out on a national scale to measure the ranges of TM concentrations and natural background values in French soils. These studies have focused on French agricultural and forest soils and have not tackled urban soils. No study has described TM concentrations and subsequent risks in soils of Paris and Paris region (Île-de-France). Our study aims at filling this knowledge gap, focusing on contamination and pollution by TMs in lawns and forests that constitute the main types of vegetation in urban areas of Paris region. Considering the rational described above, the aims of the present study were (i) to examine the concentration of eight selected TMs (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, Zn) in soils of two land-uses (public lawns and woods) along an urban pressure gradient in Paris region, (ii) to distinguish origins and sources of contamination or pollution, (iii) to evaluate the individual and overall TM contamination degree as well as the individual and overall TM pollution degree, (iiii) to use soil characteristics to better understand soil origins and histories along the urban pressure gradient and the relationship between these characteristics and TM concentrations. Ultimately, this study provides a baseline TM assessment for the long-term monitoring of the evolution of TM soil contents in urban area of the Paris region.

An investigation of water nutrient levels associated with forest vegetation in highly altered landscapes

Treesearch

M.E.G. Golay; J.R. Thompson; C.M. Mabry; R.K. Kolka

2013-01-01

Stream pollution by nutrient loading is a chronic problem in the Midwest, United States, and greater impacts on water quality are expected as agricultural production and urban areas expand. Remnant riparian forests are critical for maintaining ecosystem functions in this landscape context, allowing water infiltration and capture of nutrients before they are lost from...

Global Forecasts of Urban Expansion to 2030 and Direct Impacts on Biodiversity and Carbon Pools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seto, K. C.; Guneralp, B.; Hutyra, L.

2012-12-01

Urban land cover change threatens biodiversity and affects ecosystem productivity through loss of habitat, biomass, and carbon storage. Yet, despite projections that world urban populations will increase to 4.3 billion by 2030, little is known about future locations, magnitudes, and rates of urban expansion. Here we develop the first global probabilistic forecasts of urban land cover change and explore the impacts on biodiversity hotspots and tropical carbon biomass. If current trends in population density continue, then by 2030, urban land cover will expand between 800,000 and 3.3 million km2, representing a doubling to five-fold increase from the global urban land cover in 2000. This would result in considerable loss of habitats in key biodiversity hotspots, including the Guinean forests of West Africa, Tropical Andes, Western Ghats and Sri Lanka. Within the pan-tropics, loss in forest biomass from urban expansion is estimated to be 1.38 PgC (0.05 PgC yr-1), equal to approximately 5% of emissions from tropical land use change. Although urbanization is often considered a local issue, the aggregate global impacts of projected urban expansion will require significant policy changes to affect future growth trajectories to minimize global biodiversity and forest carbon losses.

Ecosystem services: Urban parks under a magnifying glass.

PubMed

Mexia, Teresa; Vieira, Joana; Príncipe, Adriana; Anjos, Andreia; Silva, Patrícia; Lopes, Nuno; Freitas, Catarina; Santos-Reis, Margarida; Correia, Otília; Branquinho, Cristina; Pinho, Pedro

2018-01-01

Urban areas' population has grown during the last century and it is expected that over 60% of the world population will live in cities by 2050. Urban parks provide several ecosystem services that are valuable to the well-being of city-dwellers and they are also considered a nature-based solution to tackle multiple environmental problems in cities. However, the type and amount of ecosystem services provided will vary with each park vegetation type, even within same the park. Our main goal was to quantify the trade-offs in ecosystem services associated to different vegetation types, using a spatially detailed approach. Rather than relying solely on general vegetation typologies, we took a more ecologically oriented approach, by explicitly considering different units of vegetation structure and composition. This was demonstrated in a large park (44ha) located in the city of Almada (Lisbon metropolitan area, Portugal), where six vegetation units were mapped in detail and six ecosystem services were evaluated: carbon sequestration, seed dispersal, erosion prevention, water purification, air purification and habitat quality. The results showed that, when looking at the park in detail, some ecosystem services varied greatly with vegetation type. Carbon sequestration was positively influenced by tree density, independently of species composition. Seed dispersal potential was higher in lawns, and mixed forest provided the highest amount of habitat quality. Air purification service was slightly higher in mixed forest, but was high in all vegetation types, probably due to low background pollution, and both water purification and erosion prevention were high in all vegetation types. Knowing the type, location, and amount of ecosystem services provided by each vegetation type can help to improve management options based on ecosystem services trade-offs and looking for win-win situations. The trade-offs are, for example, very clear for carbon: tree planting will boost carbon sequestration regardless of species, but may not be enough to increase habitat quality. Moreover, it may also negatively influence seed dispersal service. Informed practitioners can use this ecological knowledge to promote the role of urban parks as a nature-based solution to provide multiple ecosystem services, and ultimately improve the design and management of the green infrastructure. This will also improve the science of Ecosystem Services, acknowledging that the type of vegetation matters for the provision of ecosystem services and trade-offs analysis. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Biotic diversity interfaces with urbanization in the Lake Tahoe basin

Treesearch

Patricia N. Manley; Dennis D. Murphy; Lori A. Campbell; Kirsten E. Heckmann; Susan Merideth; Sean A. Parks; Monte P. Sanford; Matthew D. Schlesinger

2006-01-01

In the Lake Tahoe Basin, the retention of native ecosystems within urban areas may greatly enhance the landscape’s ability to maintain biotic diversity. Our study of plant, invertebrate and vertebrate species showed that many native species were present in remnant forest stands in developed areas; however, their richness and abundance declined in association with...

The Effects of Nitrogen Deposition, Ambient Ozone, and Climate Change on Forests in the Western U.S.

Treesearch

M. E. Fenn

2006-01-01

Nitrogen (N) deposition in the western United States is most severe near major urban areas or downwind of agricultural regions, particularly in areas where confined animal feeding operations such as dairies or feedlots are located. Nitrogen saturated ecosystems are predominantly found in hotspots located within 60 km of urban or agricultural emissions source areas,...

What's scale got to do with it? Models for urban tree canopy

Treesearch

Dexter H. Locke; Shawn M. Landry; Morgan Grove; Rinku Roy Chowdhury

2016-01-01

The uneven provisioning of ecosystem services has important policy implications; yet the spatial heterogeneity of tree canopy remains understudied. Private residential lands are important to the future of Philadelphia’s urban forest because a majority of the existing and possible tree canopy is located on residential land uses. This article examines the spatial...

Exotic grasses and nitrate enrichment alter soil carbon cycling along an urban-rural tropical forest gradient.

PubMed

Cusack, Daniela F; Lee, Joseph K; McCleery, Taylor L; LeCroy, Chase S

2015-12-01

Urban areas are expanding rapidly in tropical regions, with potential to alter ecosystem dynamics. In particular, exotic grasses and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition simultaneously affect tropical urbanized landscapes, with unknown effects on properties like soil carbon (C) storage. We hypothesized that (H1) soil nitrate (NO3 (-) ) is elevated nearer to the urban core, reflecting N deposition gradients. (H2) Exotic grasslands have elevated soil NO3 (-) and decreased soil C relative to secondary forests, with higher N promoting decomposer activity. (H3) Exotic grasslands have greater seasonality in soil NO3 (-) vs. secondary forests, due to higher sensitivity of grassland soil moisture to rainfall. We predicted that NO3 (-) would be positively related to dissolved organic C (DOC) production via changes in decomposer activity. We measured six paired grassland/secondary forest sites along a tropical urban-to-rural gradient during the three dominant seasons (hurricane, dry, and early wet). We found that (1) soil NO3 (-) was generally elevated nearer to the urban core, with particularly clear spatial trends for grasslands. (2) Exotic grasslands had lower soil C than secondary forests, which was related to elevated decomposer enzyme activities and soil respiration. Unexpectedly, soil NO3 (-) was negatively related to enzyme activities, and was lower in grasslands than forests. (3) Grasslands had greater soil NO3 (-) seasonality vs. forests, but this was not strongly linked to shifts in soil moisture or DOC. Our results suggest that exotic grasses in tropical regions are likely to drastically reduce soil C storage, but that N deposition may have an opposite effect via suppression of enzyme activities. However, soil NO3 (-) accumulation here was higher in urban forests than grasslands, potentially related to of aboveground N interception. Net urban effects on C storage across tropical landscapes will likely vary depending on the mosaic of grass cover, rates of N deposition, and responses by local decomposer communities. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Quantifying the threat of unsuppressed wildfires reaching the adjacent wildland-urban interface on the Bridger-Teton National Forest, Wyoming

Treesearch

Joe H. Scott; Donald J. Helmbrecht; Sean A. Parks; Carol Miller

2012-01-01

An important objective for many federal land management agencies is to restore fire to ecosystems that have experienced fire suppression or exclusion over the last century. Managing wildfires for resource objectives (i.e., allowing wildfires to burn in the absence of suppression) is an important tool for restoring such fire-adapted ecosystems. To support management...

Ecosystem services of human-dominated watersheds and land use influences: a case study from the Dianchi Lake watershed in China.

PubMed

Hou, Ying; Li, Bo; Müller, Felix; Chen, Weiping

2016-11-01

Watersheds provide multiple ecosystem services. Ecosystem service assessment is a promising approach to investigate human-environment interaction at the watershed scale. The spatial characteristics of ecosystem services are closely related to land use statuses in human-dominated watersheds. This study aims to investigate the effects of land use on the spatial variations of ecosystem services at the Dianchi Lake watershed in Southwest China. We investigated the spatial variations of six ecosystem services-food supply, net primary productivity (NPP), habitat quality, evapotranspiration, water yield, and nitrogen retention. These services were selected based on their significance at the Dianchi Lake watershed and the availability of their data. The quantification of these services was based on modeling, value transference, and spatial analysis in combination with biophysical and socioeconomic data. Furthermore, we calculated the values of ecosystem services provided by different land use types and quantified the correlations between ecosystem service values and land use area proportions. The results show considerable spatial variations in the six ecosystem services associated with land use influences in the Dianchi Lake watershed. The cropland and forest land use types had predominantly positive influences on food productivity and NPP, respectively. The rural residential area and forest land use types reduced and enhanced habitat quality, respectively; these influences were identical to those of evapotranspiration. Urban area and rural residential area exerted significantly positive influences on water yield. In contrast, water yield was negatively correlated with forest area proportion. Finally, cropland and forest had significantly positive and negative influences, respectively, on nitrogen retention. Our study emphasizes the importance of consideration of the influences from land use composition and distribution on ecosystem services for managing the ecosystems of human-dominated watersheds.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ehleringer, James; Randerson, James; Lai, Chun-Ta

The objective of the proposed research was to collect data and develop models to improve our understanding of the role of drought and fire impacts on the terrestrial carbon cycle in the western US, including impacts associated with urban systems as they impacted regional carbon cycles. Using data we collected and a synthesis of other measurements, we developed new ways (a) to evaluate the representation of drought stress and fire emissions in the Community Land Model, (b) to model net ecosystem exchange combining ground level atmospheric observations with boundary layer theory, (c) to model upstream impacts of fire and fossilmore » fuel emissions on atmospheric carbon dioxide observations, and (d) to model carbon dioxide observations within urban systems and at the urban-wildland interfaces of forest ecosystems.« less

Forecasts of county-level land uses under three future scenarios: a technical document supporting the Forest Service 2010 RPA Assessment

Treesearch

David N. Wear

2011-01-01

Accurately forecasting future forest conditions and the implications for ecosystem services depends on understanding land use dynamics. In support of the 2010 Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment, we forecast changes in land uses for the coterminous United States in response to three scenarios. Our land use models forecast urbanization in response to the...

Integrating ecosystem services in terrestrial conservation planning.

PubMed

Yuan, Mei-Hua; Lo, Shang-Lien; Yang, Chih-Kai

2017-05-01

The purpose of this study is to estimate the benefits of ecosystem services for prioritization of land use conservation and to highlight the importance of ecosystem services by comparison between ecosystem service value and green GDP accounting. Based on land use pattern and benefit transfer method, this research estimated value of ecosystem services in Taiwan. Scientific information of land use and land cover change is accessed through multi-year satellite imagery moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS), and geographic information system (GIS) technology. Combined with benefit transfer method, this research estimated the ecosystem service valuation of forest, grassland, cropland, wetland, water, and urban for the period of 2000 to 2015 in Taiwan. It is found that forest made the greatest contribution and the significant increasing area of wetland has huge potential benefit for environmental conservation in Taiwan. We recommend placing maintaining wetland ecosystem in Taiwan with higher priority. This research also compared ecosystem service value with natural capital consumption which would essentially facilitate policy makers to understand the relationship between benefits gained from natural capital and the loss from human-made capital.

i-Tree: Tools to assess and manage structure, function, and value of community forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirabayashi, S.; Nowak, D.; Endreny, T. A.; Kroll, C.; Maco, S.

2011-12-01

Trees in urban communities can mitigate many adverse effects associated with anthropogenic activities and climate change (e.g. urban heat island, greenhouse gas, air pollution, and floods). To protect environmental and human health, managers need to make informed decisions regarding urban forest management practices. Here we present the i-Tree suite of software tools (www.itreetools.org) developed by the USDA Forest Service and their cooperators. This software suite can help urban forest managers assess and manage the structure, function, and value of urban tree populations regardless of community size or technical capacity. i-Tree is a state-of-the-art, peer-reviewed Windows GUI- or Web-based software that is freely available, supported, and continuously refined by the USDA Forest Service and their cooperators. Two major features of i-Tree are 1) to analyze current canopy structures and identify potential planting spots, and 2) to estimate the environmental benefits provided by the trees, such as carbon storage and sequestration, energy conservation, air pollution removal, and storm water reduction. To cover diverse forest topologies, various tools were developed within the i-Tree suite: i-Tree Design for points (individual trees), i-Tree Streets for lines (street trees), and i-Tree Eco, Vue, and Canopy (in the order of complexity) for areas (community trees). Once the forest structure is identified with these tools, ecosystem services provided by trees can be estimated with common models and protocols, and reports in the form of texts, charts, and figures are then created for users. Since i-Tree was developed with a client/server architecture, nationwide data in the US such as location-related parameters, weather, streamflow, and air pollution data are stored in the server and retrieved to a user's computer at run-time. Freely available remote-sensed images (e.g. NLCD and Google maps) are also employed to estimate tree canopy characteristics. As the demand for i-Tree grows internationally, environmental databases from more countries will be coupled with the software suite. Two more i-Tree applications, i-Tree Forecast and i-Tree Landscape are now under development. i-Tree Forecast simulates canopy structures for up to 100 years based on planting and mortality rates and adds capabilities for other i-Tree applications to estimate the benefits of future canopy scenarios. While most i-Tree applications employ a spatially lumped approach, i-Tree landscape employs a spatially distributed approach that allows users to map changes in canopy cover and ecosystem services through time and space. These new i-Tree tools provide an advanced platform for urban managers to assess the impact of current and future urban forests. i-Tree allows managers to promote effective urban forest management and sound arboricultural practices by providing information for advocacy and planning, baseline data for making informed decisions, and standardization for comparisons with other communities.

Urban forest influences on exposure to UV radiation and potential consequences for human health

Treesearch

Gordon M. Heisler

2010-01-01

This chapter explores the literature on ultraviolet (UV) irradiance in urban ecosystems with respect to the likely effects on human health. The focus was the question of whether the health effects of UV radiation should be included in the planning of landscape elements such as trees and shading structures, especially for high use pedestrian areas and school play...

Monitoring the Impacts of Wildfires on Forest Ecosystems and Public Health in the Exo-Urban Environment Using High-Resolution Satellite Aerosol Products from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).

PubMed

Huff, Amy K; Kondragunta, Shobha; Zhang, Hai; Hoff, Raymond M

2015-01-01

Increasing development of exo-urban environments and the spread of urbanization into forested areas is making humans and forest ecosystems more susceptible to the risks associated with wildfires. Larger and more damaging wildfires are having a negative impact on forest ecosystem services, and smoke from wildfires adversely affects the public health of people living in exo-urban environments. Satellite aerosol measurements are valuable tools that can track the evolution of wildfires and monitor the transport of smoke plumes. Operational users, such as air quality forecasters and fire management officials, can use satellite observations to complement ground-based and aircraft measurements of wildfire activity. To date, wildfire applications of satellite aerosol products, such as aerosol optical depth (AOD), have been limited by the relatively coarse resolution of available AOD data. However, the new Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite has high-resolution AOD that is ideally suited to monitoring wildfire impacts on the exo-urban scale. Two AOD products are available from VIIRS: the 750-m × 750-m nadir resolution Intermediate Product (IP) and the 6-km × 6-km resolution Environmental Data Record product, which is aggregated from IP measurements. True color (red, green, and blue [RGB]) imagery and a smoke mask at 750-m × 750-m resolution are also available from VIIRS as decision aids for wildfire applications; they serve as counterparts to AOD measurements by providing visible information about areas of smoke in the atmosphere. To meet the needs of operational users, who do not have time to process raw data files and need access to VIIRS products in near-real time (NRT), VIIRS AOD and RGB NRT imagery are available from the Infusing satellite Data into Environmental Applications (IDEA) web site. A key feature of IDEA is an interactive visualization tool that allows users to display tailored combinations of AOD and RGB imagery, as well as overlay the VIIRS smoke mask and fire hotspots at pixel resolution (~750-m × 750-m), and zoom into the county level. Two case studies of recent wildfires in the Western US are presented to show how operational users can access and display VIIRS aerosol products to monitor the transport of smoke plumes and evolution of fires in the exo-urban environment on the regional and county scales. The new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Western Region Fire and Smoke Initiative is also discussed, which will enhance IDEA to allow visualization of VIIRS aerosol products down to the neighborhood scale. The new high-resolution VIIRS aerosol products can be used for NRT monitoring of human exposure to smoke, and they can be used to gauge the spread of fires and, thus, provide advanced warning for evacuations and fire suppression efforts, thereby reducing risks to human populations and forest ecosystems in the exo-urban environment.

Monitoring the Impacts of Wildfires on Forest Ecosystems and Public Health in the Exo-Urban Environment Using High-Resolution Satellite Aerosol Products from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)

PubMed Central

Huff, Amy K; Kondragunta, Shobha; Zhang, Hai; Hoff, Raymond M

2015-01-01

Increasing development of exo-urban environments and the spread of urbanization into forested areas is making humans and forest ecosystems more susceptible to the risks associated with wildfires. Larger and more damaging wildfires are having a negative impact on forest ecosystem services, and smoke from wildfires adversely affects the public health of people living in exo-urban environments. Satellite aerosol measurements are valuable tools that can track the evolution of wildfires and monitor the transport of smoke plumes. Operational users, such as air quality forecasters and fire management officials, can use satellite observations to complement ground-based and aircraft measurements of wildfire activity. To date, wildfire applications of satellite aerosol products, such as aerosol optical depth (AOD), have been limited by the relatively coarse resolution of available AOD data. However, the new Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite has high-resolution AOD that is ideally suited to monitoring wildfire impacts on the exo-urban scale. Two AOD products are available from VIIRS: the 750-m × 750-m nadir resolution Intermediate Product (IP) and the 6-km × 6-km resolution Environmental Data Record product, which is aggregated from IP measurements. True color (red, green, and blue [RGB]) imagery and a smoke mask at 750-m × 750-m resolution are also available from VIIRS as decision aids for wildfire applications; they serve as counterparts to AOD measurements by providing visible information about areas of smoke in the atmosphere. To meet the needs of operational users, who do not have time to process raw data files and need access to VIIRS products in near-real time (NRT), VIIRS AOD and RGB NRT imagery are available from the Infusing satellite Data into Environmental Applications (IDEA) web site. A key feature of IDEA is an interactive visualization tool that allows users to display tailored combinations of AOD and RGB imagery, as well as overlay the VIIRS smoke mask and fire hotspots at pixel resolution (~750-m × 750-m), and zoom into the county level. Two case studies of recent wildfires in the Western US are presented to show how operational users can access and display VIIRS aerosol products to monitor the transport of smoke plumes and evolution of fires in the exo-urban environment on the regional and county scales. The new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Western Region Fire and Smoke Initiative is also discussed, which will enhance IDEA to allow visualization of VIIRS aerosol products down to the neighborhood scale. The new high-resolution VIIRS aerosol products can be used for NRT monitoring of human exposure to smoke, and they can be used to gauge the spread of fires and, thus, provide advanced warning for evacuations and fire suppression efforts, thereby reducing risks to human populations and forest ecosystems in the exo-urban environment. PMID:26078588

Uncertainties in mapping forest carbon in urban ecosystems.

PubMed

Chen, Gang; Ozelkan, Emre; Singh, Kunwar K; Zhou, Jun; Brown, Marilyn R; Meentemeyer, Ross K

2017-02-01

Spatially explicit urban forest carbon estimation provides a baseline map for understanding the variation in forest vertical structure, informing sustainable forest management and urban planning. While high-resolution remote sensing has proven promising for carbon mapping in highly fragmented urban landscapes, data cost and availability are the major obstacle prohibiting accurate, consistent, and repeated measurement of forest carbon pools in cities. This study aims to evaluate the uncertainties of forest carbon estimation in response to the combined impacts of remote sensing data resolution and neighborhood spatial patterns in Charlotte, North Carolina. The remote sensing data for carbon mapping were resampled to a range of resolutions, i.e., LiDAR point cloud density - 5.8, 4.6, 2.3, and 1.2 pt s/m 2 , aerial optical NAIP (National Agricultural Imagery Program) imagery - 1, 5, 10, and 20 m. Urban spatial patterns were extracted to represent area, shape complexity, dispersion/interspersion, diversity, and connectivity of landscape patches across the residential neighborhoods with built-up densities from low, medium-low, medium-high, to high. Through statistical analyses, we found that changing remote sensing data resolution introduced noticeable uncertainties (variation) in forest carbon estimation at the neighborhood level. Higher uncertainties were caused by the change of LiDAR point density (causing 8.7-11.0% of variation) than changing NAIP image resolution (causing 6.2-8.6% of variation). For both LiDAR and NAIP, urban neighborhoods with a higher degree of anthropogenic disturbance unveiled a higher level of uncertainty in carbon mapping. However, LiDAR-based results were more likely to be affected by landscape patch connectivity, and the NAIP-based estimation was found to be significantly influenced by the complexity of patch shape. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Accumulation and environmental risk assessment of heavy metals in soil and plants of four different ecosystems in a former polymetallic ores mining and smelting area (Slovakia).

PubMed

Demková, Lenka; Árvay, Július; Bobuľská, Lenka; Tomáš, Ján; Stanovič, Radovan; Lošák, Tomáš; Harangozo, Luboš; Vollmannová, Alena; Bystrická, Judita; Musilová, Janette; Jobbágy, Ján

2017-04-16

Heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in soils and plants of four different ecosystems (forest, grassland, agro and urban ecosystem) at different distances from the source of the pollution were analyzed in order to assess and compare soil contamination in the various ecosystems and determine the potential accumulation of plants depending on the place they inhabit. Correlation relationships among heavy metals in soils differ depending on the ecosystem, and between soil and plant, the heavy metals showed significant correlation for Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn. Contamination factor (C f ), degree of contamination (C d ) and pollution load index (PLI) were used in order to determine the level of environmental contamination of the study area. All studied ecosystems were rated as moderately contaminated (except agroecosystem, which was found as low contamination ecosystem) according to C d and extremely polluted according to PLI. The highest pollution in both cases was found in urban ecosystem, and Cd, Cu and Fe were determined as the biggest pollutants.

Monitoring the Urban Tree Cover for Urban Ecosystem Services - The Case of Leipzig, Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banzhaf, E.; Kollai, H.

2015-04-01

Urban dynamics such as (extreme) growth and shrinkage bring about fundamental challenges for urban land use and related changes. In order to achieve a sustainable urban development, it is crucial to monitor urban green infrastructure at microscale level as it provides various urban ecosystem services in neighbourhoods, supporting quality of life and environmental health. We monitor urban trees by means of a multiple data set to get a detailed knowledge on its distribution and change over a decade for the entire city. We have digital orthophotos, a digital elevation model and a digital surface model. The refined knowledge on the absolute height above ground helps to differentiate tree tops. Grounded on an object-based image analysis scheme a detailed mapping of trees in an urbanized environment is processed. Results show high accuracy of tree detection and avoidance of misclassification due to shadows. The study area is the City of Leipzig, Germany. One of the leading German cities, it is home to contiguous community allotments that characterize the configuration of the city. Leipzig has one of the most well-preserved floodplain forests in Europe.

Atlantic tropical forest mapping in the northern coastal zone of Sao Paulo State, Brazil

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Simi, R. Jr.; Almeida, S.A.S.; Manso, A.P.

1997-06-01

The northern coastal zone of Sao Paulo State includes the cities of Ubatuba, Caraguatatuba, Sao Sebastiao and Ilha Bela. Large development projects, such as road and highway constructions and joint real estate exploration of susceptible coastal ecosystems have threatened the harmony and ecological stability of these ecosystems. Recently, the Atlantic tropical rain forest has been the most destructed ecosystem in the coastal zone in response to real estate investments in urban areas along the main roads. In the northern coastal zone of Sao Paulo State, 80% of the counties are included in the State Park of Serra do Mar. Asmore » tourism is a strong growing economical activity, as well as coastal production, it should be of interest to create a plan for sustainable development. The objective of this study is to map and characterize land use cover changes with emphasis on the Atlantic tropical rain forest degradation using Landsat TM images. Preliminary results for land use cover changes indicate that the Atlantic tropical rain forest was reduced by 6.1 % during the period of July 1992 and October 1995.« less

Testing resiliency of hydrologic dynamics of a paired forested watershed after a hurricane in Atlantic coastal plain using long-term data

Treesearch

Devendra Amatya; Herbert Ssegane; Charles Andy Harrison; Carl Trettin

2016-01-01

Hurricanes are infrequent but influential disruptors of ecosystem processes, including streamflow and evapotranspiration dynamics in the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf coasts. However, literature on hurricane effects on long-term streamflow dynamics is lacking in this highly urbanizing region characterized by a poorly drained low-gradient forested landscape.

The ecological classification of coastal wet longleaf pine (pinus palustris) of Florida from reference conditions

Treesearch

George L. McCaskill; Jose. Shibu

2012-01-01

Tropical storms, fire, and urbanization have produced a heavily fragmented forested landscape along Florida’s Gulf coast. The longleaf pine forest, one of the most threatened ecosystems in the US, makes up a major part of this fragmented landscape. These three disturbance regimes have produced a mosaic of differently-aged pine patches of single or two cohort structures...

Simulating Urban Tree Effects on Air, Water, and Heat Pollution Mitigation: iTree-Hydro Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Y.; Endreny, T. A.; Nowak, D.

2011-12-01

Urban and suburban development changes land surface thermal, radiative, porous, and roughness properties and pollutant loading rates, with the combined effect leading to increased air, water, and heat pollution (e.g., urban heat islands). In this research we present the USDA Forest Service urban forest ecosystem and hydrology model, iTree Eco and Hydro, used to analyze how tree cover can deliver valuable ecosystem services to mitigate air, water, and heat pollution. Air pollution mitigation is simulated by dry deposition processes based on detected pollutant levels for CO, NO2, SO2, O3 and atmospheric stability and leaf area indices. Water quality mitigation is simulated with event mean concentration loading algorithms for N, P, metals, and TSS, and by green infrastructure pollutant filtering algorithms that consider flow path dispersal areas. Urban cooling considers direct shading and indirect evapotranspiration. Spatially distributed estimates of hourly tree evapotranspiration during the growing season are used to estimate human thermal comfort. Two main factors regulating evapotranspiration are soil moisture and canopy radiation. Spatial variation of soil moisture is represented by a modified urban topographic index and radiation for each tree is modified by considering aspect, slope and shade from surrounding buildings or hills. We compare the urban cooling algorithms used in iTree-Hydro with the urban canopy and land surface physics schemes used in the Weather Research and Forecasting model. We conclude by identifying biophysical feedbacks between tree-modulated air and water quality environmental services and how these may respond to urban heating and cooling. Improvements to this iTree model are intended to assist managers identify valuable tree services for urban living.

Soil quality in anthropized ecosystem located in two biomes in Campinas city / SP-Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Márcia Longo, Regina; Corcovia, Marina; Gomes, Raissa Caroline; Bettine, Sueli C.; Demamboro, Antonio Carlos; Fengler, Felipe H.; Irio Ribeiro, Admilson

2017-04-01

The rapid growth of large urban centers and the expansion of agricultural activities promote direct pressures on natural ecosystems. These actions have led to constant discussions by researchers and society as a whole in relation to preservation and quality of terrestrial ecosystems, and soil and vegetation components of vital importance to maintain these. In this context, the present study was to evaluate the anthropogenic interferences on soil properties in areas in two forest fragments located in the remaining urban areas in different biomes of Campinas-SP , Brazil. Both have their edges significantly disturbed by the proximity to urban centers , highways, sugarcane cultivation, among others. The remnant of the Atlantic Forest has an area of 250.36 ha is found in a so called protected area of ecological interest (A.R.I.E). This site access is restricted and has conservation measures, but is near major highways. The remnant of savanna has an approximate area of 40 ha there and has no conservation measure, finding it quite degraded. The physical properties and chemical soil in the two situations were collected throughout the border area totaling 28 points in the remaining savanna and 40 in the Atlantic Forest. The results were analyzed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to determine the main soil properties that reflect the quality of the ecosystems studied. It can be seen that most of the physical-chemical soil parameters were impacted in some way related to each other and in two ecosystems that is, the size of the vectors and the distance between them are studied in corresponding situations. The bulk density parameter has different behavior between the two biomes, since the particle density is presented close to each other but have different vector sizes. Some of the parameters have been identified with strong relationship between biomes: the Exchange Capacity Cationic (ECC) and the amounts of copper (Cu) by its close proximity of the vectors and the aluminum content (Al) and iron (Fe) for having sizes similar vectors and an appropriate distance between them. The group attributes: pH, calcium (Ca), sum of bases (SB), magnesium (Mg) and base saturation (V%) were found grouped in the two biomes but in different quadrants, reaffirming the great relationship between these parameters. Regarding the organic matter content of these they were similar in the two biomes. The higher nickel content (Ni), chromium (Cr) and lead (Pb) were found in the remaining forest, probably due to the proximity to large vehicle traffic roads. In this context, it can be concluded that the areas under study are impacted negatively in their edge areas, and components such as proximity to agricultural areas and urban sprawl, as well as proximity to major roads may be interfering with the direct mode environmental quality of forest remaining soil from two different biomes located in urban areas, and changes in levels of heavy metals and bulk density were the most affected. 1 Part of the project funded by the Foundation of the State of São Paulo Research - Brazil (FAPESP - process 2012 / 14423-8)

The Green Pages: Environmental Education Activities K-12.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clearing, 1990

1990-01-01

Presented are 20 science activities for students K-12. Topics include role playing, similarities between urban and forest communities, ecosystems, garbage, recycling, food production, habitats, insects, tidal zone, animals, diversity, interest groups, rivers, spaceship earth, ecological interactions, and the cost of recreation. (KR)

The role of forest in mitigating the impact of atmospheric dust pollution in a mixed landscape.

PubMed

Santos, Artur; Pinho, Pedro; Munzi, Silvana; Botelho, Maria João; Palma-Oliveira, José Manuel; Branquinho, Cristina

2017-05-01

Atmospheric dust pollution, especially particulate matter below 2.5 μm, causes 3.3 million premature deaths per year worldwide. Although pollution sources are increasingly well known, the role of ecosystems in mitigating their impact is still poorly known. Our objective was to investigate the role of forests located in the surrounding of industrial and urban areas in reducing atmospheric dust pollution. This was tested using lichen transplants as biomonitors in a Mediterranean regional area with high levels of dry deposition. After a multivariate analysis, we have modeled the maximum pollution load expected for each site taking into consideration nearby pollutant sources. The difference between maximum expected pollution load and the observed values was explained by the deposition in nearby forests. Both the dust pollution and the ameliorating effect of forested areas were then mapped. The results showed that forest located nearby pollution sources plays an important role in reducing atmospheric dust pollution, highlighting their importance in the provision of the ecosystem service of air purification.

Ecological Status of a Patagonian Mountain River: Usefulness of Environmental and Biotic Metrics for Rehabilitation Assessment.

PubMed

Laura, Miserendino M; Adriana, M Kutschker; Cecilia, Brand; La Ludmila, Manna; Cecilia, Prinzio Y Di; Gabriela, Papazian; José, Bava

2016-06-01

This work evaluates the consequences of anthropogenic pressures at different sections of a Patagonian mountain river using a set of environmental and biological measures. A map of risk of soil erosion at a basin scale was also produced. The study was conducted at 12 sites along the Percy River system, where physicochemical parameters, riparian ecosystem quality, habitat condition, plants, and macroinvertebrates were investigated. While livestock and wood collection, the dominant activities at upper and mean basin sites resulted in an important loss of the forest cover still the riparian ecosystem remains in a relatively good status of conservation, as do the in-stream habitat conditions and physicochemical features. Besides, most indicators based on macroinvertebrates revealed that both upper and middle basin sections supported similar assemblages, richness, density, and most functional feeding group attributes. Instead, the lower urbanized basin showed increases in conductivity and nutrient values, poor quality in the riparian ecosystem, and habitat condition. According to the multivariate analysis, ammonia level, elevation, current velocity, and habitat conditions had explanatory power on benthos assemblages. Discharge, naturalness of the river channel, flood plain morphology, conservation status, and percent of urban areas were important moderators of plant composition. Finally, although the present land use in the basin would not produce a significant risk of soil erosion, unsustainable practices that promotes the substitution of the forest for shrubs would lead to severe consequences. Mitigation efforts should be directed to protect headwater forest, restore altered riparian ecosystem, and to control the incipient eutrophication process.

Ecological Status of a Patagonian Mountain River: Usefulness of Environmental and Biotic Metrics for Rehabilitation Assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laura, Miserendino M.; Adriana, M. Kutschker; Cecilia, Brand; La Ludmila, Manna; Cecilia, Prinzio Y. Di; Gabriela, Papazian; José, Bava

2016-06-01

This work evaluates the consequences of anthropogenic pressures at different sections of a Patagonian mountain river using a set of environmental and biological measures. A map of risk of soil erosion at a basin scale was also produced. The study was conducted at 12 sites along the Percy River system, where physicochemical parameters, riparian ecosystem quality, habitat condition, plants, and macroinvertebrates were investigated. While livestock and wood collection, the dominant activities at upper and mean basin sites resulted in an important loss of the forest cover still the riparian ecosystem remains in a relatively good status of conservation, as do the in-stream habitat conditions and physicochemical features. Besides, most indicators based on macroinvertebrates revealed that both upper and middle basin sections supported similar assemblages, richness, density, and most functional feeding group attributes. Instead, the lower urbanized basin showed increases in conductivity and nutrient values, poor quality in the riparian ecosystem, and habitat condition. According to the multivariate analysis, ammonia level, elevation, current velocity, and habitat conditions had explanatory power on benthos assemblages. Discharge, naturalness of the river channel, flood plain morphology, conservation status, and percent of urban areas were important moderators of plant composition. Finally, although the present land use in the basin would not produce a significant risk of soil erosion, unsustainable practices that promotes the substitution of the forest for shrubs would lead to severe consequences. Mitigation efforts should be directed to protect headwater forest, restore altered riparian ecosystem, and to control the incipient eutrophication process.

Fluxes of ozone and Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds in a mixed Mediterranean forest over a transition period between summer and fall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fares, S.; Schnitzhofer, R.; Hansel, A.; Petersson, F.; Matteucci, G.; Scarascia Mugnozza, G.; Jiang, X.; Guenther, A. B.; Loreto, F.

2012-12-01

Mediterranean plant ecosystems are exposed to abiotic stressors that may be exacerbated by climate change dynamics. Moreover, plants need now to cope with increasing anthropogenic pressures, often associated with expanding impacts of urbanization. Anthropogenic stressors include harmful gases (e.g. ozone,) that are transported from anthropogenic pollution sources to the vegetation. They may alter ecophysiology and compromise metabolism of Mediterranean plants. A disproportionate number of Mediterranean ecosystems, many dominated by forest trees, are being transformed into "urban or pre-urban forests". This is in particular the case for Castelporziano Estate, a 6,000 ha Mediterranean forest located just 25 km from Rome downtown at the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. In September 2011 an intensive field campaign was performed in Castelporziano to investigate ozone deposition and biogenic emissions of volatile organic compounds (BVOC) from a mixed Mediterranean forest, mainly composed by Quercus suber, Quercus ilex, Pinus pinea. Measurements were performed at canopy level with fast real-time instruments (a fast ozone analyzer and a Proton Transfer Reaction-Time of Flight Mass Spectrometer) that allowed eddy covariant flux measurements of ozone and BVOC. In the transitional period from a warm and dry summer to a wet and moderately cool fall we typically observed tropospheric ozone volume mixing ratios (VMR) of 60 ppb at around noon, with high deposition fluxes (up to -10 nmol m-2 s-1) into the forest canopy. Canopy models were used to to calculate that up to 90% of ozone uptake can be attributed to non-stomatal sinks, suggesting that chemical reactions between ozone and reactive BVOC may have played an important role. The concentrations of reactive isoprenoids (e.g. sesquiterpenes) were indeed observed to decrease during the central hours of the day, in coincidence with increased ozone concentrations. Concentrations and fluxes of isoprenoid-ozone-oxidation-(methyl-vinyl-ketone and methacrolein) were found to increase during the day time hours, matching the dynamic pattern of non-stomatal ozone uptake. Monoterpenes were the most abundant BVOC emitted by the forest with fluxes up to 10 nmol m-2 s-1 in the warm days, followed by the oxygenated BVOCs: methanol, acetone, acetaldehyde. Isoprene was emitted at a low rate (less than 1 nmol m-2 s-1), and observations used to develop a new parameterization data for modelling activity. MEGAN was used to predict biogenic emissions from Mediterranean ecosystems. Model results using new basal emission factors (BEF) estimated from the collected data-set revealed considerable differences in the emission estimates compared with the standard parameterization, thus suggesting the importance of including basal emission factors from monoterpene-emitting Mediterranean ecosystems to obtain an accurate estimate in the global model. Future research by chemical transport modelling and smog chamber experiments are planned to investigate the "ex-situ" ozone-forming potential of emitted BVOC, to fully understand the role of Mediterranean urban forests in the complex interactions between biosphere and atmosphere over large Mediterranean conurbations.

Assessing the Impact of Asian Longhorned Beetle in Worcester, MA: Thermal Effects, Community Responses, and Future Vulnerability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elmes, Arthur Francis Marett

Urban environments experience air, water, noise, and heat pollution as a consequence of their composition, structure, and function. These adverse environmental conditions, which have direct and indirect effects on human health and ecological stability, can be mitigated or partially offset by healthy and extensive urban forests. Additionally, urban trees provide a number of cultural, aesthetic, and property value benefits. However, to provide maximum ecosystem service benefits, an urban forest must be carefully planned and maintained, so that average tree lifespan is maximized and ecological vulnerability is minimized. Maximal urban forest resilience is best achieved via taxonomic and age-diversity, such that no one genus or age-cohort dominates. This diversity enhances overall urban forest resilience, which in turn facilitates maximum ecosystem service provision. The Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB, Anoplophora glabripennis) infestation in Worcester, MA represents a case example of taxonomic monoculture vulnerability, but also an excellent opportunity to reinvest and diversify the urban forest. As a result of the ALB infestation, which was first documented in 2008, approximately 35,000 host trees were removed from residential and public property, substantially reducing urban tree canopy coverage and uncovering impervious surfaces. Chapter two quantifies this Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) loss, and shows that in loss areas Land Surface Temperature (LST) increases range from 1 - 6° C. The research investigates multi-scale effects of this relationship, particularly in the hard-hit Burncoat and Greendale neighborhoods of Worcester, MA. In response to the large quantity of UTC loss suffered due to ALB, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the City of Worcester, and the Worcester Tree Initiative (WTI) have together planted over 30,000 trees, primarily via tree giveaway programs to local residents. Chapter three assesses the effectiveness of this initiative in terms of juvenile tree mortality rates - a critical indicator of long-term urban forest success. Results indicate that tree stewardship variables such as renter proportion and number of trees planted per property are strong predictors of tree mortality. Tree species was shown to be strong predictor of mortality, with ornamental trees showing lower mortality rates than shade deciduous or conifers. Finally, Chapter four investigates the potential risk of further ALB infestation in the Worcester area, using a circuit theory dispersal model, which uses an analogy with electrical circuits to predict the dispersal of random-walkers across a heterogeneous landscape. The results indicate that impervious surfaces such as roads, sidewalks, and parking lots, as well as proximity to existing trees are facilitators of ALB movement. Circuit-based dispersal maps highlight the importance of narrow dispersal corridors connecting larger areas of potential dispersal. Dispersal potential was combined with ALB habitat suitability measured with Mahalanobis typicality, yielding a hybrid map of ALB infestation risk. These map products are valuable both as contributions to the understanding of invasive species movement in novel environments, and as tools for land managers attempting to eradicate ALB, such as the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. This dissertation investigates three elements of the ALB infestation of Worcester, providing a holistic explanation of the impacts, recovery, and vulnerability of Worcester's urban forest.

Tipping Points towards Regional Forest or Urban Transition in Stressed Rural Areas: An Agent-based Modelling Application of Socio-Economic Shifts in Rural Vermont US

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Y.; Turnbull, S.; Zia, A.

2015-12-01

In rural areas where farming competes with urban development and environmental amenities, urban and forest transitions occur simultaneously at different locales with different rates due to the underlying socio-economic shifts. Here we develop an interactive land use transition agent-based model (ILUTABM) in which farmers' land use decisions are made contingent on expansion and location choices of urban businesses and urban residences, as well as farmers' perceived ecosystem services produced by their land holdings. The ILUTABM simulates heterogeneity in land use decisions at parcel levels by differentiating decision making processes for agricultural and urban landowners. Landowners are simulated to make land-use transition decisions as bounded rational agents that maximize their partial expected utility functions under different underlying socio-economic conditions given the category of a landowner and the spatial characteristics of the landowner's landholdings. The ILUTABM is parameterized by spatial data sets such as National Land Cover Database (NLCD), zoning, parcels, property prices, US census, farmers surveys, building/facility characteristics, soil, slope and elevation. We then apply the ILUTABM to the rural Vermont landscape, located in the Northeast Arm District of Lake Champlain and the downstream sub-watersheds of Missisquoi River, to generate phase transitions of rural land towards urban land near peri-urban areas and towards forest land near financially stressed farmlands during 2001-2051. Possible tipping point trajectories of rural land towards regional forest or urban transition are simulated under three socio-economic scenarios: business as usual (ILUTABM calibrated to 2011 NLCD), increased incentives for conservation easements, and increased incentives for attracting urban residences and businesses.

Group points to underlying causes of ecosystem, blodiversity loss

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Showstack, Randy

Freshwater diversion, urban water pollution,and overfishing are leading to the decline of some of Pakistan's coastal mangrove ecosystems. In Mexico's Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, near the border of Guatemala, population growth and poverty are pushing forest clearing. Meanwhile, in Chilika Lake in southeast India, changes in economic policies and global markets have led to changes in commercial aquaculture that is partly responsible for the decline of local fisheries and the bird population.These are the conclusions of some of the 10 case studies contained in a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report, issued on July 6, that examines forests, wetlands, steppes, mangroves, and other habitats to determine the underlying causes for biodiversity loss.

A tool for assessing ecological status of forest ecosystem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahman Kassim, Abd; Afizzul Misman, Muhammad; Azahari Faidi, Mohd; Omar, Hamdan

2016-06-01

Managers and policy makers are beginning to appreciate the value of ecological monitoring of artificially regenerated forest especially in urban areas. With the advent of more advance technology in precision forestry, high resolution remotely sensed data e.g. hyperspectral and LiDAR are becoming available for rapid and precise assessment of the forest condition. An assessment of ecological status of forest ecosystem was developed and tested using FRIM campus forest stand. The forest consisted of three major blocks; the old growth artificially regenerated native species forests, naturally regenerated forest and recent planted forest for commercial timber and other forest products. Our aim is to assess the ecological status and its proximity to the mature old growth artificially regenerated stand. We used airborne LiDAR, orthophoto and thirty field sampling quadrats of 20x20m for ground verification. The parameter assessments were grouped into four broad categories: a. forest community level-composition, structures, function; landscape structures-road network and forest edges. A metric of parameters and rating criteria was introduced as indicators of the forest ecological status. We applied multi-criteria assessment to categorize the ecological status of the forest stand. The paper demonstrates the application of the assessment approach using FRIM campus forest as its first case study. Its potential application to both artificially and naturally regenerated forest in the variety of Malaysian landscape is discussed

Explaining the inter-annual variability in the ecosystem fluxes of the Brasschaat Scots pine forest: 20 years of eddy flux and pollution monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horemans, Joanna; Roland, Marilyn; Janssens, Ivan; Ceulemans, Reinhart

2017-04-01

Because of their ecological and recreational value, the health of forest ecosystems and their response to global change and pollution are of high importance. At a number of EuroFlux and ICOS ecosystem sites in Europe - as the Brasschaat forest site - the measurements of ecosystem fluxes of carbon and other gases are combined with vertical profiles of air pollution within the framework of the ICP-Forest monitoring program. The Brasschaat forest is dominated by 80-year old Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris L.), and has a total area of about 150 ha. It is situated near an urban area in the Campine region of Flanders, Belgium and is characterized by a mean annual temperature of 9.8 °C and an annual rainfall of 830 mm. In this contribution we report on a long-term analysis (1996-2016) of the ecosystem carbon and water fluxes, the energy exchanges and the pollutant concentrations (ozone, NOx, NH3, SO2). Particular interest goes to the inter-annual variation of the carbon fluxes and the carbon allocation patterns. The impact of the long-term (aggregated) and the short-term variability in both the meteorological drivers and in the main tropospheric pollutants on the carbon fluxes is examined, as well as their mutual interactive effects and their potential memory effect. The effect of variability in the drivers during the phenological phases (seasonality) on the inter-annual variability of the fluxes is also examined. Basic statistical techniques as well as spectral analyses and data mining techniques are being used.

Modeling the Effects of Drought Events on Forest Ecosystem Functioning Historically and Under Scenarios of Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, J.; Hanan, E. J.; Kolden, C.; Abatzoglou, J. T.; Tague, C.; Liu, M.; Adam, J. C.

2017-12-01

Drought events have been increasing across the western United States in recent years. Many studies have shown that, in the context of climate change, droughts will continue to be stronger, more frequent, and prolonged in the future. However, the response of forest ecosystems to droughts, particularly multi-year droughts, is not well understood. The objectives of this study are to examine how drought events of varying characteristics (e.g. intensity, duration, frequency, etc.) have affected the functioning of forest ecosystems historically, and how changing drought characteristics (including multi-year droughts) may affect forest functioning in a future climate. We utilize the Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys) to simulate impacts of both historical droughts and scenarios of future droughts on forest ecosystems. RHESSys is a spatially-distributed and process-based model that captures the interactions between coupled biogeochemical and hydrologic cycles at catchment scales. Here our case study is the Trail Creek catchment of the Big Wood River basin in Idaho, the Northwestern USA. For historical simulations, we use the gridded meteorological data of 1979 to 2016; for future climate scenarios, we utilize downscaled data from GCMs that have been demonstrated to capture drought events in the Northwest of the USA. From these climate projections, we identify various types of drought in intensity and duration, including multi-year drought events. We evaluate the following responses of ecosystems to these events: 1) evapotranspiration and streamflow; 2) gross primary productivity; 3) the post-drought recovery of plant biomass; and 4) the forest functioning and recovery after multi-year droughts. This research is part of an integration project to examine the roles of drought, insect outbreak, and forest management activities on wildfire activity and its impacts. This project will provide improved information for forest managers and communities in the wild urban interface to adapt to climate change.

Environmental and biological controls of urban tree transpiration in the Upper Midwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peters, E. B.; McFadden, J.; Montgomery, R.

2009-12-01

Urban trees provide a variety of ecosystem services to urban and suburban areas, including carbon uptake, climate amelioration, energy reduction, and stormwater management. Tree transpiration, in particular, modifies urban water budgets by providing an alternative pathway for water after rain events. The relative importance of environmental and biological controls on transpiration are poorly understood in urban areas, yet these controls are important for quantifying and scaling up the ecosystem services that urban trees provide at landscape and regional scales and predicting how urban ecosystems will respond to climate changes. The objectives of our study were to quantify the annual cycle of tree transpiration in an urban ecosystem and to determine how different urban tree species and plant functional types respond to environmental drivers. We continuously measured whole-tree transpiration using thermal dissipation sap flow at four urban forest stands that were broadly representative of the species composition and tree sizes found in a suburban residential neighborhood of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota. A total of 40 trees, representing different species, plant functional types, successional stages, and xylem anatomy, were sampled throughout the 2007 and 2008 growing seasons (April-November). At each site we monitored soil moisture, air temperature, and relative humidity continuously, and we measured leaf area index weekly. Urban tree transpiration was strongly correlated with diurnal changes in vapor pressure deficit and photosynthetically active radiation and with seasonal changes in leaf area index. We found that plant functional type better explained species differences in transpiration per canopy area than either successional stage or xylem anatomy, largely due to differences in canopy structure between conifer and broad-leaf deciduous trees. We also observed inter-annual differences in transpiration rates due to a mid-season drought and longer growing season in 2007, compared with the cooler, wetter conditions in 2008. These results were scaled to estimate the relative contribution of each tree type at the scale of a suburban landscape. The findings of this study have implications for understanding the role of trees in managing urban water budgets and predicting the impacts of climate change on urban ecosystem services.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ke, Yinghai; Coleman, Andre M.; Diefenderfer, Heida L.

We delineated 8 watersheds contributing to previously defined river reaches within the 1,468-km2 historical floodplain of the tidally influenced lower Columbia River and estuary. We assessed land-cover change at the watershed, reach, and restoration site scales by reclassifying remote-sensing data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Change Analysis Program’s land cover/land change product into forest, wetland, and urban categories. The analysis showed a 198.3 km2 loss of forest cover during the first 6 years of the Columbia Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Program, 2001–2006. Total measured urbanization in the contributing watersheds of the estuary during the full 1996-2006 change analysismore » period was 48.4 km2. Trends in forest gain/loss and urbanization differed between watersheds. Wetland gains and losses were within the margin of error of the satellite imagery analysis. No significant land cover change was measured at restoration sites, although it was visible in aerial imagery, therefore, the 30-m land-cover product may not be appropriate for assessment of early-stage wetland restoration. These findings suggest that floodplain restoration sites in reaches downstream of watersheds with decreasing forest cover will be subject to increased sediment loads, and those downstream of urbanization will experience effects of increased impervious surfaces on hydrologic processes.« less

An interactive tool for processing sap flux data from thermal dissipation probes

Treesearch

Andrew C. Oishi; Chelcy F. Miniat

2016-01-01

Sap flux sensors are an important tool for estimating tree-level transpiration in forested and urban ecosystems around the world. Thermal dissipation (TD) or Granier-type sap flux probes are among the most commonly used due to their reliability, simplicity, and low cost.

Network analysis: a new tool for resource managers

Treesearch

Ruth H. Allen

1980-01-01

Resource managers manipulate ecosystems for direct or indirect human uses. Examples of relatively well studied resource management issues include familiar biological products such as: forests, ranges, fish and wildlife; or physical products such as air, water and soil. Until very recently, urban environments received much less scholarly attention. However, as Spurr (...

Establishment and maintenance of regulating ecosystem services in a dryland area of central Asia, illustrated using the Kökyar Protection Forest, Aksu, NW China, as an example

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Missall, S.; Welp, M.; Thevs, N.; Abliz, A.; Halik, Ü.

2015-06-01

The city of Aksu, situated at the northern fringe of the Taklimakan Desert in northwest China, is exposed to severe periodic dust and sand storms. In 1986, local authorities decided to establish a peri-urban shelterbelt plantation, the so-called Kökyar Protection Forest, with the aim of reducing dust and sand storm impacts on Aksu City by the regulating ecosystem services provided by the plantation. It was realised as a patchwork of poplar shelterbelts and orchards. The total area of the plantation reached 3800 ha in 2005. The Kökyar Protection Forest is used as a case study to answer the following question: under which institutional frameworks and to which financial conditions can peri-urban shelterbelts be established and maintained? The endeavour of planting the shelterbelt was made possible by the annual mass mobilisation of Aksu citizens, based on the Chinese regulation of the "National Compulsory Afforestation Campaigns". Establishment costs amounted to ca. CNY 60 000 ha-1 (ca. USD 10 000 ha-1). Permanent maintenance of the plantation is facilitated by leasing orchard plots to private fruit farmers. From the perspective of the local economy, annual farming net benefits generated by Kökyar fruit farmers more than compensate for annual government grants for maintenance, resulting in an average overall monetary net benefit of at least CNY 10 500 ha-1 (ca. USD 1600 ha-1) in the long term. For a more complete understanding of Kökyar Protection Forest, future research should be directed towards quantifying the effect of its regulating ecosystem services and on investigating the negative downstream consequences of its water consumption.

Spatial and temporal land cover changes in Terminos Lagoon Reserve, Mexico.

PubMed

Soto-Galera, Ernesto; Piera, Jaume; López, Pilar

2010-06-01

Terminos Lagoon ecosystem is the largest fluvial-lagoon estuarine system in the country and one of the most important reserves of coastal flora and fauna in Mexico. Since the seventies, part of the main infrastructure for country's oil extraction is located in this area. Its high biodiversity has motivated different type of studies including deforestation processes and land use planning. In this work we used satellite image analysis to determine land cover changes in the area from 1974 to 2001. Our results indicate that tropical forest and mangroves presented the most extensive losses in its coverage. In contrast, urban areas and induced grassland increased considerably. In 2001 more than half of the ecosystem area showed changes from its original land cover, and a third part of it was deteriorated. The main causes of deforestation were both the increase in grassland and the growth of urban areas. However, deforestation was attenuated by natural reforestation and plant canopy recovery. We conclude that the introduction of cattle and urban development were the main causes for the land cover changes; however, the oil industry activity located in the ecosystem, has promoted indirectly to urban growth and rancher boom.

Urban warming trumps natural enemy regulation of herbivorous pests.

PubMed

Dale, Adam G; Frank, Steven D

Trees provide ecosystem services that counter negative effects of urban habitats on human and environmental health. Unfortunately, herbivorous arthropod pests are often more abundant on urban than rural trees, reducing tree growth, survival, and ecosystem services. Previous research where vegetation complexity was reduced has attributed elevated urban pest abundance to decreased regulation by natural enemies. However, reducing vegetation complexity, particularly the density of overstory trees, also makes cities hotter than natural habitats. We ask how urban habitat characteristics influence an abiotic factor, temperature, and a biotic factor, natural enemy abundance, in regulating the abundance of an urban forest pest, the gloomy scale, (Melanaspis tenebricosa). We used a map of surface temperature to select red maple trees (Acer rubrum) at warmer and cooler sites in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. We quantified habitat complexity by measuring impervious surface cover, local vegetation structural complexity, and landscape scale vegetation cover around each tree. Using path analysis, we determined that impervious surface (the most important habitat variable) increased scale insect abundance by increasing tree canopy temperature, rather than by reducing natural enemy abundance or percent parasitism. As a mechanism for this response, we found that increasing temperature significantly increases scale insect fecundity and contributes to greater population increase. Specifically, adult female M. tenebricosa egg sets increased by approximately 14 eggs for every 1°C increase in temperature. Climate change models predict that the global climate will increase by 2–3°C in the next 50–100 years, which we found would increase scale insect abundance by three orders of magnitude. This result supports predictions that urban and natural forests will face greater herbivory in the future, and suggests that a primary cause could be direct, positive effects of warming on herbivore fitness rather than altered trophic interactions.

Analysis of physical parameters related with water infiltration in tropical soils located in edges forest in urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Márcia Longo, Regina; Cunha, Jessica C. M.; Lammoglia, Rafaella; Mendes, Deborah R.; Mungilioli, Sarah S.; Damame, Desiree B.; Demamboro, Antônio C.; Bettine, Sueli C.; Ribeiro, Admilson I.; Fengler, Felipe H.

2015-04-01

A very important factor for water infiltration into the soil in urban forest systems and suffering constant anthropogenic pressures is the analysis of soil compaction where these forests are or will be established. In this context, this work aimed to promote studies on physical parameters related to distribution of pores, compaction and soil biological activity in forest remnants border areas located in urban watersheds in Campinas / SP - Brazil. The Forest of Santa Genebra (22°49'45 "S and 47°06'33" W) has an average altitude of 680m and tropical climate of altitude, has an area of 251 ha and a nine kilometer perimeter. It constitutes 85% of Semideciduos forests and 15% swamp forest. Due to its location close to urban centers, roads and agricultural areas under direct influence of the anthropic means. For the present study analyzes were performed: particle size, soil density, porosity, matters organic, of biopores, and root distribution (primary, secondary and tertiary) and seedlings in 40 points on the perimeter of the forest equidistant 200m remaining edge. The analysis of the results allowed us to observe that areas suffer direct influence of human activities surrounding. With the results set correlations between the different parameters in order to allow a better understanding of the dynamics of water infiltration into the soil under these conditions and the quantity of tertiary roots, biopores and soil density were the best indicator of environmental quality as suffer direct influence of the surrounding areas, especially those near the most urbanized regions. In general, it can be observed that human activities such as deforestation and vehicle traffic, animals and people, promoted soil compaction and consequent changes in water infiltration into the soil in areas of edges of this remnant of these consequences affect direct numerous parameters that directly influence the dynamics of an ecosystem restoration that is now significantly affected by the occupation of their surroundings.

Do cities simulate climate change? A comparison of herbivore response to urban and global warming

USGS Publications Warehouse

Youngsteadt, Elsa; Dale, Adam G.; Terando, Adam; Dunn, Robert R.; Frank, Steven D.

2014-01-01

Cities experience elevated temperature, CO2, and nitrogen deposition decades ahead of the global average, such that biological response to urbanization may predict response to future climate change. This hypothesis remains untested due to a lack of complementary urban and long-term observations. Here, we examine the response of an herbivore, the scale insect Melanaspis tenebricosa, to temperature in the context of an urban heat island, a series of historical temperature fluctuations, and recent climate warming. We survey M. tenebricosa on 55 urban street trees in Raleigh, NC, 342 herbarium specimens collected in the rural southeastern United States from 1895 to 2011, and at 20 rural forest sites represented by both modern (2013) and historical samples. We relate scale insect abundance to August temperatures and find that M. tenebricosa is most common in the hottest parts of the city, on historical specimens collected during warm time periods, and in present-day rural forests compared to the same sites when they were cooler. Scale insects reached their highest densities in the city, but abundance peaked at similar temperatures in urban and historical datasets and tracked temperature on a decadal scale. Although urban habitats are highly modified, species response to a key abiotic factor, temperature, was consistent across urban and rural-forest ecosystems. Cities may be an appropriate but underused system for developing and testing hypotheses about biological effects of climate change. Future work should test the applicability of this model to other groups of organisms.

The Spatial Variations and Hotspots of Ecosystem Service Values in India During 1985 - 2005

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sannigrahi, S.; Bhatt, S.; Paul, S. K.; Sen, S.; Rahmat, S.; Uniyal, B.

2017-12-01

Ecosystem services can be defined as the processes and functions of the natural ecosystem through which the basic needs and demands of human well-being are sustained and fulfilled. In this study, the spatiotemporal variation and clusters of ESV are analyzed during 1985 - 2005 using benefits transfer approach. The spatial heterogeneity of ESV was assessed through Local Morans I, Getis-Ord-Gi hotspot, and Geary's I statistics, respectively. The temporal uncertainty of ESV was estimated through Ecosystem Service Change Index (ESCI), Ecosystem Service Status Index (ESSI). The sensitivity of ESV to land use/land cover changes were estimated using the Coefficient of Elasticity (CE) approach. The variability of ESV in different land-use categories was examined through Coefficient of Variation (CV), Theil Index (TI), Ginni Coefficient and Entropy method. The contribution of ESV to GDP was quantified using the percent of ESV (%ESV) approach. Total eight ecoregions were considered for estimating the changing dynamics of high and low ESV clusters during 1985 - 2005. Among the eight ecoregions, grassland shows the minimum CV of ESV (1.15) during 1985 - 2005, indicating the most stable and undisturbed eco-regions in India during this study period, followed by cropland (CV= 2.0), forest land (2.32), water bodies (3.27), mangrove (3.5) respectively. While, the urban built-up (CV = 15.89) and wetland (CV = 10.91) exhibits the highest CV during 1985 - 2005. The ESCI was found highly negative (-0.05) over forested region, and negative (-0.02) for water bodies, while a very highly positive (0.38), highly positive (0.24), moderate positive (0.06), weakly positive (0.03) and very weak positive (0.02) values have quantified for urban built-up, wetland, mangrove, cropland and, grassland, respectively. The overall ESSI was very good for urban built-up categories (0.24), followed by wetland (0.15), mangrove (0.04), cropland (0.02) and, grassland (0.01), respectively. During this period (1985 - 2005), the changes of ESV were found statistically significant for urban built-up (t = 10.90, P = 0.008), and wetland (t = 15.88, P = 0.004), while the changes were insignificant for rest of the ecoregions.

Spatial-temporal variability in GHG fluxes and their functional interpretation in RusFluxNet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vasenev, Ivan; Meshalkina, Julia; Sarzhanov, Dmitriy; Mazirov, Ilia; Yaroslavtsev, Alex; Komarova, Tatiana; Tikhonova, Maria

2016-04-01

High spatial and temporal variability is mutual feature for most modern boreal landscapes in the European Territory of Russia. This variability is result of their relatively young natural and land-use age with very complicated development stories. RusFluxNet includes a functionally-zonal set of representative natural, agricultural and urban ecosystems from the Central Forest Reserve in the north till the Central Chernozemic Reserve in the south (more than 1000 km distance). Especial attention has been traditionally given to their soil cover and land-use detailed variability, morphogenetic and functional dynamics. Central Forest Biosphere Reserve (360 km to North-West from Moscow) is the principal southern-taiga one in the European territory of Russia with long history of mature spruce ecosystem structure and dynamics investigation. Our studies (in frame of RF Governmental projects #11.G34.31.0079 and #14.120.14.4266) have been concentrated on the soil carbon stocks and GHG fluxes spatial variability and dynamics due to dominated there windthrow and fallow-forest successions. In Moscow RTSAU campus gives a good possibility to develop the ecosystem and soil monitoring of GHG fluxes in the comparable sites of urban forest, field crops and lawn ecosystems taking especial attention on their meso- and micro-relief, soil cover patterns and subsoil, vegetation and land-use technologies, temperature and moisture spatial and temporal variability. In the Central Chernozemic Biosphere Reserve and adjacent areas we do the comparative analysis of GHG fluxes and balances in the virgin and mowed meadow-steppe, forest, pasture, cropland and three types of urban ecosystems with similar subsoil and relief conditions. The carried out researches have shown not only sharp (in 2-5 times) changes in GHG ecosystem and soil fluxes and balances due to seasonal and daily microclimate variation, vegetation and crop development but their essential (in 2-4 times) spatial variability due to different meso- or micro-relief forms, natural or man-made succession studies, topsoil texture or organic matter state, subsoil or perched groundwater features. Zonal, seasonal and functional subdividing the monitoring data allows essentially increase the regression links between GHG fluxes and air or soil temperature and moisture (to 0.75-0.87) that is very important for their modeling and prediction. In taiga and mix-forest zones usually there is stronger effect on GHG fluxes by air temperature than soil one due to comparatively thin (from 3 till 10 cm) layer of principal soil organic and/or humus-accumulative horizons with maximum biological activity that usually determines the total rate of GHG soil fluxes. Unfavorable seasonal conditions (dry season or low temperature) determine essential (in 1.5-2 times) decreasing not only in soil GHG fluxes but in level of their spatial variability, intraseasonal and daily dynamics too. These trends are most obvious in case of more open and sensitive to the external factors ecosystems, for example in case of industrial area lawns or at the first stages of the windthrow or fallow-forest successions. Understanding the principal regional and land-use-determined regularities of spatial and temporal changes in ecosystem and soil GHG fluxes help better modeling them in the process of spatial intra- and extrapolations, seasonal and interseasonal predictions, taking into attention basic and current principal ecological factors limiting GHG fluxes and balances. Their introduction in the ecological or agroecological models and land-use decision support systems allows improve the quality of environmental/agroecological monitoring and control not only for GHG emission but also for soil organic matter conservation, manure and nitrogen fertilizer application that is often crucially important for sustainable rural development and profitable farming.

Establishment and maintenance of regulating ecosystem services in a dryland area of Central Asia: the Kökyar Protection Forest, Aksu, NW China, as an example

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Missall, S.; Welp, M.; Thevs, N.; Abliz, A.; Halik, Ü.

2014-12-01

The city of Aksu, situated at the northern fringe of the Taklimakan Desert in the northwest of China, is exposed to periodic severe dust and sand storms. In 1986, local authorities decided to establish a peri-urban shelterbelt plantation, the so-called Kökyar Protection Forest. It was realised as a patchwork of poplar shelterbelts and orchards. The total area of the plantation reached 3800 ha in 2005. This endeavour was made possible by the annual mass mobilisation of Aksu citizens, based on the Chinese regulation of the "National Compulsory Afforestation Campaigns". Establishment costs amounted to ca. CNY 60 000 ha-1 (ca. USD 10 000 ha-1). The regulating ecosystem services provided by Kökyar Protection Forest clearly reduce dust and sand storm impacts on Aksu City. Permanent maintenance of the plantation is facilitated by leasing orchard plots to private fruit farmers. This system ensures forest tending, reduces government expenses, and provides incomes to farmers. From the perspective of the local economy, annual farming net benefits generated by Kökyar fruit farmers more than compensate annual government grants for maintenance, resulting in an overall monetary net benefit of at least CNY 10 500 ha-1 (ca. USD 1600 ha-1) on the long-term average. The intended regulating ecosystem services can thus be provided to the citizens of Aksu without payments for ecosystem services or other financial burdens. For a more complete understanding of Kökyar Protection Forest, future research should be directed towards quantifying the effect of its regulating ecosystem services, and on investigating the negative downstream consequences of its water consumption.

Guiding principles for management of forested, agricultural, and urban watersheds

Treesearch

Pamela J. Edwards; Jon E. Schoonover; Karl W.J. Williard

2015-01-01

Human actions must be well planned and include consideration of their potential influences on water and aquatic ecosystems - such consideration is the foundation of watershed management. Watersheds are the ideal land unit for managing and protecting water resources and aquatic health because watersheds integrate the physical, biological and chemical processes within...

Methane uptake in urban forests and lawns

Treesearch

Peter M. Groffman; Richard V. Pouyat

2009-01-01

The largest natural biological sink for the radiatively active trace gas methane (CH4) is bacteria in soils that consume CH4 as an energy and carbon source. This sink has been shown to be sensitive to nitrogen (N) inputs and alterations of soil physical conditions. Given this sensitivity, conversion of native ecosystems to...

Potential canopy interception of nitrogen in the Pacific Northwest, USA

Treesearch

Jeffrey M. Klopatek; Matthew J. Barry; Dale W. Johnson

2006-01-01

Nitrogen deposition is increasing worldwide from anthropogenic sources and encroactring upon previously N limited ecosystems. Recent literature reports increases in inorganic N deposition in Pacific Northwest forests of the United States due to expanding urbanization. We examined the contributions of atmospheric deposition of inorganic N to old-growth and second-growth...

Urban streams across the USA: Lessons learned from studies in 9 metropolitan areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brown, L.R.; Cuffney, T.F.; Coles, J.F.; Fitzpatrick, F.; McMahon, G.; Steuer, J.; Bell, A.H.; May, J.T.

2009-01-01

Studies of the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems have usually focused on single metropolitan areas. Synthesis of the results of such studies have been useful in developing general conceptual models of the effects of urbanization, but the strength of such generalizations is enhanced by applying consistent study designs and methods to multiple metropolitan areas across large geographic scales. We summarized the results from studies of the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems in 9 metropolitan areas across the US (Boston, Massachusetts; Raleigh, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; Milwaukee-Green Bay, Wisconsin; Denver, Colorado; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Portland, Oregon). These studies were conducted as part of the US Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program and were based on a common study design and used standard sample-collection and processing methods to facilitate comparisons among study areas. All studies included evaluations of hydrology, physical habitat, water quality, and biota (algae, macroinvertebrates, fish). Four major conclusions emerged from the studies. First, responses of hydrologic, physical-habitat, water-quality, and biotic variables to urbanization varied among metropolitan areas, except that insecticide inputs consistently increased with urbanization. Second, prior land use, primarily forest and agriculture, appeared to be the most important determinant of the response of biota to urbanization in the areas we studied. Third, little evidence was found for resistance to the effects of urbanization by macroinvertebrate assemblages, even at low levels of urbanization. Fourth, benthic macroinvertebrates have important advantages for assessing the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems relative to algae and fishes. Overall, our results demonstrate regional differences in the effects of urbanization on stream biota and suggest additional studies to elucidate the causes of these underlying differences. ?? North American Benthological Society.

Identification of understory invasive exotic plants with remote sensing in urban forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shouse, Michael; Liang, Liang; Fei, Songlin

2013-04-01

Invasive exotic plants (IEP) pose a significant threat to many ecosystems. To effectively manage IEP, it is important to efficiently detect their presences and determine their distribution patterns. Remote sensing has been a useful tool to map IEP but its application is limited in urban forests, which are often the sources and sinks for IEP. In this study, we examined the feasibility and tradeoffs of species level IEP mapping using multiple remote sensing techniques in a highly complex urban forest setting. Bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), a pervasive IEP in eastern North America, was used as our modeling species. Both medium spatial resolution (MSR) and high spatial resolution (HSR) imagery were employed in bush honeysuckle mapping. The importance of spatial scale was also examined using an up-scaling simulation from the HSR object based classification. Analysis using both MSR and HSR imagery provided viable results for IEP distribution mapping in urban forests. Overall mapping accuracy ranged from 89.8% to 94.9% for HSR techniques and from 74.6% to 79.7% for MSR techniques. As anticipated, classification accuracy reduces as pixel size increases. HSR based techniques produced the most desirable results, therefore is preferred for precise management of IEP in heterogeneous environment. However, the use of MSR techniques should not be ruled out given their wide availability and moderate accuracy.

Ecosystem service value assessment in temporal and spatial scales in Dalian, China: implications for urban development policy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin, Z.; Chen, X.; Fu, G.; Li, C.

2017-12-01

Landscapes differ in their capacities to provide ecosystem good and services, which are the benefits humans obtain from nature. Valuation of ecosystem services is recognized as one effective way for improving the recognition and implementation for disposition of land resource and ecosystem protection. In this content, this study aims to reveal the changes in provision of ecosystem services induced by land use changes in both temporal and spatial scales in Dalian, China. Land use changes were firstly characterized based on Landsat TM images from 1984 to 2013. Results showed a severe increase in urban area, with an average increasing rate of 39.5%. Dry land occupied the largest portion of the total area which is mainly developed on the expenses of forest loss; meanwhile, policies of water-saving irrigation has promoted a conversion of paddy fields to dry land. Other categories including water, wetland, brush grass and salting were found to have relative small contrition to the total area. Assigning ecosystem service value (ESV) coefficient to each land use category, changes in ESV of the study area were assessed. Results indicated that the total ESV decreased by 21 billion from 1984 to 2013. Forest, dry land and water are the primary contributors. As for ecosystem functions, the regulation service is the most prominent which contributed to 60% of the total ESV, followed by support, supply and culture services. In addition, ESV changes were found to have a spatial variability, which shows a maximum decreasing rate in the central city, and a highest net value in the surrounding islands. The changes and distributions in land use pattern and ESV were further linked with the local city landscape planning, which has provided implications on city landscape policy making for sustaining the provision of ecosystem services and achieving sustainable development goals.

A mangrove creek restoration plan utilizing hydraulic modeling.

PubMed

Marois, Darryl E; Mitsch, William J

2017-11-01

Despite the valuable ecosystem services provided by mangrove ecosystems they remain threatened around the globe. Urban development has been a primary cause for mangrove destruction and deterioration in south Florida USA for the last several decades. As a result, the restoration of mangrove forests has become an important topic of research. Using field sampling and remote-sensing we assessed the past and present hydrologic conditions of a mangrove creek and its connected mangrove forest and brackish marsh systems located on the coast of Naples Bay in southwest Florida. We concluded that the hydrology of these connected systems had been significantly altered from its natural state due to urban development. We propose here a mangrove creek restoration plan that would extend the existing creek channel 1.1 km inland through the adjacent mangrove forest and up to an adjacent brackish marsh. We then tested the hydrologic implications using a hydraulic model of the mangrove creek calibrated with tidal data from Naples Bay and water levels measured within the creek. The calibrated model was then used to simulate the resulting hydrology of our proposed restoration plan. Simulation results showed that the proposed creek extension would restore a twice-daily flooding regime to a majority of the adjacent mangrove forest and that there would still be minimal tidal influence on the brackish marsh area, keeping its salinity at an acceptable level. This study demonstrates the utility of combining field data and hydraulic modeling to aid in the design of mangrove restoration plans.

Effects of contemporary land-use and land-cover change on the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Liu, Jinxun; Daniel, Colin; Rayfield, Bronwyn; Sherba, Jason; Hawbaker, Todd J.; Zhu, Zhiliang; Selmants, Paul; Loveland, Thomas R.

2018-01-01

Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) can have profound effects on terrestrial carbon dynamics, yet their effects on the global carbon budget remain uncertain. While land change impacts on ecosystem carbon dynamics have been the focus of numerous studies, few efforts have been based on observational data incorporating multiple ecosystem types spanning large geographic areas over long time horizons. In this study we use a variety of synoptic-scale remote sensing data to estimate the effect of LULC changes associated with urbanization, agricultural expansion and contraction, forest harvest, and wildfire on the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems (forest, grasslands, shrublands, and agriculture) in the conterminous United States (i.e. excluding Alaska and Hawaii) between 1973 and 2010. We estimate large net declines in the area of agriculture and forest, along with relatively small increases in grasslands and shrublands. The largest net change in any class was an estimated gain of 114 865 km2 of developed lands, an average rate of 3282 km2 yr−1. On average, US ecosystems sequestered carbon at an annual rate of 254 Tg C yr−1. In forest lands, the net sink declined by 35% over the study period, largely a result of land-use legacy, increasing disturbances, and reductions in forest area due to land use conversion. Uncertainty in LULC change data contributed to a ~16% margin of error in the annual carbon sink estimate prior to 1985 (approximately ±40 Tg C yr−1). Improvements in LULC and disturbance mapping starting in the mid-1980s reduced this uncertainty by ~50% after 1985. We conclude that changes in LULC are a critical component to understanding ecosystem carbon dynamics, and continued improvements in detection, quantification, and attribution of change have the potential to significantly reduce current uncertainties.

Effects of contemporary land-use and land-cover change on the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Liu, Jinxun; Daniel, Colin; Rayfield, Bronwyn; Sherba, Jason; Hawbaker, Todd J.; Zhu, Zhiliang; Selmants, Paul C.; Loveland, Thomas R.

2018-04-01

Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) can have profound effects on terrestrial carbon dynamics, yet their effects on the global carbon budget remain uncertain. While land change impacts on ecosystem carbon dynamics have been the focus of numerous studies, few efforts have been based on observational data incorporating multiple ecosystem types spanning large geographic areas over long time horizons. In this study we use a variety of synoptic-scale remote sensing data to estimate the effect of LULC changes associated with urbanization, agricultural expansion and contraction, forest harvest, and wildfire on the carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems (forest, grasslands, shrublands, and agriculture) in the conterminous United States (i.e. excluding Alaska and Hawaii) between 1973 and 2010. We estimate large net declines in the area of agriculture and forest, along with relatively small increases in grasslands and shrublands. The largest net change in any class was an estimated gain of 114 865 km2 of developed lands, an average rate of 3282 km2 yr‑1. On average, US ecosystems sequestered carbon at an annual rate of 254 Tg C yr‑1. In forest lands, the net sink declined by 35% over the study period, largely a result of land-use legacy, increasing disturbances, and reductions in forest area due to land use conversion. Uncertainty in LULC change data contributed to a ~16% margin of error in the annual carbon sink estimate prior to 1985 (approximately ±40 Tg C yr‑1). Improvements in LULC and disturbance mapping starting in the mid-1980s reduced this uncertainty by ~50% after 1985. We conclude that changes in LULC are a critical component to understanding ecosystem carbon dynamics, and continued improvements in detection, quantification, and attribution of change have the potential to significantly reduce current uncertainties.

Global change impacts on mangrove ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

McKee, Karen L.

2004-01-01

Mangroves are tropical/subtropical communities of primarily tree species that grow in the intertidal zone. These tidal forests are important coastal ecosystems that are valued for a variety of ecological and societal goods and services. Major local threats to mangrove ecosystems worldwide include clearcutting and trimming of forests for urban, agricultural, or industrial expansion; hydrological alterations; toxic chemical spills; and eutrophication. In many countries with mangroves, much of the human population resides in the coastal zone, and their activities often negatively impact the integrity of mangrove forests. In addition, eutrophication, which is the process whereby nutrients build up to higher than normal levels in a natural system, is possibly one of the most serious threats to mangroves and associated ecosystems such as coral reefs. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) at the National Wetlands Research Center are working to more fully understand global impacts on these significant ecosystems.Changes in climate and other factors may also affect mangroves, but in complex ways. Global warming may promote expansion of mangrove forests to higher latitudes and accelerate sea-level rise through melting of polar ice or steric expansion of oceans. Changes in sea level would alter flooding patterns and the structure and areal extent of mangroves. Climate change may also alter rainfall patterns, which would in turn change local salinity regimes and competitive interactions of mangroves with other wetland species. Increases in frequency or intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes in combination with sea-level rise may alter erosion and sedimentation rates in mangrove forests. Another global change factor that may directly affect mangrove growth is increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), caused by burning of fossil fuels and other factors. Elevated CO2 concentration may increase mangrove growth by stimulating photosynthesis or improving water use efficiency, but the consequences of this growth enhancement for the ecosystem are unknown.

Development and use of long-term, global data records of forest, water, and urban change for terrestrial ecology and carbon cycle science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sexton, J. O.

2015-12-01

Earth's human population has risen over the last century from less than 2 billion to over 7 billion people. The current "Anthropocene Era" has brought changes in Earth's landforms, climate, biodiversity, atmosphere, and hydrologic and biogeochemical cycles, as well as the expansion and intensification of human land use. As the emerging nexus of the physical, biological, and social sciences, measurements of Earth's natural and anthropogenic land cover are needed to understand and manage the coupled dynamics of human and natural systems. In recent years, NASA-sponsored efforts have produced global, time-serial estimates of tree cover using the MOderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the world's first global, Landsat-based datasets representing tree and forest cover change from 1990 to 2010. These data are fueling global and national estimates of the rate and acceleration of deforestation as well as international commitments to conserve forest ecosystems. Likewise, Landsat-based datasets documenting Earth's inland surface waters are enabling the world's first global, high-resolution estimates of water cover based on repeatable satellite measurements. Meanwhile, long-term, time-serial estimates of impervious surface cover are being used to model the effect of urbanization on storm-water runoff, watershed health, and stream biodiversity. MODIS-based records of plant phenology are depicting the vulnerability and resilience of ecosystems to drought and are informing land managers of the sensitivity of wildlife to climate and plant phenology. Natural ecosystems are complex and potentially chaotic even in the absence of anthropogenic influence, and so understanding these interactions between physical, biological, and social systems is increasingly crucial under escalating human impacts. Globally consistent, locally accurate, and publicly available records spanning multiple decades at high frequency are the living legacy of the NASA Earth Science Programs. Satellite-based monitoring of ecosystem dynamics has improved the objectivity, precision, and sustainability of ecosystem management, which is paramount not only for conserving ecosystem function, but also for adapting socio-economic systems to their changing biophysical environment.

An ecosystem services framework for multidisciplinary research in the Colorado River headwaters

USGS Publications Warehouse

Semmens, D.J.; Briggs, J.S.; Martin, D.A.

2009-01-01

A rapidly spreading Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic is killing lodgepole pine forest in the Rocky Mountains, causing landscape change on a massive scale. Approximately 1.5 million acres of lodgepoledominated forest is already dead or dying in Colorado, the infestation is still spreading rapidly, and it is expected that in excess of 90 percent of all lodgepole forest will ultimately be killed. Drought conditions combined with dramatically reduced foliar moisture content due to stress or mortality from Mountain Pine Beetle have combined to elevate the probability of large fires throughout the Colorado River headwaters. Large numbers of homes in the wildland-urban interface, an extensive water supply infrastructure, and a local economy driven largely by recreational tourism make the potential costs associated with such a fire very large. Any assessment of fire risk for strategic planning of pre-fire management actions must consider these and a host of other important socioeconomic benefits derived from the Rocky Mountain Lodgepole Pine Forest ecosystem. This paper presents a plan to focus U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) multidisciplinary fire/beetle-related research in the Colorado River headwaters within a framework that integrates a wide variety of discipline-specific research to assess and value the full range of ecosystem services provided by the Rocky Mountain Lodgepole Pine Forest ecosystem. Baseline, unburned conditions will be compared with a hypothetical, fully burned scenario to (a) identify where services would be most severely impacted, and (b) quantify potential economic losses. Collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service will further yield a distributed model of fire probability that can be used in combination with the ecosystem service valuation to develop comprehensive, distributed maps of fire risk in the Upper Colorado River Basin. These maps will be intended for use by stakeholders as a strategic planning tool for pre-fire management activities and can be updated and improved adaptively on an annual basis as tree mortality, climatic conditions, and management actions unfold. 

Do cities simulate climate change? A comparison of herbivore response to urban and global warming.

PubMed

Youngsteadt, Elsa; Dale, Adam G; Terando, Adam J; Dunn, Robert R; Frank, Steven D

2015-01-01

Cities experience elevated temperature, CO2 , and nitrogen deposition decades ahead of the global average, such that biological response to urbanization may predict response to future climate change. This hypothesis remains untested due to a lack of complementary urban and long-term observations. Here, we examine the response of an herbivore, the scale insect Melanaspis tenebricosa, to temperature in the context of an urban heat island, a series of historical temperature fluctuations, and recent climate warming. We survey M. tenebricosa on 55 urban street trees in Raleigh, NC, 342 herbarium specimens collected in the rural southeastern United States from 1895 to 2011, and at 20 rural forest sites represented by both modern (2013) and historical samples. We relate scale insect abundance to August temperatures and find that M. tenebricosa is most common in the hottest parts of the city, on historical specimens collected during warm time periods, and in present-day rural forests compared to the same sites when they were cooler. Scale insects reached their highest densities in the city, but abundance peaked at similar temperatures in urban and historical datasets and tracked temperature on a decadal scale. Although urban habitats are highly modified, species response to a key abiotic factor, temperature, was consistent across urban and rural-forest ecosystems. Cities may be an appropriate but underused system for developing and testing hypotheses about biological effects of climate change. Future work should test the applicability of this model to other groups of organisms. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Eliminating Phytophthora spp. from stream water throughout the year with algaecides.

Treesearch

Inga M. Meadows; Jaesoon Hwang; Steven N. Jeffers

2013-01-01

Due to the aquatic nature of oomycetes, Phytophthora spp. can be found in a wide variety of waterways in and around natural and agricultural ecosystems—including forest streams, urban streams, and irrigation ponds. They are disseminated effectively and efficiently in flowing water, so Phytophthora spp. can be moved readily from...

Looking at the big picture: The importance of landbase interactions among forests, agriculture, and climate mitigation policies

Treesearch

Rhonda Mazza; Alig Ralph

2010-01-01

Land use change is a key part of global change. Deforestation, urban sprawl, agriculture, and other human influences have substantially altered natural ecosystems and fragmented the global landscape. Slowing down deforestation and afforesting environmentally sensitive agricultural land are important steps for mitigating climate change. Because no policy operates in a...

Autopsy of forestry ballot initiative: characterizing voter support for Oregon's measure 64.

Treesearch

Jeffrey D. Kline; Catriona Armstrong

2001-01-01

On November 3,1998, Oregon voters soundly rejected a ballot initiative intended to promote sustainable forestry practices and protect forest ecosystems by restricting clearcut logging and herbicide and pesticide use. We found that initiative support was greater in more urban counties composed of more educated residents earning higher incomes and with higher proportions...

Breeding trees resistant to insects and diseases: putting theory into application

Treesearch

Richard A. Sniezko; Jennifer Koch

2017-01-01

Tree species world-wide are under increasing threat from diseases and insects, many of which are non-native. The integrity of our natural, urban and plantation forest ecosystems, and the services they provide are seriously imperiled. Breeding programs that harness the natural genetic resistance within tree species can provide a durable solution to these threats. In...

Spatiotemporal variation of mosquito diversity (Diptera: Culicidae) at places with different land-use types within a neotropical montane cloud forest matrix.

PubMed

Abella-Medrano, Carlos Antonio; Ibáñez-Bernal, Sergio; MacGregor-Fors, Ian; Santiago-Alarcon, Diego

2015-09-24

Land-use change has led to a dramatic decrease in total forest cover, contributing to biodiversity loss and changes of ecosystems' functions. Insect communities of medical importance can be favored by anthropogenic alterations, increasing the risk of novel zoonotic diseases. The response of mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) abundance and richness to five land-use types (shade coffee plantation, cattle field, urban forest, peri-urban forest, well-preserved montane cloud forest) and three seasons ("dry", "rainy" and "cold") embedded in a neotropical montane cloud forest landscape was evaluated. Standardized collections were performed using 8 CDC miniature black-light traps, baited with CO2 throughout the year. Generalized additive mixed models were used to describe the seasonal and spatial trends of both species richness and abundance. Rank abundance curves and ANCOVAs were used to detect changes in the spatial and temporal structure of the mosquito assemblage. Two cluster analyses were conducted, using 1-βsim and the Morisita-Horn index to evaluate species composition shifts based on incidences and abundances. A total of 2536 adult mosquitoes were collected, belonging to 9 genera and 10 species; the dominant species in the study were: Aedes quadrivittatus, Wyeomyia adelpha, Wy. arthrostigma, and Culex restuans. Highest richness was recorded in the dry season, whereas higher abundance was detected during the rainy season. The urban forest had the highest species richness (n = 7) when compared to all other sites. Species composition cluster analyses show that there is a high degree of similarity in species numbers across sites and seasons throughout the year. However, when considering the abundance of such species, the well-preserved montane cloud forest showed significantly higher abundance. Moreover, the urban forest is only 30 % similar to other sites in terms of species abundances, indicating a possible isolating role of the urban environment. Mosquito assemblage was differentially influenced by land-use change and seasonality, but at the same time the assemblage is rather homogeneous across the studied landscape, suggesting a high degree of spatial connectivity. Information generated in this study is potentially useful in the development of urban planning and surveillance programs focused mainly on mosquito species of medical and veterinary importance.

Interpolating a consumption variable for scaling and generalizing potential population pressure on urbanizing natural areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Varanka, Dalia; Jiang, Bin; Yao, Xiaobai

2010-01-01

Measures of population pressure, referring in general to the stress upon the environment by human consumption of resources, are imperative for environmental sustainability studies and management. Development based on resource consumption is the predominant factor of population pressure. This paper presents a spatial model of population pressure by linking consumption associated with regional urbanism and ecosystem services. Maps representing relative geographic degree and extent of natural resource consumption and degree and extent of impacts on surrounding areas are new, and this research represents the theoretical research toward this goal. With development, such maps offer a visualization tool for planners of various services, amenities for people, and conservation planning for ecologist. Urbanization is commonly generalized by census numbers or impervious surface area. The potential geographical extent of urbanism encompasses the environmental resources of the surrounding region that sustain cities. This extent is interpolated using kriging of a variable based on population wealth data from the U.S. Census Bureau. When overlayed with land-use/land-cover data, the results indicate that the greatest estimates of population pressure fall within mixed forest areas. Mixed forest areas result from the spread of cedar woods in previously disturbed areas where further disturbance is then suppressed. Low density areas, such as suburbanization and abandoned farmland are characteristic of mixed forest areas.

The role of composition, invasives, and maintenance emissions on urban forest carbon stocks.

PubMed

Horn, Josh; Escobedo, Francisco J; Hinkle, Ross; Hostetler, Mark; Timilsina, Nilesh

2015-02-01

There are few field-based, empirical studies quantifying the effect of invasive trees and palms and maintenance-related carbon emissions on changes in urban forest carbon stocks. We estimated carbon (C) stock changes and tree maintenance-related C emissions in a subtropical urban forest by re-measuring a subsample of residential permanent plots during 2009 and 2011, using regional allometric biomass equations, and surveying residential homeowners near Orlando, FL, USA. The effect of native, non-native, invasive tree species and palms on C stocks and sequestration was also quantified. Findings show 17.8 tC/ha in stocks and 1.2 tC/ha/year of net sequestration. The most important species both by frequency of C stocks and sequestration were Quercus laurifolia Michx. and Quercus virginiana Mill., accounting for 20% of all the trees measured; 60% of carbon stocks and over 75% of net C sequestration. Palms contributed to less than 1% of the total C stocks. Natives comprised two-thirds of the tree population and sequestered 90% of all C, while invasive trees and palms accounted for 5 % of net C sequestration. Overall, invasive and exotic trees had a limited contribution to total C stocks and sequestration. Annual tree-related maintenance C emissions were 0.1% of total gross C sequestration. Plot-level tree, palm, and litter cover were correlated to C stocks and net sequestration. Findings can be used to complement existing urban forest C offset accounting and monitoring protocols and to better understand the role of invasive woody plants on urban ecosystem service provision.

The Role of Composition, Invasives, and Maintenance Emissions on Urban Forest Carbon Stocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horn, Josh; Escobedo, Francisco J.; Hinkle, Ross; Hostetler, Mark; Timilsina, Nilesh

2015-02-01

There are few field-based, empirical studies quantifying the effect of invasive trees and palms and maintenance-related carbon emissions on changes in urban forest carbon stocks. We estimated carbon (C) stock changes and tree maintenance-related C emissions in a subtropical urban forest by re-measuring a subsample of residential permanent plots during 2009 and 2011, using regional allometric biomass equations, and surveying residential homeowners near Orlando, FL, USA. The effect of native, non-native, invasive tree species and palms on C stocks and sequestration was also quantified. Findings show 17.8 tC/ha in stocks and 1.2 tC/ha/year of net sequestration. The most important species both by frequency of C stocks and sequestration were Quercus laurifolia Michx. and Quercus virginiana Mill., accounting for 20 % of all the trees measured; 60 % of carbon stocks and over 75 % of net C sequestration. Palms contributed to less than 1 % of the total C stocks. Natives comprised two-thirds of the tree population and sequestered 90 % of all C, while invasive trees and palms accounted for 5 % of net C sequestration. Overall, invasive and exotic trees had a limited contribution to total C stocks and sequestration. Annual tree-related maintenance C emissions were 0.1 % of total gross C sequestration. Plot-level tree, palm, and litter cover were correlated to C stocks and net sequestration. Findings can be used to complement existing urban forest C offset accounting and monitoring protocols and to better understand the role of invasive woody plants on urban ecosystem service provision.

The Human Appropriation of Ecosystem Service Values (HAESV) in the Sundarban Biosphere Region Using Biophysical Quantification Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sannigrahi, S.; Paul, S. K.; Sen, S.

2017-12-01

Human appropriation, especially unusual changes in land-use and land cover, significantly affects ecosystem services and functions. Driven by the growth of the population and the economy, human demands on earth's land surface have increased dramatically in the past 50 - 100 years. The area studied was divided into six major categories; cropland, mangrove forest, sparse vegetation, built-up urban area, water bodies and sandy coast, and the land coverage was calculated for the years 1973, 1988, 2002 and 2013. The spatial explicit value of the primary regulatory and supporting ecosystem services (climate regulation, raw material production, water regulation) were quantified through the indirect market valuation approach. A light use efficiency based ecosystem model, i.e. Carnegie- Ames-Stanford-Approach (CASA) was employed to estimate the carbon sequestration and oxygen production services of the ecosystem. The ArcGIS matrix transform approach calculated LULC dynamics among the classes. Investigation revealed that the built-up urban area increased from 42.9 km2 in 1973 to 308 km2 in 2013 with a 6.6 km2 yr-1 expansion rate. Similarly, water bodies (especially inland water bodies increased dramatically in the north central region) increased from 3392.1 sq.km in 1973 to 5420 sq.km in 2013 at the expense of semi-natural and natural land resulting in significant changes of ecological and ecosystem services. However, the area occupied by dense mangrove forest decreased substantially during the 40 years (1973 -2013); it was recorded to cover 2294 km2 in 1973 and 1820 km2 in 2013. The results showed that the estimated regulatory and supporting ecosystem services respond quite differently to human appropriation across the regions in both the economic and ecological dimensions. While evaluating the trade-of between human appropriation and ecosystem service changes, it has been estimated that the ecosystem service value of organic matter provision services decreased from 755 US ha-1 in 2000 to 608 US ha-1 in 2013. Therefore, the rigorous and centralised policy for sustainable and regionally balanced land-use planning has been essential in the recent era for economic viability, and ecosystem preservation, to prevent undesirable outcomes.

Land use changes and socio-economic development strongly deteriorate river ecosystem health in one of the largest basins in China.

PubMed

Cheng, Xian; Chen, Liding; Sun, Ranhao; Kong, Peiru

2018-03-01

It is important to assess river ecosystem health in large-scale basins when considering the complex influence of anthropogenic activities on these ecosystems. This study investigated the river ecosystem health in the Haihe River Basin (HRB) by sampling 148 river sites during the pre- and post-rainy seasons in 2013. A model was established to assess the river ecosystem health based on water physicochemical, nutrient, and macroinvertebrate indices, and the health level was divided into "very poor," "poor," "fair," "good," and "excellent" according to the health score calculated from the assessment model. The assessment results demonstrated that the river ecosystem health of the HRB was "poor" overall, and no catchments were labeled "excellent." The percentages of catchments deemed to have "very poor," "poor," "fair," or "good" river ecosystem health were 12.88%, 40.91%, 40.15%, and 6.06%, respectively. From the pre- to the post-rainy season, the macroinvertebrate health levels improved from "poor" to "fair." The results of a redundancy analysis (RDA), path analysis of the structural equation model (SEM), and X-Y plots indicated that the land use types of forest land and grassland had positive relationships with river ecosystem health, whereas arable land, urban land, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, and population density had negative relationships with river ecosystem health. The variance partitioning (VP) results showed that anthropogenic activities (including land use and socio-economy) together explained 30.9% of the variations in river ecosystem health in the pre-rainy season, and this value increased to 35.9% in the post-rainy season. Land use intensity was the first driver of river ecosystem health, and socio-economic activities was the second driver. Land use variables explained 20.5% and 25.7% of the variations in river ecosystem health in the pre- and post-rainy season samples, respectively, and socio-economic variables explained 12.3% and 17.2% of the variations, respectively. The SEM results revealed that urban land had the strongest impact on water quality health and that forest land had the strongest impact on macroinvertebrate health. This study has implications for the selection of appropriate indicators to assess river ecosystem health and generated data to examine the effects of anthropogenic activities on river ecosystem health in a fast-growing region. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interaction between urbanization and climate variability amplifies watershed nitrate export in Maryland

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kaushal, S.S.; Groffman, P.M.; Band, L.E.; Shields, C.A.; Morgan, R.P.; Palmer, Margaret A.; Belt, K.T.; Swan, C.M.; Findlay, S.E.G.; Fisher, G.T.

2008-01-01

We investigated regional effects of urbanization and land use change on nitrate concentrations in approximately 1,000 small streams in Maryland during record drought and wet years in 2001-2003. We also investigated changes in nitrate-N export during the same time period in 8 intensively monitored small watersheds across an urbanization gradient in Baltimore, Maryland. Nitrate-N concentrations in Maryland were greatest in agricultural streams, urban streams, and forest streams respectively. During the period of record drought and wet years, nitrate-N exports in Baltimore showed substantial variation in 6 suburban/urban streams (2.9-15.3 kg/ha/y), 1 agricultural stream (3.4-38.9 kg/ha/y), and 1 forest stream (0.03-0.2 kg/ ha/y). Interannual variability was similar for small Baltimore streams and nearby well-monitored tributaries and coincided with record hypoxia in Chesapeake Bay. Discharge-weighted mean annual nitrate concentrations showed a variable tendency to decrease/increase with changes in annual runoff, although total N export generally increased with annual runoff. N retention in small Baltimore watersheds during the 2002 drought was 85%, 99%, and 94% for suburban, forest, and agricultural watersheds, respectively, and declined to 35%, 91%, and 41% during the wet year of 2003. Our results suggest that urban land use change can increase the vulnerability of ecosystem nitrogen retention functions to climatic variability. Further work is necessary to characterize patterns of nitrate-N export and retention in small urbanizing watersheds under varying climatic conditions to improve future forecasting and watershed scale restoration efforts aimed at improving nitrate-N retention. ?? 2008 American Chemical Society.

Meter-scale Urban Land Cover Mapping for EPA EnviroAtlas Using Machine Learning and OBIA Remote Sensing Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pilant, A. N.; Baynes, J.; Dannenberg, M.; Riegel, J.; Rudder, C.; Endres, K.

2013-12-01

US EPA EnviroAtlas is an online collection of tools and resources that provides geospatial data, maps, research, and analysis on the relationships between nature, people, health, and the economy (http://www.epa.gov/research/enviroatlas/index.htm). Using EnviroAtlas, you can see and explore information related to the benefits (e.g., ecosystem services) that humans receive from nature, including clean air, clean and plentiful water, natural hazard mitigation, biodiversity conservation, food, fuel, and materials, recreational opportunities, and cultural and aesthetic value. EPA developed several urban land cover maps at very high spatial resolution (one-meter pixel size) for a portion of EnviroAtlas devoted to urban studies. This urban mapping effort supported analysis of relations among land cover, human health and demographics at the US Census Block Group level. Supervised classification of 2010 USDA NAIP (National Agricultural Imagery Program) digital aerial photos produced eight-class land cover maps for several cities, including Durham, NC, Portland, ME, Tampa, FL, New Bedford, MA, Pittsburgh, PA, Portland, OR, and Milwaukee, WI. Semi-automated feature extraction methods were used to classify the NAIP imagery: genetic algorithms/machine learning, random forest, and object-based image analysis (OBIA). In this presentation we describe the image processing and fuzzy accuracy assessment methods used, and report on some sustainability and ecosystem service metrics computed using this land cover as input (e.g., carbon sequestration from USFS iTREE model; health and demographics in relation to road buffer forest width). We also discuss the land cover classification schema (a modified Anderson Level 1 after the National Land Cover Data (NLCD)), and offer some observations on lessons learned. Meter-scale urban land cover in Portland, OR overlaid on NAIP aerial photo. Streets, buildings and individual trees are identifiable.

Urbanisation-related land use change from forest and pasture into turf grass modifies soil nitrogen cycling and increases N2O emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Delden, Lona; Rowlings, David W.; Scheer, Clemens; Grace, Peter R.

2016-11-01

Urbanisation is becoming increasingly important in terms of climate change and ecosystem functionality worldwide. We are only beginning to understand how the processes of urbanisation influence ecosystem dynamics, making peri-urban environments more vulnerable to nutrient losses. Brisbane in South East Queensland has the most extensive urban sprawl of all Australian cities. This research estimated the environmental impact of land use change associated with urbanisation by examining soil nitrogen (N) turnover and subsequent nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions using a fully automated system that measured emissions on a sub-daily basis. There was no significant difference in soil N2O emissions between the native dry sclerophyll eucalypt forest and an extensively grazed pasture, wherefrom only low annual emissions were observed amounting to 0.1 and 0.2 kg N2O ha-1 yr-1, respectively. The establishment of a fertilised turf grass lawn increased soil N2O emissions 18-fold (1.8 kg N2O ha-1 yr-1), with highest emissions occurring in the first 2 months after establishment. Once established, the turf grass lawn presented relatively low N2O emissions for the rest of the year, even after fertilisation and rain events. Soil moisture was significantly higher, and mineralised N accumulated in the fallow plots, resulting in the highest N2O emissions (2.8 kg N2O ha-1 yr-1) and significant nitrate (NO3-) losses, with up to 63 kg N ha-1 lost from a single rain event due to reduced plant cover removal. The study concludes that urbanisation processes creating peri-urban ecosystems can greatly modify N cycling and increase the potential for losses in the form of N2O and NO3-.

The role of CVS (and FIA) data and genetic tests in assessing species vulnerability to invasive pests and changing climate

Treesearch

R.A. Sniezko; H.E. Lintz

2017-01-01

United States tree species and their associated ecosystems, managed forests, and urban plantings are increasingly vulnerable to non-native invasive pathogens and insects as well as effects associated with a changing climate. Some species, such as whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), have been proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act. To...

Symbolic meanings of wildland fire: A study of residents in the U.S

Treesearch

Travis B. Paveglio; Matthew S. Carroll; James D. Absher; William Robinson

2010-01-01

This study uses symbolic interactionism as a basis for understanding the salience and fundamental meanings of wildland fire to wildland–urban interface (WUI) residents. It contributes to an understanding of how WUI residents actually view wildland fire, its role in forest ecosystems, and its attendant risks for human settlements. Three focus groups were conducted with...

Mitigating Wildfire Risk in the Wildland Urban Interface: The Role of Regulations

Treesearch

Cheryl R. Renner; Margaret Reams; Terry Haines

2006-01-01

The growth of residential communities within forest areas throughout the country, and particularly in the West, has increased the danger to life and property from uncontrolled wildfire. The conflict of permanent residential settlements built next to a fire-adapted ecosystem has been further exacerbated by 100 years of fire suppression and an extended drought in the...

Air-quality bioindication in the greater central valley of California, with epiphytic macrolichen communities.

Treesearch

Sarah Jovan; Bruce McCune

2005-01-01

Air-quality monitoring in the United States is typically focused on urban areas even though the detrimental effects of pollution often extend into surrounding ecosystems. The purpose of this study was to construct a model, based upon epiphytic macrolichen community data, to indicate air-quality and climate in forested areas throughout the greater Central Valley of...

Cryptic indirect effects of exurban edges on a woodland community

Treesearch

R. J. Warren; S. M. Pearson; S. Henry; K. Rossouw; J. P. Love; M. J. Olejniczak; Katherine Elliott; M. A. Bradford

2015-01-01

Exurban development (e.g., second homes) in woodlands spreads urban land use impacts beyond suburbs, but because exurban developments often retain many components of original ecosystem structure—such as a forest canopy rather than open lawn—their ecological impacts may be underestimated. Changes in seed-dispersing ant behavior prompted by exurban land use,...

Determinants of establishment survival for residential trees in Sacramento County, CA

Treesearch

Lara A. Roman; John J. Battles; Joe R. McBride

2014-01-01

Urban forests can provide ecosystem services that motivate tree planting campaigns, and tree survival is a key element of program success and projected benefits. We studied survival in a shade tree give-away program in Sacramento, CA, monitoring a cohort of young trees for five years on single-family residential properties. We used conditional inference trees to...

Impacts of forest biomass removal on water yield across the United States

Treesearch

Ge Sun; Liangxia Zhang; Kai Duan; Benjamin Rau

2017-01-01

Water is essential to all forms of life on earth and is a powerful, integrated indicator of environmental health and ecosystem sustainability (Asbjornsen et al. 2015). In some areas of the United States, water availability and water quality are declining as a result of urbanization, climate change, and increased water demand for agricul- tural irrigation, power...

Diversity in Southwesterners' views of Forest Service fire management

Treesearch

P.L. Winter; G.T. Cvetkovich

2007-01-01

The risk of wildland fires is of significant concern in the southwestern United States. Although the Southwest has a long hi story as a fire· prone ecosystem, years of drought and insect infestation have increased fire risk. Paired with these ecological forces is the increased risk caused by the concentration of populations in the wildland urban interface (WUl),...

Estimating Carbon Storage and Sequestration by Urban Trees at Multiple Spatial Resolutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, J.; Tran, A.; Liao, A.

2010-12-01

Urban forests are an important component of urban-suburban environments. Urban trees provide not only a full range of social and psychological benefits to city dwellers, but also valuable ecosystem services to communities, such as removing atmospheric carbon dioxide, improving air quality, and reducing storm water runoff. There is an urgent need for developing strategic conservation plans for environmentally sustainable urban-suburban development based on the scientific understanding of the extent and function of urban forests. However, several challenges remain to accurately quantify various environmental benefits provided by urban trees, among which is to deal with the effect of changing spatial resolution and/or scale. In this study, we intended to examine the uncertainties of carbon storage and sequestration associated with the tree canopy coverage of different spatial resolutions. Multi-source satellite imagery data were acquired for the City of Fullerton, located in Orange County of California. The tree canopy coverage of the study area was classified at three spatial resolutions, ranging from 30 m (Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper), 15 m (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer), to 2.5 m (QuickBird). We calculated the amount of carbon stored in the trees represented on the individual tree coverage maps and the annual carbon taken up by the trees with a model (i.e., CITYgreen) developed by the U.S. Forest Service. The results indicate that urban trees account for significant proportions of land cover in the study area even with the low spatial resolution data. The estimated carbon fixation benefits vary greatly depending on the details of land use and land cover classification. The extrapolation of estimation from the fine-resolution stand-level to the low-resolution landscape-scale will likely not preserve reasonable accuracy.

Bayesian methods to estimate urban growth potential

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, Jordan W.; Smart, Lindsey S.; Dorning, Monica; Dupéy, Lauren Nicole; Méley, Andréanne; Meentemeyer, Ross K.

2017-01-01

Urban growth often influences the production of ecosystem services. The impacts of urbanization on landscapes can subsequently affect landowners’ perceptions, values and decisions regarding their land. Within land-use and land-change research, very few models of dynamic landscape-scale processes like urbanization incorporate empirically-grounded landowner decision-making processes. Very little attention has focused on the heterogeneous decision-making processes that aggregate to influence broader-scale patterns of urbanization. We examine the land-use tradeoffs faced by individual landowners in one of the United States’ most rapidly urbanizing regions − the urban area surrounding Charlotte, North Carolina. We focus on the land-use decisions of non-industrial private forest owners located across the region’s development gradient. A discrete choice experiment is used to determine the critical factors influencing individual forest owners’ intent to sell their undeveloped properties across a series of experimentally varied scenarios of urban growth. Data are analyzed using a hierarchical Bayesian approach. The estimates derived from the survey data are used to modify a spatially-explicit trend-based urban development potential model, derived from remotely-sensed imagery and observed changes in the region’s socioeconomic and infrastructural characteristics between 2000 and 2011. This modeling approach combines the theoretical underpinnings of behavioral economics with spatiotemporal data describing a region’s historical development patterns. By integrating empirical social preference data into spatially-explicit urban growth models, we begin to more realistically capture processes as well as patterns that drive the location, magnitude and rates of urban growth.

Ecosystem services capacity across heterogeneous forest types: understanding the interactions and suggesting pathways for sustaining multiple ecosystem services.

PubMed

Alamgir, Mohammed; Turton, Stephen M; Macgregor, Colin J; Pert, Petina L

2016-10-01

As ecosystem services supply from tropical forests is declining due to deforestation and forest degradation, much effort is essential to sustain ecosystem services supply from tropical forested landscapes, because tropical forests provide the largest flow of multiple ecosystem services among the terrestrial ecosystems. In order to sustain multiple ecosystem services, understanding ecosystem services capacity across heterogeneous forest types and identifying certain ecosystem services that could be managed to leverage positive effects across the wider bundle of ecosystem services are required. We sampled three forest types, tropical rainforests, sclerophyll forests, and rehabilitated plantation forests, over an area of 32,000m(2) from Wet Tropics bioregion, Australia, aiming to compare supply and evaluate interactions and patterns of eight ecosystem services (global climate regulation, air quality regulation, erosion regulation, nutrient regulation, cyclone protection, habitat provision, energy provision, and timber provision). On average, multiple ecosystem services were highest in the rainforests, lowest in sclerophyll forests, and intermediate in rehabilitated plantation forests. However, a wide variation was apparent among the plots across the three forest types. Global climate regulation service had a synergistic impact on the supply of multiple ecosystem services, while nutrient regulation service was found to have a trade-off impact. Considering multiple ecosystem services, most of the rehabilitated plantation forest plots shared the same ordination space with rainforest plots in the ordination analysis, indicating that rehabilitated plantation forests may supply certain ecosystem services nearly equivalent to rainforests. Two synergy groups and one trade-off group were identified. Apart from conserving rainforests and sclerophyll forests, our findings suggest two additional integrated pathways to sustain the supply of multiple ecosystem services from a heterogeneous tropical forest landscape: (i) rehabilitation of degraded forests aiming to provide global climate regulation and habitat provision ecosystem services and (ii) management intervention to sustain global climate regulation and habitat provision ecosystem services. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Criterion 3: Maintenance of forest ecosystem health and vitality

Treesearch

Stephen R. Shifley; Francisco X. Aguilar; Nianfu Song; Susan I. Stewart; David J. Nowak; Dale D. Gormanson; W. Keith Moser; Sherri Wormstead; Eric J. Greenfield

2012-01-01

Forest ecosystem health depends on stable forest composition and structure and on sustainable ecosystem processes. Forest disturbances that push an ecosystem beyond the range of conditions considered normal can upset the balance among processes, exacerbate forest health problems, and increase mortality beyond historical norms. Sometimes forest ecosystems respond to...

Using stable isotopes to track the effects of deforestation on small-mammal ecology in the Pacific Northwest over the last 100 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Packard, N. R.; Cotton, J. M.; Smiley, T. M.; Terry, R. C.

2017-12-01

Landscape, land-use, and climate change are important factors in determining ecosystem change over a range of spatio-temporal scales. For example, within small-mammal communities, the spread of agriculture, rapid urbanization, and deforestation have been shown to alter species composition and diet, thus potentially disrupting ecological interactions and reshaping ecosystems. Small mammals integrate the isotopic composition of their diet and drinking water into their hair and therefore serve as useful proxies for vegetation and water resources in their habitat. To better understand how forest loss and land-cover change influence small-mammal ecology in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), we analyzed the hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) isotopic composition of hair from historical Peromyscus maniculatus (North American deer mouse) specimens housed in natural history museums across the country. While deforestation along the east coast occurred hundreds of years ago, the loss of forests on the west coast occurred more recently, beginning around 1930. We use early 20th century specimens of this widespread and abundant generalist species to better understand ecosystem changes that occurred over the past 100 years of local and regional deforestation. Changing forest composition and structure during deforestation can influence both broad-scale hydrological cycling and local ecosystems. Variation in O and H isotopic composition corresponds to changes in the hydrological cycle, such as changes in the source and amount of precipitation, and changes in the moisture conditions in local ecosystems. We will present this spatial and temporal variability in the form of isoscapes, or δ18O and δD isotope landscape models, of P. maniculatus hair in the western forests of the PNW through time. Investigating isotopic signatures in small mammals can help us better understand ecosystem response to anthropogenic land-use and climate change.

Canopy volume removal from oil and gas development activity in the upper Susquehanna River basin in Pennsylvania and New York (USA): An assessment using lidar data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Young, John A.; Maloney, Kelly O.; Slonecker, Terry; Milheim, Lesley E.; Siripoonsup, David

2018-01-01

Oil and gas development is changing the landscape in many regions of the United States and globally. However, the nature, extent, and magnitude of landscape change and development, and precisely how this development compares to other ongoing land conversion (e.g. urban/sub-urban development, timber harvest) is not well understood. In this study, we examine land conversion from oil and gas infrastructure development in the upper Susquehanna River basin in Pennsylvania and New York, an area that has experienced much oil and gas development over the past 10 years. We quantified land conversion in terms of forest canopy geometric volume loss in contrast to previous studies that considered only areal impacts. For the first time in a study of this type, we use fine-scale lidar forest canopy geometric models to assess the volumetric change due to forest clearing from oil and gas development and contrast this land change to clear cut forest harvesting, and urban and suburban development. Results show that oil and gas infrastructure development removed a large volume of forest canopy from 2006 to 2013, and this removal spread over a large portion of the study area. Timber operations (clear cutting) on Pennsylvania State Forest lands removed a larger total volume of forest canopy during the same time period, but this canopy removal was concentrated in a smaller area. Results of our study point to the need to consider volumetric impacts of oil and gas development on ecosystems, and to place potential impacts in context with other ongoing land conversions.

Effects of land use patterns on stream water quality: a case study of a small-scale watershed in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China.

PubMed

Huang, Zhilin; Han, Liyang; Zeng, Lixiong; Xiao, Wenfa; Tian, Yaowu

2016-02-01

In this study, we have considered the relationship between the spatial configuration of land use and water quality in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area. Using land use types, landscape metrics, and long-term water quality data, as well as statistical and spatial analysis, we determined that most water quality parameters were negatively correlated with non-wood forest and urban areas but were strongly positively correlated with the proportion of forest area. Landscape indices such as patch density, contagion, and the Shannon diversity index were able to predict some water quality indicators, but the mean shape index was not significantly related to the proportions of farmland and water in the study area. Regression relationships were stronger in spring and fall than in summer, and relationships with nitrogen were stronger than those of the other water quality parameters (R(2) > 0.80) in all three seasons. Redundancy analysis showed that declining stream water quality was closely associated with configurations of urban, agricultural, and forest areas and with landscape fragmentation (PD) caused by urbanization and agricultural activities. Thus, a rational land use plan of adjusting the land use type, controlling landscape fragmentation, and increasing the proportion of forest area would help to achieve a healthier river ecosystem in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA).

Climate change accelerates growth of urban trees in metropolises worldwide.

PubMed

Pretzsch, Hans; Biber, Peter; Uhl, Enno; Dahlhausen, Jens; Schütze, Gerhard; Perkins, Diana; Rötzer, Thomas; Caldentey, Juan; Koike, Takayoshi; Con, Tran van; Chavanne, Aurélia; Toit, Ben du; Foster, Keith; Lefer, Barry

2017-11-13

Despite the importance of urban trees, their growth reaction to climate change and to the urban heat island effect has not yet been investigated with an international scope. While we are well informed about forest growth under recent conditions, it is unclear if this knowledge can be simply transferred to urban environments. Based on tree ring analyses in ten metropolises worldwide, we show that, in general, urban trees have undergone accelerated growth since the 1960s. In addition, urban trees tend to grow more quickly than their counterparts in the rural surroundings. However, our analysis shows that climate change seems to enhance the growth of rural trees more than that of urban trees. The benefits of growing in an urban environment seem to outweigh known negative effects, however, accelerated growth may also mean more rapid ageing and shortened lifetime. Thus, city planners should adapt to the changed dynamics in order to secure the ecosystem services provided by urban trees.

Current and historical land use influence soil-based ecosystem services in an urban landscape.

PubMed

Ziter, Carly; Turner, Monica G

2018-04-01

Urban landscapes are increasingly recognized as providing important ecosystem services (ES) to their occupants. Yet, urban ES assessments often ignore the complex spatial heterogeneity and land-use history of cities. Soil-based services may be particularly susceptible to land-use legacy effects. We studied indicators of three soil-based ES, carbon storage, water quality regulation, and runoff regulation, in a historically agricultural urban landscape and asked (1) How do ES indicators vary with contemporary land cover and time since development? (2) Do ES indicators vary primarily among land-cover classes, within land-cover classes, or within sites? (3) What is the relative contribution of urban land-cover classes to potential citywide ES provision? We measured biophysical indicators (soil carbon [C], available phosphorus [P], and saturated hydraulic conductivity [K s ]) in 100 sites across five land-cover classes, spanning an ~125-year gradient of time since development within each land-cover class. Potential for ES provision was substantial in urban green spaces, including developed land. Runoff regulation services (high K s ) were highest in forests; water quality regulation (low P) was highest in open spaces and grasslands; and open spaces and developed land (e.g., residential yards) had the highest C storage. In developed land covers, both C and P increased with time since development, indicating effects of historical land-use on contemporary ES and trade-offs between two important ES. Among-site differences accounted for a high proportion of variance in soil properties in forests, grasslands, and open space, while residential areas had high within-site variability, underscoring the leverage city residents have to improve urban ES provision. Developed land covers contributed most ES supply at the citywide scale, even after accounting for potential impacts of impervious surfaces. Considering the full mosaic of urban green space and its history is needed to estimate the kinds and magnitude of ES provided in cities, and to augment regional ES assessments that often ignore or underestimate urban ES supply. © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America.

Monitoring Environmental Impacts on Mangrove Ecosystem in the Indus Delta of Pakistan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siddiqui, Mehrun-Nisa

Monitoring Environmental Impacts on Mangrove Ecosystem in the Indus Delta of Pakistan The mangrove forests growing in intertidal region along the tropical coastlines form a unique ecosystem with rich floral species and marine resources. In Pakistan, large mangrove forests are found all along the muddy coast of Sindh province at Indus Deltaic region. These mangroves are threatened by a variety of environmental pollution, like: dumping of untreated industrial and urban waste, sewage water; hazardous chemical released during ship breaking, oil spills, mangroves cutting, over fishing, scarcity of fresh water, seawater intrusion and unplanned urban development, etc. Dams and barrages, constructed on the mighty Indus River have reduced the supply of freshwater into the delta and consequently, seawater intruding into the riverine tract. The Tidal Link, constructed in 1995 to drain the agriculture effluents of cultivated areas of Sindh to sea, has also greatly damaged the ecology of the area. This study is based on integrated use of RS & GIS techniques for monitoring environmental impacts on the mangroves ecosystem of Indus Delta, for management and planning of this coastal ecosystem. Temporal satellite remote sensing (SRS) data acquired between 1976 to 2005 have been analysed using image processing and GIS techniques and coastal landuse maps representing coverage of the deltaic region have been prepared, which enabled to monitor dynamic and geomorphological changes occurred in the area. The tidal boundaries derived from temporal SRS data have been integrated to understand the coastal processes and their impact on mangroves ecosystem, and on tidal / intertidal zones. From the analysis, it was observed that the surface salt accumulation and dryness in the deltaic region and waterlogging & salinity in inland areas have been increased over the last 30 years, indicate the intrusion of seawater in groundwater aquifers and reduction in over all biomass in the area. This study demonstrated that the temporal SRS data used in this study are found suitable for monitoring environmental impacts on mangrove ecosystem and in identification of dynamic changes taking place in the Indus Delta of Pakistan. Key Words: Indus Delta, mangroves, ecosystem, temporal SRS data, environmental pollution, environmental impacts, seawater intrusion, coastal process, waterlogging & salinity

[Urban ecosystem services: A review].

PubMed

Mao, Qi-zheng; Huang, Gan-lin; Wu, Jian-guo

2015-04-01

Maintaining and improving ecosystem services in urban areas and human well-being are essential for sustainable development and therefore constitute an important topic in urban ecology. Here we reviewed studies on ecosystem services in urban areas. Based on the concept and classification of urban ecosystem services, we summarized characteristics of urban ecosystem services, including the human domination, high demand of ecosystem services in urban areas, spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics of ecosystem services supply and demand in urban areas, multi-services of urban green infrastructures, the socio-economic dimension of ecosystem services supply and ecosystem disservices in urban areas. Among different urban ecosystem services, the regulating service and cultural service are particularly indispensable to benefit human health. We pointed out that tradeoffs among different types of ecosystem services mostly occur between supportive service and cultural service, as well as regulating service and cultural service. In particular, we emphasized the relationship between landscape design (i.e. green infrastructure) and ecosystem services supply. Finally, we discussed current gaps to link urban ecosystem services studies to landscape design and management and pointed out several directions for future research in urban ecosystem services.

Trees in urban parks and forests reduce O3, but not NO2 concentrations in Baltimore, MD, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yli-Pelkonen, Vesa; Scott, Anna A.; Viippola, Viljami; Setälä, Heikki

2017-10-01

Trees and other vegetation absorb and capture air pollutants, leading to the common perception that they, and trees in particular, can improve air quality in cities and provide an important ecosystem service for urban inhabitants. Yet, there has been a lack of empirical evidence showing this at the local scale with different plant configurations and climatic regions. We studied the impact of urban park and forest vegetation on the levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ground-level ozone (O3) while controlling for temperature during early summer (May) using passive samplers in Baltimore, USA. Concentrations of O3 were significantly lower in tree-covered habitats than in adjacent open habitats, but concentrations of NO2 did not differ significantly between tree-covered and open habitats. Higher temperatures resulted in higher pollutant concentrations and NO2 and O3 concentration were negatively correlated with each other. Our results suggest that the role of trees in reducing NO2 concentrations in urban parks and forests in the Mid-Atlantic USA is minor, but that the presence of tree-cover can result in lower O3 levels compared to similar open areas. Our results further suggest that actions aiming at local air pollution mitigation should consider local variability in vegetation, climate, micro-climate, and traffic conditions.

Exchanges across land-water-scape boundaries in urban systems: strategies for reducing nitrate pollution.

PubMed

Cadenasso, M L; Pickett, S T A; Groffman, P M; Band, L E; Brush, G S; Galvin, M F; Grove, J M; Hagar, G; Marshall, V; McGrath, B P; O'Neil-Dunne, J P M; Stack, W P; Troy, A R

2008-01-01

Conservation in urban areas typically focuses on biodiversity and large green spaces. However, opportunities exist throughout urban areas to enhance ecological functions. An important function of urban landscapes is retaining nitrogen thereby reducing nitrate pollution to streams and coastal waters. Control of nonpoint nitrate pollution in urban areas was originally based on the documented importance of riparian zones in agricultural and forested ecosystems. The watershed and boundary frameworks have been used to guide stream research and a riparian conservation strategy to reduce nitrate pollution in urban streams. But is stream restoration and riparian-zone conservation enough? Data from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study and other urban stream research indicate that urban riparian zones do not necessarily prevent nitrate from entering, nor remove nitrate from, streams. Based on this insight, policy makers in Baltimore extended the conservation strategy throughout larger watersheds, attempting to restore functions that no longer took place in riparian boundaries. Two urban revitalization projects are presented as examples aimed at reducing nitrate pollution to stormwater, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay. An adaptive cycle of ecological urban design synthesizes the insights from the watershed and boundary frameworks, from new data, and from the conservation concerns of agencies and local communities. This urban example of conservation based on ameliorating nitrate water pollution extends the initial watershed-boundary approach along three dimensions: 1) from riparian to urban land-water-scapes; 2) from discrete engineering solutions to ecological design approaches; and 3) from structural solutions to inclusion of individual, household, and institutional behavior.

Appreciating urban wildscapes: Towards a natural history of unnatural places. Chapter 2

Treesearch

Paul H. Gobster

2011-01-01

The ecosystems of a given place reflect the response of living organisms to their environment. Woodlands can become wetlands with too much moisture and grasslands with too little; increases in elevation can turn a deciduous forest into a coniferous one; and fire and other disturbances can set back a climax community to its early stages of ecological succession. The sum...

Growing and marketing woody species to support pollinators: An emerging opportunity for forest, conservation, and native plant nurseries in the Northeastern United States

Treesearch

Kas Dumroese; Tara Luna

2016-01-01

The decline of insects that pollinate flowers is garnering more attention by land managers, policymakers, and the general public. Nursery managers who grow native trees, shrubs, and woody vines have a promising opportunity to showcase these species, marketing their contributions to pollinator health and other ecosystem services in urban and wild landscapes....

Macroinvertebrate diversity loss in urban streams from tropical forests.

PubMed

Docile, Tatiana N; Figueiró, Ronaldo; Portela, Clayton; Nessimian, Jorge L

2016-04-01

The increase of human activities in recent years has significantly interfered and affected aquatic ecosystems. In this present study, we investigate the effects of urbanization in the community structure of aquatic macroinvertebrates from Atlantic Forest streams. The sampling was conducted in the mountainous region of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 10 urban and 10 preserved streams during the dry season (August-September) of 2012. The streams were characterized for its environmental integrity conditions and physico-chemical properties of water. The macroinvertebrates were sampled on rocky substrates with a kicknet. A total of 5370 individuals were collected from all streams and were distributed among Ephemeroptera, Odonata, Plecoptera, Hemiptera, Megaloptera, Coleoptera, Trichoptera, Lepidoptera, and Diptera. In urban sites, all those orders were found, except Megaloptera, while only Mollusca was not found in preserved streams. We performed a non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis that separated two groups distributed among sites in urban communities and another group outside this area. The dominance was significantly higher at urban sites, while the α diversity and equitability were greater in preserved sites. A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was also performed, indicating that most taxa associated with high values of the Habitat Integrity Index (HII) and a few genus of the order Diptera with the high values of ammonia, total nitrogen, associated to streams in urban sites. Urban and preserved streams differ by physical-chemical variables and aquatic macroinvertebrates. In urban streams, there is most dominance, while α diversity and equitability are higher in preserved streams.

Assessment of water supply as an ecosystem service in a rural-urban watershed in southwestern Mexico City.

PubMed

Jujnovsky, Julieta; González-Martínez, Teresa Margarita; Cantoral-Uriza, Enrique Arturo; Almeida-Leñero, Lucia

2012-03-01

Studies from the ecosystem services perspective can provide a useful framework because they allow us to fully examine the benefits that humans obtain from socio-ecological systems. Mexico City, the second largest city in the world, has faced severe problems related to water shortages, which have worsened due to increasing population. Demand for space has forced changes in land cover, including covering areas that are essential for groundwater recharge. The city has 880 km(2) of forest areas that are crucial for the water supply. The Magdalena River Watershed was chosen as a model because it is a well-preserved zone within Mexico City and it provides water for the population. The general aim of this study was to assess the ecosystem service of the water supply in the Magdalena River Watershed by determining its water balance (SWAT model) and the number of beneficiaries of the ecosystem services. The results showed that the watershed provides 18.4 hm(3) of water per year. Baseflow was dominant, with a contribution of 85%, while surface runoff only accounted for 15%. The zone provides drinking water to 78,476 inhabitants and could supply 153,203 potential beneficiaries. This work provides an example for understanding how ecosystem processes determine the provision of ecosystem services and benefits to the population in a rural-urban watershed in Mexico City.

Value orientation and payment for ecosystem services: Perceived detrimental consequences lead to willingness-to-pay for ecosystem services.

PubMed

Obeng, Elizabeth Asantewaa; Aguilar, Francisco Xavier

2018-01-15

This research analyzed whether the three distinct value orientations posited under the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) model determine willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a payment for ecosystem services (PES) program. A survey instrument gathered U.S. residents' knowledge and attitudes toward ecosystem services and PES, and elicited WTP for the restoration of a hypothetical degraded forest watershed for improved ecosystem services. Data from over 1000 respondents nationwide were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and ordered logistic regression. Urban respondents were more familiar with the concepts of ecosystem service and PES than rural respondents but familiarity did not yield statistically different WTP estimates. Based on results from the EFA, we posit that latent value orientations might be distinguished as 'detrimental', 'biospheric' and 'beneficial (egoistic)' - as compared to 'altruistic', 'biospheric' and 'egoistic' as suggested in the VBN's general awareness of consequences scale. Awareness of biospheric and detrimental consequences along with ascriptions to personal norms had positive and significant effects on stated WTP. Beneficial (egoistic) value orientation was negatively associated with WTP and carried a negative average WTP per household per year (US$ -30.48) for the proposed PES restoration program as compared with biospheric (US$ 15.53) and detrimental (US$ 3.96) orientations. Besides personal norms, awareness of detrimental consequences to human wellbeing from environmental degradation seems the stronger driver of WTP for the restoration and protection of forest watershed ecosystem services under a PES program. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Incorporating future change into current conservation planning: Evaluating tidal saline wetland migration along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast under alternative sea-level rise and urbanization scenarios

USGS Publications Warehouse

Enwright, Nicholas M.; Griffith, Kereen T.; Osland, Michael J.

2015-11-02

In this study, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, quantified the potential for landward migration of tidal saline wetlands along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast under alternative future sea-level rise and urbanization scenarios. Our analyses focused exclusively on tidal saline wetlands (that is, mangrove forests, salt marshes, and salt flats), and we combined these diverse tidal saline wetland ecosystems into a single grouping, “tidal saline wetland.” Collectively, our approach and findings can provide useful information for scientists and environmental planners working to develop future-focused adaptation strategies for conserving coastal landscapes and the ecosystem goods and services provided by tidal saline wetlands. The primary product of this work is a public dataset that identifies locations where landward migration of tidal saline wetlands is expected to occur under alternative future sea-level rise and urbanization scenarios. In addition to identifying areas where landward migration of tidal saline wetlands is possible because of the absence of barriers, these data also identify locations where landward migration of these wetlands could be prevented by barriers associated with current urbanization, future urbanization, and levees.

Land use pattern, socio-economic development, and assessment of their impacts on ecosystem service value: study on natural wetlands distribution area (NWDA) in Fuzhou city, southeastern China.

PubMed

Cai, Yuan-Bin; Zhang, Hao; Pan, Wen-Bin; Chen, Yan-Hong; Wang, Xiang-Rong

2013-06-01

This paper quantifies the allocation of ecosystem services value (ESV) associated with land use pattern and qualitatively examined impacts of land use changes and socio-economic factors on spatiotemporal variation of ESV in the Natural Wetland Distribution Area (NWDA), Fuzhou city, China. The results showed that total ESV of the study area decreased from 4,332.16 × 10(6) RMB Yuan in 1989 to 3,697.42 × 10(6) RMB Yuan in 2009, mainly due to the remarkable decreases in cropland (decreased by 55.3 %) and wetland (decreased by 74.2 %). Forest, water, and wetland played major roles in providing ecosystem services, accounting for over 90 % of the total ESV. Based on time series Landsat TM/ETM+ imagery, geographic information system, and historical data, analysis of the spatiotemporal variation of ESV from 1989 to 2009 was performed. It indicated that rapid expansion of urban areas along the Minjiang River resulted in significant changes in land use types, leading to a dramatic decline in ecosystem services. Meanwhile, because of land scarcity and unique ecosystem functions, the emergency of wetland and cropland protection in built-up area has become an urgent task of local authorities to the local government. Furthermore, there was still a significant negative correlation between ESV of cropland and wetland and the GDP. The results suggest that future planning of land use pattern should control encroachment of urban areas into cropland and wetland in addition to scientific and rational policies towards minimizing the adverse effects of urbanization.

Social-value maps for Arapaho, Roosevelt, Medicine Bow, Routt, and White River National Forests, Colorado and Wyoming

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ancona, Zachary H.; Semmens, Darius J.; Sherrouse, Benson C.

2016-03-25

Executive SummaryThe continued pressures of population growth on the life-sustaining, economic, and cultural ecosystem services provided by our national forests, particularly those located near rapidly growing urban areas, present ongoing challenges to forest managers. Achieving an effective assessment of these ecosystem services includes a proper accounting of the ecological, economic, and social values attributable to them. However, assessments of ecosystem goods and services notably lack information describing the spatial distribution and relative intensity of social values—the perceived, nonmarket values derived particularly from cultural ecosystem services. A geographic information system (GIS) tool developed to fill this need, Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES; http://solves.cr.usgs.gov), now provides the capability to generate social-value maps at a range of spatial scales. This report presents some of the methods behind SolVES, procedures needed to apply the tool, the first formal map products resulting from its application at a regional scale, and a discussion of the management implications associated with this type of information.In this study, we use SolVES to identify the location and relative intensity of social values as derived from survey responses gathered from residents living in counties adjacent to Arapaho, Roosevelt, Medicine Bow, Routt, and White River National Forests. The results, presented as a series of social-value maps, represent the first publicly available spatial data on social-value intensity for the southern Rocky Mountain region. Our analysis identified high-value areas for social values including aesthetic, biodiversity, and life sustaining within wilderness areas. Other values, like recreation, show high-value areas both within wilderness and throughout the general forest areas, which can be attributed to people using the forests for a diverse set of recreational activities. The economic social-value type was lower within wilderness areas, which was an expected outcome because of the restrictions inside wilderness areas that preclude resource extraction, development, and motorized or mechanized recreation.Providing spatially explicit social-value information collected from residents in counties adjacent to these national forests can assist in facilitating the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service’s Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act of 1960 (16 U.S.C. 528) note and the 2012 Forest Service Planning Rule (36 CFR Part 219), which encourage public participation in planning and management. By making these maps available to the public, we hope to encourage exploration of potential uses of these data for resource management and planning.

High-resolution records detect human-caused changes to the boreal forest wildfire regime in interior Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gaglioti, Benjamin V.; Mann, Daniel H.; Jones, Benjamin M.; Wooller, Matthew J.; Finney, Bruce P.

2016-01-01

Stand-replacing wildfires are a keystone disturbance in the boreal forest, and they are becoming more common as the climate warms. Paleo-fire archives from the wildland–urban interface can quantify the prehistoric fire regime and assess how both human land-use and climate change impact ecosystem dynamics. Here, we use a combination of a sedimentary charcoal record preserved in varved lake sediments (annually layered) and fire scars in living trees to document changes in local fire return intervals (FRIs) and regional fire activity over the last 500 years. Ace Lake is within the boreal forest, located near the town of Fairbanks in interior Alaska, which was settled by gold miners in AD 1902. In the 400 years before settlement, fires occurred near the lake on average every 58 years. After settlement, fires became much more frequent (average every 18  years), and background charcoal flux rates rose to four times their preindustrial levels, indicating a region-wide increase in burning. Despite this surge in burning, the preindustrial boreal forest ecosystem and permafrost in the watershed have remained intact. Although fire suppression has reduced charcoal influx since the 1950s, an aging fuel load experiencing increasingly warm summers may pose management problems for this and other boreal sites that have similar land-use and fire histories. The large human-caused fire events that we identify can be used to test how increasingly common megafires may alter ecosystem dynamics in the future.

On the forest cover–water yield debate: from demand- to supply-side thinking

PubMed Central

Ellison, David; N Futter, Martyn; Bishop, Kevin

2012-01-01

Several major articles from the past decade and beyond conclude the impact of reforestation or afforestation on water yield is negative: additional forest cover will reduce and removing forests will raise downstream water availability. A second group of authors argue the opposite: planting additional forests should raise downstream water availability and intensify the hydrologic cycle. Obtaining supporting evidence for this second group of authors has been more difficult due to the larger scales at which the positive effects of forests on the water cycle may be seen. We argue that forest cover is inextricably linked to precipitation. Forest-driven evapotranspiration removed from a particular catchment contributes to the availability of atmospheric moisture vapor and its cross-continental transport, raising the likelihood of precipitation events and increasing water yield, in particular in continental interiors more distant from oceans. Seasonal relationships heighten the importance of this phenomenon. We review the arguments from different scales and perspectives. This clarifies the generally beneficial relationship between forest cover and the intensity of the hydrologic cycle. While evidence supports both sides of the argument – trees can reduce runoff at the small catchment scale – at larger scales, trees are more clearly linked to increased precipitation and water availability. Progressive deforestation, land conversion from forest to agriculture and urbanization have potentially negative consequences for global precipitation, prompting us to think of forest ecosystems as global public goods. Policy-making attempts to measure product water footprints, estimate the value of ecosystem services, promote afforestation, develop drought mitigation strategies and otherwise manage land use must consider the linkage of forests to the supply of precipitation.

Dynamics of Ecosystem Services during Forest Transitions in Reventazón, Costa Rica.

PubMed

Vallet, Améline; Locatelli, Bruno; Levrel, Harold; Brenes Pérez, Christian; Imbach, Pablo; Estrada Carmona, Natalia; Manlay, Raphaël; Oszwald, Johan

2016-01-01

The forest transition framework describes the temporal changes of forest areas with economic development. A first phase of forest contraction is followed by a second phase of expansion once a turning point is reached. This framework does not differentiate forest types or ecosystem services, and describes forests regardless of their contribution to human well-being. For several decades, deforestation in many tropical regions has degraded ecosystem services, such as watershed regulation, while increasing provisioning services from agriculture, for example, food. Forest transitions and expansion have been observed in some countries, but their consequences for ecosystem services are often unclear. We analyzed the implications of forest cover change on ecosystem services in Costa Rica, where a forest transition has been suggested. A review of literature and secondary data on forest and ecosystem services in Costa Rica indicated that forest transition might have led to an ecosystem services transition. We modeled and mapped the changes of selected ecosystem services in the upper part of the Reventazón watershed and analyzed how supply changed over time in order to identify possible transitions in ecosystem services. The modeled changes of ecosystem services is similar to the second phase of a forest transition but no turning point was identified, probably because of the limited temporal scope of the analysis. Trends of provisioning and regulating services and their tradeoffs were opposite in different spatial subunits of our study area, which highlights the importance of scale in the analysis of ecosystem services and forest transitions. The ecosystem services transition framework proposed in this study is useful for analyzing the temporal changes of ecosystem services and linking socio-economic drivers to ecosystem services demand at different scales.

Dynamics of Ecosystem Services during Forest Transitions in Reventazón, Costa Rica

PubMed Central

Vallet, Améline; Locatelli, Bruno; Levrel, Harold; Brenes Pérez, Christian; Imbach, Pablo; Estrada Carmona, Natalia; Manlay, Raphaël; Oszwald, Johan

2016-01-01

The forest transition framework describes the temporal changes of forest areas with economic development. A first phase of forest contraction is followed by a second phase of expansion once a turning point is reached. This framework does not differentiate forest types or ecosystem services, and describes forests regardless of their contribution to human well-being. For several decades, deforestation in many tropical regions has degraded ecosystem services, such as watershed regulation, while increasing provisioning services from agriculture, for example, food. Forest transitions and expansion have been observed in some countries, but their consequences for ecosystem services are often unclear. We analyzed the implications of forest cover change on ecosystem services in Costa Rica, where a forest transition has been suggested. A review of literature and secondary data on forest and ecosystem services in Costa Rica indicated that forest transition might have led to an ecosystem services transition. We modeled and mapped the changes of selected ecosystem services in the upper part of the Reventazón watershed and analyzed how supply changed over time in order to identify possible transitions in ecosystem services. The modeled changes of ecosystem services is similar to the second phase of a forest transition but no turning point was identified, probably because of the limited temporal scope of the analysis. Trends of provisioning and regulating services and their tradeoffs were opposite in different spatial subunits of our study area, which highlights the importance of scale in the analysis of ecosystem services and forest transitions. The ecosystem services transition framework proposed in this study is useful for analyzing the temporal changes of ecosystem services and linking socio-economic drivers to ecosystem services demand at different scales. PMID:27390869

Determination of wetland ecosystem boundaries and validation of land use maps using remote sensing: Fuente de Piedra case study (Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sánchez, Antonio; Malak, Dania Abdul; Schröder, Christoph; Martinez-Murillo, Juan F.

2016-04-01

Remote sensing techniques (SRS) are valid tools for wetland monitoring that could support wetland managers in assessing the spatial and temporal changes in wetland ecosystems as well as in understanding their condition and the ecosystem services they provide. This study focuses on the one hand, on drawing hydro-ecological guidelines for the delimitation of wetland ecosystems; and on the other hand, to assess the reliability of widely available satellite images (Landsat) in estimating the land use/ land cover types covering wetlands. This research develops comprehensive guidelines to determine the boundaries of the Fuente de Piedra wetland ecosystem located in Andalusia, Spain and defines the main land use/ land cover classes covering this ecosystem using Landsat 8 images. An accuracy of the SRS results delivered is tested using the regional inventory of land use produced by the regional government of Andalusia in 2011. By using the ecological and hydrological settings of the area, the boundaries of the Fuente de Piedra wetland ecosystem are determined as an alternative to improve the current delimitations methodology (the Ramsar and Natura 2000 delineations), used by the local authorities so far and based mainly on administrative reasoning. In terms of the land use land cover definition in the area, Fuente de Piedra wetland ecosystem shows to cover a total area of 195 km2 composed mainly by agricultural areas (81.46%): olive groves, non-irrigated arable land and pastures, being 54.82%, 25.71% and 0.93% of the surface respectively. Wetland related land covers (water surface, wetland vegetation) represent 6.85% while natural vegetation is distributed in forest, 1.67%, and shrub areas, 4.14%, being 5.81% in total. 4.58% of the area corresponds to urban and other artificial surfaces. The rest, 1.30%, is composed of different areas without vegetation (sands, bare rock, dumps, etc.). The classification of the Landsat images made with the newly developed SWOS toolbox (under the Horizon 2020 SWOS project) provides reliable results (r2= 0.98). The image segmentation corresponds very closely with the plots of land observed in the satellite image, and the allocation of land use coverages corresponds in 82% of the segments. Forest and olive groves are the best identified coverages with an accuracy of 93% in both cases. Wetlands are correctly classified by 87%, where linear features (narrow streams, etc.) are not detected by the methodology used due to the limitations of Landsat resolution. Arable lands are classified with an accuracy of 85.5%; where the methodology seems to confuse this land use with sparse olive grove. In the case of shrubs, accuracy round the 72%, with confusions with this land use are related with arable land, sparse forests in wetland areas. In the case of urban areas, only 60.5% of the segments are correctly classified as the distinction between urban fabric and industrial areas does not seem to be possible and linear features are not detected (highways, secondary roads,…).

Terrestrially derived glomalin-related soil protein quality as a potential ecological indicator in a peri-urban watershed.

PubMed

Sui, Xueyan; Wu, Zhipeng; Lin, Chen; Zhou, Shenglu

2017-07-01

Glomalin, which sequesters substantial amounts of carbon, plays a critical role in sustaining terrestrial biome functions and contributes to the fate of many pollutants from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems. Despite having focused on the amount of glomalin produced, very few attempts have been made to understand how landscapes and environmental conditions influence glomalin composition and characteristics. This study focused on glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP) exported as storm runoff including eroded sediment and water that was collected before flowing to surface waters in a peri-urban watershed. GRSP characteristics were assessed by Bradford protein analysis, fluorescence spectroscopy combined with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), and the determination of aromaticity based on the specific ultraviolet absorption value (280 nm) and molecular weight. General linear models (GLMs) was established by integrating microbial activity, land cover, water temperature, precipitation, and other solution chemical properties to explain the variations in GRSP characteristics. Results showed that a higher GRSP concentration in agricultural reference sites was produced in the form of specific materials with low molecular weight and aromaticity, as well as high percentage of C1 and C5 components which indicate microbial-processed sources, relative to urbanized and forested sites. Compared with forested land, urbanized land clearly produced runoff GRSP with low molecular weight and aromaticity, as well as more degradation of humic-like materials (C3 component). The highest GLM explaining 89% of the variables, including significant variables (p < 0.05) such as microbial activity, water temperature, and water conductivity, was observed for GRSP characteristics. Therefore, changes in eroded soil GRSP quality can serve as an indicator for improving watershed management and thus protecting aquatic ecosystems.

Simplification of arboreal marsupial assemblages in response to increasing urbanization.

PubMed

Isaac, Bronwyn; White, John; Ierodiaconou, Daniel; Cooke, Raylene

2014-01-01

Arboreal marsupials play an essential role in ecosystem function including regulating insect and plant populations, facilitating pollen and seed dispersal and acting as a prey source for higher-order carnivores in Australian environments. Primarily, research has focused on their biology, ecology and response to disturbance in forested and urban environments. We used presence-only species distribution modelling to understand the relationship between occurrences of arboreal marsupials and eco-geographical variables, and to infer habitat suitability across an urban gradient. We used post-proportional analysis to determine whether increasing urbanization affected potential habitat for arboreal marsupials. The key eco-geographical variables that influenced disturbance intolerant species and those with moderate tolerance to disturbance were natural features such as tree cover and proximity to rivers and to riparian vegetation, whereas variables for disturbance tolerant species were anthropogenic-based (e.g., road density) but also included some natural characteristics such as proximity to riparian vegetation, elevation and tree cover. Arboreal marsupial diversity was subject to substantial change along the gradient, with potential habitat for disturbance-tolerant marsupials distributed across the complete gradient and potential habitat for less tolerant species being restricted to the natural portion of the gradient. This resulted in highly-urbanized environments being inhabited by a few generalist arboreal marsupial species. Increasing urbanization therefore leads to functional simplification of arboreal marsupial assemblages, thus impacting on the ecosystem services they provide.

Simplification of Arboreal Marsupial Assemblages in Response to Increasing Urbanization

PubMed Central

Isaac, Bronwyn; White, John; Ierodiaconou, Daniel; Cooke, Raylene

2014-01-01

Arboreal marsupials play an essential role in ecosystem function including regulating insect and plant populations, facilitating pollen and seed dispersal and acting as a prey source for higher-order carnivores in Australian environments. Primarily, research has focused on their biology, ecology and response to disturbance in forested and urban environments. We used presence-only species distribution modelling to understand the relationship between occurrences of arboreal marsupials and eco-geographical variables, and to infer habitat suitability across an urban gradient. We used post-proportional analysis to determine whether increasing urbanization affected potential habitat for arboreal marsupials. The key eco-geographical variables that influenced disturbance intolerant species and those with moderate tolerance to disturbance were natural features such as tree cover and proximity to rivers and to riparian vegetation, whereas variables for disturbance tolerant species were anthropogenic-based (e.g., road density) but also included some natural characteristics such as proximity to riparian vegetation, elevation and tree cover. Arboreal marsupial diversity was subject to substantial change along the gradient, with potential habitat for disturbance-tolerant marsupials distributed across the complete gradient and potential habitat for less tolerant species being restricted to the natural portion of the gradient. This resulted in highly-urbanized environments being inhabited by a few generalist arboreal marsupial species. Increasing urbanization therefore leads to functional simplification of arboreal marsupial assemblages, thus impacting on the ecosystem services they provide. PMID:24608165

Gathering in the city: an annotated bibliography and review of the literature about human-plant interactions in urban ecosystems

Treesearch

R.J. McLain; K. MacFarland; L. Brody; J. Hebert; P. Hurley; M. Poe; L.P. Buttolph; N. Gabriel; M. Dzuna; M.R. Emery; S. Charnley

2012-01-01

The past decade has seen resurgence in interest in gathering wild plants and fungi in cities. In addition to gathering by individuals, dozens of groups have emerged in U.S., Canadian, and European cities to facilitate access to nontimber forest products (NTFPs), particularly fruits and nuts, in public and private spaces. Recent efforts within cities to encourage public...

Assessing the impact of the urbanization process on net primary productivity in China in 1989-2000.

PubMed

Tian, Guangjin; Qiao, Zhi

2014-01-01

Urban development affects the material circulation and energy flow of ecosystems, thereby affecting the Net Primary Productivity (NPP). The loss of NPP due to urban expansion was calculated integrating GLO-PEM with remote sensing and GIS techniques in China during the period of 1989-2000. Using urban expansion and the mean NPP for the different land use types in the fourteen regions, the total loss of NPP was calculated as 0.95 Tg C, which accounted for 0.03% of the national NPP of 1989. The total loss of NPP due to the transformation from cropland to urban land accounted for 91.93%, followed by forest (7.17%) and grassland (0.69%). However, the conversion from unused land, industrial and construction land, and water bodies to urban land resulted in an increase in the NPP. The regions locating in eastern China and middle China had large reductions in the total NPP due to urban expansion. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Balancing trade-offs between ecosystem services in Germany’s forests under climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gutsch, Martin; Lasch-Born, Petra; Kollas, Chris; Suckow, Felicitas; Reyer, Christopher P. O.

2018-04-01

Germany’s forests provide a variety of ecosystem services. Sustainable forest management aims to optimize the provision of these services at regional level. However, climate change will impact forest ecosystems and subsequently ecosystem services. The objective of this study is to quantify the effects of two alternative management scenarios and climate impacts on forest variables indicative of ecosystem services related to timber, habitat, water, and carbon. The ecosystem services are represented through nine model output variables (timber harvest, above and belowground biomass, net ecosystem production, soil carbon, percolation, nitrogen leaching, deadwood, tree dimension, broadleaf tree proportion) from the process-based forest model 4C. We simulated forest growth, carbon and water cycling until 2045 with 4C set-up for the whole German forest area based on National Forest Inventory data and driven by three management strategies (nature protection, biomass production and a baseline management) and an ensemble of regional climate scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP 4.5, RCP 8.5). We provide results as relative changes compared to the baseline management and observed climate. Forest management measures have the strongest effects on ecosystem services inducing positive or negative changes of up to 40% depending on the ecosystem service in question, whereas climate change only slightly alters ecosystem services averaged over the whole forest area. The ecosystem services ‘carbon’ and ‘timber’ benefit from climate change, while ‘water’ and ‘habitat’ lose. We detect clear trade-offs between ‘timber’ and all other ecosystem services, as well as synergies between ‘habitat’ and ‘carbon’. When evaluating all ecosystem services simultaneously, our results reveal certain interrelations between climate and management scenarios. North-eastern and western forest regions are more suitable to provide timber (while minimizing the negative impacts on remaining ecosystem services) whereas southern and central forest regions are more suitable to fulfil ‘habitat’ and ‘carbon’ services. The results provide the base for future forest management optimizations at the regional scale in order to maximize ecosystem services and forest ecosystem sustainability at the national scale.

The Effect of Land-use Change and Management on Free-living N2 fixation in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Oliveira Bomfim, B.; Silva, L. C. R.; Horwath, W. R.; Hello, J.; Doane, T. A.

2016-12-01

Globally, primary tropical forests are increasingly disturbed by deforestation, urbanization, agriculture, and cattle ranching. It has been recognized that the resulting (secondary) forests now play a key role in global biogeochemical cycles; however, little is known about alterations in forest function caused by the combination of disturbance and land use change. Fire, deforestation, and forest-to-monocrop conversion are all likely to affect biotic N inputs, yet our understanding of how free-living N2 fixation influences ecosystem response after disturbance remains poorly understood. Our research is assessing the role of asymbiotic (free-living) biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), a microbially-mediated process responsible for providing N inputs across terrestrial ecosystems and modulating the effect of fire and land cover in secondary forest succession. Free-living BNF is being quantified through incubations using stable isotope (15N2 labeling experiment) in different substrates (soil and leaf litter) under contrasting land use and management in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, the most deforested Biome in Brazil with only 7% of its original cover. Soil and litter samples were collected in primary forests, 12-year secondary forests, Eucalyptus spp. plantations and 10-year Brachiaria brizantha pastures. Preliminary results indicate that free-living BNF rates did not vary significantly between either secondary land use (0.02 to 0.46 µg N2 fixed gDW-1 h-1), but rates were significantly higher in the litter layer (0.32 to 3.8 µg N2 fixed gDW-1 h-1) than in the surface soil (0 - 10 cm and 10 - 30 cm). Free-living BNF in this stretch of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest seems not to be significantly affected by contrasting land use and management.

Urban Vegetative Cover Fragmentation in the U.S.: Associations With Physical Activity and BMI.

PubMed

Tsai, Wei-Lun; Floyd, Myron F; Leung, Yu-Fai; McHale, Melissa R; Reich, Brian J

2016-04-01

Urban vegetative cover provides a range of ecosystem services including contributions to human health and well-being. Urbanization exerts tremendous pressure on this natural resource, causing fragmentation and loss of urban greenspace. This study aimed to examine associations between vegetative cover fragmentation and physical activity and BMI at the county scale in the U.S. metropolitan statistical areas greater than 1 million in population. National Land Cover Database 2006 and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2008 provided land cover and human health data, respectively. Analyses were performed in 2013 at the county scale where the health data were reported. Spearman rank correlation and stepwise and hierarchical regression models were applied to estimate relationships between land cover and health variables. After controlling for median household income and race, greater forest edge density (β=0.272, p<0.05) and larger size of herbaceous patches (β=0.261, p<0.01) were associated with a higher percentage of participation in physical activity within counties. More connections between forest and developed area (β=0.37, p<0.01) and greater edge density of shrubland (β=0.646, p<0.001) were positively associated with a higher percentage of normal BMI (<25) within counties. Forest land cover and some degree of fragmentation are associated with population physical activity. Future studies should examine how built environments and varying land cover configurations influence physical activity and weight status. Copyright © 2016 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Restoration of Native Hawaiian Dryland Forest at Auwahi, Maui

USGS Publications Warehouse

Medieros, Arthur C.; vonAllmen, Erica

2006-01-01

BACKGROUND The powerful volcanoes that formed the high islands of the Hawaiian archipelago block northeasterly tradewinds, creating wet, windward rain forests and much drier, leeward forests. Dryland forests in Hawai'i receive only about 20 inches of rain a year. However, the trees in these forests intercept fog and increase ground moisture levels, thereby enabling these seemingly inhospitable habitats to support a diverse assemblage of plants and animals. Dryland forests of the Hawaiian Islands, like those worldwide, have been heavily impacted by humans both directly and indirectly. Less than 10% of Hawai'i's original dryland forest habitat remains. These forests have been severely impacted by urban development, ranching and agriculture, and invasive species. In particular, browsing animals and alien grasses have caused significant damage. Feral ungulates, including goats, sheep, cattle, and pigs, consume sensitive plants. Alien grasses have become dominant in the understory in many dryland habitats. In addition, these introduced grasses are fire-adapted and have increased the incidence of wildfire in these ecosystems. Native Hawaiian plants did not evolve with frequent fires or mammalian herbivores and typically do not survive well under these pressures.

A vulnerability tool for adapting water and aquatic resources to climate change and extremes on the Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rice, J.; Joyce, L. A.; Armel, B.; Bevenger, G.; Zubic, R.

2011-12-01

Climate change introduces a significant challenge for land managers and decision makers managing the natural resources that provide many benefits from forests. These benefits include water for urban and agricultural uses, wildlife habitat, erosion and climate control, aquifer recharge, stream flows regulation, water temperature regulation, and cultural services such as outdoor recreation and aesthetic enjoyment. The Forest Service has responded to this challenge by developing a national strategy for responding to climate change (the National Roadmap for Responding to Climate Change, July 2010). In concert with this national strategy, the Forest Service's Westwide Climate Initiative has conducted 4 case studies on individual Forests in the western U.S to develop climate adaptation tools. Western National Forests are particularly vulnerable to climate change as they have high-mountain topography, diversity in climate and vegetation, large areas of water limited ecosystems, and increasing urbanization. Information about the vulnerability and capacity of resources to adapt to climate change and extremes is lacking. There is an urgent need to provide customized tools and synthesized local scale information about the impacts to resources from future climate change and extremes, as well as develop science based adaptation options and strategies in National Forest management and planning. The case study on the Shoshone National Forest has aligned its objectives with management needs by developing a climate extreme vulnerability tool that guides adaptation options development. The vulnerability tool determines the likely degree to which native Yellowstone cutthroat trout and water availability are susceptible to, or unable to cope with adverse effects of climate change extremes. We spatially categorize vulnerability for water and native trout resources using exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity indicators that use minimum and maximum climate and GIS data. Results show that the vulnerability of water availability may increase in areas that have less storage and become more dominated by rain instead of snow. Native trout habitat was found to improve in some areas from warmer temperatures suggesting future refugia habitat may need to be a focus of conservation efforts. The climate extreme vulnerability tool provides Forest Service resource managers science based information that guides adaptation strategy development; prioritize conservation projects; guides monitoring efforts, and helps promote more resilient ecosystems undergoing the effects of climate change.

Assessing the Urban Heat Island Effect Across Biomes in the Continental USA Using Landsat and MODIS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Imhoff, Marc L.; Bounoua, L.; Zhang, Ping; Wolfe, Robert

2011-01-01

Impervious surface area (ISA) from the Landsat TM and land surface temperature (LST) from MODIS averaged over three annual cycles (2003-2005) are used in a spatial analysis to assess the urban heat island (UHI) skin temperature amplitude and its relationship to development intensity, size, and ecological setting for 38 of the most populous cities in the continental United States. Development intensity zones based on %ISA are defined across urban gradients and used to stratify sampling of LST and NDVI. We find that ecological context significantly influences the amplitude of summer daytime UHI (urban - rural temperature difference) with the largest 8 C (average) for cities built in mixed forest biomes. For all cities ISA is the primary driver for increase in temperature explaining 70% of the total variance. Annually, urban areas are warmer than the non-urban fringe by 2.9 C, except in biomes with arid and semiarid climates. The average amplitude of the UHI is asymmetric with a 4.3 C difference in summer and 1.3 C in winter. In desert environments, UHI's point to a possible heat sink effect. Results show that the urban heat island amplitude increases with city size and is seasonally asymmetric for a large number of cities across most biomes. The implications are that for urban areas developed within forested ecosystems the summertime UHI can be quite high relative to the wintertime UHI suggesting that the residential energy consumption required for summer cooling is likely to increase with urban growth within those biomes.

Dynamic modeling of Tampa Bay urban development using parallel computing

USGS Publications Warehouse

Xian, G.; Crane, M.; Steinwand, D.

2005-01-01

Urban land use and land cover has changed significantly in the environs of Tampa Bay, Florida, over the past 50 years. Extensive urbanization has created substantial change to the region's landscape and ecosystems. This paper uses a dynamic urban-growth model, SLEUTH, which applies six geospatial data themes (slope, land use, exclusion, urban extent, transportation, hillside), to study the process of urbanization and associated land use and land cover change in the Tampa Bay area. To reduce processing time and complete the modeling process within an acceptable period, the model is recoded and ported to a Beowulf cluster. The parallel-processing computer system accomplishes the massive amount of computation the modeling simulation requires. SLEUTH calibration process for the Tampa Bay urban growth simulation spends only 10 h CPU time. The model predicts future land use/cover change trends for Tampa Bay from 1992 to 2025. Urban extent is predicted to double in the Tampa Bay watershed between 1992 and 2025. Results show an upward trend of urbanization at the expense of a decline of 58% and 80% in agriculture and forested lands, respectively.

Stable isotopes of algae and macroinvertebrates in streams respond to watershed urbanization, inform management goals, and indicate food web relationships.

PubMed

Smucker, Nathan J; Kuhn, Anne; Cruz-Quinones, Carlos J; Serbst, Jonathan R; Lake, James L

2018-01-07

Watershed development and anthropogenic sources of nitrogen are among leading causes of negative impacts to aquatic ecosystems around the world. The δ 15 N of aquatic biota can be used as indicators of anthropogenic sources of nitrogen enriched in 15 N, but this mostly has been done at small spatial extents or to document effects of point sources. In this study, we sampled 77 sites along a forest to urban land cover gradient to examine food webs and the use of δ 15 N of periphyton and macroinvertebrate functional feeding groups (FFGs) as indicators of watershed development and nitrogen effects on streams. Functional feeding groups had low δ 15 N variability among taxa within sites. Mean absolute differences between individual taxa and their respective site FFG means were < 0.55‰, whereas site means of δ 15 N of FFGs had ranges of approximately 7-12‰ among sites. The δ 15 N of periphyton and macroinvertebrate FFGs distinguished least disturbed streams from those with greater watershed urbanization, and they were strongly correlated with increasing nitrogen concentrations and watershed impervious cover. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling, using δ 15 N of taxa, showed that changes in macroinvertebrate assemblages as a whole were associated with forest-to-urban and increasing nitrogen gradients. Assuming an average +3.4‰ per trophic level increase, δ 15 N of biota indicated that detrital pathways likely were important to food web structure, even in streams with highly developed watersheds. We used periphyton and macroinvertebrate FFG δ 15 N to identify possible management goals that can inform decisions affecting nutrients and watershed land use. Overall, the δ 15 N of periphyton and macroinvertebrates were strong indicators of watershed urban development effects on stream ecosystems, and thus, also could make them useful for quantifying the effectiveness of nitrogen, stream, and watershed management efforts.

Sinks for Inorganic Nitrogen Deposition in Forest Ecosystems with Low and High Nitrogen Deposition in China

PubMed Central

Sheng, Wenping; Yu, Guirui; Fang, Huajun; Jiang, Chunming; Yan, Junhua; Zhou, Mei

2014-01-01

We added the stable isotope 15N in the form of (15NH4)2SO4 and K15NO3 to forest ecosystems in eastern China under two different N deposition levels to study the fate of the different forms of deposited N. Prior to the addition of the 15N tracers, the natural 15N abundance ranging from −3.4‰ to +10.9‰ in the forest under heavy N deposition at Dinghushan (DHS), and from −3.92‰ to +7.25‰ in the forest under light N deposition at Daxinganling (DXAL). Four months after the tracer application, the total 15N recovery from the major ecosystem compartments ranged from 55.3% to 90.5%. The total 15N recoveries were similar under the (15NH4)2SO4 tracer treatment in both two forest ecosystems, whereas the total 15N recovery was significantly lower in the subtropical forest ecosystem at DHS than in the boreal forest ecosystem at DXAL under the K15NO3 tracer treatment. The 15N assimilated into the tree biomass represented only 8.8% to 33.7% of the 15N added to the forest ecosystems. In both of the tracer application treatments, more 15N was recovered from the tree biomass in the subtropical forest ecosystem at DHS than the boreal forest ecosystem at DXAL. The amount of 15N assimilated into tree biomass was greater under the K15NO3 tracer treatment than that of the (15NH4)2SO4 treatment in both forest ecosystems. This study suggests that, although less N was immobilized in the forest ecosystems under more intensive N deposition conditions, forest ecosystems in China strongly retain N deposition, even in areas under heavy N deposition intensity or in ecosystems undergoing spring freezing and thawing melts. Compared to ammonium deposition, deposited nitrate is released from the forest ecosystem more easily. However, nitrate deposition could be retained mostly in the plant N pool, which might lead to more C sequestration in these ecosystems. PMID:24586688

Sinks for inorganic nitrogen deposition in forest ecosystems with low and high nitrogen deposition in China.

PubMed

Sheng, Wenping; Yu, Guirui; Fang, Huajun; Jiang, Chunming; Yan, Junhua; Zhou, Mei

2014-01-01

We added the stable isotope (15)N in the form of ((15)NH4)2SO4 and K(15)NO3 to forest ecosystems in eastern China under two different N deposition levels to study the fate of the different forms of deposited N. Prior to the addition of the (15)N tracers, the natural (15)N abundance ranging from -3.4‰ to +10.9‰ in the forest under heavy N deposition at Dinghushan (DHS), and from -3.92‰ to +7.25‰ in the forest under light N deposition at Daxinganling (DXAL). Four months after the tracer application, the total (15)N recovery from the major ecosystem compartments ranged from 55.3% to 90.5%. The total (15)N recoveries were similar under the ((15)NH4)2SO4 tracer treatment in both two forest ecosystems, whereas the total (15)N recovery was significantly lower in the subtropical forest ecosystem at DHS than in the boreal forest ecosystem at DXAL under the K(15)NO3 tracer treatment. The (15)N assimilated into the tree biomass represented only 8.8% to 33.7% of the (15)N added to the forest ecosystems. In both of the tracer application treatments, more (15)N was recovered from the tree biomass in the subtropical forest ecosystem at DHS than the boreal forest ecosystem at DXAL. The amount of (15)N assimilated into tree biomass was greater under the K(15)NO3 tracer treatment than that of the ((15)NH4)2SO4 treatment in both forest ecosystems. This study suggests that, although less N was immobilized in the forest ecosystems under more intensive N deposition conditions, forest ecosystems in China strongly retain N deposition, even in areas under heavy N deposition intensity or in ecosystems undergoing spring freezing and thawing melts. Compared to ammonium deposition, deposited nitrate is released from the forest ecosystem more easily. However, nitrate deposition could be retained mostly in the plant N pool, which might lead to more C sequestration in these ecosystems.

Watershed-Scale Land Use Activities Influence the Physiological Condition of Stream Fish.

PubMed

King, Gregory D; Chapman, Jacqueline M; Midwood, Jonathan D; Cooke, Steven J; Suski, Cory D

2016-01-01

Land use changes within watersheds can have large effects on stream ecosystems, but the mechanistic basis of those effects remains poorly understood. While changes to population size presumably reflect underlying variation in organismal health and condition, such individual-level metrics are rarely evaluated in the context of ecosystem disturbance. To address this deficiency, we combined physiological sampling with geographic information systems to quantify the effects of land use on physiological indicators of health in largemouth bass. More specifically, we first quantified blood metrics relating to nutrition, oxidative stress, and the glucocorticoid stress response from largemouth bass residing in eight watersheds. We then used Akaike's information criterion to define relationships between these blood metrics and land cover, including forests, agricultural areas, urban areas, and wetlands. The proportion of forest cover in a watershed was the best predictor of blood metrics representing recent feeding and resistance to oxidative stress, whereas the proportion of wetlands was the best predictor of glucocorticoid function; however, further investigation is needed, as the explanatory power of the models was relatively low. Patterns in energy reserves were not influenced by any land use practices. Interestingly, anthropogenic land use categories, such as urban and agricultural areas, were not the best predictor for any blood metrics. Together, our results indicate that fish health is most related to natural features of a landscape rather than anthropogenic land uses. Furthermore, these findings suggest that physiological methods could supplement traditional population and community assessments to develop a more comprehensive understanding of ecosystem interactions and improve stream management.

Carbon cycle dynamics within Oregon’s urban-suburban-forested-agricultural landscapes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Law, Beverly E.; Still, Christopher Jason; Schmidt, Andres

Our overarching goal was to develop and utilize an observation-based analysis framework to assess interactions between climate and mosaics of land use, land cover and urbanization on regional carbon, water, and energy dynamics, and potential changes associated with land management and climate. Carbon, water and energy cycling was quantified for the range of current and potential land uses under present and future climates. The study region of Oregon has a strong climatic gradient from the coastal mesic forests (2500mm ppt) to the Willamette Valley, Cascade Mountains, and the Northern Great Basin semi-arid “cold desert” to the east (300 mm). Themore » study was focused on the effects of (1) conversion of semi-arid sagebrush and Willamette Valley agricultural crops to bioenergy production; (2) afforestation of idle land and rangelands deemed suitable for forests or poplar crops under future climate conditions. We found that net ecosystem production (NEP), the net of ecosystem photosynthesis and respiration, was 10 times higher in the high biomass forests of the Coast Range compared with drier regions like sagebrush in the Northern Great Basin, which was nearly zero (Schmidt et al. 2016). The state total NEP averaged about 30 teragrams carbon (Tg C) per year for the years 2012 to 2014 using our model framework that we developed for predictions of current and future NEP, and compared well with our detailed inventory estimates (28 Tg C annual average for 2011-2015 for forests only; Law et al. 2017). Running our model framework until the year 2050, we found that climate alone only increased NEP by less than 1 Tg C per decade (~3%) using the current trajectory of carbon dioxide emissions, however, changes are expected to be more rapid in subsequent years. We evaluated the possibility of land use change from grass seed crops to poplar for bioenergy, which slightly increased NEP by 2050. The most important variable for carbon sequestration estimates (net carbon sources and sinks) is net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB), which accounts for NEP and losses associated with harvest removals and wildfire emissions. Here, we focus on forests because they have the largest effect on carbon sequestration. We found that NECB in Oregon averaged 18.8 Tg C per year in 2011-2015, offsetting fossil fuel emissions (16 Tg C per year). Annual fire emissions reducing NECB by about 5% (0.97 Tg C per year) in the state. The mesic Coast Range and West Cascades ecoregions that make up the western third of Oregon account for 60% of the forest NECB. This analysis illustrates that annual emissions from forests disturbances are low relative to annual fossil fuel emissions for the same area (Law et al. 2017, Hudiburg et al. in review).« less

Trace elements and nitrogen content in naturally growing moss Hypnum cupressiforme in urban and peri-urban forests of the Municipality of Ljubljana (Slovenia).

PubMed

Berisha, S; Skudnik, M; Vilhar, U; Sabovljević, M; Zavadlav, S; Jeran, Z

2017-02-01

We monitored trace metals and nitrogen using naturally growing moss Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw. in urban and peri-urban forests of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. The aim of this study was to explore the differences in atmospheric deposition of trace metals and nitrogen between urban and peri-urban forests. Samples were collected at a total of 44 sites in urban forests (forests within the motorway ring road) and peri-urban forests (forests outside the motorway ring road). Mosses collected in urban forests showed increased trace metal concentrations compared to samples collected from peri-urban forests. Higher values were significant for As, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Tl and V. Within the motorway ring road, the notable differences in element concentrations between the two urban forests were significant for Cr, Ni and Mo. Factor analysis showed three groups of elements, highlighting the contribution of traffic emissions, individual heating appliances and the resuspension of contaminated soils and dust as the main sources of trace elements in urban forests.

Biodiversity as a solution to mitigate climate change impacts on the functioning of forest ecosystems.

PubMed

Hisano, Masumi; Searle, Eric B; Chen, Han Y H

2018-02-01

Forest ecosystems are critical to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through carbon sequestration. However, climate change has affected forest ecosystem functioning in both negative and positive ways, and has led to shifts in species/functional diversity and losses in plant species diversity which may impair the positive effects of diversity on ecosystem functioning. Biodiversity may mitigate climate change impacts on (I) biodiversity itself, as more-diverse systems could be more resilient to climate change impacts, and (II) ecosystem functioning through the positive relationship between diversity and ecosystem functioning. By surveying the literature, we examined how climate change has affected forest ecosystem functioning and plant diversity. Based on the biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning (B→EF), we specifically address the potential for biodiversity to mitigate climate change impacts on forest ecosystem functioning. For this purpose, we formulate a concept whereby biodiversity may reduce the negative impacts or enhance the positive impacts of climate change on ecosystem functioning. Further B→EF studies on climate change in natural forests are encouraged to elucidate how biodiversity might influence ecosystem functioning. This may be achieved through the detailed scrutiny of large spatial/long temporal scale data sets, such as long-term forest inventories. Forest management strategies based on B→EF have strong potential for augmenting the effectiveness of the roles of forests in the mitigation of climate change impacts on ecosystem functioning. © 2017 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Amazon Rain Forest Classification Using J-ERS-1 SAR Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Freeman, A.; Kramer, C.; Alves, M.; Chapman, B.

1994-01-01

The Amazon rain forest is a region of the earth that is undergoing rapid change. Man-made disturbance, such as clear cutting for agriculture or mining, is altering the rain forest ecosystem. For many parts of the rain forest, seasonal changes from the wet to the dry season are also significant. Changes in the seasonal cycle of flooding and draining can cause significant alterations in the forest ecosystem.Because much of the Amazon basin is regularly covered by thick clouds, optical and infrared coverage from the LANDSAT and SPOT satellites is sporadic. Imaging radar offers a much better potential for regular monitoring of changes in this region. In particular, the J-ERS-1 satellite carries an L-band HH SAR system, which via an on-board tape recorder, can collect data from almost anywhere on the globe at any time of year.In this paper, we show how J-ERS-1 radar images can be used to accurately classify different forest types (i.e., forest, hill forest, flooded forest), disturbed areas such as clear cuts and urban areas, and river courses in the Amazon basin. J-ERS-1 data has also shown significant differences between the dry and wet season, indicating a strong potential for monitoring seasonal change. The algorithm used to classify J-ERS-1 data is a standard maximum-likelihood classifier, using the radar image local mean and standard deviation of texture as input. Rivers and clear cuts are detected using edge detection and region-growing algorithms. Since this classifier is intended to operate successfully on data taken over the entire Amazon, several options are available to enable the user to modify the algorithm to suit a particular image.

Use of AIRS, OMI, MLS, and TES Data in Assessing Forest Ecosystem Exposure to Ozone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spruce, Joseph P.

2007-01-01

Ground-level ozone at high levels poses health threats to exposed flora and fauna, including negative impacts to human health. While concern is common regarding depletion of ozone in the stratosphere, portions of the urban and rural United States periodically have high ambient levels of tropospheric ozone on the ground. Ozone pollution can cause a variety of impacts to susceptible vegetation (e.g., Ponderosa and Jeffrey pine species in the southwestern United States), such as stunted growth, alteration of growth form, needle or leaf chlorosis, and impaired ability to withstand drought-induced water stress. In addition, Southern Californian forests with high ozone exposures have been recently subject to multiyear droughts that have led to extensive forest overstory mortality from insect outbreaks and increased incidence of wildfires. Residual forests in these impacted areas may be more vulnerable to high ozone exposures and to other forest threats than ever before. NASA sensors collect a wealth of atmospheric data that have been used recently for mapping and monitoring regional tropospheric ozone levels. AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder), OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument), MLS (Microwave Limb Sounder), and TES (Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer) data could be used to assess forest ecosystem exposure to ozone. Such NASA data hold promise for providing better or at least complementary synoptic information on ground-level ozone levels that Federal agency partners can use to assess forest health trends and to mitigate the threats as needed in compliance with Federal laws and mandates. NASA data products on ozone concentrations may be able to aid applications of DSTs (decision support tools) adopted by the USDA FS (U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service) and by the NPS (National Park Service), such as the Ozone Calculator, in which ground ozone estimates are employed to assess ozone impacts to forested vegetation.

Aquatic biodiversity in forests: A weak link in ecosystem services resilience

USGS Publications Warehouse

Penaluna, Brooke E.; Olson, Deanna H.; Flitcroft, Rebecca L; Weber, Matthew A.; Bellmore, J. Ryan; Wondzell, Steven M.; Dunham, Jason B.; Johnson, Sherri L.; Reeves, Gordon H.

2017-01-01

The diversity of aquatic ecosystems is being quickly reduced on many continents, warranting a closer examination of the consequences for ecological integrity and ecosystem services. Here we describe intermediate and final ecosystem services derived from aquatic biodiversity in forests. We include a summary of the factors framing the assembly of aquatic biodiversity in forests in natural systems and how they change with a variety of natural disturbances and human-derived stressors. We consider forested aquatic ecosystems as a multi-state portfolio, with diverse assemblages and life-history strategies occurring at local scales as a consequence of a mosaic of habitat conditions and past disturbances and stressors. Maintaining this multi-state portfolio of assemblages requires a broad perspective of ecosystem structure, various functions, services, and management implications relative to contemporary stressors. Because aquatic biodiversity provides multiple ecosystem services to forests, activities that compromise aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity could be an issue for maintaining forest ecosystem integrity. We illustrate these concepts with examples of aquatic biodiversity and ecosystem services in forests of northwestern North America, also known as Northeast Pacific Rim. Encouraging management planning at broad as well as local spatial scales to recognize multi-state ecosystem management goals has promise for maintaining valuable ecosystem services. Ultimately, integration of information from socio-ecological ecosystems will be needed to maintain ecosystem services derived directly and indirectly from forest aquatic biota.

Paying for Forest Ecosystem Services: Voluntary Versus Mandatory Payments.

PubMed

Roesch-McNally, Gabrielle E; Rabotyagov, Sergey S

2016-03-01

The emergence of new markets for forest ecosystem services can be a compelling opportunity for market diversification for private forest landowners, while increasing the provision of public goods from private lands. However, there is limited information available on the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for specific forest ecosystem services, particularly across different ecosystem market mechanisms. We utilize survey data from Oregon and Washington households to compare marginal WTP for forest ecosystem services and the total WTP for cost-effective bundles of forest ecosystem services obtained from a typical Pacific Northwest forest across two value elicitation formats representing two different ecosystem market mechanisms: an incentive-compatible choice experiment involving mandatory tax payments and a hypothetical private provision scenario modeled as eliciting contributions to the preferred forest management alternative via a provision point mechanism with a refund. A representative household's total WTP for the average forest management program was estimated at $217.59 per household/year under a mandatory tax mechanism and $160.44 per household/per year under a voluntary, crowdfunding-style, contribution mechanism; however, these estimates are not statistically different. Marginal WTP estimates were assessed for particular forest ecosystem service attributes including water quality, carbon storage, mature forest habitat, and public recreational access. This study finds that survey respondents place significant economic value on forest ecosystem services in both elicitation formats and that the distributions of the marginal WTP are not statistically significantly different.

Paying for Forest Ecosystem Services: Voluntary Versus Mandatory Payments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roesch-McNally, Gabrielle E.; Rabotyagov, Sergey S.

2016-03-01

The emergence of new markets for forest ecosystem services can be a compelling opportunity for market diversification for private forest landowners, while increasing the provision of public goods from private lands. However, there is limited information available on the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for specific forest ecosystem services, particularly across different ecosystem market mechanisms. We utilize survey data from Oregon and Washington households to compare marginal WTP for forest ecosystem services and the total WTP for cost-effective bundles of forest ecosystem services obtained from a typical Pacific Northwest forest across two value elicitation formats representing two different ecosystem market mechanisms: an incentive-compatible choice experiment involving mandatory tax payments and a hypothetical private provision scenario modeled as eliciting contributions to the preferred forest management alternative via a provision point mechanism with a refund. A representative household's total WTP for the average forest management program was estimated at 217.59 per household/year under a mandatory tax mechanism and 160.44 per household/per year under a voluntary, crowdfunding-style, contribution mechanism; however, these estimates are not statistically different. Marginal WTP estimates were assessed for particular forest ecosystem service attributes including water quality, carbon storage, mature forest habitat, and public recreational access. This study finds that survey respondents place significant economic value on forest ecosystem services in both elicitation formats and that the distributions of the marginal WTP are not statistically significantly different.

Land use/land cover change and implications for ecosystems services in the Likangala River Catchment, Malawi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pullanikkatil, Deepa; Palamuleni, Lobina G.; Ruhiiga, Tabukeli M.

2016-06-01

Likangala River catchment in Zomba District of Southern Malawi is important for water resources, agriculture and provides many ecosystem services. Provisioning ecosystem services accrued by the populations within the catchment include water, fish, medicinal plants and timber among others. In spite of its importance, the River catchment is under threat from anthropogenic activities and land use change. This paper studies land uses and land cover change in the catchment and how the changes have impacted on the ecosystem services. Landsat 5 and 8 images (1984, 1994, 2005 and 2013) were used to map land cover change and subsequent inventorying of provisioning ecosystem services. Participatory Geographic Information Systems and Focus group discussions were conducted to identify provisioning ecosystems services that communities benefit from the catchment and indicate these on the map. Post classification comparisons indicate that since 1984, there has been a decline in woodlands from 135.3 km2 in 1984 to 15.5 km2 in 2013 while urban areas increased from 9.8 km2 to 23.8 km2 in 2013. Communities indicated that provisioning ecosystems services such as forest products, wild animals and fruits and medicinal plants have been declining over the years. In addition, evidence of catchment degradation through waste disposal, illegal sand mining, deforestation and farming on marginal lands were observed. Population growth, urbanization and demand for agricultural lands have contributed to this land use and land cover change. The study suggests addressing catchment degradation through integrated method where an ecosystems approach is used. Thus, both the proximate and underlying driving factors of land-use and land cover change need to be addressed in order to sustainably reduce ecosystem degradation.

Tropical land-cover change alters biogeochemical inputs to ecosystems in a Mexican montane landscape.

PubMed

Ponette-González, A G; Weathers, K C; Curran, L M

2010-10-01

In tropical regions, the effects of land-cover change on nutrient and pollutant inputs to ecosystems remain poorly documented and may be pronounced, especially in montane areas exposed to elevated atmospheric deposition. We examined atmospheric deposition and canopy interactions of sulfate-sulfur (SO4(2-)-S), chloride (Cl-), and nitrate-nitrogen (NO(3-)-N) in three extensive tropical montane land-cover types: clearings, forest, and coffee agroforest. Bulk and fog deposition to clearings was measured as well as throughfall (water that falls through plant canopies) ion fluxes in seven forest and five coffee sites. Sampling was conducted from 2005 to 2008 across two regions in the Sierra Madre Oriental, Veracruz, Mexico. Annual throughfall fluxes to forest and coffee sites ranged over 6-27 kg SO4(2-)-S/ha, 12-69 kg Cl-/ha, and 2-6 kg NO(3-)-N/ha. Sulfate-S in forest and coffee throughfall was higher or similar to bulk S deposition measured in clearings. Throughfall Cl- inputs, however, were consistently higher than Cl- amounts deposited to cleared areas, with net Cl- fluxes enhanced in evergreen coffee relative to semi-deciduous forest plots. Compared to bulk nitrate-N deposition, forest and coffee canopies retained 1-4 kg NO(3-)-N/ha annually, reducing NO(3-)-N inputs to soils. Overall, throughfall fluxes were similar to values reported for Neotropical sites influenced by anthropogenic emissions, while bulk S and N deposition were nine- and eightfold greater, respectively, than background wet deposition rates for remote tropical areas. Our results demonstrate that land-cover type significantly alters the magnitude and spatial distribution of atmospheric inputs to tropical ecosystems, primarily through canopy-induced changes in fog and dry deposition. However, we found that land cover interacts with topography and climate in significant ways to produce spatially heterogeneous patterns of anion fluxes, and that these factors can converge to create deposition hotspots. For land managers, this finding suggests that there is potential to identify species and ecosystems at risk of excess and increasing deposition in montane watersheds undergoing rapid transformation. Our data further indicate that montane ecosystems are vulnerable to air pollution impacts in this and similar tropical regions downwind of urban, industrial, and agricultural emission sources.

Spatial and temporal patterns of carbon storage in forest ecosystems on Hainan island, southern China.

PubMed

Ren, Hai; Li, Linjun; Liu, Qiang; Wang, Xu; Li, Yide; Hui, Dafeng; Jian, Shuguang; Wang, Jun; Yang, Huai; Lu, Hongfang; Zhou, Guoyi; Tang, Xuli; Zhang, Qianmei; Wang, Dong; Yuan, Lianlian; Chen, Xubing

2014-01-01

Spatial and temporal patterns of carbon (C) storage in forest ecosystems significantly affect the terrestrial C budget, but such patterns are unclear in the forests in Hainan Province, the largest tropical island in China. Here, we estimated the spatial and temporal patterns of C storage from 1993-2008 in Hainan's forest ecosystems by combining our measured data with four consecutive national forest inventories data. Forest coverage increased from 20.7% in the 1950s to 56.4% in the 2010s. The average C density of 163.7 Mg C/ha in Hainan's forest ecosystems in this study was slightly higher than that of China's mainland forests, but was remarkably lower than that in the tropical forests worldwide. Total forest ecosystem C storage in Hainan increased from 109.51 Tg in 1993 to 279.17 Tg in 2008. Soil C accounted for more than 70% of total forest ecosystem C. The spatial distribution of forest C storage in Hainan was uneven, reflecting differences in land use change and forest management. The potential carbon sequestration of forest ecosystems was 77.3 Tg C if all forested lands were restored to natural tropical forests. To increase the C sequestration potential on Hainan Island, future forest management should focus on the conservation of natural forests, selection of tree species, planting of understory species, and implementation of sustainable practices.

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Carbon Storage in Forest Ecosystems on Hainan Island, Southern China

PubMed Central

Tang, Xuli; Zhang, Qianmei; Wang, Dong; Yuan, Lianlian; Chen, Xubing

2014-01-01

Spatial and temporal patterns of carbon (C) storage in forest ecosystems significantly affect the terrestrial C budget, but such patterns are unclear in the forests in Hainan Province, the largest tropical island in China. Here, we estimated the spatial and temporal patterns of C storage from 1993–2008 in Hainan's forest ecosystems by combining our measured data with four consecutive national forest inventories data. Forest coverage increased from 20.7% in the 1950s to 56.4% in the 2010s. The average C density of 163.7 Mg C/ha in Hainan's forest ecosystems in this study was slightly higher than that of China's mainland forests, but was remarkably lower than that in the tropical forests worldwide. Total forest ecosystem C storage in Hainan increased from 109.51 Tg in 1993 to 279.17 Tg in 2008. Soil C accounted for more than 70% of total forest ecosystem C. The spatial distribution of forest C storage in Hainan was uneven, reflecting differences in land use change and forest management. The potential carbon sequestration of forest ecosystems was 77.3 Tg C if all forested lands were restored to natural tropical forests. To increase the C sequestration potential on Hainan Island, future forest management should focus on the conservation of natural forests, selection of tree species, planting of understory species, and implementation of sustainable practices. PMID:25229628

Extending large-scale forest inventories to assess urban forests.

PubMed

Corona, Piermaria; Agrimi, Mariagrazia; Baffetta, Federica; Barbati, Anna; Chiriacò, Maria Vincenza; Fattorini, Lorenzo; Pompei, Enrico; Valentini, Riccardo; Mattioli, Walter

2012-03-01

Urban areas are continuously expanding today, extending their influence on an increasingly large proportion of woods and trees located in or nearby urban and urbanizing areas, the so-called urban forests. Although these forests have the potential for significantly improving the quality the urban environment and the well-being of the urban population, data to quantify the extent and characteristics of urban forests are still lacking or fragmentary on a large scale. In this regard, an expansion of the domain of multipurpose forest inventories like National Forest Inventories (NFIs) towards urban forests would be required. To this end, it would be convenient to exploit the same sampling scheme applied in NFIs to assess the basic features of urban forests. This paper considers approximately unbiased estimators of abundance and coverage of urban forests, together with estimators of the corresponding variances, which can be achieved from the first phase of most large-scale forest inventories. A simulation study is carried out in order to check the performance of the considered estimators under various situations involving the spatial distribution of the urban forests over the study area. An application is worked out on the data from the Italian NFI.

Climate Change and Ecosystem Services Output Efficiency in Southern Loblolly Pine Forests.

PubMed

Susaeta, Andres; Adams, Damian C; Carter, Douglas R; Dwivedi, Puneet

2016-09-01

Forests provide myriad ecosystem services that are vital to humanity. With climate change, we expect to see significant changes to forests that will alter the supply of these critical services and affect human well-being. To better understand the impacts of climate change on forest-based ecosystem services, we applied a data envelopment analysis method to assess plot-level efficiency in the provision of ecosystem services in Florida natural loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) forests. Using field data for n = 16 loblolly pine forest plots, including inputs such as site index, tree density, age, precipitation, and temperatures for each forest plot, we assessed the relative plot-level production of three ecosystem services: timber, carbon sequestered, and species richness. The results suggested that loblolly pine forests in Florida were largely inefficient in the provision of these ecosystem services under current climatic conditions. Climate change had a small negative impact on the loblolly pine forests efficiency in the provision of ecosystem services. In this context, we discussed the reduction of tree density that may not improve ecosystem services production.

Climate Change and Ecosystem Services Output Efficiency in Southern Loblolly Pine Forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Susaeta, Andres; Adams, Damian C.; Carter, Douglas R.; Dwivedi, Puneet

2016-09-01

Forests provide myriad ecosystem services that are vital to humanity. With climate change, we expect to see significant changes to forests that will alter the supply of these critical services and affect human well-being. To better understand the impacts of climate change on forest-based ecosystem services, we applied a data envelopment analysis method to assess plot-level efficiency in the provision of ecosystem services in Florida natural loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda L.) forests. Using field data for n = 16 loblolly pine forest plots, including inputs such as site index, tree density, age, precipitation, and temperatures for each forest plot, we assessed the relative plot-level production of three ecosystem services: timber, carbon sequestered, and species richness. The results suggested that loblolly pine forests in Florida were largely inefficient in the provision of these ecosystem services under current climatic conditions. Climate change had a small negative impact on the loblolly pine forests efficiency in the provision of ecosystem services. In this context, we discussed the reduction of tree density that may not improve ecosystem services production.

Invasive Shrub Mapping in an Urban Environment from Hyperspectral and LiDAR-Derived Attributes.

PubMed

Chance, Curtis M; Coops, Nicholas C; Plowright, Andrew A; Tooke, Thoreau R; Christen, Andreas; Aven, Neal

2016-01-01

Proactive management of invasive species in urban areas is critical to restricting their overall distribution. The objective of this work is to determine whether advanced remote sensing technologies can help to detect invasions effectively and efficiently in complex urban ecosystems such as parks. In Surrey, BC, Canada, Himalayan blackberry ( Rubus armeniacus ) and English ivy ( Hedera helix ) are two invasive shrub species that can negatively affect native ecosystems in cities and managed urban parks. Random forest (RF) models were created to detect these two species using a combination of hyperspectral imagery, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. LiDAR-derived predictor variables included irradiance models, canopy structural characteristics, and orographic variables. RF detection accuracy ranged from 77.8 to 87.8% for Himalayan blackberry and 81.9 to 82.1% for English ivy, with open areas classified more accurately than areas under canopy cover. English ivy was predicted to occur across a greater area than Himalayan blackberry both within parks and across the entire city. Both Himalayan blackberry and English ivy were mostly located in clusters according to a Local Moran's I analysis. The occurrence of both species decreased as the distance from roads increased. This study shows the feasibility of producing highly accurate detection maps of plant invasions in urban environments using a fusion of remotely sensed data, as well as the ability to use these products to guide management decisions.

[Changes of agroecosystem service value during urbanization of Guangzhou City, South China].

PubMed

Ye, Yan-Qiong; Li, Yi-Mian; Zhang, Jia-En

2011-06-01

Based on the 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008 statistical data of Guangzhou City, and by the methods of marketing valuation, shadow price, afforestation cost, carbon tax, and industrial oxygen-producing, this paper calculated the related service values of various agroecosystems in Guangzhou, and assessed the changes of agroecosystem service value during the rapid urbanization of the City. In 1996-2008, though the service values of farmland, grassland, and water ecosystems had somewhat increase, the overall agroecosystem service value of Guangzhou decreased, mainly due to the more decrease of forest ecosystem service value which occupied more than 90% of the total service value each year. Over the studied period, the proportion of each individual functional service value to the total service value changed little, and the contribution of each individual functional service value was in the order of climate regulation > gases regulation > product service > waste treatment > soil conservation > biodiversity conservation > recreation and culture > water source retention and storage. The sum of climate regulation and gases regulation service values took over 91% of the total agroecosystem service value. There was a significant negative correlation (R = -0.905, P < 0.01)between urbanization rate and total agroecosystem service value, suggesting that the increase of urbanization rate would lead to a decrease of agroecosystem service value. Therefore, it requires an appropriate reservation of various agroecosystems to maintain the regional sustainable development during urbanization.

Mapping Urban Tree Canopy Coverage and Structure using Data Fusion of High Resolution Satellite Imagery and Aerial Lidar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elmes, A.; Rogan, J.; Williams, C. A.; Martin, D. G.; Ratick, S.; Nowak, D.

2015-12-01

Urban tree canopy (UTC) coverage is a critical component of sustainable urban areas. Trees provide a number of important ecosystem services, including air pollution mitigation, water runoff control, and aesthetic and cultural values. Critically, urban trees also act to mitigate the urban heat island (UHI) effect by shading impervious surfaces and via evaporative cooling. The cooling effect of urban trees can be seen locally, with individual trees reducing home HVAC costs, and at a citywide scale, reducing the extent and magnitude of an urban areas UHI. In order to accurately model the ecosystem services of a given urban forest, it is essential to map in detail the condition and composition of these trees at a fine scale, capturing individual tree crowns and their vertical structure. This paper presents methods for delineating UTC and measuring canopy structure at fine spatial resolution (<1m). These metrics are essential for modeling the HVAC benefits from UTC for individual homes, and for assessing the ecosystem services for entire urban areas. Such maps have previously been made using a variety of methods, typically relying on high resolution aerial or satellite imagery. This paper seeks to contribute to this growing body of methods, relying on a data fusion method to combine the information contained in high resolution WorldView-3 satellite imagery and aerial lidar data using an object-based image classification approach. The study area, Worcester, MA, has recently undergone a large-scale tree removal and reforestation program, following a pest eradication effort. Therefore, the urban canopy in this location provides a wide mix of tree age class and functional type, ideal for illustrating the effectiveness of the proposed methods. Early results show that the object-based classifier is indeed capable of identifying individual tree crowns, while continued research will focus on extracting crown structural characteristics using lidar-derived metrics. Ultimately, the resulting fine resolution UTC map will be compared with previously created UTC maps of the same area but for earlier dates, producing a canopy change map corresponding to the Worcester area tree removal and replanting effort.

Top 10 principles for designing healthy coastal ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gaydos, Joseph K.; Dierauf, Leslie; Kirby, Grant; Brosnan, Deborah; Gilardi, Kirsten; Davis, Gary E.

2008-01-01

Like other coastal zones around the world, the inland sea ecosystem of Washington (USA) and British Columbia (Canada), an area known as the Salish Sea, is changing under pressure from a growing human population, conversion of native forest and shoreline habitat to urban development, toxic contamination of sediments and species, and overharvest of resources. While billions of dollars have been spent trying to restore other coastal ecosystems around the world, there still is no successful model for restoring estuarine or marine ecosystems like the Salish Sea. Despite the lack of a guiding model, major ecological principles do exist that should be applied as people work to design the Salish Sea and other large marine ecosystems for the future. We suggest that the following 10 ecological principles serve as a foundation for educating the public and for designing a healthy Salish Sea and other coastal ecosystems for future generations: (1) Think ecosystem: political boundaries are arbitrary; (2) Account for ecosystem connectivity; (3) Understand the food web; (4) Avoid fragmentation; (5) Respect ecosystem integrity; (6) Support nature's resilience; (7) Value nature: it's money in your pocket; (8) Watch wildlife health; (9) Plan for extremes; and (10) Share the knowledge.

Emergy-based urban ecosystem health assessment: A case study of Baotou, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, G. Y.; Yang, Z. F.; Chen, B.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, L. X.; Zhao, Y. W.; Jiang, M. M.

2009-03-01

Ecosystem health has been a hot topic of ecosystem management research for years. Considering the urban area as a complex ecosystem consisted of natural, societal and economic entities, urban ecosystem health assessment is necessary to be conducted for the scientific management and proper ecological restoration. Combining with the ecosystem service function of the urban ecosystem, theoretical framework and methodology of the urban ecosystem health assessment based on emergy are proposed and the temporal variation of the health level of the city are also outlined in this paper. Following the principle of ecosystem health assessment, four major factors, including vigor (V), organizational structure (O), resilience (R) and function maintenance (F), are integrated to construct a novel emergy-based urban ecosystem health index (EUEHI). Based on the EUEHI and comparing with those of five other typical Chinese cities, the case study of Baotou city shows that its urban ecosystem health level is steadily arising despite the year 2001 as a turning point. Due to the emphasis on the resource structure adjustment and utilization efficiency, Baotou has obtained a better organizational structure and service function for the total urban ecosystem.

EnviroAtlas - Woodbine, IA - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 1 block group in Woodbine, Iowa. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Pittsburgh, PA - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 1,089 block groups in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Portland, OR - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 1176 block groups in Portland, Oregon. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (http:/www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Fresno, CA - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 405 block groups in Fresno, California. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - New Bedford, MA - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 128 block group in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Tampa, FL - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 1,833 block groups in Tampa Bay, Florida. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 1,772 block groups in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Cleveland, OH - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 1,442 block groups in Cleveland, Ohio. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas ) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Milwaukee, WI - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 1,175 block groups in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Portland, ME - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 146 block groups in Portland, Maine. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Memphis, TN - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 703 block groups in Memphis, Tennessee. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

EnviroAtlas - Green Bay, WI - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 155 block groups in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets ).

EnviroAtlas - Austin, TX - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This EnviroAtlas dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 750 block groups in Austin, Texas. Carbon attributes, temperature reduction, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

Impact of regional afforestation on climatic conditions in metropolitan areas: case study of Copenhagen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stysiak, Aleksander Andrzej; Bergen Jensen, Marina; Mahura, Alexander

2016-04-01

Like most other places, European metropolitan areas will face a range of climate-related challenges over the next decades that may influence the nature of urban life across the continent. Under future urbanization and climate change scenarios the well-being and comfort of the urban population might become progressively compromised. In urban areas, the effects of the warming climate will be accelerated by combination of Urban Heat Island effect (UHI) and extreme heat waves. The land cover composition directly influences atmospheric variability, and can either escalate or downscale the projected changes. Vegetation, forest ecosystems in particular, are anticipated to play an important role in modulating local and regional climatic conditions, and to be vital factor in the process of adapting cities to warming climate. This study investigates the impact of forest and land-cover change on formation and development of temperature regimes in the Copenhagen Metropolitan Area (CPH-MA). Potential to modify the UHI effect in CPH-MA is estimated. Using 2009 meteorological data, and up-to-date 2012 high resolution land-cover data we employed the online integrated meteorology-chemistry/aerosols Enviro-HIRLAM (Environment - High Resolution Limited Area Model) modeling system to simulate air temperature (at 2 meter height) fields for a selected period in July 2009. Employing research tools (such as METGRAF meteorological software and Geographical Information Systems) we then estimated the influence of different afforestation and urbanization scenarios with new forests being located after the Danish national afforestation plan, after proximity to the city center, after dominating wind characteristics, and urbanization taking place as densification of the existing conurbation. This study showed the difference in temperature up to 3.25°C, and the decrease in the spatial extent of temperature fields up to 68%, depending on the selected scenario. Performed simulations demonstrated that well-positioned and well-sized afforestation at the regional scale can significantly affect the spatial distribution, structure and intensity of the temperature field. This study points to vegetation having practical applications in urban and regional planning for modifying local climatic conditions. Keywords: Urban Heat Island, Afforestation, Land cover change, Urban planning, Climate change adaptation, Enviro-HIRLAM

Advanced system demonstration for utilization of biomass as an energy source. Technical Appendix D: terrestrial ecosystems and forestry. Environmental report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McCollom, M.

1979-01-01

The existing terrestrial ecosystems at the plant site and impacts on them are described. The following are discussed for the fuelwood harvest region: forest soils, forest types and ecological succession, nutrient cycles in the forest ecosystem, fauna of the ecosystem, forest practices in the harvest region, and long-term productivity of the forest resource. (MHR)

Effects of rapid urban sprawl on urban forest carbon stocks: integrating remotely sensed, GIS and forest inventory data.

PubMed

Ren, Yin; Yan, Jing; Wei, Xiaohua; Wang, Yajun; Yang, Yusheng; Hua, Lizhong; Xiong, Yongzhu; Niu, Xiang; Song, Xiaodong

2012-12-30

Research on the effects of urban sprawl on carbon stocks within urban forests can help support policy for sustainable urban design. This is particularly important given climate change and environmental deterioration as a result of rapid urbanization. The purpose of this study was to quantify the effects of urban sprawl on dynamics of forest carbon stock and density in Xiamen, a typical city experiencing rapid urbanization in China. Forest resource inventory data collected from 32,898 patches in 4 years (1972, 1988, 1996 and 2006), together with remotely sensed data (from 1988, 1996 and 2006), were used to investigate vegetation carbon densities and stocks in Xiamen, China. We classified the forests into four groups: (1) forest patches connected to construction land; (2) forest patches connected to farmland; (3) forest patches connected to both construction land and farmland and (4) close forest patches. Carbon stocks and densities of four different types of forest patches during different urbanization periods in three zones (urban core, suburb and exurb) were compared to assess the impact of human disturbance on forest carbon. In the urban core, the carbon stock and carbon density in all four forest patch types declined over the study period. In the suburbs, different urbanization processes influenced forest carbon density and carbon stock in all four forest patch types. Urban sprawl negatively affected the surrounding forests. In the exurbs, the carbon stock and carbon density in all four forest patch types tended to increase over the study period. The results revealed that human disturbance played the dominant role in influencing the carbon stock and density of forest patches close to the locations of human activities. In forest patches far away from the locations of human activities, natural forest regrowth was the dominant factor affecting carbon stock and density. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantification of soil respiration in forest ecosystems across China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Xinzhang; Peng, Changhui; Zhao, Zhengyong; Zhang, Zhiting; Guo, Baohua; Wang, Weifeng; Jiang, Hong; Zhu, Qiuan

2014-09-01

We collected 139 estimates of the annual forest soil CO2 flux and 173 estimates of the Q10 value (the temperature sensitivity) assembled from 90 published studies across Chinese forest ecosystems. We analyzed the annual soil respiration (Rs) rates and the temperature sensitivities of seven forest ecosystems, including evergreen broadleaf forests (EBF), deciduous broadleaf forests (DBF), broadleaf and needleleaf mixed forests (BNMF), evergreen needleleaf forests (ENF), deciduous needleleaf forests (DNF), bamboo forests (BF) and shrubs (SF). The results showed that the mean annual Rs rate was 33.65 t CO2 ha-1 year-1 across Chinese forest ecosystems. Rs rates were significantly different (P < 0.001) among the seven forest types, and were significantly and positively influenced by mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), and actual evapotranspiration (AET); but negatively affected by latitude and elevation. The mean Q10 value of 1.28 was lower than the world average (1.4-2.0). The Q10 values derived from the soil temperature at a depth of 5 cm varied among forest ecosystems by an average of 2.46 and significantly decreased with the MAT but increased with elevation and latitude. Moreover, our results suggested that an artificial neural network (ANN) model can effectively predict Rs across Chinese forest ecosystems. This study contributes to better understanding of Rs across Chinese forest ecosystems and their possible responses to global warming.

[The concentration and distribution of 137Cs in soils of forest and agricultural ecosystems of Tula Region].

PubMed

Lipatov, D N; Shcheglov, A I; Tsvetnova, O B

2007-01-01

The paper deals with a comparative study of 137Cs contamination in forest, old arable and cultivated soils of Tula Region. Initial interception of Chernobyl derived 137Cs is higher in forest ecosystems: oak-forest > birch-forest > pine-forest > agricultural ecosystems. Vertical migration of 137Cs in deeper layers of soils was intensive in agricultural ecosystems: cultivated soils > old arable soils > birch-forest soils > oak-forest soils > pine-forest soils. In study have been evaluated spatial variability of 137Cs in soil and asymmetrical distribution, that is a skew to the right. Spatial heterogeneity of 137Cs in agricultural soils is much lower than in forest soils. For cultivated soil are determined the rate of resuspension, which equal to 6.1 x 10(-4) day(-1). For forest soils are described the 137Cs concentration in litter of different ecosystems. The role of main accumulation and barrier of 137Cs retain higher layers of soils (horizon A1(A1E) in forest, horizon Ap in agricultural ecosystems) in long-term forecast after Chernobyl accident.

Forest Health Monitoring and Forest Inventory Analysis programs monitor climate change effects in forest ecosystems

Treesearch

Kenneth W. Stolte

2001-01-01

The Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) and Forest Inventory and Analyses (FIA) programs are integrated bilogical monitoring systems that use nationally standardized methods to evaluate and report on the health and sustainability of forest ecosystems in the United States. Many of the anticipated changes in forest ecosystems from climate change were also issues addressed in...

Sustaining Urban Forests

Treesearch

John F. Dwyer; David J. Nowak

2003-01-01

The significance of the urban forest resource and the powerful forces for change in the urban environment make sustainability a critical issue in urban forest management. The diversity, connectedness, and dynamics of the urban forest establish the context for management that will determine the sustainability of forest structure, health, functions, and benefits. A...

INSECTS & PATHOGENS Regulators of Forest Ecosystems

Treesearch

Robert A. Haack; James W. Byler

1993-01-01

Today's forest managers are challenged by issues such as soil productivity, biodiversity, threatened and endangered species, and ecosystem sustainability; and ecosystem management has been proposed as a way to deal with them. The Society of American Foresters (1993) defines this term as keeping forest ecosystems functioning well over long periods of time in order...

Influence of land use on hyporheos in catchment of the Jarama River (central Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iepure, S.; Martínez-Hernández, V.; Herrera, S.; de Bustamante, I.; Rasines, R.

2012-04-01

The Water Framework Directive (2000) requires integrated assessment of water bodies based on water resources but also the evaluation of land-use catchment effect on chemical and ecological conditions of aquatic ecosystems. The hyporheic zone (HZ) supporting obligate subterranean species are particularly vulnerable in river ecosystems when environmental stress occurs at surface and require management strategies to protect both the stream catchment and the aquifer that feed the stream channel. The influence of catchment land-use in the Jarama basin (central Spain) on river geomorphology and hyporheic zone granulometry, chemical and biological variables inferred from crustacean community biodiversity (species richness, taxonomic distinctness) and ecology was assessed. The study was conducted in four streams from the Madrid metropolitan area under distinct local land-use and water resource protection: i) a preserved forested natural sites where critical river ecosystem processes were unaltered or less altered by human activities, and ii) different degree of anthropogenic impact sites from agriculture, urban industrial and mining activities. The river bed permeability reduction and the increase of low sediment size input associated with changes in geomorphology of the stream channels are greatly affected by land-use changes in the Jarama watershed. Water chemical parameters linked to land-use increase from the natural stream to the urban industrial and agricultural dominated catchment. Principal coordinate analysis (PCO) and multidimensional scaling (MDS) clearly discriminate the pristine sites from forested areas by those under anthropogenic stressors. In streams draining forested areas, groundwater discharge and regular exchange between groundwater and surface water occur due to relatively high permeability of the sediments. Consequently, forested land-use produce sites of high water quality and crustacean richness (both groundwater dwellers and surface-benthos species), as indicate the expected diversity pattern after the simulation procedure for taxonomic distinctness. Crustacean diversity (Shannon index) was greatest in less extensive agricultural land-use sites where riparian zone is slightly developed, while intensive agricultural activities cause a decline of water quality and therefore of crustacean richness. Intensively urban industrial land-use yield highly contaminated hyporheic water with heavy metals and VOC (i.e. toluene, benzene). Complementarily, the streams geomorphology and low rates of water flow favour the deposition of fine sediments that clog the interstices, generate a reverse dynamic of river channel and induce a reduction of groundwater discharge. In results, the hyporheic is unsuitable for hyporheos that are missing or harbour reduced populations of exclusively surface-water taxa. There are sites of intermediate biodiversity including hypogeans, located in natural regional parks thriving well-established riparian zone and relatively good water quality. The differences among sites in the Jarama basin indicate the impact that changes in land-use have upon the hyporheic ecology as shown the pattern of crustacean community distribution, diversity and ecological structure. We suggest that in rehabilitation processes of streams sectors require the understanding and recognition of the potential roles of the hyporheic zone and its biota in the whole stream ecosystem.

Protected areas and agricultural expansion: Biodiversity conservation versus economic growth in the Southeast of Brazil.

PubMed

Moraes, Mayra Cristina Prado de; Mello, Kaline de; Toppa, Rogério Hartung

2017-03-01

The conversion of natural ecosystems to agricultural land and urban areas plays a threat to the protected areas and the natural ecosystems conservation. The aim of this paper is to provide an analysis of the agricultural expansion and its impact on the landscape spatial and temporal patterns in a buffer zone of a protected area located in the transition zone between the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado, in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. The land use and land cover were mapped between 1971 and 2008 and landscape metrics were calculated to provide a spatiotemporal analysis of the forest structure and the expansion of the croplands. The results showed that the landscape patterns were affected by the economic cycles. The predominant crop surrounding the protected area is sugar cane, which increased by 39% during this period, followed by citrus. This landscape change is connected to the Brazilian oil crisis in 1973. The rapid expansion of sugar cane was largely driven by Brazil's biofuel program, the "Proálcool" (pro-alcohol), a project in 1975 that mixed ethanol with gas for automotive fuel. The forest loss occurred mainly between 1971 and 1988, decreasing the forest cover from 17% in 1971 to 12.7% in 2008. Most of the forest patches are smaller than 50 ha and has low connectivity. Throughout the years, the fragments in the buffer zone have become smaller and with an elongated shape, and the park has become isolated. This forest fragmentation process and the predominance of monoculture lands in the buffer zone threaten the protected areas, and can represent a barrier for these areas to provide the effective biodiversity conservation. The measures proposed are necessary to ensure the capability of this ecosystem to sustain its original biodiversity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impacts of new highways and subsequent landscape urbanization on stream habitat and biota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wheeler, A.P.; Angermeier, P.L.; Rosenberger, A.E.

2005-01-01

New highways are pervasive, pernicious threats to stream ecosystems because of their short- and long-term physical, chemical, and biological impacts. Unfortunately, standard environmental impact statements (EISs) and environmental assessments (EAs) focus narrowly on the initial direct impacts of construction and ignore other long-term indirect impacts. More thorough consideration of highway impacts, and, ultimately, better land use decisions may be facilitated by conceptualizing highway development in three stages: initial highway construction, highway presence, and eventual landscape urbanization. Highway construction is characterized by localized physical disturbances, which generally subside through time. In contrast, highway presence and landscape urbanization are characterized by physical and chemical impacts that are temporally persistent. Although the impacts of highway presence and landscape urbanization are of similar natures, the impacts are of a greater magnitude and more widespread in the urbanization phase. Our review reveals that the landscape urbanization stage is clearly the greatest threat to stream habitat and biota, as stream ecosystems are sensitive to even low levels (<10%) of watershed urban development. Although highway construction is ongoing, pervasive, and has severe biological consequences, we found few published investigations of its impacts on streams. Researchers know little about the occurrence, loading rates, and biotic responses to specific contaminants in highway runoff. Also needed is a detailed understanding of how highway crossings, especially culverts, affect fish populations via constraints on movement and how highway networks alter natural regimes (e.g., streamflow, temperature). Urbanization research topics that may yield especially useful results include a) the relative importance and biological effects of specific components of urban development - e.g., commercial or residential; b) the scenarios under which impacts are reversible; and c) the efficacy of mitigation measures - e.g., stormwater retention or treatment and forested buffers. Copyright ?? Taylor & Francis Inc.

Predictors, spatial distribution, and occurrence of woody invasive plants in subtropical urban ecosystems.

PubMed

Staudhammer, Christina L; Escobedo, Francisco J; Holt, Nathan; Young, Linda J; Brandeis, Thomas J; Zipperer, Wayne

2015-05-15

We examined the spatial distribution, occurrence, and socioecological predictors of woody invasive plants (WIP) in two subtropical, coastal urban ecosystems: San Juan, Puerto Rico and Miami-Dade, United States. These two cities have similar climates and ecosystems typical of subtropical regions but differ in socioeconomics, topography, and urbanization processes. Using permanent plot data, available forest inventory protocols and statistical analyses of geographic and socioeconomic spatial predictors, we found that landscape level distribution and occurrence of WIPs was not clustered. We also characterized WIP composition and occurrence using logistic models, and found they were strongly related to the proportional area of residential land uses. However, the magnitude and trend of increase depended on median household income and grass cover. In San Juan, WIP occurrence was higher in areas of high residential cover when incomes were low or grass cover was low, whereas the opposite was true in Miami-Dade. Although Miami-Dade had greater invasive shrub cover and numbers of WIP species, San Juan had far greater invasive tree density, basal area and crown cover. This study provides an approach for incorporating field and available census data in geospatial distribution models of WIPs in cities throughout the globe. Findings indicate that identifying spatial predictors of WIPs depends on site-specific factors and the ecological scale of the predictor. Thus, mapping protocols and policies to eradicate urban WIPs should target indicators of a relevant scale specific to the area of interest for their improved and proactive management. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biodiversity and disease: a synthesis of ecological perspectives on Lyme disease transmission.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wood, Chelsea L.; Lafferty, Kevin D.

2013-01-01

Recent reviews have argued that disease control is among the ecosystem services yielded by biodiversity. Lyme disease (LD) is commonly cited as the best example of the ‘diluting’ effect of biodiversity on disease transmission, but many studies document the opposite relationship, showing that human LD risk can increase with forestation. Here, we unify these divergent perspectives and find strong evidence for a positive link between biodiversity and LD at broad spatial scales (urban to suburban to rural) and equivocal evidence for a negative link between biodiversity and LD at varying levels of biodiversity within forests. This finding suggests that, across zoonotic disease agents, the biodiversity–disease relationship is scale dependent and complex.

A comparison between ERS-1, JERS-1, and Radarsat-1 radar satellite imaging systems and Landsat MSS & TM and Spot Optical Satellite Imaging System to detect and monitor mangrove deforestation in East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Treesearch

Mahfud M. Zuhair; Yousif Ali Hussin; Michael Weir

2000-01-01

Mangrove forests are one of the primary features of coastal ecosystems throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Mangroves are very sensitive and fragile resources, and the pressures of increasing population, food production, and industrial and urban development have caused a significant proportion of the world's mangroves to be destroyed....

Urban land use in Natura 2000 surrounding areas in Vilnius Region, Lithuania.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pereira, Paulo; Misiūnė, Ieva; Depellegrin, Daniel

2015-04-01

Urban development is one of the major causes of land degradation and pressure on protected areas. (Hansen and DeFries, 2007; Salvati and Sabbi, 2011). The urban areas in the fringe of the protected areas are a source of pollutants considered a negative disturbance to the ecosystems services and biodiversity within the protected areas. The distance between urban and protected areas is decreasing and in the future it is estimated that 88% of the world protected areas will be affected by urban growth (McDonald et al., 2008). The surrounding or buffer areas, are lands adjacent to the Natura 2000 territories, which aim to reduce the human influence within the protected areas. Presently there is no common definition of buffer area it is not clear among stakeholders (Van Dasselaar, 2013). The objective of this work is to identify the urban land use in the Natura 2000 areas in Vilnius region, Lithuania. Data from Natura 2000 areas and urban land use (Corine Land Cover 2006) in Vilnius region were collected in the European Environmental Agency website (http://www.eea.europa.eu/). In the surroundings of each Natura 2000 site, we identified the urban land use at the distances of 500, 1000 and 1500 m. The Natura 2000 sites and the urban areas occupied a total of 13.2% and 3.4% of Vilnius region, respectively. However, the urban areas are very dispersed in the territory, especially in the surroundings of Vilnius, which since the end of the XX century is growing (Pereira et al., 2014). This can represent a major threat to Natura 2000 areas ecosystem services quality and biodiversity. Overall, urban areas occupied approximately 50 km2, in the buffer area of 500 m, 95 km2 in buffer area of 1000 m and 131 km2 in the buffer area of 1500 km2. This shows that Natura 2000 surrounding areas in Vilnius region are subjected to a high urban pressure. This is especially evident in the Vilnius city and is a consequence of the uncontrolled urban development. The lack of a clear legislation regarding the land use of the Natura 2000 buffer areas is contributing to the degradation of the services provide by these areas. Acknowledgments RECARE (Preventing and Remediating Degradation of Soils in Europe Through Land Care, FP7-ENV-2013-TWO STAGE), funded by the European Commission, for the COST action ES1306 (Connecting European connectivity research) and COST Action IS1204 Tourism, Wellbeing and Ecosystem Services (TObeWELL) References Dasselaar, I.V. (2013) The impact of a buffer zone. The influence of the introduction of buffer zones surrounding Natura 2000 areas on local actors, the case of het Boetelerveld in the Netherlands. Master Thesis Forest and Nature Conservation, Forest and Nature Conservation Policy group, 69 p. Hansen, A.J. (2007) Ecological mechanisms linking protected areas to surrounding lands. Ecological Applications, 17, 974-978. McDonald, R.I., Kareiva, P., Forman, R.T.T. (2008) The implications of current and future urbanization for global protected areas and biodiversity conservation. Biological Conservation, 141, 1695-1703. Pereira, P., Monkevicius, A., Siarova, A. (2014) Public perception of the Environmental, Social and Economic impacts of Urban Sprawl in Vilnius. Societal Studies, 6, 256-290. Salvati, L., Sabbi, A. (2011) Exploring long-term land cover changes in an urban region of southern of Europe. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 18, 273-282.

Assessment of forest fuel loadings in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands

Treesearch

Thomas J. Brandeis; Christopher W. Woodall

2008-01-01

Quantification of the downed woody materials that comprise forest fuels has gained importance in Caribbean forest ecosystems due to the increasing incidence and severity of wildfires on island ecosystems. Because large-scale assessments of forest fuels have rarely been conducted for these ecosystems, forest fuels were assessed at 121 US Department of Agriculture forest...

Signatures of Rapid Evolution in Urban and Rural Transcriptomes of White-Footed Mice (Peromyscus leucopus) in the New York Metropolitan Area

PubMed Central

Harris, Stephen E.; Munshi-South, Jason; Obergfell, Craig; O’Neill, Rachel

2013-01-01

Urbanization is a major cause of ecological degradation around the world, and human settlement in large cities is accelerating. New York City (NYC) is one of the oldest and most urbanized cities in North America, but still maintains 20% vegetation cover and substantial populations of some native wildlife. The white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus , is a common resident of NYC’s forest fragments and an emerging model system for examining the evolutionary consequences of urbanization. In this study, we developed transcriptomic resources for urban P . leucopus to examine evolutionary changes in protein-coding regions for an exemplar “urban adapter.” We used Roche 454 GS FLX+ high throughput sequencing to derive transcriptomes from multiple tissues from individuals across both urban and rural populations. From these data, we identified 31,015 SNPs and several candidate genes potentially experiencing positive selection in urban populations of P . leucopus . These candidate genes are involved in xenobiotic metabolism, innate immune response, demethylation activity, and other important biological phenomena in novel urban environments. This study is one of the first to report candidate genes exhibiting signatures of directional selection in divergent urban ecosystems. PMID:24015321

Gainesville's urban forest structure and composition

Treesearch

Francisco Francisco Escobedo; Jennifer A. Seitz; Wayne Zipperer

2009-01-01

The urban forest provides a community numerous benefits. The urban forest is composed of a mix of native and non-native species introduced by people managing this forest and by residents. Because they usually contain non-native species, many urban forests often have greater species diversity than forests in the surrounding natural...

Advances of Air Pollution Science: From Forest Decline to Multiple-Stress Effects on Forest Ecosystem Services

Treesearch

E. Paoletti; M. Schaub; R. Matyssek; G. Wieser; A. Augustaitis; A. M. Bastrup-Birk; A. Bytnerowicz; M. S. Gunthardt-Goerg; G. Muller-Starck; Y. Serengil

2010-01-01

Over the past 20 years, the focus of forest science on air pollution has moved from forest decline to a holistic framework of forest health, and from the effects on forest production to the ecosystem services provided by forest ecosystems. Hence, future research should focus on the interacting factorial impacts and resulting antagonistic and synergistic responses of...

Population genetics of the olive-winged bulbul (Pycnonotus plumosus) in a tropical urban-fragmented landscape.

PubMed

Tang, Grace S Y; Sadanandan, Keren R; Rheindt, Frank E

2016-01-01

With increasing urbanization, urban-fragmented landscapes are becoming more and more prevalent worldwide. Such fragmentation may lead to small, isolated populations that face great threats from genetic factors that affect even avian species with high dispersal propensities. Yet few studies have investigated the population genetics of species living within urban-fragmented landscapes in the Old World tropics, in spite of the high levels of deforestation and fragmentation within this region. We investigated the evolutionary history and population genetics of the olive-winged bulbul (Pycnonotus plumosus) in Singapore, a highly urbanized island which retains <5% of its original forest cover in fragments. Combining our own collected and sequenced samples with those from the literature, we conducted phylogenetic and population genetic analyses. We revealed high genetic diversity, evidence for population expansion, and potential presence of pronounced gene flow across the population in Singapore. This suggests increased chances of long-term persistence for the olive-winged bulbul and the ecosystem services it provides within this landscape.

The Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment: a framework for studying responses to forest management

Treesearch

Robert K. Swihart; Michael R. Saunders; Rebecca A. Kalb; G. Scott Haulton; Charles H., eds. Michler

2013-01-01

Conditions in forested ecosystems of southern Indiana are described before initiation of silvicultural treatments for the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment (HEE). The HEE is a 100-year study begun in 2006 in Morgan-Monroe and Yellowwood State Forests to improve the sustainability of forest resources and quality of life of Indiana residents by understanding ecosystem and...

Northern Forest Ecosystem Dynamics Using Coupled Models and Remote Sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ranson, K. J.; Sun, G.; Knox, R. G.; Levine, E. R.; Weishampel, J. F.; Fifer, S. T.

1999-01-01

Forest ecosystem dynamics modeling, remote sensing data analysis, and a geographical information system (GIS) were used together to determine the possible growth and development of a northern forest in Maine, USA. Field measurements and airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data were used to produce maps of forest cover type and above ground biomass. These forest attribute maps, along with a conventional soils map, were used to identify the initial conditions for forest ecosystem model simulations. Using this information along with ecosystem model results enabled the development of predictive maps of forest development. The results obtained were consistent with observed forest conditions and expected successional trajectories. The study demonstrated that ecosystem models might be used in a spatial context when parameterized and used with georeferenced data sets.

Random forests as cumulative effects models: A case study of lakes and rivers in Muskoka, Canada.

PubMed

Jones, F Chris; Plewes, Rachel; Murison, Lorna; MacDougall, Mark J; Sinclair, Sarah; Davies, Christie; Bailey, John L; Richardson, Murray; Gunn, John

2017-10-01

Cumulative effects assessment (CEA) - a type of environmental appraisal - lacks effective methods for modeling cumulative effects, evaluating indicators of ecosystem condition, and exploring the likely outcomes of development scenarios. Random forests are an extension of classification and regression trees, which model response variables by recursive partitioning. Random forests were used to model a series of candidate ecological indicators that described lakes and rivers from a case study watershed (The Muskoka River Watershed, Canada). Suitability of the candidate indicators for use in cumulative effects assessment and watershed monitoring was assessed according to how well they could be predicted from natural habitat features and how sensitive they were to human land-use. The best models explained 75% of the variation in a multivariate descriptor of lake benthic-macroinvertebrate community structure, and 76% of the variation in the conductivity of river water. Similar results were obtained by cross-validation. Several candidate indicators detected a simulated doubling of urban land-use in their catchments, and a few were able to detect a simulated doubling of agricultural land-use. The paper demonstrates that random forests can be used to describe the combined and singular effects of multiple stressors and natural environmental factors, and furthermore, that random forests can be used to evaluate the performance of monitoring indicators. The numerical methods presented are applicable to any ecosystem and indicator type, and therefore represent a step forward for CEA. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The summertime Boreal forest field measurement intensive (HUMPPA-COPEC-2010): an overview of meteorological and chemical influences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, J.; Crowley, J.; Fischer, H.; Harder, H.; Martinez, M.; Petäjä, T.; Rinne, J.; Bäck, J.; Boy, M.; Dal Maso, M.; Hakala, J.; Kajos, M.; Keronen, P.; Rantala, P.; Aalto, J.; Aaltonen, H.; Paatero, J.; Vesala, T.; Hakola, H.; Levula, J.; Pohja, T.; Herrmann, F.; Auld, J.; Mesarchaki, E.; Song, W.; Yassaa, N.; Nölscher, A.; Johnson, A. M.; Custer, T.; Sinha, V.; Thieser, J.; Pouvesle, N.; Taraborrelli, D.; Tang, M. J.; Bozem, H.; Hosaynali-Beygi, Z.; Axinte, R.; Oswald, R.; Novelli, A.; Kubistin, D.; Hens, K.; Javed, U.; Trawny, K.; Breitenberger, C.; Hidalgo, P. J.; Ebben, C. J.; Geiger, F. M.; Corrigan, A. L.; Russell, L. M.; Ouwersloot, H.; Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, J.; Ganzeveld, L.; Vogel, A.; Beck, M.; Bayerle, A.; Kampf, C. J.; Bertelmann, M.; Köllner, F.; Hoffmann, T.; Valverde, J.; González, D.; Riekkola, M.-L.; Kulmala, M.; Lelieveld, J.

2011-05-01

This paper describes the background, instrumentation, goals, and the regional influences on the HUMPPA-COPEC intensive field measurement campaign, conducted at the Boreal forest research station SMEAR II (Station for Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relation) in Hyytiälä, Finland from 12 July-12 August 2010. The prevailing meteorological conditions during the campaign are examined and contrasted with those of the past six years. Back trajectory analyses show that meteorological conditions at the site were characterized by a higher proportion of southerly flow. As a result the summer of 2010 was anomalously warm and high in ozone making the campaign relevant for the analysis of possible future climates. A comprehensive land use analysis, provided on both 5 and 50 km scales, shows that the main vegetation types surrounding the site on both the regional and local scales are: coniferous forest (Scots pine and/or Norway spruce); mixed forest (Birch and conifers); and woodland scrub (e.g. Willows, Aspen); indicating that the campaign results can be taken as representative of the Boreal forest ecosystem. In addition to the influence of biogenic emissions, the measurement site was occasionally impacted by sources other than vegetation. Specific tracers have been used here to identify the time periods when such sources have impacted the site namely: biomass burning (acetonitrile and CO), urban anthropogenic pollution (pentane and SO2) and the nearby Korkeakoski sawmill (enantiomeric ratio of chiral monoterpenes). None of these sources dominated the study period, allowing the Boreal forest summertime emissions to be assessed and contrasted with various other source signatures.

[A review on disturbance ecology of forest].

PubMed

Zhu, Jiaojun; Liu, Zugen

2004-10-01

More than 80% of terrestrial ecosystems have been influenced by natural disasters, human activities and the combination of both natural and human disturbances. Forest ecosystem, as one of the most important terrestrial ecosystems, has also been disturbed without exception. Under the disturbance from natural disasters and human activities, particularly from the unreasonable activities of human beings, forest decline or forest degradation has become more and more severe. For this reason, sustaining or recovering forest service functions is one of the current purposes for managing forest ecosystems. In recent decades, the studies on disturbed ecosystems have been carried out frequently, especially on their ecological processes and their responses to the disturbances. These studies play a very important role in the projects of natural forest conservation and the construction of ecological environment in China. Based on a wide range of literatures collection on forest disturbance research, this paper discussed the fundamental concepts of disturbance ecology, the relationships between forest management and disturbance, and the study contents of forest disturbance ecology. The major research topics of forest disturbance ecology may include: 1) the basic characteristics of disturbed forests; 2) the processes of natural and human disturbances; 3) the responses of forests ecosystem to the disturbances; 4) the main ecological processes or the consequential results of disturbed forests, including the change of biodiversity, soil nutrient and water cycle, eco-physiology and carbon cycle, regeneration mechanism of disturbed forests and so on; 5) the relationships between disturbances and forest management; and 6) the principles and techniques for the management of disturbed forests. This review may be helpful to the management of disturbed forest ecosystem, and to the projects of natural forest conservation in China.

Carbon Sequestration and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Urban Turfgrass Ecosystems in Southern California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ampleman, M. D.; Czimczik, C. I.; Townsend-Small, A.; Trumbore, S. E.

2008-12-01

Irrigated turfgrass ecosystems sequester carbon in soil organic matter, but they may also release nitrous oxide, due to fertilization associated with intensive management practices. Nitrous oxide is an important green house gas with a global warming potential (GWP) of 300 times that of carbon dioxide on a 100 yr time horizon. Although regular irrigation and fertilization of turfgrass create favorable conditions for both C storage and N2O release via nitrification and denitrification by soil microbes, emissions from these highly managed ecosystems are poorly constrained. We quantified N2O emissions and C storage rates for turf grass in four urban parks in the city of Irvine, CA. The turf grass systems we studied were managed by the City of Irvine. Parks were established between 1975 and 2006 on former range land with the same initial parent material; are exposed to the same climate; and form a time series (chronosequence) for investigating rates of C accumulation. We also investigated the effects of management (e.g. grass species, fertilization rate), soil moisture and temperature, and park age on N2O emission from these parks. We quantified N2O emissions using static soil chamber with four 7 min. sampling intervals, and analyzed the samples using an electron capture gas chromatograph. Soil carbon accumulation rates were determined from the slope of the organic C inventory (from 0-20 cm depth) plotted against park age. C storage rates for soils in "leisure" areas were close to 2 Mg C ha-1 yr-1, similar to rates associated with forest regrowth in northeastern US forests. However, as park age and C storage increased, N2O emissions increased as well, such that emissions from the older parks (~20 ngN m-2 s-1) were comparable to published temperate agricultural fluxes. Initial estimates suggest that the GWP associated with N2O emissions approximately offsets the effect of C storage in these ecosystems.

Adapt to more wildfire in western North American forests as climate changes.

PubMed

Schoennagel, Tania; Balch, Jennifer K; Brenkert-Smith, Hannah; Dennison, Philip E; Harvey, Brian J; Krawchuk, Meg A; Mietkiewicz, Nathan; Morgan, Penelope; Moritz, Max A; Rasker, Ray; Turner, Monica G; Whitlock, Cathy

2017-05-02

Wildfires across western North America have increased in number and size over the past three decades, and this trend will continue in response to further warming. As a consequence, the wildland-urban interface is projected to experience substantially higher risk of climate-driven fires in the coming decades. Although many plants, animals, and ecosystem services benefit from fire, it is unknown how ecosystems will respond to increased burning and warming. Policy and management have focused primarily on specified resilience approaches aimed at resistance to wildfire and restoration of areas burned by wildfire through fire suppression and fuels management. These strategies are inadequate to address a new era of western wildfires. In contrast, policies that promote adaptive resilience to wildfire, by which people and ecosystems adjust and reorganize in response to changing fire regimes to reduce future vulnerability, are needed. Key aspects of an adaptive resilience approach are ( i ) recognizing that fuels reduction cannot alter regional wildfire trends; ( ii ) targeting fuels reduction to increase adaptation by some ecosystems and residential communities to more frequent fire; ( iii ) actively managing more wild and prescribed fires with a range of severities; and ( iv ) incentivizing and planning residential development to withstand inevitable wildfire. These strategies represent a shift in policy and management from restoring ecosystems based on historical baselines to adapting to changing fire regimes and from unsustainable defense of the wildland-urban interface to developing fire-adapted communities. We propose an approach that accepts wildfire as an inevitable catalyst of change and that promotes adaptive responses by ecosystems and residential communities to more warming and wildfire.

Adapt to more wildfire in western North American forests as climate changes

PubMed Central

Schoennagel, Tania; Balch, Jennifer K.; Brenkert-Smith, Hannah; Harvey, Brian J.; Mietkiewicz, Nathan; Morgan, Penelope; Moritz, Max A.; Rasker, Ray; Turner, Monica G.; Whitlock, Cathy

2017-01-01

Wildfires across western North America have increased in number and size over the past three decades, and this trend will continue in response to further warming. As a consequence, the wildland–urban interface is projected to experience substantially higher risk of climate-driven fires in the coming decades. Although many plants, animals, and ecosystem services benefit from fire, it is unknown how ecosystems will respond to increased burning and warming. Policy and management have focused primarily on specified resilience approaches aimed at resistance to wildfire and restoration of areas burned by wildfire through fire suppression and fuels management. These strategies are inadequate to address a new era of western wildfires. In contrast, policies that promote adaptive resilience to wildfire, by which people and ecosystems adjust and reorganize in response to changing fire regimes to reduce future vulnerability, are needed. Key aspects of an adaptive resilience approach are (i) recognizing that fuels reduction cannot alter regional wildfire trends; (ii) targeting fuels reduction to increase adaptation by some ecosystems and residential communities to more frequent fire; (iii) actively managing more wild and prescribed fires with a range of severities; and (iv) incentivizing and planning residential development to withstand inevitable wildfire. These strategies represent a shift in policy and management from restoring ecosystems based on historical baselines to adapting to changing fire regimes and from unsustainable defense of the wildland–urban interface to developing fire-adapted communities. We propose an approach that accepts wildfire as an inevitable catalyst of change and that promotes adaptive responses by ecosystems and residential communities to more warming and wildfire. PMID:28416662

Representation of regional urban development conditions using a watershed-based gradient study design

USGS Publications Warehouse

Terziotti, Silvia; McMahon, Gerard; Bell, Amanda H.

2012-01-01

As part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program, the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems (EUSE) have been intensively investigated in nine metropolitan areas in the United States, including Boston, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; Raleigh, North Carolina; Salt Lake City, Utah; Denver, Colorado; Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas; Portland, Oregon; and Milwaukee–Green Bay, Wisconsin. Each of the EUSE study area watersheds was associated with one ecological region of the United States. This report evaluates whether each metropolitan area can be generalized across the ecological regions (ecoregions) within which the EUSE study watersheds are located. Seven characteristics of the EUSE watersheds that affect stream ecosystems were examined to determine the similarities in the same seven characteristics of the watersheds in the entire ecoregion. Land cover (percentage developed, forest and shrubland, and herbaceous and cultivated classes), average annual temperature, average annual precipitation, average surface elevation, and average percentage slope were selected as human-influenced, climate, and topography characteristics. Three findings emerged from this comparison that have implications for the use of EUSE data in models used to predict stream ecosystem condition. One is that the predominant or "background" land-cover type (either forested or agricultural land) in each ecoregion also is the predominant land-cover type within the associated EUSE study watersheds. The second finding is that in all EUSE study areas, the watersheds account for the range of developed land conditions that exist in the corresponding ecoregion watersheds. However, six of the nine EUSE study area watersheds have significantly different distributions of developed land from the ecoregion watersheds. Finally, in seven of the nine EUSE/ecoregion comparisons, the distributions of the values of climate variables in the EUSE watersheds are different from the distributions for watersheds in the corresponding ecoregions.

[Evaluation of economic forest ecosystem services in China].

PubMed

Wang, Bing; Lu, Shao-Wei

2009-02-01

This paper quantitatively evaluated the economic forest ecosystem services in the provinces of China in 2003, based on the long-term and continuous observations of economic forest ecosystems in this country, the sixth China national forest resources inventory data, and the price parameter data from the authorities in the world, and by applying the law of market value, the method of substitution of the expenses, and the law of the shadow project. The results showed that in 2003, the total value of economic forest ecosystem services in China was 11763.39 x 10(8) yuan, and the total value of the products from economic forests occupied 19.3% of the total ecosystem services value, which indicated that the economic forests not only provided society direct products, but also exhibited enormous eco-economic value. The service value of the functions of economic forests was in the order of water storage > C fixation and O2 release > biodiversity conservation > erosion control > air quality purification > nutrient cycle. The spatial pattern of economic forest ecosystem services in the provinces of China had the same trend with the spatial distribution of water and heat resources and biodiversity. To understand the differences of economic forest ecosystem services in the provinces of China was of significance in alternating the irrational arrangement of our present forestry production, diminishing the abuses of forest management, and establishing high grade, high efficient, and modernized economic forests.

Coastal Land-Use Dynamics in Southern Sonora, Mexico Between 1973-2001

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luers, A. L.; Seto, K. C.; Matson, P. A.; Matson, P. A.; Naylor, R.; Moreno, G. C.

2001-12-01

Human activities, such as urbanization, agriculture, and shrimp farming are dramatically changing the coastal landscape of southern Sonora, Mexico, and threatening the ecosystems goods and services these natural systems provide. In this study we investigate the trends of human-induced transformations of coastal lands between 1973 and the present. Subscenes from two mosaicked Landsat images from 1973 (MSS), 1986 (MSS), 1992 (MSS), 1994 (TM), 2000 (ETM), 2001 (ETM) were analyzed to evaluate land use and cover changes. We used a combination of supervised and unsupervised maximum likelihood classification to produce thematic land use and land cover maps for change detection and modeling. The results show that the most prevalent form of land-use change in the region over the study period has been the transformation of Pithaya forest and coastal wetlands to shrimp aquaculture. Shrimp farms that did not exist in the region in the early 1980s now represent over 12 percent of the study area. Our analysis suggests that this boom in shrimp farming was influenced by a series of policy reforms instituted by the Mexican Government over the last decade intended to open the rural economy to global markets. These reforms include modifications to the Fisheries, Foreign Investment and Land Tenure Laws, changes in the rural credit system, and liberalization of international trade policies (NAFTA). The data indicate overall increased rates of land conversion from natural covers (Pithaya forest, Mesquite forest, Choyal, salt flats) to human dominated ecosystems (aquaculture, agriculture, salt ponds, urban) in the post-reform period (1994 - 2001) compared to the pre-reform period (1973 - 1992). Our results highlight the importance of monitoring local impacts in evaluating national policies.

Central Appalachians forest ecosystem vulnerability assessment and synthesis: a report from the Central Appalachians Climate Change Response Framework project

Treesearch

Patricia R. Butler; Louis Iverson; Frank R. Thompson; Leslie Brandt; Stephen Handler; Maria Janowiak; P. Danielle Shannon; Chris Swanston; Kent Karriker; Jarel Bartig; Stephanie Connolly; William Dijak; Scott Bearer; Steve Blatt; Andrea Brandon; Elizabeth Byers; Cheryl Coon; Tim Culbreth; Jad Daly; Wade Dorsey; David Ede; Chris Euler; Neil Gillies; David M. Hix; Catherine Johnson; Latasha Lyte; Stephen Matthews; Dawn McCarthy; Dave Minney; Daniel Murphy; Claire O’Dea; Rachel Orwan; Matthew Peters; Anantha Prasad; Cotton Randall; Jason Reed; Cynthia Sandeno; Tom Schuler; Lesley Sneddon; Bill Stanley; Al Steele; Susan Stout; Randy Swaty; Jason Teets; Tim Tomon; Jim Vanderhorst; John Whatley; Nicholas Zegre

2015-01-01

Forest ecosystems in the Central Appalachians will be affected directly and indirectly by a changing climate over the 21st century. This assessment evaluates the vulnerability of forest ecosystems in the Central Appalachian Broadleaf Forest-Coniferous Forest-Meadow and Eastern Broadleaf Forest Provinces of Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland for a range of future...

Forest ecosystems: Vegetation, disturbance, and economics: Chapter 5

USGS Publications Warehouse

Littell, Jeremy S.; Hicke, Jeffrey A.; Shafer, Sarah L.; Capalbo, Susan M.; Houston, Laurie L.; Glick, Patty

2013-01-01

Forests cover about 47% of the Northwest (NW–Washington, Oregon, and Idaho) (Smith et al. 2009, fig. 5.1, table 5.1). The impacts of current and future climate change on NW forest ecosystems are a product of the sensitivities of ecosystem processes to climate and the degree to which humans depend on and interact with those systems. Forest ecosystem structure and function, particularly in relatively unmanaged forests where timber harvest and other land use have smaller effects, is sensitive to climate change because climate has a strong influence on ecosystem processes. Climate can affect forest structure directly through its control of plan physiology and life history (establishment, individual growth, productivity, and morality) or indirectly through its control of disturbance (fire, insects, disease). As climate changes, many forest processes will be affected, altering ecosystem services such as timber production and recreation. These changes have socioeconomic implications (e.g. for timber economies) and will require changes to current management of forests. Climate and management will interact to determine the forests of the future, and the scientific basis for adaptation to climate change in forests thus depends significantly on how forests will be affected.

Acid Precipitation and the Forest Ecosystem

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dochinger, Leon S.; Seliga, Thomas A.

1975-01-01

The First International Symposium on Acid Precipitation and the Forest Ecosystem dealt with the potential magnitude of the global effects of acid precipitation on aquatic ecosystems, forest soils, and forest vegetation. The problem is discussed in the light of atmospheric chemistry, transport, and precipitation. (Author/BT)

Rising floodwaters: mapping impacts and perceptions of flooding in Indonesian Borneo

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wells, Jessie A.; Wilson, Kerrie A.; Abram, Nicola K.; Nunn, Malcolm; Gaveau, David L. A.; Runting, Rebecca K.; Tarniati, Nina; Mengersen, Kerrie L.; Meijaard, Erik

2016-06-01

The roles of forest and wetland ecosystems in regulating flooding have drawn increasing attention in the contexts of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. However, data on floods are scarce in many of the countries where people are most exposed and vulnerable to their impacts. Here, our separate analyses of village interview surveys (364 villages) and news archives (16 sources) show that floods have major impacts on lives and livelihoods in Indonesian Borneo, and flooding risks are associated with features of the local climate and landscape, particularly land uses that have seen rapid expansions over the past 30 years. In contrast with government assessments, we find that flooding is far more widespread, and that frequent, local, events can have large cumulative impacts. Over three years, local news agencies reported floods that affected 868 settlements, 966 times (including 89 in urban areas), inundated at least 197 000 houses, and displaced more than 776 000 people, possibly as many as 1.5 million (i.e. 5%-10% of the total population). Spatial analyses based on surveys in 364 villages show that flood frequency is associated with land use in catchment areas, including forest cover and condition, and the area of wetlands, mines (open-cut coal or gold mines), and oil palm. The probability that floods have become more frequent over the past 30 years was higher for villages closer to mines, and in watersheds with more extensive oil palm, but lower in watersheds with greater cover of selectively-logged or intact forests. We demonstrate that in data-poor regions, multiple sources of information can be integrated to gain insights into the hydrological services provided by forest and wetland ecosystems, and motivate more comprehensive assessment of flooding risks and options for ecosystem-based adaptation.

Modeling Temporal and Spatial Flows of Ecosystem Services in Chittenden County, VT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voigt, B. G.; Bagstad, K.; Johnson, G.; Villa, F.

2010-12-01

This paper documents the integration of ARIES (ARtificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services) with the land use change model UrbanSim to explore the impacts of current and future land use patterns on flood protection and water provision services in Chittenden County, VT. ARIES, an open source modeling platform, is particularly well-suited for measuring, mapping, and modeling the temporal and spatial flows of ecosystem services across the landscape, linking the areas of provision (sources) with human beneficiaries (users) through a spatially explicit agent-based modeling approach. UrbanSim is an open source agent-based land use model designed to facilitate a wide-range of scenarios based on user-specified behavioral assumptions, zoning regulations, and demographic, economic, and infrastructure (e.g. transportation, water, sewer, etc.) parameters. Ecosystem services travel through time and space and are susceptible to disruption and destruction from both natural and anthropogenic perturbations. The conversion of forested or agricultural land to urbanizing uses is replete with a long history of hydrologic impairment, habitat fragmentation, and the degradation of sensitive landscapes. Development decisions are predicated on the presence of landscape characteristics that meet the needs of developers and satisfy the desires of consumers, with minimal consideration of access to or effect on the provision of ecosystem services. The County houses nearly 25% of the state’s population and several employment centers that draw labor from throughout the region. Additionally, the County is expected to maintain modest residential and employment growth over the next 30 years, and will continue to serve as the state’s population and employment center. Expected future growth is likely to adversely affect the remaining farm and forest land in the County in the absence of policies to support sustainable development. We demonstrate how ARIES can be used to quantify changes in ecosystem service provision based on the outcomes of alternative land use change model scenarios. Stakeholder workshops were hosted to develop scenarios relevant to planning for future growth in the County, including alternative zoning regulations, road network improvements, and a range of future population projections. The results of the land use change simulations were passed to ARIES to model flood protection and water provision services for each of the alternative scenarios. We present Bayesian models of the ecosystem services as individual source, sink, and use components coupled with models of temporal and spatial flows of services across the landscape. Specific beneficiaries include homeowners, farmers, and other business property owners. The location choice decisions of residential and non-residential agents under the alternative scenarios resulted in varying access to ecosystem services depending on development density, habitat fragmentation, and the degree of hydrological impairment, among other factors. Modeled outputs include maps depicting flow paths (linking sources to beneficiaries), changes in land use, hotspot locations that are critical to sustain the flow of services across the landscape, and the demand for and supply of the modeled services.

Assessment and valuation of forest ecosystem services: State of the science review

Treesearch

Seth Binder; Robert G. Haight; Stephen Polasky; Travis Warziniack; Miranda H. Mockrin; Robert L. Deal; Greg Arthaud

2017-01-01

This review focuses on the assessment and economic valuation of ecosystem services from forest ecosystems—that is, our ability to predict changes in the quantity and value of ecosystem services as a result of specific forest management decisions. It is aimed at forest economists and managers and intended to provide a useful reference to those interested in developing...

The 1990 forest ecosystem dynamics multisensor aircraft campaign

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, Darrel L.; Ranson, K. Jon

1991-01-01

The overall objective of the Forest Ecosystem Dynamics (FED) research activity is to develop a better understanding of the dynamics of forest ecosystem evolution over a variety of temporal and spatial scales. Primary emphasis is being placed on assessing the ecosystem dynamics associated with the transition zone between northern hardwood forests in eastern North America and the predominantly coniferous forests of the more northerly boreal biome. The approach is to combine ground-based, airborne, and satellite observations with an integrated forest pattern and process model which is being developed to link together existing models of forest growth and development, soil processes, and radiative transfer.

Invasive Shrub Mapping in an Urban Environment from Hyperspectral and LiDAR-Derived Attributes

PubMed Central

Chance, Curtis M.; Coops, Nicholas C.; Plowright, Andrew A.; Tooke, Thoreau R.; Christen, Andreas; Aven, Neal

2016-01-01

Proactive management of invasive species in urban areas is critical to restricting their overall distribution. The objective of this work is to determine whether advanced remote sensing technologies can help to detect invasions effectively and efficiently in complex urban ecosystems such as parks. In Surrey, BC, Canada, Himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus) and English ivy (Hedera helix) are two invasive shrub species that can negatively affect native ecosystems in cities and managed urban parks. Random forest (RF) models were created to detect these two species using a combination of hyperspectral imagery, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. LiDAR-derived predictor variables included irradiance models, canopy structural characteristics, and orographic variables. RF detection accuracy ranged from 77.8 to 87.8% for Himalayan blackberry and 81.9 to 82.1% for English ivy, with open areas classified more accurately than areas under canopy cover. English ivy was predicted to occur across a greater area than Himalayan blackberry both within parks and across the entire city. Both Himalayan blackberry and English ivy were mostly located in clusters according to a Local Moran’s I analysis. The occurrence of both species decreased as the distance from roads increased. This study shows the feasibility of producing highly accurate detection maps of plant invasions in urban environments using a fusion of remotely sensed data, as well as the ability to use these products to guide management decisions. PMID:27818664

Forestry in urban and urbanizing areas of the United States; connecting people with forest in the 21st century

Treesearch

John F. Dwyer; Gina M. Childs; David J. Nowak

2000-01-01

Resource managers worldwide face challenges in responding to expanding urbanization and its effects on forest resources. These challenges can be met head on if managers work toward: (1) comprehensive management of forest resources in urban and urbanizing areas, and (2)connection of urban people with forests and their management. Opportunities exist for...

Ecosystem services from converted land: the importance of tree cover in Amazonian pastures

USGS Publications Warehouse

Barrett, Kirsten; Valentim, Judson; Turner, B. L.

2013-01-01

Deforestation is responsible for a substantial fraction of global carbon emissions and changes in surface energy budgets that affect climate. Deforestation losses include wildlife and human habitat, and myriad forest products on which rural and urban societies depend for food, fiber, fuel, fresh water, medicine, and recreation. Ecosystem services gained in the transition from forests to pasture and croplands, however, are often ignored in assessments of the impact of land cover change. The role of converted lands in tropical areas in terms of carbon uptake and storage is largely unknown. Pastures represent the fastest-growing form of converted land use in the tropics, even in some areas of rapid urban expansion. Tree biomass stored in these areas spans a broad range, depending on tree cover. Trees in pasture increase carbon storage, provide shade for cattle, and increase productivity of forage material. As a result, increasing fractional tree cover can provide benefits land managers as well as important ecosystem services such as reducing conversion pressure on forests adjacent to pastures. This study presents an estimation of fractional tree cover in pasture in a dynamic region on the verge of large-scale land use change. An appropriate sampling interval is established for similar studies, one that balances the need for independent samples of sufficient number to characterize a pasture in terms of fractional tree cover. This information represents a useful policy tool for government organizations and NGOs interested in encouraging ecosystem services on converted lands. Using high spatial resolution remotely sensed imagery, fractional tree cover in pasture is quantified for the municipality of Rio Branco, Brazil. A semivariogram and devolving spatial resolution are employed to determine the coarsest sampling interval that may be used, minimizing effects of spatial autocorrelation. The coarsest sampling interval that minimizes spatial dependence was about 22 m. The area-weighted fractional tree cover for the study area was 1.85 %, corrected for a slight bias associated with the coarser sampling resolution. The pastures sampled for fractional tree cover were divided between ‘high’ and ‘low’ tree cover, which may be the result of intentional incorporation of arboreal species in pasture. Further research involving those ranchers that have a higher fractional tree cover may indicate ways to promote the practice on a broader scale in the region.

Urban expansion simulation and the spatio-temporal changes of ecosystem services, a case study in Atlanta Metropolitan area, USA.

PubMed

Sun, Xiao; Crittenden, John C; Li, Feng; Lu, Zhongming; Dou, Xiaolin

2018-05-01

Urban expansion can lead to land use changes and, hence, threatens the ecosystems. Understanding the effects of urbanization on ecosystem services (ESs) can provide scientific guidance for land use planning and the protection of ESs. We established a framework to assess the spatial distributions of ESs based on land use changes in the Atlanta Metropolitan area (AMA) from 1985 to 2012. A new comprehensive ecosystem service (CES) index was developed to reflect the comprehensive level of ESs. Associated with the influential factors, we simulated the business as usual scenario in 2030. Four alternative scenarios, including more compact growth (MCG), riparian vegetation buffer (RVB), soil conservation (SC), and combined development (CD) scenarios were developed to explore the optimal land use strategies which can enhance the ESs. The results showed that forest and wetland had the greatest decreases, while low and high intensity built-up lands had the greatest increases. The values of CES and most of ESs decreased significantly due to the sprawling expansion of built-up land. The scenario analysis revealed that the CD scenario performs best in CES value, while it performs the worst in food supply. Compared with the RVB and SC scenarios, MCG scenario is a more optimal land use strategy to enhance the ESs without at the expense of food supply. To integrate multiple ESs into land use planning and decision making, corresponding land management policies and ecological engineering measures should be implemented to enhance: (1) the water yield and water purification in urban core counties, (2) the carbon storage, habitat quality, and recreational opportunity in counties around the core area, and (3) the soil conservation and food supply in surrounding suburban counties. The land use strategies and ecological engineering measures in this study can provide references for enhancing the ESs in the AMA and other metropolitan areas. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluating carbon fluxes of global forest ecosystems by using an individual tree-based model FORCCHN.

PubMed

Ma, Jianyong; Shugart, Herman H; Yan, Xiaodong; Cao, Cougui; Wu, Shuang; Fang, Jing

2017-05-15

The carbon budget of forest ecosystems, an important component of the terrestrial carbon cycle, needs to be accurately quantified and predicted by ecological models. As a preamble to apply the model to estimate global carbon uptake by forest ecosystems, we used the CO 2 flux measurements from 37 forest eddy-covariance sites to examine the individual tree-based FORCCHN model's performance globally. In these initial tests, the FORCCHN model simulated gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (ER) and net ecosystem production (NEP) with correlations of 0.72, 0.70 and 0.53, respectively, across all forest biomes. The model underestimated GPP and slightly overestimated ER across most of the eddy-covariance sites. An underestimation of NEP arose primarily from the lower GPP estimates. Model performance was better in capturing both the temporal changes and magnitude of carbon fluxes in deciduous broadleaf forest than in evergreen broadleaf forest, and it performed less well for sites in Mediterranean climate. We then applied the model to estimate the carbon fluxes of forest ecosystems on global scale over 1982-2011. This application of FORCCHN gave a total GPP of 59.41±5.67 and an ER of 57.21±5.32PgCyr -1 for global forest ecosystems during 1982-2011. The forest ecosystems over this same period contributed a large carbon storage, with total NEP being 2.20±0.64PgCyr -1 . These values are comparable to and reinforce estimates reported in other studies. This analysis highlights individual tree-based model FORCCHN could be used to evaluate carbon fluxes of forest ecosystems on global scale. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Supplementing forest ecosystem health projects on the ground

Treesearch

Cathy Barbouletos; Lynette Z. Morelan

1995-01-01

Understanding the functions and processes of ecosystems is critical before implementing forest ecosystem health projects on the landscape. Silvicultural treatments such as thinning, prescribed fire, and reforestation can simulate disturbance regimes and landscape patterns that have regulated forest ecosystems for centuries. As land managers we need to understand these...

Sustainable development and use of ecosystems with non-forest trees

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Non-forest trees are components of managed ecosystems including orchards and agroforestry systems and natural ecosystems such as savannas and riparian corridors. Each of these ecosystems includes trees but does not have a complete tree canopy or spatial extent necessary to create a true forest ecosy...

Comparing the effects of different land management strategies across several land types on California's landscape carbon and associated greenhouse gas budgets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Vittorio, A. V.; Simmonds, M.; Nico, P. S.

2017-12-01

Land-based carbon sequestration and GreenHouse Gas (GHG) reduction strategies are often implemented in small patches and evaluated independently from each other, which poses several challenges to determining their potential benefits at the regional scales at which carbon/GHG targets are defined. These challenges include inconsistent methods, uncertain scalability to larger areas, and lack of constraints such as land ownership and competition among multiple strategies. To address such challenges we have developed an integrated carbon and GHG budget model of California's entire landscape, delineated by geographic region, land type, and ownership. This empirical model has annual time steps and includes net ecosystem carbon exchange, wildfire, multiple forest management practices including wood and bioenergy production, cropland and rangeland soil management, various land type restoration activities, and land cover change. While the absolute estimates vary considerably due to uncertainties in initial carbon densities and ecosystem carbon exchange rates, the estimated effects of particular management activities with respect to baseline are robust across these uncertainties. Uncertainty in land use/cover change data is also critical, as different rates of shrubland to grassland conversion can switch the system from a carbon source to a sink. The results indicate that reducing urban area expansion has substantial and consistent benefits, while the effects of direct land management practices vary and depend largely on the available management area. Increasing forest fuel reduction extent over the baseline contributes to annual GHG costs during increased management, and annual benefits after increased management ceases. Cumulatively, it could take decades to recover the cost of 14 years of increased fuel reduction. However, forest carbon losses can be completely offset within 20 years through increases in urban forest fraction and marsh restoration. Additionally, highly uncertain black carbon estimates dominate the overall GHG budget due to wildfire, forest management, and bioenergy production. Overall, this tool is well suited for exploring suites of management options and extents throughout California in order to quantify potential regional carbon sequestration and GHG emission benefits.

[Ecological regulation services of Hainan Island ecosystem and their valuation].

PubMed

Ouyang, Zhiyun; Zhao, Tongqian; Zhao, Jingzhu; Xiao, Han; Wang, Xiaoke

2004-08-01

Ecosystem services imply the natural environmental conditions on which human life relies for existence, and their effectiveness formed and sustained by ecosystem and its ecological processes. In newly research reports, they were divided into four groups, i. e., provisioning services, regulation services, cultural services, and supporting services. To assess and valuate ecosystem services is the foundation of regional environmental reserve and development. Taking Hainan Island as an example and based on the structure and processes of natural ecosystem, this paper discussed the proper methods for regulation services assessment. The ecosystems were classified into 13 types including valley rain forest, mountainous rain forest, tropical monsoon forest, mountainous coppice forest, mountainous evergreen forest, tropical coniferous forest, shrubs, plantation, timber forest, windbreak forest, mangrove, savanna, and cropland, and then, the regulation services and their economic values of Hainan Island ecosystem were assessed and evaluated by terms of water-holding, soil conservancy, nutrient cycle, C fixation, and windbreak function. The economic value of the regulation services of Hainan Island ecosystem was estimated as 2035.88 x 10(8)-2153.39 x 10(8) RMB yuan, 8 times higher to its provisioning services (wood and agricultural products) which were estimated as only 254.06 x 10(8) RMB yuan. The result implied that ecosystem regulation services played an even more important role in the sustainable development of society and economy in Hainan Island.

Impacts of forestry on boreal forests: An ecosystem services perspective.

PubMed

Pohjanmies, Tähti; Triviño, María; Le Tortorec, Eric; Mazziotta, Adriano; Snäll, Tord; Mönkkönen, Mikko

2017-11-01

Forests are widely recognized as major providers of ecosystem services, including timber, other forest products, recreation, regulation of water, soil and air quality, and climate change mitigation. Extensive tracts of boreal forests are actively managed for timber production, but actions aimed at increasing timber yields also affect other forest functions and services. Here, we present an overview of the environmental impacts of forest management from the perspective of ecosystem services. We show how prevailing forestry practices may have substantial but diverse effects on the various ecosystem services provided by boreal forests. Several aspects of these processes remain poorly known and warrant a greater role in future studies, including the role of community structure. Conflicts among different interests related to boreal forests are most likely to occur, but the concept of ecosystem services may provide a useful framework for identifying and resolving these conflicts.

Sustainable Urban Forestry Potential Based Quantitative And Qualitative Measurement Using Geospatial Technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosli, A. Z.; Reba, M. N. M.; Roslan, N.; Room, M. H. M.

2014-02-01

In order to maintain the stability of natural ecosystems around urban areas, urban forestry will be the best initiative to maintain and control green space in our country. Integration between remote sensing (RS) and geospatial information system (GIS) serves as an effective tool for monitoring environmental changes and planning, managing and developing a sustainable urbanization. This paper aims to assess capability of the integration of RS and GIS to provide information for urban forest potential sites based on qualitative and quantitative by using priority parameter ranking in the new township of Nusajaya. SPOT image was used to provide high spatial accuracy while map of topography, landuse, soils group, hydrology, Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and soil series data were applied to enhance the satellite image in detecting and locating present attributes and features on the ground. Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) technique provides structural and pair wise quantification and comparison elements and criteria for priority ranking for urban forestry purpose. Slope, soil texture, drainage, spatial area, availability of natural resource, and vicinity of urban area are criteria considered in this study. This study highlighted the priority ranking MCDM is cost effective tool for decision-making in urban forestry planning and landscaping.

Understory cover and biomass indices predictions for forest ecosystems of the Northwestern United States

Treesearch

Vasile A. Suchar; Nicholas L. Crookston

2010-01-01

The understory community is a critical component of many processes of forest ecosystems. Cover and biomass indices of shrubs and herbs of forested ecosystems of Northwestern United States are presented. Various forest data were recorded for 10,895 plots during a Current Vegetation Survey, over the National Forest lands of entire Pacific Northwest. No significant...

Assessment of forest fuel loadings in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Treesearch

Thomas Brandeis; Christopher Woodall

2009-01-01

Quantification of the downed woody materials that comprise forest fuels has gained importance in Caribbean forest ecosystems due to the increasing incidence and severity of wildfires on island ecosystems. Because large-scale assessments of forest fuels have rarely been conducted for these ecosystems, forest fuels were assessed at 121 U.S. Department of Agriculture,...

Using urban forest assessment tools to model bird habitat potential

Treesearch

Susannah B. Lerman; Keith H. Nislow; David J. Nowak; Stephen DeStefano; David I. King; D. Todd Jones-Farrand

2014-01-01

The alteration of forest cover and the replacement of native vegetation with buildings, roads, exotic vegetation, and other urban features pose one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. As more land becomes slated for urban development, identifying effective urban forest wildlife management tools becomes paramount to ensure the urban forest provides habitat...

Litterfall mercury deposition in Atlantic forest ecosystem from SE-Brazil.

PubMed

Teixeira, Daniel C; Montezuma, Rita C; Oliveira, Rogério R; Silva-Filho, Emmanoel V

2012-05-01

Litterfall is believed to be the major flux of Hg to soils in forested landscapes, yet much less is known about this input on tropical environment. The Hg litterfall flux was measured during one year in Atlantic Forest fragment, located within Rio de Janeiro urban perimeter, in the Southeastern region of Brazil. The results indicated a mean annual Hg concentration of 238 ± 52 ng g(-1) and a total annual Hg deposition of 184 ± 8.2 μg m(-2) y(-1). The negative correlation observed between rain precipitation and Hg concentrations is probably related to the higher photosynthetic activity observed during summer. The total Hg concentration in leaves from the most abundant species varied from 60 to 215 ng g(-1). Hg concentration showed a positive correlation with stomatal and trichomes densities. These characteristics support the hypothesis that Tropical Forest is an efficient mercury sink and litter plays a key role in Hg dynamics. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sustaining America's urban trees and forests: a Forests on the Edge report

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Paula B. Randler; Eric J. Greenfield; Sara J. Comas; Mary A. Carr; Ralph J. Alig

2010-01-01

Close to 80 percent of the U.S. population lives in urban areas and depends on the essential ecological, economic, and social benefits provided by urban trees and forests. However, the distribution of urban tree cover and the benefits of urban forests vary across the United States, as do the challenges of sustaining this important resource. As urban areas expand...

Biodiversity and disease: a synthesis of ecological perspectives on Lyme disease transmission.

PubMed

Wood, Chelsea L; Lafferty, Kevin D

2013-04-01

Recent reviews have argued that disease control is among the ecosystem services yielded by biodiversity. Lyme disease (LD) is commonly cited as the best example of the 'diluting' effect of biodiversity on disease transmission, but many studies document the opposite relationship, showing that human LD risk can increase with forestation. Here, we unify these divergent perspectives and find strong evidence for a positive link between biodiversity and LD at broad spatial scales (urban to suburban to rural) and equivocal evidence for a negative link between biodiversity and LD at varying levels of biodiversity within forests. This finding suggests that, across zoonotic disease agents, the biodiversity-disease relationship is scale dependent and complex. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Urban Forests

Treesearch

David Nowak

2016-01-01

Urban forests (and trees) constitute the second forest resource considered in this report. We specifically emphasize the fact that agricultural and urban forests exist on a continuum defined by their relationship (and interrelationship) with a given landscape. These two forest types generally serve different purposes, however. Whereas agricultural forests are...

Urban forests for sustainable urban development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sundara, Denny M.; Hartono, Djoko M.; Suganda, Emirhadi; Haeruman, S. Herman J.

2017-11-01

This paper explores the development of the urban forest in East Jakarta. By 2030 Jakarta area has a target of 30% green area covering 19,845 hectares, including urban forest covering an area of 4,631 hectares. In 2015, the city forest is only 646 hectares, while the city requires 3,985 hectares of new land Urban forest growth from year to year showed a marked decrease with increasing land area awoke to commercial functions, environmental conditions encourage the development of the city to become unsustainable. This research aims to support sustainable urban development and ecological balance through the revitalization of green areas and urban development. Analytical methods for urban forest area is calculated based on the amount of CO2 that comes from people, vehicles, and industrial. Urban spatial analysis based on satellite image data, using a GIS program is an analysis tool to determine the distribution and growth patterns of green areas. This paper uses a dynamic system model to simulate the conditions of the region against intervention to be performed on potential areas for development of urban forests. The result is a model urban forest area is integrated with a social and economic function to encourage the development of sustainable cities.

Modeling the Local Ecological Response to Regional Landscape and Global Change Forcings: A Case Study of Bioenergy in North Carolina, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Terando, A. J.; Costanza, J. K.; Tarr, N. M.; Apt, R.; Rubino, M. J.

2015-12-01

Sustainable energy policies in Europe have led to a growing market for bioenergy, and especially wood pellets, as a means to reduce fossil fuel emissions and the attendant socio-environmental consequences from climate change. However the introduction of this market has the potential to create significant negative ecological impacts whose costs are borne far from Europe. Because of its existing forest products infrastructure and resources, the Southeast US is viewed as an attractive supplier of wood pellets to Europe. Consequently, a new global telecoupling has developed between these two regions linking the natural capital of one region to the energy needs and greenhouse gas abatement policy of the other. Additionally, habitat for many important wildlife species in the Southeast lie within a rapidly urbanizing region characterized by low-density auto-dependent growth. Combined, these two forcings have the potential to rapidly degrade species-rich ecosystems. Here the ecological effects of increased European demand for wood pellets are examined in North Carolina. Future land use and vegetation change were projected using the results from linked urbanization, vegetation dynamics, life cycle analysis, and forest timber economics models. Ecological impacts as measured for 16 amphibian and avian species were evaluated under five bioenergy production scenarios and one urbanization-only scenario. Results indicate that highly vagile or upland species are able to take advantage of the increase in vegetated land cover, even if the majority of new habitat is in intensively managed forests. Conversely, more sessile and range-limited species, particularly those found in coastal plain systems such as bottomland hardwood forest, show steeper declines under the wood pellet scenarios than under the urbanization-only scenario. These results highlight the challenge of evaluating the sustainability of developing markets that seek to mitigate certain aspects of global environmental change but risk exacerbating others.

Floodplain forest loss and changes in forest community composition and structure in the upper Mississippi River: a wildlife habitat at risk

USGS Publications Warehouse

Knutson, M.G.; Klaas, E.E.

1998-01-01

Large floodplain forests represent a threatened and endangered type of ecosystem in the United States. Estimates of cumulative losses of floodplain forest range from 57% to 95% at different locations within the continental United Stales. Floodplain forests of the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) have significantly declined in extent due to agriculture, lock and dam construction, and urban development since European settlement. We collected data on shrubs, herbs, and trees from 56 floodplain forest plots in 1992 and compared our results with a previous analysis of historical tree data from the same area recorded by the General Land Office Survey in the 1840s. Acer saccharinum strongly dominates among mature trees and its relative dominance has increased over time. Salix spp. And Betula nigra have declined in relative dominance. Tree sizes are similar to those of presettlement forests, but present forests have fewer trees. The lack of early successional tree species and a trend toward an increasing monoculture of A. Saccharinum in the mature stages indicate problems with regeneration. Because floodplain forests represent a rare habitat type, losses and changes in habitat quality could pose serious problems for wildlife that depend upon these habitats, especially birds.

The effect of urban heat island on Izmir's city ecosystem and climate.

PubMed

Corumluoglu, Ozsen; Asri, Ibrahim

2015-03-01

Depending on the researches done on urban landscapes, it is found that the heat island intensity caused by the activities in any city has some impact on the ecosystem of the region and on the regional climate. Urban areas located in arid and semiarid lands somehow represent heat increase when it is compared with the heat in the surrounding rural areas. Thus, cities located amid forested and temperate climate regions show moderate temperatures. The impervious surfaces let the rainfall leave the city lands faster than undeveloped areas. This effect reduces water's cooling effects on these lands. More significantly, if trees and other vegetations are rare in any region, it means less evapotranspiration-the process by which trees "exhale" water. Trees also contribute to the cooling of urban lands by their shade. Land cover and land use maps can easily be produced by processing of remote sensing satellites' images, like processing of Landsat's images. As a result of this process, urban regions can be distinguished from vegetation. Analyzed GIS data produced and supported by these images can be utilized to determine the impact of urban land on energy, water, and carbon balances at the Earth's surface. Here in this study, it is found that remote sensing technique with thermal images is a liable technique to asses where urban heat islands and hot spots are located in cities. As an application area, in Izmir, it was found that the whole city was in high level of surface temperature as it was over 28 °C during the summer times. Beside this, the highest temperature values which go up to 47 °C are obtained at industrial regions especially where the iron-steel factories and the related industrial activities are.

Estimation of biogeochemical climate regulation services in Chinese forest ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Y.; Li, S.

2016-12-01

As the global climate is changing, the climate regulation service of terrestrial ecosystem has been widely studied. Forests, as one of the most important terrestrial ecosystem types, is the biggest carbon pool or sink on land and can regulate climate through both biophysical and biogeochemical means. China is a country with vast forested areas and a variety of forest ecosystems types. Although current studies have related the climate regulation service of forest in China with biophysical or biogeochemical mechanism, there is still a lack of quantitative estimation of climate regulation services, especially for the biogeochemical climate regulation service. The GHGV (greenhouse gas value) is an indicator that can quantify the biochemical climate regulation service using ecosystems' stored organic matter, annual greenhouse gas flux, and potential greenhouse gas exchange rates during disturbances over a multiple year time frame. Therefore, we used GHGV to estimate the contribution of China's ten main forest types to biogeochemical climate regulation and generate the pattern of biochemical climate regulation service in Chinese forest ecosystems.

The Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project: past, present, and future

Treesearch

Brian L. Brookshire; Randy Jensen; Daniel C. Dey

1997-01-01

In 1989, the Missouri Department of Conservation initiated a research project to examine the impacts of forest management practices on multiple ecosystem components. The Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP) is a landscape experiment comparing the impacts of even-aged management, uneven-aged management, and no harvesting on a wide array of ecosystem...

Forecasting the combined effects of urbanization and climate change on stream ecosystems: from impacts to management options

PubMed Central

Nelson, Kären C; Palmer, Margaret A; Pizzuto, James E; Moglen, Glenn E; Angermeier, Paul L; Hilderbrand, Robert H; Dettinger, Michael; Hayhoe, Katharine

2009-01-01

Streams collect runoff, heat, and sediment from their watersheds, making them highly vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbances such as urbanization and climate change. Forecasting the effects of these disturbances using process-based models is critical to identifying the form and magnitude of likely impacts. Here, we integrate a new biotic model with four previously developed physical models (downscaled climate projections, stream hydrology, geomorphology, and water temperature) to predict how stream fish growth and reproduction will most probably respond to shifts in climate and urbanization over the next several decades. The biotic submodel couples dynamics in fish populations and habitat suitability to predict fish assemblage composition, based on readily available biotic information (preferences for habitat, temperature, and food, and characteristics of spawning) and day-to-day variability in stream conditions. We illustrate the model using Piedmont headwater streams in the Chesapeake Bay watershed of the USA, projecting ten scenarios: Baseline (low urbanization; no on-going construction; and present-day climate); one Urbanization scenario (higher impervious surface, lower forest cover, significant construction activity); four future climate change scenarios [Hadley CM3 and Parallel Climate Models under medium-high (A2) and medium-low (B2) emissions scenarios]; and the same four climate change scenarios plus Urbanization. Urbanization alone depressed growth or reproduction of 8 of 39 species, while climate change alone depressed 22 to 29 species. Almost every recreationally important species (i.e. trouts, basses, sunfishes) and six of the ten currently most common species were predicted to be significantly stressed. The combined effect of climate change and urbanization on adult growth was sometimes large compared to the effect of either stressor alone. Thus, the model predicts considerable change in fish assemblage composition, including loss of diversity. Synthesis and applications. The interaction of climate change and urban growth may entail significant reconfiguring of headwater streams, including a loss of ecosystem structure and services, which will be more costly than climate change alone. On local scales, stakeholders cannot control climate drivers but they can mitigate stream impacts via careful land use. Therefore, to conserve stream ecosystems, we recommend that proactive measures be taken to insure against species loss or severe population declines. Delays will inevitably exacerbate the impacts of both climate change and urbanization on headwater systems. PMID:19536343

Forest ecosystem services: Provisioning of non-timber forest products

Treesearch

James L. Chamberlain; Gregory E. Frey; C. Denise Ingram; Michael G. Jacobson; Cara Meghan Starbuck Downes

2017-01-01

The purpose of this chapter is to describe approaches to calculate a conservative and defensible estimate of the marginal value of forests for non-timber forest products (NTFPs). 'Provisioning" is one of four categories of benefits, or services that ecosystems provide to humans and was described by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as 'products...

Forest-land conversion, ecosystem services, and economic issues for policy: a review

Treesearch

Robert A. Smail; David J. Lewis

2009-01-01

The continued conversion and development of forest land pose a serious threat to the ecosystem services derived from forested landscapes. We argue that developing an understanding of the full range of consequences from forest conversion requires understanding the effects of such conversion on both components of ecosystem services: products and processes....

Forest Ecosystem Services As Production Inputs

Treesearch

Subhrendu Pattanayak; David T. Butry

2003-01-01

Are we cutting down tropical forests too rapidly and too extensively? If so, why? Answers to both questions are obscured in some ways by insufficient and unreliable data on the economic worth of forest ecosystem services. It is clear, however, that rapid, excessive cutting of forests can irreversibly and substantively impair ecosystem functions, thereby endangering the...

Forest ecosystem services: Carbon and air quality

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Neelam C. Poudyal; Steve G. McNulty

2017-01-01

Forests provide various ecosystem services related to air quality that can provide substantial value to society. Through tree growth and alteration of their local environment, trees and forests both directly and indirectly affect air quality. Though forests affect air quality in numerous ways, this chapter will focus on five main ecosystem services or disservices...

Applying and Individual-Based Model to Simultaneously Evaluate Net Ecosystem Production and Tree Diameter Increment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, F. J.

2017-12-01

Reconciling observations at fundamentally different scales is central in understanding the global carbon cycle. This study investigates a model-based melding of forest inventory data, remote-sensing data and micrometeorological-station data ("flux towers" estimating forest heat, CO2 and H2O fluxes). The individual tree-based model FORCCHN was used to evaluate the tree DBH increment and forest carbon fluxes. These are the first simultaneous simulations of the forest carbon budgets from flux towers and individual-tree growth estimates of forest carbon budgets using the continuous forest inventory data — under circumstances in which both predictions can be tested. Along with the global implications of such findings, this also improves the capacity for forest sustainable management and the comprehensive understanding of forest ecosystems. In forest ecology, diameter at breast height (DBH) of a tree significantly determines an individual tree's cross-sectional sapwood area, its biomass and carbon storage. Evaluation the annual DBH increment (ΔDBH) of an individual tree is central to understanding tree growth and forest ecology. Ecosystem Carbon flux is a consequence of key ecosystem processes in the forest-ecosystem carbon cycle, Gross and Net Primary Production (GPP and NPP, respectively) and Net Ecosystem Respiration (NEP). All of these closely relate with tree DBH changes and tree death. Despite advances in evaluating forest carbon fluxes with flux towers and forest inventories for individual tree ΔDBH, few current ecological models can simultaneously quantify and predict the tree ΔDBH and forest carbon flux.

Forest fragmentation and selective logging have inconsistent effects on multiple animal-mediated ecosystem processes in a tropical forest.

PubMed

Schleuning, Matthias; Farwig, Nina; Peters, Marcell K; Bergsdorf, Thomas; Bleher, Bärbel; Brandl, Roland; Dalitz, Helmut; Fischer, Georg; Freund, Wolfram; Gikungu, Mary W; Hagen, Melanie; Garcia, Francisco Hita; Kagezi, Godfrey H; Kaib, Manfred; Kraemer, Manfred; Lung, Tobias; Naumann, Clas M; Schaab, Gertrud; Templin, Mathias; Uster, Dana; Wägele, J Wolfgang; Böhning-Gaese, Katrin

2011-01-01

Forest fragmentation and selective logging are two main drivers of global environmental change and modify biodiversity and environmental conditions in many tropical forests. The consequences of these changes for the functioning of tropical forest ecosystems have rarely been explored in a comprehensive approach. In a Kenyan rainforest, we studied six animal-mediated ecosystem processes and recorded species richness and community composition of all animal taxa involved in these processes. We used linear models and a formal meta-analysis to test whether forest fragmentation and selective logging affected ecosystem processes and biodiversity and used structural equation models to disentangle direct from biodiversity-related indirect effects of human disturbance on multiple ecosystem processes. Fragmentation increased decomposition and reduced antbird predation, while selective logging consistently increased pollination, seed dispersal and army-ant raiding. Fragmentation modified species richness or community composition of five taxa, whereas selective logging did not affect any component of biodiversity. Changes in the abundance of functionally important species were related to lower predation by antbirds and higher decomposition rates in small forest fragments. The positive effects of selective logging on bee pollination, bird seed dispersal and army-ant raiding were direct, i.e. not related to changes in biodiversity, and were probably due to behavioural changes of these highly mobile animal taxa. We conclude that animal-mediated ecosystem processes respond in distinct ways to different types of human disturbance in Kakamega Forest. Our findings suggest that forest fragmentation affects ecosystem processes indirectly by changes in biodiversity, whereas selective logging influences processes directly by modifying local environmental conditions and resource distributions. The positive to neutral effects of selective logging on ecosystem processes show that the functionality of tropical forests can be maintained in moderately disturbed forest fragments. Conservation concepts for tropical forests should thus include not only remaining pristine forests but also functionally viable forest remnants.

Forest Fragmentation and Selective Logging Have Inconsistent Effects on Multiple Animal-Mediated Ecosystem Processes in a Tropical Forest

PubMed Central

Schleuning, Matthias; Farwig, Nina; Peters, Marcell K.; Bergsdorf, Thomas; Bleher, Bärbel; Brandl, Roland; Dalitz, Helmut; Fischer, Georg; Freund, Wolfram; Gikungu, Mary W.; Hagen, Melanie; Garcia, Francisco Hita; Kagezi, Godfrey H.; Kaib, Manfred; Kraemer, Manfred; Lung, Tobias; Schaab, Gertrud; Templin, Mathias; Uster, Dana; Wägele, J. Wolfgang; Böhning-Gaese, Katrin

2011-01-01

Forest fragmentation and selective logging are two main drivers of global environmental change and modify biodiversity and environmental conditions in many tropical forests. The consequences of these changes for the functioning of tropical forest ecosystems have rarely been explored in a comprehensive approach. In a Kenyan rainforest, we studied six animal-mediated ecosystem processes and recorded species richness and community composition of all animal taxa involved in these processes. We used linear models and a formal meta-analysis to test whether forest fragmentation and selective logging affected ecosystem processes and biodiversity and used structural equation models to disentangle direct from biodiversity-related indirect effects of human disturbance on multiple ecosystem processes. Fragmentation increased decomposition and reduced antbird predation, while selective logging consistently increased pollination, seed dispersal and army-ant raiding. Fragmentation modified species richness or community composition of five taxa, whereas selective logging did not affect any component of biodiversity. Changes in the abundance of functionally important species were related to lower predation by antbirds and higher decomposition rates in small forest fragments. The positive effects of selective logging on bee pollination, bird seed dispersal and army-ant raiding were direct, i.e. not related to changes in biodiversity, and were probably due to behavioural changes of these highly mobile animal taxa. We conclude that animal-mediated ecosystem processes respond in distinct ways to different types of human disturbance in Kakamega Forest. Our findings suggest that forest fragmentation affects ecosystem processes indirectly by changes in biodiversity, whereas selective logging influences processes directly by modifying local environmental conditions and resource distributions. The positive to neutral effects of selective logging on ecosystem processes show that the functionality of tropical forests can be maintained in moderately disturbed forest fragments. Conservation concepts for tropical forests should thus include not only remaining pristine forests but also functionally viable forest remnants. PMID:22114695

Maintaining ecosystem function and services in logged tropical forests.

PubMed

Edwards, David P; Tobias, Joseph A; Sheil, Douglas; Meijaard, Erik; Laurance, William F

2014-09-01

Vast expanses of tropical forests worldwide are being impacted by selective logging. We evaluate the environmental impacts of such logging and conclude that natural timber-production forests typically retain most of their biodiversity and associated ecosystem functions, as well as their carbon, climatic, and soil-hydrological ecosystem services. Unfortunately, the value of production forests is often overlooked, leaving them vulnerable to further degradation including post-logging clearing, fires, and hunting. Because logged tropical forests are extensive, functionally diverse, and provide many ecosystem services, efforts to expand their role in conservation strategies are urgently needed. Key priorities include improving harvest practices to reduce negative impacts on ecosystem functions and services, and preventing the rapid conversion and loss of logged forests. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Re-connecting Urban Ecohydrology to Improve Ecosystem Functioning: The Role of Local-scale Green Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pavao-Zuckerman, M.

2010-12-01

As rates of urbanization continue to rise and a greater proportion of the population lives in urban and suburban areas, the provision of ecological services and functions become increasingly important to sustain human and environmental health in urban ecosystems. Soils play a primary role in the healthy functioning of ecosystems that provide supporting, provisioning, regulating, preserving, and cultural ecosystem services, yet developing our understanding of how urban soils function to provide these services within an ecological context is just getting underway. Soils in urban ecosytems are highly heterogeneous, and are affected by both direct and indirect influences and local modifications which alter their functioning relative to non-urbanized local soils. Here I discuss the functioning of rain gardens in and around Tucson, AZ, that have been installed in the urban landscape with the purpose of providing various ecosystem services to local residents and the greater urban ecosystem. This reconnection of ecohydrologic flows in the city has the potential to alter the structure and function of urban ecosystems in positive (through the increase in water availability) and negative (through the import of pollutants to soils) ways. This study compares soil properties, microbial function, and ecosystem functions within the urban ecosystem to determine how urbanization alters soils in semi-arid environments, and to determine if green urban modifications in desert cities can improve soils and ecosystem services. Soils in rain gardens have nearly twice the organic matter contents of native and urban soils, and correspondingly, greater microbial function (as indicated through respiration potential), higher abundance (through substrate induced respiration), and community complexity (indicated by a 3x increase in metabolic diversity) in these green design modifications. Net N-mineralization rates are almost 1.5 times faster in the rain garden basins than urban soils in general. This study also includes the comparison of different approaches to installing rain gardens to illustrate the effects of different management strategies on biogeochemical cycling. The inclusion of mulch in the garden design increases microbial biomass and reduces the rate of N-mineralization. These data indicate that soil quality is improved in arid system rain gardens. Such urban modifications both improve soils and reconnect ecohydrologic flows in Tucson neighborhoods, suggesting that the provision of ecosystem services in cities can be assisted with small scale green infrastructure modifications. In fact, such small scale improvements in ecosystem functioning may contribute to broader scale resilience of the urban ecosystem.

Effects of repeated fires on ecosystem C and N stocks along a fire induced forest/grassland gradient

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Chih-Hsin; Chen, Yung-Sheng; Huang, Yu-Hsuan; Chiou, Chyi-Rong; Lin, Chau-Chih; Menyailo, Oleg V.

2013-03-01

Repeated fires might have different effect on ecosystem carbon storage than a single fire event, but information on repeated fires and their effects on forest ecosystems and carbon storage is scarce. However, changes in climate, vegetation composition, and human activities are expected to make forests more susceptible to fires that recur with relatively high frequency. In this study, the effects of repeated fires on ecosystem carbon and nitrogen stocks were examined along a fire-induced forest/grassland gradient wherein the fire events varied from an unburned forest to repeatedly burned grassland. Results from the study show repeated fires drastically decreased ecosystem carbon and nitrogen stocks along the forest/grassland gradient. The reduction began with the disappearance of living tree biomass, and followed by the loss of soil carbon and nitrogen. Within 4 years of the onset of repeated fires on the unburned forest, the original ecosystem carbon and nitrogen stocks were reduced by 42% and 21%, respectively. Subsequent fires caused cumulative reductions in ecosystem carbon and nitrogen stocks by 68% and 44% from the original ecosystem carbon and nitrogen stocks, respectively. The analyses of carbon budgets calculated by vegetation composition and stable isotopic δ13C values indicate that 84% of forest-derived carbon is lost at grassland, whereas the gain of grass-derived carbon only compensates 18% for this loss. Such significant losses in ecosystem carbon and nitrogen stocks suggest that the effects of repeated fires have substantial impacts on ecosystem and soil carbon and nitrogen cycling.

Temporal dynamics of a subtropical urban forest in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2001-2010

Treesearch

J. M. Tucker Lima; C. L. Staudhammer; T. J. Brandeis; F. J. Escobedo; W. Zipperer

2013-01-01

Several studies report urban tree growth and mortality rates as well as species composition, structural dynamics, and other characteristics of urban forests in mostly temperate, inland urban areas. Temporal dynamics of urban forests in subtropical and tropical forest regions are, until now, little explored and represent a new and important direction for study and...

Effects of ice storm on forest ecosystem of southern China in 2008 Shaoqiang Wang1, Lei Zhou1, Weimin Ju2, Kun Huang1 1Key Lab of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Beijing, 10010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Shaoqiang

2014-05-01

Evidence is mounting that an increase in extreme climate events has begun to occur worldwide during the recent decades, which affect biosphere function and biodiversity. Ecosystems returned to its original structures and functions to maintain its sustainability, which was closely dependent on ecosystem resilience. Understanding the resilience and recovery capacity of ecosystem to extreme climate events is essential to predicting future ecosystem responses to climate change. Given the overwhelming importance of this region in the overall carbon cycle of forest ecosystems in China, south China suffered a destructive ice storm in 2008. In this study, we used the number of freezing day and a process-based model (Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator, BEPS) to characterize the spatial distribution of ice storm region in southeastern China and explore the impacts on carbon cycle of forest ecosystem over the past decade. The ecosystem variables, i.e. Net primary productivity (NPP), Evapotranspiration (ET), and Water use efficiency (WUE, the ratio of NPP to ET) from the outputs of BEPS models were used to detect the resistance and resilience of forest ecosystem in southern China. The pattern of ice storm-induced forest productivity widespread decline was closely related to the number of freezing day during the ice storm period. The NPP of forest area suffered heavy ice storm returned to normal status after five months with high temperature and ample moisture, indicated a high resilience of subtropical forest in China. The long-term changes of forest WUE remain stable, behaving an inherent sensitivity of ecosystem to extreme climate events. In addition, ground visits suggested that the recovery of forest productivity was attributed to rapid growth of understory. Understanding the variability and recovery threshold of ecosystem following extreme climate events help us to better simulate and predict the variability of ecosystem structure and function under current and future climate change.

Advances of air pollution science: from forest decline to multiple-stress effects on forest ecosystem services.

PubMed

Paoletti, E; Schaub, M; Matyssek, R; Wieser, G; Augustaitis, A; Bastrup-Birk, A M; Bytnerowicz, A; Günthardt-Goerg, M S; Müller-Starck, G; Serengil, Y

2010-06-01

Over the past 20 years, the focus of forest science on air pollution has moved from forest decline to a holistic framework of forest health, and from the effects on forest production to the ecosystem services provided by forest ecosystems. Hence, future research should focus on the interacting factorial impacts and resulting antagonistic and synergistic responses of forest trees and ecosystems. The synergistic effects of air pollution and climatic changes, in particular elevated ozone, altered nitrogen, carbon and water availability, must be key issues for research. Present evidence suggests air pollution will become increasingly harmful to forests under climate change, which requires integration amongst various stressors (abiotic and biotic factors, including competition, parasites and fire), effects on forest services (production, biodiversity protection, soil protection, sustained water balance, socio-economical relevance) and assessment approaches (research, monitoring, modeling) to be fostered. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

EnviroAtlas - Phoenix, AZ - Ecosystem Services by Block Group

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This dataset presents environmental benefits of the urban forest in 2,434 block groups in Phoenix, Arizona. Carbon attributes, pollution removal and value, and runoff effects are calculated for each block group using i-Tree models (www.itreetools.org), local weather data, pollution data, EPA provided city boundary and land cover data, and U.S. Census derived block group boundary data. Temperature reduction values for Phoenix will be added when they become available. This dataset was produced by the US Forest Service to support research and online mapping activities related to EnviroAtlas. EnviroAtlas (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas) allows the user to interact with a web-based, easy-to-use, mapping application to view and analyze multiple ecosystem services for the contiguous United States. The dataset is available as downloadable data (https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/ORD/EnviroAtlas) or as an EnviroAtlas map service. Additional descriptive information about each attribute in this dataset can be found in its associated EnviroAtlas Fact Sheet (https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-fact-sheets).

Dynamics of ecosystem services provided by subtropical ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The trends in the provision of ecosystem services during restoration and succession of subtropical forests and plantations were quantified, in terms of both receiver and donor values, based on a case study of a 3-step secondary succession series that included a 400-year-old subtropical forest and a 23-year history of growth on 3 subtropical forest plantations in Southeastern China. The ‘People's Republic of China Forestry Standard: Forest Ecosystem Service Valuation Norms’ was revised and applied to quantify the receiver values of ecosystem services, which were then compared with the emergy-based, donor values of the services. The results revealed that the efficiencies of subtropical forests and plantations in providing ecosystem services were 2 orders of magnitude higher than similar services provided by the current China economic system, and these efficiencieskept increasing over the course of succession. As a result, we conclude that afforestation is an efficient way to accelerate both the ability and efficiency of subtropical forests to provide ecosystem services. This paper is significant because it examines the dynamics of the provision of ecosystem services by forests over a succession series that spans 400 years. The paper also examines the rate of increase of services during forest restoration over a period of 23 years. The emergy used in ecosystem services provision is compared to the provision of similar services by economic means in the Chinese e

Ecosystem services to enhance sustainable forest management in the US: moving from forest service national programmes to local projects in the Pacific Northwest

Treesearch

Robert L. Deal; Nikola Smith; Joe Gates

2017-01-01

Ecosystem services are increasingly recognized as a way of framing and describing the broad suite of benefits that people receive from forests. The USDA Forest Service has been exploring use of an ecosystem services framework to describe forest values provided by federal lands and to attract and build partnerships with stakeholders to implement projects. Recently, the...

Forest ecosystem vulnerability assessment and synthesis for northern Wisconsin and western Upper Michigan: a report from the Northwoods Climate Change Response Framework project

Treesearch

Maria K. Janowiak; Louis R. Iverson; David J. Mladenoff; Emily Peters; Kirk R. Wythers; Weimin Xi; Leslie A. Brandt; Patricia R. Butler; Stephen D. Handler; P. Danielle Shannon; Chris Swanston; Linda R. Parker; Amy J. Amman; Brian Bogaczyk; Christine Handler; Ellen Lesch; Peter B. Reich; Stephen Matthews; Matthew Peters; Anantha Prasad; Sami Khanal; Feng Liu; Tara Bal; Dustin Bronson; Andrew Burton; Jim Ferris; Jon Fosgitt; Shawn Hagan; Erin Johnston; Evan Kane; Colleen Matula; Ryan O' Connor; Dale Higgins; Matt St. Pierre; Jad Daley; Mae Davenport; Marla R. Emery; David Fehringer; Christopher L. Hoving; Gary Johnson; David Neitzel; Michael Notaro; Adena Rissman; Chadwick Rittenhouse; Robert Ziel

2014-01-01

Forest ecosystems across the Northwoods will face direct and indirect impacts from a changing climate over the 21st century. This assessment evaluates the vulnerability of forest ecosystems in the Laurentian Mixed Forest Province of northern Wisconsin and western Upper Michigan under a range of future climates. Information on current forest conditions, observed climate...

Tree diversity does not always improve resistance of forest ecosystems to drought.

PubMed

Grossiord, Charlotte; Granier, André; Ratcliffe, Sophia; Bouriaud, Olivier; Bruelheide, Helge; Chećko, Ewa; Forrester, David Ian; Dawud, Seid Muhie; Finér, Leena; Pollastrini, Martina; Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael; Valladares, Fernando; Bonal, Damien; Gessler, Arthur

2014-10-14

Climate models predict an increase in the intensity and frequency of drought episodes in the Northern Hemisphere. Among terrestrial ecosystems, forests will be profoundly impacted by drier climatic conditions, with drastic consequences for the functions and services they supply. Simultaneously, biodiversity is known to support a wide range of forest ecosystem functions and services. However, whether biodiversity also improves the resistance of these ecosystems to drought remains unclear. We compared soil drought exposure levels in a total of 160 forest stands within five major forest types across Europe along a gradient of tree species diversity. We assessed soil drought exposure in each forest stand by calculating the stand-level increase in carbon isotope composition of late wood from a wet to a dry year (Δδ(13)CS). Δδ(13)CS exhibited a negative linear relationship with tree species diversity in two forest types, suggesting that species interactions in these forests diminished the drought exposure of the ecosystem. However, the other three forest types were unaffected by tree species diversity. We conclude that higher diversity enhances resistance to drought events only in drought-prone environments. Managing forest ecosystems for high tree species diversity does not necessarily assure improved adaptability to the more severe and frequent drought events predicted for the future.

The summertime Boreal forest field measurement intensive (HUMPPA-COPEC-2010): an overview of meteorological and chemical influences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, J.; Crowley, J.; Fischer, H.; Harder, H.; Martinez, M.; Petäjä, T.; Rinne, J.; Bäck, J.; Boy, M.; Dal Maso, M.; Hakala, J.; Kajos, M.; Keronen, P.; Rantala, P.; Aalto, J.; Aaltonen, H.; Paatero, J.; Vesala, T.; Hakola, H.; Levula, J.; Pohja, T.; Herrmann, F.; Auld, J.; Mesarchaki, E.; Song, W.; Yassaa, N.; Nölscher, A.; Johnson, A. M.; Custer, T.; Sinha, V.; Thieser, J.; Pouvesle, N.; Taraborrelli, D.; Tang, M. J.; Bozem, H.; Hosaynali-Beygi, Z.; Axinte, R.; Oswald, R.; Novelli, A.; Kubistin, D.; Hens, K.; Javed, U.; Trawny, K.; Breitenberger, C.; Hidalgo, P. J.; Ebben, C. J.; Geiger, F. M.; Corrigan, A. L.; Russell, L. M.; Ouwersloot, H. G.; Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, J.; Ganzeveld, L.; Vogel, A.; Beck, M.; Bayerle, A.; Kampf, C. J.; Bertelmann, M.; Köllner, F.; Hoffmann, T.; Valverde, J.; González, D.; Riekkola, M.-L.; Kulmala, M.; Lelieveld, J.

2011-10-01

This paper describes the background, instrumentation, goals, and the regional influences on the HUMPPA-COPEC intensive field measurement campaign, conducted at the Boreal forest research station SMEAR II (Station for Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relation) in Hyytiälä, Finland from 12 July-12 August 2010. The prevailing meteorological conditions during the campaign are examined and contrasted with those of the past six years. Back trajectory analyses show that meteorological conditions at the site in 2010 were characterized by a higher proportion of southerly flow than in the other years studied. As a result the summer of 2010 was anomalously warm and high in ozone making the campaign relevant for the analysis of possible future climates. A comprehensive land use analysis, provided on both 5 and 50 km scales, shows that the main vegetation types surrounding the site on both the regional and local scales are: coniferous forest (Scots pine and/or Norway spruce); mixed forest (Birch and conifers); and woodland scrub (e.g. Willows, Aspen); indicating that the campaign results can be taken as representative of the Boreal forest ecosystem. In addition to the influence of biogenic emissions, the measurement site was occasionally impacted by sources other than vegetation. Specific tracers have been used here to identify the time periods when such sources have impacted the site namely: biomass burning (acetonitrile and CO), urban anthropogenic pollution (pentane and SO2) and the nearby Korkeakoski sawmill (enantiomeric ratio of chiral monoterpenes). None of these sources dominated the study period, allowing the Boreal forest summertime emissions to be assessed and contrasted with various other source signatures.

The summertime Boreal forest field measurement intensive (HUMPPA-COPEC-2010): an overview of meteorological and chemical influences.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, J.; Petäjä, T.

2012-04-01

This submission describes the background, instrumentation, goals, and the regional influences on the HUMPPA-COPEC intensive field measurement campaign, conducted at the Boreal forest research station SMEAR II (Station for Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relation) in Hyytiälä, Finland from 12th July-12th August 2010. The prevailing meteorological conditions during the campaign are examined and contrasted with those of the past six years. Back trajectory analyses show that meteorological conditions at the site in 2010 were characterized by a higher proportion of southerly flow than in the other years studied. As a result the summer of 2010 was anomalously warm and high in ozone making the campaign relevant for the analysis of possible future climates. A comprehensive land use analysis, provided on both 5 and 50 km scales, shows that the main vegetation types surrounding the site on both the regional and local scales are: coniferous forest (Scots pine and/or Norway spruce); mixed forest (Birch and conifers); and woodland scrub (e.g. Willows, Aspen); indicating that the campaign results can be taken as representative of the Boreal forest ecosystem. In addition to the influence of biogenic emissions, the measurement site was occasionally impacted by sources other than vegetation. Specific tracers have been used here to identify the time periods when such sources have impacted the site namely: biomass burning (acetonitrile and CO), urban anthropogenic pollution (pentane and SO2) and the nearby Korkeakoski sawmill (enantiomeric ratio of chiral monoterpenes). None of these sources dominated the study period, allowing the Boreal forest summertime emissions to be assessed and contrasted with various other source signatures.

Chapter 10: Case studies in ecosystem management: the Mammoth-June ecosystem management project, Inyo National Forest

Treesearch

Constance I. Millar

1996-01-01

To assess the various ways organizations and people come together to manage Sierran ecosystems, SNEP conducted four case studies to examine the efficacy of different institutional arrangements:The Mammoth-June case study examines how a single national forest is attempting to implement the new Forest Service policy for ecosystem analysis...

Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range ecosystems

Treesearch

George A. Garrison; Ardell J. Bjugstad; Don A. Duncan; Mont E. Lewis; Dixie R. Smith

1977-01-01

This publication describes the 34 ecosystems into which all the land of the 48 contiguous states has been classified in the Forest-Range Environmental Study (FRES) of the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. The description of each ecosystem discusses physiography, climate, vegetation, fauna, soils, and land use. For a number of the ecosystems, the...

An Integrated Approach to Forest Ecosystem Services

Treesearch

José Joaquin Campos; Francisco Alpizar; Bastiaan Louman; John A. Parrotta

2005-01-01

Forest ecosystem services (FES) are fundamental for the Earth’s life support systems. This chapter discusses the different services provided by forest ecosystems and the effects that land use and forest management practices have on their provision. It also discusses the role of markets in providing an enabling environment for a sustainable and equitable provision of...

The Kings River Sustainable Forest Ecosystems Project: inception, objectives, and progress

Treesearch

Jared Verner; Mark T. Smith

2002-01-01

The Kings River Sustainable Forest Ecosystems Project, a formal administrative study involving extensive and intensive collaboration between Forest Service managers and researchers, is a response to changes in the agency’s orientation in favor of ecosystem approaches and to recent concern over issues associated with maintenance of late successional forest attributes...

Historical open forest ecosystems in the Missouri Ozarks: reconstruction and restoration targets

Treesearch

Brice B. Hanberry; D. Todd Jones-Farrand; John M. Kabrick

2014-01-01

Current forests no longer resemble historical open forest ecosystems in the eastern United States. In the absence of representative forest ecosystems under a continuous surface fire regime at a large scale, reconstruction of historical landscapes can provide a reference for restoration efforts. For initial expert-assigned vegetation phases ranging from prairie to...

Establishment and Data Collection of Vegetation-related Studies on the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project Study Sites

Treesearch

Brian L. Brookshire; Daniel C. Dey

2000-01-01

The Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP) is an experiment designed to determine the effects of forest management practices on important ecosystem attributes. MOFEP treatments evaluated include even-aged, uneven-aged, and no management treatments. Forest vegetation provides a common ecological link among many organisms and ecological processes, and therefore...

[Forest ecosystem service and its evaluation in China].

PubMed

Fang, Jin; Lu, Shaowei; Yu, Xinxiao; Rao, Liangyi; Niu, Jianzhi; Xie, Yuanyuan; Zhag, Zhenming

2005-08-01

Facing the relative lag of forest ecosystem service and estimation in China, this paper proposed to quickly carry out the research on the evaluation of forest ecosystem service. On the basis of the classification of forest ecosystem types in China, the service of artificial and semi-artificial forest ecosystems was investigated, which was divided into eight types, i.e., timber and other products, recreation and eco-tourism, water storage, C fixation and O2 release, nutrient cycling, air quality purifying, erosion control, and habitat provision. According to the assessment index system for global ecosystem service proposed by Costanza et al., a series of assessment index system suitable for Chinese forest ecosystem service was set up, by which, the total value of forest ecosystem service in China was estimated to be 30 601.20 x 10(8) yuan x yr(-1), including direct and indirect economic value about 1 920.23 x 10(8) and 28 680.97 x 10(8) yuan x yr(-1), respectively. The indirect value was as 14.94 times as the direct one. The research aimed to bring natural resources and environment factors into the account system of national economy quickly, and to realize the green GDP at last, which would be helpful to realize sustainable development and environment protection.

Satellite Imagery Data: Dynamic Systems Model for sustainable urban forest in area of Halim Perdana Kusuma, East Jakarta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sundara, D. M.; Hartono, D. M.; Suganda, E.; Haeruman, JS H.

2018-05-01

East Jakarta icon as a buffer and the lungs of the city is still a big dream of Jakarta. It is a classic problem that there is a struggle for land between current economic interests and sustainable environmental interests for the future. This paper discusses the development of urban forest area of Halim Perdana Kusuma, East Jakarta. The forest area according to regulations of existing city local governments is not enough to support sustainable urban development indicators. Therefore, it requires an extensive mapping of urban forest potential development accurately by utilizing satellite imaging technology. Landsat-TM satellite imagery data can provide a full picture of the potential land width for urban forest area development. The results of this satellite image will then be made into a model of urban forest as one of the indicators of sustainable urban development. This research aims to support sustainable urban development through environmental balance in the form of a green neighborhood revitalization and development of urban forests and to create socio-economic balance. This paper uses a dynamic system model to simulate the conditions of the region against the intervention performed in the potential area for development of urban forests which are derived from urban spatial analysis based on satellite image data, using GIS program as a tool. The result is a model of urban forest area which is integrated with a social and economic function to encourage the development of sustainable cities.

Ecosystem services response to urbanization in metropolitan areas: Thresholds identification.

PubMed

Peng, Jian; Tian, Lu; Liu, Yanxu; Zhao, Mingyue; Hu, Yi'na; Wu, Jiansheng

2017-12-31

Ecosystem service is the key comprehensive indicator for measuring the ecological effects of urbanization. Although various studies have found a causal relationship between urbanization and ecosystem services degradation, the linear or non-linear characteristics are still unclear, especially identifying the impact thresholds in this relationship. This study quantified four ecosystem services (i.e. soil conservation, carbon sequestration and oxygen production, water yield, and food production) and total ecosystem services (TES), and then identified multiple advantageous area of ecosystem services in the peri-urban area of Beijing City. Using piecewise linear regression, the response of TES to urbanization (i.e., population density, GDP density, and construction land proportion) and its thresholds were detected. The results showed that, the TES was high in the north and west and low in the southeast, and there were seven multiple advantageous areas (distributed in the new urban development zone and ecological conservation zone), one single advantageous area (distributed in the ecological conservation zone), and six disadvantageous areas (mainly distributed in the urban function extended zone). TES response to population and economic urbanization each had a threshold (229personkm -2 and 107.15millionyuankm -2 , respectively), above which TES decreased rapidly with intensifying urbanization. However, there was a negative linear relationship between land urbanization and TES, which indicated that the impact of land urbanization on ecosystem services was more direct and effective than that of population and economic urbanization. It was also found that the negative impact of urbanization on TES was highest in the urban function extended zone, followed in descending order by that in the new urban development zone and ecological conservation zone. According to the detected relationships between urbanization and TES, the economic and population urbanization should be strengthened accompanied by slowing or even reducing land urbanization, so as to achieve urban ecological sustainability with less ecosystem services degradation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The North American Forest Database: going beyond national-level forest resource assessment statistics.

PubMed

Smith, W Brad; Cuenca Lara, Rubí Angélica; Delgado Caballero, Carina Edith; Godínez Valdivia, Carlos Isaías; Kapron, Joseph S; Leyva Reyes, Juan Carlos; Meneses Tovar, Carmen Lourdes; Miles, Patrick D; Oswalt, Sonja N; Ramírez Salgado, Mayra; Song, Xilong Alex; Stinson, Graham; Villela Gaytán, Sergio Armando

2018-05-21

Forests cannot be managed sustainably without reliable data to inform decisions. National Forest Inventories (NFI) tend to report national statistics, with sub-national stratification based on domestic ecological classification systems. It is becoming increasingly important to be able to report statistics on ecosystems that span international borders, as global change and globalization expand stakeholders' spheres of concern. The state of a transnational ecosystem can only be properly assessed by examining the entire ecosystem. In global forest resource assessments, it may be useful to break national statistics down by ecosystem, especially for large countries. The Inventory and Monitoring Working Group (IMWG) of the North American Forest Commission (NAFC) has begun developing a harmonized North American Forest Database (NAFD) for managing forest inventory data, enabling consistent, continental-scale forest assessment supporting ecosystem-level reporting and relational queries. The first iteration of the database contains data describing 1.9 billion ha, including 677.5 million ha of forest. Data harmonization is made challenging by the existence of definitions and methodologies tailored to suit national circumstances, emerging from each country's professional forestry development. This paper reports the methods used to synchronize three national forest inventories, starting with a small suite of variables and attributes.

Water and the Ecosystems of the Luquillo Experimental Forest

Treesearch

Ariel E. Lugo

1986-01-01

Water dynamics, water balance, and water requirements of the ecosystems and aquatic organisms of the Luquillo Experimental Forest (aka Caribbean National Forest) are reviewed. Objective is to draw attention to research needs and to highlight importance of freshwater allocations to natural ecosystems.

Modeling carbon and nitrogen biogeochemistry in forest ecosystems

Treesearch

Changsheng Li; Carl Trettin; Ge Sun; Steve McNulty; Klaus Butterbach-Bahl

2005-01-01

A forest biogeochemical model, Forest-DNDC, was developed to quantify carbon sequestration in and trace gas emissions from forest ecosystems. Forest-DNDC was constructed by integrating two existing moels, PnET and DNDC, with several new features including nitrification, forest litter layer, soil freezing and thawing etc, PnET is a forest physiological model predicting...

The Urban Forest Effects (UFORE) model: quantifying urban forest structure and functions

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Daniel E. Crane

2000-01-01

The Urban Forest Effects (UFORE) computer model was developed to help managers and researchers quantify urban forest structure and functions. The model quantifies species composition and diversity, diameter distribution, tree density and health, leaf area, leaf biomass, and other structural characteristics; hourly volatile organic compound emissions (emissions that...

Hemiboreal forest: natural disturbances and the importance of ecosystem legacies to management

Treesearch

Kalev Jogiste; Henn Korjus; John Stanturf; Lee E. Frelich; Endijs Baders; Janis Donis; Aris Jansons; Ahto Kangur; Kajar Koster; Diana Laarmann; Tiit Maaten; Vitas Marozas; Marek Metslaid; Kristi Nigul; Olga Polyachenko; Tiit Randveer; Floortje Vodde

2017-01-01

The condition of forest ecosystems depends on the temporal and spatial pattern of management interventions and natural disturbances. Remnants of previous conditions persisting after disturbances, or ecosystem legacies, collectively comprise ecosystem memory. Ecosystem memory in turn contributes to resilience and possibilities of ecosystem reorganization...

Moving Towards a New Urban Systems Science

Treesearch

Peter M. Groffman; Mary L. Cadenasso; Jeannine Cavender-Bares; Daniel L. Childers; Nancy B. Grimm; Morgan Grove; Sarah E. Hobbie; Lucy R. Hutyra; G. Darrel Jenerette; Timon McPhearson; Diane E. Pataki; Steward T. A. Pickett; Richard V. Pouyat; Emma Rosi-Marshall; Benjamin L. Ruddell

2016-01-01

Research on urban ecosystems rapidly expanded in the 1990s and is now a central topic in ecosystem science. In this paper, we argue that there are two critical challenges for ecosystem science that are rooted in urban ecosystems: (1) predicting or explaining the assembly and function of novel communities and ecosystems under altered environmental conditions and (2)...

CO2 flux studies of different hemiboreal forest ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krasnova, Alisa; Krasnov, Dmitrii; Noe, Steffen M.; Uri, Veiko; Mander, Ülo; Niinemets, Ülo; Soosaar, Kaido

2017-04-01

Hemiboreal zone is a transition between boreal and temperate zones characterized by the combination of climatic and edaphic conditions inherent in both zones. Hemiboreal forests are typically presented by mixed forests types with different ratios of deciduous and conifer tree species. Dominating tree species composition affects the functioning of forest ecosystem and its influence on biogeochemical cycles. We present the result of ecosystem scale CO2 eddy-covariance fluxes research conducted in 4 ecosystems (3 forests sites and 1 clear-cut area) of hemiboreal zone in Estonia. All 4 sites were developing under similar climatic conditions, but different forest management practices resulted in different composition of dominating tree species: pine forest with spruce trees as a second layer (Soontaga site); spruce/birch forest with single alder trees (Liispõllu site); forest presented by sectors of pine, spruce, birch and clearcut areas (SMEAR Estonia site); 5-years old clearcut area (Kõnnu site).

Forest Ecosystem Services and Eco-Compensation Mechanisms in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Hongbing; Zheng, Peng; Liu, Tianxing; Liu, Xin

2011-12-01

Forests are a major terrestrial ecosystem providing multiple ecosystem services. However, the importance of forests is frequently underestimated from an economic perspective because of the externalities and public good properties of these services. Forest eco-compensation is a transfer mechanism that serves to internalize the externalities of forest ecosystem services by compensating individuals or companies for the losses or costs resulting from the provision of these services. China's current forest eco-compensation system is centered mainly on noncommercial forest. The primary measures associated with ecosystem services are (1) a charge on destructive activities, such as indiscriminate logging, and (2) compensation for individual or local activities and investments in forest conservation. The Compensation Fund System for Forest Ecological Benefits was first listed in the Forest Law of the People's Republic of China in 1998. In 2004, the Central Government Financial Compensation Fund, an important source for the Compensation Fund for Forest Ecological Benefits, was formally established. To improve the forest eco-compensation system, it is crucial to design and establish compensation criteria for noncommercial forests. These criteria should take both theoretical and practical concerns into account, and they should be based on the quantitative valuation of ecosystem services. Although some initial headway has been made on this task, the implementation of an effective forest eco-compensation system in China still has deficiencies and still faces problems. Implementing classification-based and dynamic management for key noncommercial forests and establishing an eco-compensation mechanism with multiple funding sources in the market economy are the key measures needed to conquer these problems and improve the forest eco-compensation system and China's forestry development in sequence.

Indicator 1.04: Number of native forest-associated species

Treesearch

C. H. Flather; M. S Knowles; C. H. Sieg

2011-01-01

This indicator provides information on the health of forest ecosystems through the number of native forest-associated species. Because one of the more general signs of ecosystem stress is a reduction in the variety of organisms inhabiting a given locale, species counts are often used in assessing ecosystem well-being. The count of forest-associated species in a region...

The importance and conservation of ectomycorrizal fungal diversity in forest ecosystems: lessons from Europe and the Pacific Northwest.

Treesearch

Michael P. Amaranthus

1998-01-01

Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) consist of about 5,000 species and profoundly affect forest ecosystems by mediating nutrient and water uptake, protecting roots from pathogens and environmental extremes, and maintaining soil structure and forest food webs. Diversity of EMF likely aids forest ecosystem resilience in the face of changing environmental factors such as...

Urbanization effects on soil nitrogen transformations and microbial biomass in the subtropics

Treesearch

Heather A. Enloe; B. Graeme Lockaby; Wayne C. Zipperer; Greg L. Somers

2015-01-01

As urbanization can involve multiple alterations to the soil environment, it is uncertain how urbanization effects soil nitrogen cycling. We established 22–0.04 ha plots in six different land cover types—rural slash pine (Pinus elliottii) plantations (n=3), rural natural pine forests (n=3), rural natural oak forests (n=4), urban pine forests (n=3), urban oak forests (n...

Effect of urbanization on the structure and functional traits of remnant subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests in South China.

PubMed

Huang, Liujing; Chen, Hongfeng; Ren, Hai; Wang, Jun; Guo, Qinfeng

2013-06-01

We investigated the effects of major environmental drivers associated with urbanization on species diversity and plant functional traits (PFTs) in the remnant subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests in Metropolitan Guangzhou (Guangdong, China). Twenty environmental factors including topography, light, and soil properties were used to quantify the effects of urbanization. Vegetation data and soil properties were collected from 30 400-m(2) plots at 6 study sites in urban and rural areas. The difference of plant species diversity and PFTs of remnant forests between urban and rural areas were analyzed. To discern the complex relationships, multivariate statistical analyses (e.g., canonical correspondence analysis and regression analysis) were employed. Pioneer species and stress-tolerant species can survive and vigorously establish their population dominance in the urban environment. The native herb diversity was lower in urban forests than in rural forests. Urban forests tend to prefer the species with Mesophanerophyte life form. In contrast, species in rural forests possessed Chamaephyte and Nanophanerophyte life forms and gravity/clonal growth dispersal mode. Soil pH and soil nutrients (K, Na, and TN) were positively related to herb diversity, while soil heavy metal concentrations (Cu) were negatively correlated with herb diversity. The herb plant species diversity declines and the species in the remnant forests usually have stress-tolerant functional traits in response to urbanization. The factors related to urbanization such as soil acidification, nutrient leaching, and heavy metal pollution were important in controlling the plant diversity in the forests along the urban-rural gradients. Urbanization affects the structure and functional traits of remnant subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests.

From the litter up and the sky down: Perspectives on urban forest structure and eco-hydrological processes (presentation)

EPA Science Inventory

The structure of the urban forest represents the complex product of local biophysical conditions, socio-economic milieu, people preferences and management with rare counterparts in rural forests. However, urban forest structure, as similarly observed in rural forests, affects key...

Using urban forest assessment tools to model bird habitat potential

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lerman, Susannah B.; Nislow, Keith H.; Nowak, David J.; DeStefano, Stephen; King, David I.; Jones-Farrand, D. Todd

2014-01-01

The alteration of forest cover and the replacement of native vegetation with buildings, roads, exotic vegetation, and other urban features pose one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. As more land becomes slated for urban development, identifying effective urban forest wildlife management tools becomes paramount to ensure the urban forest provides habitat to sustain bird and other wildlife populations. The primary goal of this study was to integrate wildlife suitability indices to an existing national urban forest assessment tool, i-Tree. We quantified available habitat characteristics of urban forests for ten northeastern U.S. cities, and summarized bird habitat relationships from the literature in terms of variables that were represented in the i-Tree datasets. With these data, we generated habitat suitability equations for nine bird species representing a range of life history traits and conservation status that predicts the habitat suitability based on i-Tree data. We applied these equations to the urban forest datasets to calculate the overall habitat suitability for each city and the habitat suitability for different types of land-use (e.g., residential, commercial, parkland) for each bird species. The proposed habitat models will help guide wildlife managers, urban planners, and landscape designers who require specific information such as desirable habitat conditions within an urban management project to help improve the suitability of urban forests for birds.

Urban forest justice and the rights to wild foods, medicines, and materials in the city

Treesearch

Melissa R. Poe; Rebecca J. McClain; Marla Emery; Patrick Hurley

2013-01-01

Urban forests are multifunctional socio-ecological landscapes, yet some of their social benefits remain poorly understood. This paper draws on ethnographic evidence from Seattle, Washington to demonstrate that urban forests contain nontimber forest products that contribute a variety of wild foods, medicines, and materials for the wellbeing of urban residents. We show...

Assessing urban forest structure: summary and conclusions

Treesearch

David J. Nowak

2008-01-01

This special issue has presented data on several topics related to assessing urban forest structure. These topics include means to measure urban forest cover from aerial-based platforms (Walton et al. 2008), national and local ground-based assessments of urban forest structure and functions (Cumming et al. 2008; Nowak et al. 2008a), measurement of street tree...

Spatial heterogeneity and air pollution removal by an urban forest

Treesearch

Francisco J. Escobedo; David J. Nowak

2009-01-01

Estimates of air pollution removal by the urban forest have mostly been based on mean values of forest structure variables for an entire city. However, the urban forest is not uniformly distributed across a city because of biophysical and social factors. Consequently, air pollution removal function by urban vegetation should vary because of this spatial heterogeneity....

Changes of Ecosystem Service Value in a Coastal Zone of Zhejiang Province, China, during Rapid Urbanization.

PubMed

Cao, Luodan; Li, Jialin; Ye, Mengyao; Pu, Ruiliang; Liu, Yongchao; Guo, Qiandong; Feng, Baixiang; Song, Xiayun

2018-06-21

Gains and losses in ecosystem service values (ESV) in coastal zones in Zhejiang Province during rapid urbanization were analyzed in terms of land-use changes. Decision-making on coastal development based on ESV estimation is significant for the sustainable utilization of coastal resource. In this study, coastal land-use changes in Zhejiang Province during rapid urbanization were discussed based on remote-sensing derived land-use maps created in the years 1990, 2000 and 2010. The ESV changes in coastal zones in Zhejiang Province from 1990 to 2010 were estimated by using the established ESV estimation model. The analysis results demonstrate the following: (1) with the continuous acceleration of urbanization, land-use types in coastal zones in Zhejiang Province changed significantly from 1990 to 2010, demonstrated by considerable growth of urban construction land and reduction of forest land and farmland; (2) in the study period, the total ESV in coastal zones in Zhejiang Province continuously decreased in value from RMB 35.278 billion to 29.964 billion, a reduction of 15.06%; (3) in terms of the spatial distribution of ESV, the ESVs in coastal zones in Zhejiang Province were generally converted from a higher ESV to a lower ESV; (4) estimates of ESV for the three years 1990, 2000 and 2010 appear to be relatively stable; and (5) land-use intensity in coastal zones in Zhejiang Province continuously increased during the 20 years. The spatial distribution of land-use intensity was consistent with that of the ESV change rate. Disordered land-use changes from forestland and farmland to urban construction land was a major cause of ESV loss.

UFORE (i-Tree Eco) Analysis of Chicago

Treesearch

Cherie LeBlanc Fisher; David Nowak

2010-01-01

The USDA Forest Service and City of Chicago conducted a UFORE (now called i-Tree Eco) analysis of Chicago's urban forest in the summer of 2007. The UFORE (Urban FORest Effects) model developed by the Forest Service uses on-the-ground sampling data to understand the composition of on urban forest and calculate the forest's impacts on air pollution and energy...

Hierarchical classification of land use types using multiple vegetation indices to measure the effects of urbanization.

PubMed

Shishir, Sharmin; Tsuyuzaki, Shiro

2018-05-11

Detecting fine-scale spatiotemporal land use changes is a prerequisite for understanding and predicting the effects of urbanization and its related human impacts on the ecosystem. Land use changes are frequently examined using vegetation indices (VIs), although the validation of these indices has not been conducted at a high resolution. Therefore, a hierarchical classification was constructed to obtain accurate land use types at a fine scale. The characteristics of four popular VIs were investigated prior to examining the hierarchical classification by using Purbachal New Town, Bangladesh, which exhibits ongoing urbanization. These four VIs are the normalized difference VI (NDVI), green-red VI (GRVI), enhanced VI (EVI), and two-band EVI (EVI2). The reflectance data were obtained by the IKONOS (0.8-m resolution) and WorldView-2 sensor (0.5-m resolution) in 2001 and 2015, respectively. The hierarchical classification of land use types was constructed using a decision tree (DT) utilizing all four of the examined VIs. The accuracy of the classification was evaluated using ground truth data with multiple comparisons and kappa (κ) coefficients. The DT showed overall accuracies of 96.1 and 97.8% in 2001 and 2015, respectively, while the accuracies of the VIs were less than 91.2%. These results indicate that each VI exhibits unique advantages. In addition, the DT was the best classifier of land use types, particularly for native ecosystems represented by Shorea forests and homestead vegetation, at the fine scale. Since the conservation of these native ecosystems is of prime importance, DTs based on hierarchical classifications should be used more widely.

Interannual Variations in Ecosystem Oxidative Ratio in Croplands, Deciduous Forest, Coniferous Forest, and Early Successional Forest Ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masiello, C. A.; Hockaday, W. C.; Gallagher, M. E.; Calligan, L.

2009-12-01

Ecosystem net primary productivity (NPP) can vary significantly with annual variations in precipitation and temperature. These climate variations can also drive changes in plant carbon allocation patterns. Shifting allocation patterns can lead to variation in net ecosystem biochemical stocks (e.g. kg cellulose, lignin, protein, and lipid/ha), which can in turn lead to shifts in ecosystem oxidative ratio (OR). OR is the molar ratio of O2 released : CO2 fixed during biosynthesis. Major plant biochemicals vary substantially in oxidative ratio, ranging from average organic acid OR values of 0.75 to average lipid OR values of 1.37 (Masiello et al., 2008). OR is a basic property of ecosystem biochemistry, and is also an essential variable needed to constrain the size of the terrestrial biospheric carbon sink (Keeling et al., 1996). OR is commonly assumed to be 1.10 (e.g. Prentice et al., 2001), but small variations in net ecosystem OR can drive large errors in estimates of the size of the terrestrial carbon sink (Randerson et al., 2006). We hypothesized that interannual changes in climate may drive interannual variation in ecosystem OR values. Working at Kellogg Biological Station NSF LTER, we measured the annual average OR of coniferous and deciduous forests, an early successional forest, and croplands under both corn and soy. There are clear distinctions between individual ecosystems (e.g., the soy crops have a higher OR than the corn crops, and the coniferous forests have a higher OR than the deciduous forests), but the ecosystems themselves retained remarkably constant annual OR values between 1998 and 2008.

Unearthing Secrets of the Forest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Beldin, Sarah I.; Perakis, Steven S.

2009-01-01

Forests are a defining feature for large areas of the Pacific northwestern United States from northern California to Alaska. Coniferous temperate rainforests in the western Cascade and coastal mountain ranges are appreciated for their aesthetic value and abundant natural resources. Few people recognize the riches beneath the forest floor; yet, soil is a key ecosystem component that makes each type of forest unique. Soils harbor immense biological diversity and control the release of water and nutrients that support life above ground. Understanding how carbon and nutrients cycle in forests, known as forest biogeochemistry, is crucial for evaluating forest productivity, composition, diversity, and change. At the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, research in the Terrestrial Ecosystems Laboratory focuses on nutrient cycling in five themes: climate change, nutrition and sustainability, fire effects, restoration, and forest-stream linkages. This research is essential to understand the entire forest ecosystem and to use the best science available to make informed policy and management decisions.

The OpenForest Portal as an Open Learning Ecosystem: Co-Developing in the Study of a Multidisciplinary Phenomenon in a Cultural Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liljeström, Anu; Enkenberg, Jorma; Vanninen, Petteri; Vartiainen, Henriikka; Pöllänen, Sinikka

2014-01-01

This paper discusses the OpenForest portal and its related multidisciplinary learning project. The OpenForest portal is an open learning environment and ecosystem, in which students can participate in co-developing and co-creating practices. The aim of the OpenForest ecosystem is to create an extensive interactive network of diverse learning…

Forest restoration, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

PubMed

Aerts, Raf; Honnay, Olivier

2011-11-24

Globally, forests cover nearly one third of the land area and they contain over 80% of terrestrial biodiversity. Both the extent and quality of forest habitat continue to decrease and the associated loss of biodiversity jeopardizes forest ecosystem functioning and the ability of forests to provide ecosystem services. In the light of the increasing population pressure, it is of major importance not only to conserve, but also to restore forest ecosystems. Ecological restoration has recently started to adopt insights from the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) perspective. Central is the focus on restoring the relation between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Here we provide an overview of important considerations related to forest restoration that can be inferred from this BEF-perspective. Restoring multiple forest functions requires multiple species. It is highly unlikely that species-poor plantations, which may be optimal for above-ground biomass production, will outperform species diverse assemblages for a combination of functions, including overall carbon storage and control over water and nutrient flows. Restoring stable forest functions also requires multiple species. In particular in the light of global climatic change scenarios, which predict more frequent extreme disturbances and climatic events, it is important to incorporate insights from the relation between biodiversity and stability of ecosystem functioning into forest restoration projects. Rather than focussing on species per se, focussing on functional diversity of tree species assemblages seems appropriate when selecting tree species for restoration. Finally, also plant genetic diversity and above - below-ground linkages should be considered during the restoration process, as these likely have prominent but until now poorly understood effects at the level of the ecosystem. The BEF-approach provides a useful framework to evaluate forest restoration in an ecosystem functioning context, but it also highlights that much remains to be understood, especially regarding the relation between forest functioning on the one side and genetic diversity and above-ground-below-ground species associations on the other. The strong emphasis of the BEF-approach on functional rather than taxonomic diversity may also be the beginning of a paradigm shift in restoration ecology, increasing the tolerance towards allochthonous species.

Thermal Fluxes and Temperatures in Small Urban Headwater Streams of the BES LTER: Landscape Forest and Impervious Patches and the Importance of Spatial and Temporal Scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, H.; Belt, K. T.; Welty, C.; Heisler, G.; Pouyat, R. V.; McGuire, M. P.; Stack, W. P.

2006-05-01

Water and material fluxes from urban landscape patches to small streams are modulated by extensive "engineered" drainage networks. Small urban headwater catchments are different in character and function from their larger receiving streams because of their extensive, direct connections to impervious surface cover (ISC) and their sometimes buried nature. They need to be studied as unique functional hydrologic units if impacts on biota are to be fully understood. As part of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study LTER project, continuous water temperature data are being collected at 2-minute intervals at over twenty small catchments representing various mixtures of forest and ISC. Suburban stream sites with greater ISC generally have higher summer water temperatures. Suburban catchments with most of their channel drainage contained within storm drain pipes show subdued diurnal variation and cool temperatures, but with very large spikes in summer runoff events. Conversely, high ISC urban piped streams have elevated "baseline" temperatures that stand well above all the other monitoring sites. There is a pronounced upstream-downstream effect; nested small headwater catchments experience more frequent, larger temperature spikes related to runoff events than downstream sites. Also, runoff-initiated temperature elevations at small stream sites unexpectedly last much longer than the storm runoff hydrographs. These observations suggest that for small headwater catchments, urban landscapes not only induce an ambient, "heat island" effect on stream temperatures, but also introduce thermal disturbance regimes and fluxes that are not trivial to aquatic biota.

Disturbance dynamics and ecosystem-based forest management

Treesearch

Kalev Jogiste; W. Keith Moser; Malle Mandre

2005-01-01

Ecosystem-based management is intended to balance ecological, social and economic values of sustainable resource management. The desired future state of forest ecosystem is usually defined through productivity, biodiversity, stability or other terms. However, ecosystem-based management may produce an unbalanced emphasis on different components. Although ecosystem-based...

Managing forest ecosystems to conserve fungus diversity and sustain wild mushroom harvests.

Treesearch

D. Pilz; R. Molina

1996-01-01

Ecosystem management is the dominant paradigm for managing the forests of the Pacific Northwest. It integrates biological, ecological, geophysical, and silvicultural information to develop adaptive management practices that conserve biological diversity and maintain ecosystem functioning while meeting human needs for the sustainable production of forest products. Fungi...

The forgotten stage of forest succession: early-successional ecosystems on forest sites

Treesearch

Mark E. Swanson; Jerry F. Franklin; Robert L. Beschta; Charles M. Crisafulli; Dominick A. DellaSala; Richard L. Hutto; David B. Lindenmayer; Frederick J. Swanson

2010-01-01

Early-successional forest ecosystems that develop after stand-replacing or partial disturbances are diverse in species, processes, and structure. Post-disturbance ecosystems are also often rich in biological legacies, including surviving organisms and organically derived structures, such as woody debris. These legacies and postdisturbance plant communities provide...

Belowground ecosystems [chapter 9

Treesearch

Carole Coe Klopatek

1995-01-01

The USDA Forest Service defined ecosystem management as "an ecological approach to achieve multiple-use management of national forests and grasslands by blending the needs of people and environmental values in such a way that national forests and grasslands represent diverse, healthy, productive, and sustainable ecosystems" (June 4, 1992, letter from Chief FS...

7 CFR 625.6 - Establishing priority for enrollment in HFRP.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... contribution of non-Federal funds; (6) Significance of forest ecosystem functions and values; (7) Estimated... place higher priority on certain forest ecosystems based regions of the State or multi-State area where... is essential to the successful restoration of the forest ecosystem and those adjacent landowners are...

7 CFR 625.6 - Establishing priority for enrollment in HFRP.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... contribution of non-Federal funds; (6) Significance of forest ecosystem functions and values; (7) Estimated... place higher priority on certain forest ecosystems based regions of the State or multi-State area where... is essential to the successful restoration of the forest ecosystem and those adjacent landowners are...

7 CFR 625.6 - Establishing priority for enrollment in HFRP.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... contribution of non-Federal funds; (6) Significance of forest ecosystem functions and values; (7) Estimated... place higher priority on certain forest ecosystems based regions of the State or multi-State area where... is essential to the successful restoration of the forest ecosystem and those adjacent landowners are...

7 CFR 625.6 - Establishing priority for enrollment in HFRP.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... contribution of non-Federal funds; (6) Significance of forest ecosystem functions and values; (7) Estimated... place higher priority on certain forest ecosystems based regions of the State or multi-State area where... is essential to the successful restoration of the forest ecosystem and those adjacent landowners are...

Forest Ecosystem services: Water resources

Treesearch

Thomas P. Holmes; James Vose; Travis Warziniack; Bill Holman

2017-01-01

Since the publication of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA 2005), awareness has steadily grown regarding the importance of maintaining natural capital. Forest vegetation is a valuable source of natural capital, and the regulation of water quantity and quality is among the most important forest ecosystem services in many regions around the world. Changes in...

Assessment and monitoring of forest ecosystem structure

Treesearch

Oscar A. Aguirre Calderón; Javier Jiménez Pérez; Horst Kramer

2006-01-01

Characterization of forest ecosystems structure must be based on quantitative indices that allow objective analysis of human influences or natural succession processes. The objective of this paper is the compilation of diverse quantitative variables to describe structural attributes from the arboreal stratum of the ecosystem, as well as different methods of forest...

Forest ecosystems and the changing patterns of nitrogen input and acid deposition today and in the future based on a scenario.

PubMed

Busch, G; Lammel, G; Beese, F O; Feichter, J; Dentener, F J; Roelofs, G J

2001-01-01

A global assessment of the impact of the anthropogenic perturbation of the nitrogen and sulfur cycles on forest ecosystems is carried out for both the present-day [1980-1990] and for a projection into the future [2040-2050] under a scenario of economic development which represents a medium path of development according to expert guess [IPCC IS92a]. Results show that forest soils will receive considerably increasing loads of nitrogen and acid deposition and that deposition patterns are likely to change. The regions which are most prone to depletion of soils buffering capacity and supercritical nitrogen deposition are identified in the subtropical and tropical regions of South America and Southeast Asia apart from the well known 'hotspots' North-Eastern America and Central Europe. The forest areas likely to meet these two risks are still a minor fraction of the global forest ecosystems, though. But the bias between eutrophication and acidification will become greater and an enhanced growth triggered by the fertilizing effects of increasing nitrogen input cannot be balanced by the forest soils nutrient pools. Results show increasing loads into forest ecosystems which are likely to account for 46% higher acid loads and 36% higher nitrogen loads in relation to the 1980-1990 situation. Global background deposition of up to 5 kg N ha-1 a-1 will be exceeded at more than 25% of global forest ecosystems and at more than 50% of forest ecosystems on acid sensitive soils. More than 33% of forest ecosystems on acid sensitive soils will receive acid loads which exceeds their buffering capacity. About 25% of forest areas with exceeded acid loads will receive critical nitrogen loads.

[Quantitative assessment of urban ecosystem services flow based on entropy theory: A case study of Beijing, China].

PubMed

Li, Jing Xin; Yang, Li; Yang, Lei; Zhang, Chao; Huo, Zhao Min; Chen, Min Hao; Luan, Xiao Feng

2018-03-01

Quantitative evaluation of ecosystem service is a primary premise for rational resources exploitation and sustainable development. Examining ecosystem services flow provides a scientific method to quantity ecosystem services. We built an assessment indicator system based on land cover/land use under the framework of four types of ecosystem services. The types of ecosystem services flow were reclassified. Using entropy theory, disorder degree and developing trend of indicators and urban ecosystem were quantitatively assessed. Beijing was chosen as the study area, and twenty-four indicators were selected for evaluation. The results showed that the entropy value of Beijing urban ecosystem during 2004 to 2015 was 0.794 and the entropy flow was -0.024, suggesting a large disordered degree and near verge of non-health. The system got maximum values for three times, while the mean annual variation of the system entropy value increased gradually in three periods, indicating that human activities had negative effects on urban ecosystem. Entropy flow reached minimum value in 2007, implying the environmental quality was the best in 2007. The determination coefficient for the fitting function of total permanent population in Beijing and urban ecosystem entropy flow was 0.921, indicating that urban ecosystem health was highly correlated with total permanent population.

Forests [Chapter 7

Treesearch

Linda A. Joyce; Steven W. Running; David D. Breshears; Virginia H. Dale; Robert W. Malmsheimer; R. Neil Sampson; Brent Sohngen; Christopher W. Woodall

2014-01-01

Forests occur within urban areas, at the interface between urban and rural areas (wildland-urban interface), and in rural areas. Urban forests contribute to clean air, cooling buildings, aesthetics, and recreation in parks. Development in the wildland-urban interface is increasing because of the appeal of owning homes near or in the woods. In rural areas, market...

Latent heat exchange in the boreal and arctic biomes.

PubMed

Kasurinen, Ville; Alfredsen, Knut; Kolari, Pasi; Mammarella, Ivan; Alekseychik, Pavel; Rinne, Janne; Vesala, Timo; Bernier, Pierre; Boike, Julia; Langer, Moritz; Belelli Marchesini, Luca; van Huissteden, Ko; Dolman, Han; Sachs, Torsten; Ohta, Takeshi; Varlagin, Andrej; Rocha, Adrian; Arain, Altaf; Oechel, Walter; Lund, Magnus; Grelle, Achim; Lindroth, Anders; Black, Andy; Aurela, Mika; Laurila, Tuomas; Lohila, Annalea; Berninger, Frank

2014-11-01

In this study latent heat flux (λE) measurements made at 65 boreal and arctic eddy-covariance (EC) sites were analyses by using the Penman-Monteith equation. Sites were stratified into nine different ecosystem types: harvested and burnt forest areas, pine forests, spruce or fir forests, Douglas-fir forests, broadleaf deciduous forests, larch forests, wetlands, tundra and natural grasslands. The Penman-Monteith equation was calibrated with variable surface resistances against half-hourly eddy-covariance data and clear differences between ecosystem types were observed. Based on the modeled behavior of surface and aerodynamic resistances, surface resistance tightly control λE in most mature forests, while it had less importance in ecosystems having shorter vegetation like young or recently harvested forests, grasslands, wetlands and tundra. The parameters of the Penman-Monteith equation were clearly different for winter and summer conditions, indicating that phenological effects on surface resistance are important. We also compared the simulated λE of different ecosystem types under meteorological conditions at one site. Values of λE varied between 15% and 38% of the net radiation in the simulations with mean ecosystem parameters. In general, the simulations suggest that λE is higher from forested ecosystems than from grasslands, wetlands or tundra-type ecosystems. Forests showed usually a tighter stomatal control of λE as indicated by a pronounced sensitivity of surface resistance to atmospheric vapor pressure deficit. Nevertheless, the surface resistance of forests was lower than for open vegetation types including wetlands. Tundra and wetlands had higher surface resistances, which were less sensitive to vapor pressure deficits. The results indicate that the variation in surface resistance within and between different vegetation types might play a significant role in energy exchange between terrestrial ecosystems and atmosphere. These results suggest the need to take into account vegetation type and phenology in energy exchange modeling. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Urbanization effects on leaf litter decomposition, foliar nutrient dynamics and aboveground net primary productivity in the subtropics

Treesearch

Heather A. Enloe; B. Graeme Lockaby; Wayne C. Zipperer; Greg L. Somers

2015-01-01

Urbanization can alter nutrient cycling. This research evaluated how urbanization affected nutrient dynamics in the subtropics. We established 17–0.04 ha plots in five different land cover types—slash pine (Pinus elliottii) plantations (n=3), rural natural pine forests (n= 3), rural natural oak forests (n=4), urban pine forests (n=3) and urban oak forests (n=4) in the...

Effects of urban development on ant communities: implications for ecosystem services and management

Treesearch

M.P. Sanford; Patricia N. Manley; Dennis D. Murphy

2009-01-01

Research that connects the effects of urbanization on biodiversity and ecosystem services is lacking. Ants perform multifarious ecological functions that stabilize ecosystems and contribute to a number of ecosystem services. We studied responses of ant communities to urbanization in the Lake Tahoe basin by sampling sites along a gradient...

Reconnecting cities to the biosphere: stewardship of green infrastructure and urban ecosystem services.

PubMed

Andersson, Erik; Barthel, Stephan; Borgström, Sara; Colding, Johan; Elmqvist, Thomas; Folke, Carl; Gren, Åsa

2014-05-01

Within-city green infrastructure can offer opportunities and new contexts for people to become stewards of ecosystem services. We analyze cities as social-ecological systems, synthesize the literature, and provide examples from more than 15 years of research in the Stockholm urban region, Sweden. The social-ecological approach spans from investigating ecosystem properties to the social frameworks and personal values that drive and shape human interactions with nature. Key findings demonstrate that urban ecosystem services are generated by social-ecological systems and that local stewards are critically important. However, land-use planning and management seldom account for their role in the generation of urban ecosystem services. While the small scale patchwork of land uses in cities stimulates intense interactions across borders much focus is still on individual patches. The results highlight the importance and complexity of stewardship of urban biodiversity and ecosystem services and of the planning and governance of urban green infrastructure.

Proceedings of the fourth meeting of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) Working Party S07.02.09: Phytophthoras in forests and natural ecosystems

Treesearch

E.M. Goheen; S.J. Frankel

2009-01-01

The fourth meeting of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) Working Party S07.02.09, Phytophthoras in Forests and Natural Ecosystems provided a forum for current research on Phytophthora species worldwide. Seventy-eight submissions describing papers and posters on recent developments in Phytophthora diseases of trees and natural ecosystems in...

Restoring Forested Wetland Ecosystems

Treesearch

John A. Stanturf; Emile S. Gardiner; Melvin L. Warren

2003-01-01

Forests as natural systems are intrinsically linked to the sustainability of fresh-water systems. Efforts worldwide to restore forest ecosystems seek to counteract centuries of forest conversion to agriculture and other uses. Afforestation, the practice of regenerating forests on land deforested for agriculture or other uses, is occurring at an intense pace in the...

Productive Urban Landscape In Developing Home Garden In Yogyakarta City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irwan, S. N. R.; Sarwadi, A.

2017-10-01

Home garden is one type of agroecosystem that supports ecosystem services even in the urban settlement. The studies involved literature references and field survey along with a framework of the productive urban landscape that support ecosystem services in home garden. Productive urban landscape provided environmentally, socially and economically benefits that contained in ecosystem services. Problems on limited space in the urban settlement have to be managed by modified home garden system in order to work for ecosystem service in developing productive landscape. This study aimed to assess home garden (Pekarangan) system in a cluster of high density settlement in Yogyakarta City. Structured interview and vegetation identification of home garden have been conducted on 80 samples in Rejowinangun Kotagede District, Yogyakarta City. People showed enthusiasm in ecosystem services provided by home garden “Pekarangan Produktif” through developing productive urban landscape. Some benefits on ecosystem services of home garden were revealed on this study consisted of food production for sale (4.7%), home industry (7.69%), aesthetics (22.65%), food (14.10%), biodiversity (10.68%), ecosystem (12.82%), education (2.56), social interaction (11.54%), recreation (4.70%), and others (8.55%). Nevertheless, vegetation and other elements of home gardens have been managed irregularly and in particularly, the planned home gardens were only 17.07%. Actually, home gardens provided a large set of ecosystem services including being cultural services those are the category most valued. The urban people almost hided the understanding of the cultural benefit of ecosystem services of home garden, even though Yogyakarta has known the cultural city. Thus, urban home garden, as way as “Pekarangan Produktif” in the limited space that managed and planned sustainably, provide many benefits of ecosystem services in a productive urban landscape.

Ecosystem and decomposer effects on litter dynamics along an old field to old-growth forest successional gradient

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayer, Paul M.

2008-03-01

Identifying the biotic (e.g. decomposers, vegetation) and abiotic (e.g. temperature, moisture) mechanisms controlling litter decomposition is key to understanding ecosystem function, especially where variation in ecosystem structure due to successional processes may alter the strength of these mechanisms. To identify these controls and feedbacks, I measured mass loss and N flux in herbaceous, leaf, and wood litter along a successional gradient of ecosystem types (old field, transition forest, old-growth forest) while manipulating detritivore access to litter. Ecosystem type, litter type, and decomposers contributed directly and interactively to decomposition. Litter mass loss and N accumulation was higher while litter C:N remained lower in old-growth forests than in either old fields or transition forest. Old-growth forests influenced litter dynamics via microclimate (coolest and wettest) but also, apparently, through a decomposer community adapted to consuming the large standing stocks of leaf litter, as indicated by rapid leaf litter loss. In all ecosystem types, mass loss of herbaceous litter was greater than leaf litter which, in turn was greater than wood. However, net N loss from wood litter was faster than expected, suggesting localized N flux effects of wood litter. Restricting detritivore access to litter reduced litter mass loss and slowed the accumulation of N in litter, suggesting that macro-detritivores affect both physical and chemical characteristics of litter through selective grazing. These data suggest that the distinctive litter loss rates and efficient N cycling observed in old-growth forest ecosystems are not likely to be realized soon after old fields are restored to forested ecosystems.

75 FR 57898 - National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-23

... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice; Announcement for the 2011 U.S. Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Challenge Cost Share Grant Opportunity. SUMMARY: The National Urban and Community Foresty...

Bulgarian Rila mountain forest ecosystems study site: site description and SO42-, NO3- deposition

Treesearch

Karl Zeller; Christo Bojinov; Evgeny Donev; Nedialko Nikolov

1998-01-01

Bulgaria's forest ecosystems (31 percent of the country's area) are considered vulnerable to dry and wet pollution deposition. Coniferous forests that cover one-third of the total forest land are particularly sensitive to pollution loads. The USDA Forest Service, Sofia University, and the Bulgarian Forest Research Institute (FRI) established a cooperative...

Developing micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for sustainability assessment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dizdaroglu, Didem, E-mail: dizdaroglu@bilkent.edu.tr

Sustainability assessment is increasingly being viewed as an important tool to aid in the shift towards sustainable urban ecosystems. An urban ecosystem is a dynamic system and requires regular monitoring and assessment through a set of relevant indicators. An indicator is a parameter which provides information about the state of the environment by producing a quantitative value. Indicator-based sustainability assessment needs to be considered on all spatial scales to provide efficient information of urban ecosystem sustainability. The detailed data is necessary to assess environmental change in urban ecosystems at local scale and easily transfer this information to the national andmore » global scales. This paper proposes a set of key micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for monitoring the sustainability of residential developments. The proposed indicator framework measures the sustainability performance of urban ecosystem in 3 main categories including: natural environment, built environment, and socio-economic environment which are made up of 9 sub-categories, consisting of 23 indicators. This paper also describes theoretical foundations for the selection of each indicator with reference to the literature [Turkish] Highlights: • As the impacts of environmental problems have multi-scale characteristics, sustainability assessment needs to be considered on all scales. • The detailed data is necessary to assess local environmental change in urban ecosystems to provide insights into the national and global scales. • This paper proposes a set of key micro-level urban ecosystem indicators for monitoring the sustainability of residential developments. • This paper also describes theoretical foundations for the selection of each indicator with reference to the literature.« less

Syracuse urban forest master plan: guiding the city's forest resource into the 21st century

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Paul R. O' Connor; [Compilers

2001-01-01

The Syracuse Urban Forest Master Plan is one of the most comprehensive urban forest assessments ever developed for a city. This report combines a high-resolution digital urban cover map with field vegetation sampling data from all land uses, a 100-percent street-tree inventory, a survey of city residents regarding desirable and undesirable tree characteristics and...

A framework for adapting urban forests to climate change

Treesearch

Leslie Brandt; Abigail Derby Lewis; Robert Fahey; Lydia Scott; Lindsay Darling; Chris Swanston

2016-01-01

Planting urban trees and expanding urban forest canopy cover are often considered key strategies for reducing climate change impacts in urban areas. However, urban trees and forests can also be vulnerable to climate change through shifts in tree habitat suitability, changes in pests and diseases, and changes in extreme weather events. We developed a three-step...

Linking GIS-based models to value ecosystem services in an Alpine region.

PubMed

Grêt-Regamey, Adrienne; Bebi, Peter; Bishop, Ian D; Schmid, Willy A

2008-11-01

Planning frequently fails to include the valuation of public goods and services. This can have long-term negative economic consequences for a region. This is especially the case in mountainous regions such as the Alps, which depend on tourism and where land-use changes can negatively impact key ecosystem services and hence the economy. In this study, we develop a semi-automatic procedure to value ecosystem goods and services. Several existing process-based models linked to economic valuation methods are integrated into a geographic information system (GIS) platform. The model requires the input of a digital elevation model, a land-cover map, and a spatially explicit temperature dataset. These datasets are available for most regions in Europe. We illustrate the approach by valuing four ecosystem services: avalanche protection, timber production, scenic beauty, and habitat, which are supplied by the "Landschaft Davos", an administrative district in the Swiss Alps. We compare the impacts of a human development scenario and a climate scenario on the value of these ecosystem services. Urban expansion and tourist infrastructure developments have a negative impact on scenic beauty and habitats. These impacts outweigh the benefits of the developments in the long-term. Forest expansion, predictable under a climate change scenario, favours natural avalanche protection and habitats. In general, such non-marketed benefits provided by the case-study region more than compensate for the costs of forest maintenance. Finally, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the approach. Despite its limitations, we show how this approach could well help decision-makers balance the impacts of different planning options on the economic accounting of a region, and guide them in selecting sustainable and economically feasible development strategies.

Managing redwood ecosystems using Sudden Oak Death as a silvicultural tool

Treesearch

Frederick D. Euphrat

2015-01-01

In response to the wave of sudden oak death (SOD), caused by Phytophthora ramorum, sweeping the redwood forest ecosystems of California's North Coast, the role of foresters and other ecosystem managers is being tested. On Bear Flat Tree Farm, near Healdsburg, California, Forest, Soil & Water, Inc. (FSW) has conducted a multi-year,...

Carbon allocation in forest ecosystems

Treesearch

Creighton M. Litton; James W. Raich; Michael G. Ryan

2007-01-01

Carbon allocation plays a critical role in forest ecosystem carbon cycling. We reviewed existing literature and compiled annual carbon budgets for forest ecosystems to test a series of hypotheses addressing the patterns, plasticity, and limits of three components of allocation: biomass, the amount of material present; flux, the flow of carbon to a component per unit...

Using DCOM to support interoperability in forest ecosystem management decision support systems

Treesearch

W.D. Potter; S. Liu; X. Deng; H.M. Rauscher

2000-01-01

Forest ecosystems exhibit complex dynamics over time and space. Management of forest ecosystems involves the need to forecast future states of complex systems that are often undergoing structural changes. This in turn requires integration of quantitative science and engineering components with sociopolitical, regulatory, and economic considerations. The amount of data...

The influence of the interactions between anthropogenic activities and multiple ecological factors on land surface temperatures of urban forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Y.

2017-12-01

Context Land surface temperatures (LSTs) spatio-temporal distribution pattern of urban forests are influenced by many ecological factors; the identification of interaction between these factors can improve simulations and predictions of spatial patterns of urban cold islands. This quantitative research requires an integrated method that combines multiple sources data with spatial statistical analysis. Objectives The purpose of this study was to clarify urban forest LST influence interaction between anthropogenic activities and multiple ecological factors using cluster analysis of hot and cold spots and Geogdetector model. We introduced the hypothesis that anthropogenic activity interacts with certain ecological factors, and their combination influences urban forests LST. We also assumed that spatio-temporal distributions of urban forest LST should be similar to those of ecological factors and can be represented quantitatively. Methods We used Jinjiang as a representative city in China as a case study. Population density was employed to represent anthropogenic activity. We built up a multi-source data (forest inventory, digital elevation models (DEM), population, and remote sensing imagery) on a unified urban scale to support urban forest LST influence interaction research. Through a combination of spatial statistical analysis results, multi-source spatial data, and Geogdetector model, the interaction mechanisms of urban forest LST were revealed. Results Although different ecological factors have different influences on forest LST, in two periods with different hot spots and cold spots, the patch area and dominant tree species were the main factors contributing to LST clustering in urban forests. The interaction between anthropogenic activity and multiple ecological factors increased LST in urban forest stands, linearly and nonlinearly. Strong interactions between elevation and dominant species were generally observed and were prevalent in either hot or cold spots areas in different years. Conclusions In conclusion, a combination of spatial statistics and GeogDetector models should be effective for quantitatively evaluating interactive relationships among ecological factors, anthropogenic activity and LST.

National Forest Health Monitoring Program, Monitoring Urban Forests in Indiana: Pilot Study 2002, Part 2: Statewide Estimates Using the UFORE Model

Treesearch

David Nowak; Anne Buckelew Cumming; Daniel Twardus; Robert Hoehn; Manfred Mielke

2007-01-01

Trees in cities can improve environmental quality and human health. Unfortunately, little is known about the urban forest resource and what and how it contributes to local, regional, and national societies and economies. To better understand the urban forest resource and its value, the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Health Monitoring Program...

Diversity and abundance of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scaraebidae) at several different ecosystem functions in Peninsular Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Din, Abdullah Muhaimin Mohammad; Yaakop, Salmah; Hazmi, Izfa Riza

2015-09-01

Dung beetles has known for its bioindicator characteristic. Sensitive towards forest disturbance, dung beetles population and diversity will be less in disturbed and modified area. The objective of this study is to evaluate the diversity and distribution of dung beetles in different type of ecosystems in Peninsular Malaysia. Fifteen baited pitfall traps aligned in three transects were used in this study. Samples were collected after 24 h and repeated three time collections and identified afterwards. Two ecosystem types were selected, which are forested and agricultural ecosystem (livestock and plantation). A total of 4249 individuals, 47 species, in 11 genera was successfully collected from all localities. The H' index for Fraser Hill, Langkawi, Bangi Reserve Forest, Selangor (HSB), Sungkai Reserve Forest, Perak (SRF), Chini Lake, Bera Lake, chicken farm, goat farm, Longan plantation, and palm oil plantation were 1.58, 1.74, 2.17, 2.63, 1.80, 1.52, 1.63, 0.46, 0.00 and 1.98 respectively.Forest ecosystem, SRF shows the highest abundance (1486 individuals) and diversity, while for agricultural ecosystem,palm oil plantation shows the highest with 273 individuals and 16 species. Based onDetrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) shows two groups that separate forest ecosystem with the agricultural ecosystem, with palm oil is the nearest to the forest. Palm oil ecosystem can sustain a dung beetles population due to the area can provide the requirements for the dung beetles to survive, such as food which comes from local domestic cows, shade from sunlight provide by the palm oil trees, and ground cover from small plants and shrubs.Even though modified ecosystem should have lower diversity of dung beetles, but some factors must be measured as well in order to have a better point of view.

Implications of agricultural transitions and urbanization for ecosystem services.

PubMed

Cumming, Graeme S; Buerkert, Andreas; Hoffmann, Ellen M; Schlecht, Eva; von Cramon-Taubadel, Stephan; Tscharntke, Teja

2014-11-06

Historically, farmers and hunter-gatherers relied directly on ecosystem services, which they both exploited and enjoyed. Urban populations still rely on ecosystems, but prioritize non-ecosystem services (socioeconomic). Population growth and densification increase the scale and change the nature of both ecosystem- and non-ecosystem-service supply and demand, weakening direct feedbacks between ecosystems and societies and potentially pushing social-ecological systems into traps that can lead to collapse. The interacting and mutually reinforcing processes of technological change, population growth and urbanization contribute to over-exploitation of ecosystems through complex feedbacks that have important implications for sustainable resource use.

High-resolution mapping of biogenic carbon fluxes to improve urban CO2 monitoring, reporting, and verification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hardiman, B. S.; Hutyra, L.; Gately, C.; Raciti, S. M.

2014-12-01

Urban areas are home to 80% of the US population and 70% of energy related fossil fuel emissions originate from urban areas. Efforts to accurately monitor, report, and verify anthropogenic CO2 missions using atmospheric measurements require reliable partitioning of anthropogenic and biogenic sources. Anthropogenic emissions peak during the daytime, coincident with biogenic drawdown of CO2. In contrast, biogenic respiration emissions peak at night when anthropogenic emissions are lower. This temporal aliasing of fluxes requires careful modeling of both biogenic and anthropogenic fluxes for accurate source attribution through inverse modeling. Biogenic fluxes in urban regions can be a significant component of the urban carbon cycle. However, vegetation in urban areas is subject to longer growing seasons, reduced competition, higher rates of nitrogen deposition, and altered patterns of biomass inputs, all interacting to elevate C turnover rates relative to analogous non-urban ecosystems. These conditions suggest that models that ignore urban vegetation or base biogenic flux estimates on non-urban forests are likely to produce inaccurate estimates of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Biosphere models often omit biogenic fluxes in urban areas despite potentially extensive vegetation coverage. For example, in Massachusetts, models mask out as much as 40% of land area, effectively assuming they have no biological flux. This results in a ~32% underestimate of aboveground biomass (AGB) across the state as compared to higher resolution vegetation maps. Our analysis suggests that some common biomass maps may underestimate forest biomass by ~520 Tg C within the state of Massachusetts. Moreover, omitted portions of the state have the highest population density, indicating that we know least about regions where most people live. We combine remote sensing imagery of urban vegetation cover with ground surveys of tree growth and mortality to improve estimates of aboveground biomass and biogenic flux rates. Updated biogenic flux rates are combined with spatially explicit anthropogenic flux estimates and a network of urban CO2 monitoring sites as the foundation for a novel carbon monitoring system spanning the Boston-Washington D.C. metropolitan corridor.

77 FR 24457 - National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-24

... the U.S. Forest Service's Urban and Community Forestry Web site: www.fs.fed.us/ucf/. DATES: Nomination... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: 2012 Notice call for nominations. SUMMARY: The National Urban and...

[Eco-value level classification and ecosystem management strategy of broad-leaved Korean pine forest in Changbai Mountain].

PubMed

Zheng, Jingming; Jiang, Fengqi; Zeng, Dehui

2003-06-01

To realize the sustainable management of forest ecosystems, we should explicitly clarify the types and differences of the ecosystem services provided by different ecosystems under different conditions, with rethinking about the value of forest ecosystems; then solid management strategies and measurements will be enacted and applied to achieve the objects. The broad-leaved Korean pine forest (BLKPF) in Changbai Mountain is a unique and important forest type in China, owing to its many important ecosystem services such as preventing soil erosion, regulating climates, nutrient cycling, providing wood and non-timber forest products, etc. This paper is a preliminary study on the management strategy of BLKPF on the basis of analyzing the characters of the ecosystems and the relative importance of services they provided in this region. Based on the latest research of ecosystem services of BLKPF in Changbai Mountain, an idea of eco-value level (EVL) was introduced, and accordingly, management strategies were summarized by adopting the advanced theories in ecosystem management science and by analyzing field survey data. EVL means the relative amount of the value of ecosystem services provided by certain ecosystem, which can indicate the difference between services in given objects. The EVL classification of BLKPF implies the relative amount of the eco-value of different ecosystems including virgin forest, secondary forest, forest with human disturbance, and man-made forest in the clear-cutting sites. Analytical Hierarchical Processing method was used to formulate the equation for EVL index. Eight factors, namely, slope, soil depth, stability of soil maternal material, coverage of above-ground canopy, species diversity, regeneration rate of the stand, life span of dominant tree species, and intensity of human disturbance were chosen to build the formula. These factors belonged to three aspects affecting ecosystem services including the physical environment, community, and disturbance regime, and their selection and scaling were based on the previous studies on the BLKPF. The equation of EVL index (EI) was expressed as: EI = 0.542A1 + 0.171A2 + 0.072A3 + 0.067B1 + 0.043B2 + 0.014B3 + 0.010B4 + 0.081C1. According to the range of EI, ecosystems were classified into three types: low EVL type with EI from 1.000 to 1.874, medium EVL type with EI 1.874-2.749, and high EVL type with EI 2.749-3.623. Typical plots were surveyed and scaled with EI, and the predominant characters of each EVL type were summarized. Most forests of high EVL type were those in sites at high risk of soil erosion and hard to recover after disrupted. Forests of medium EVL type were those with worse community structure and composition, and were disturbed by human activities in relative steep sites. Forest of low EVL type were those in plane site with serious disruption or some young man-made stands. Based on the analyses of the characters of these three types, different management strategies were put forward. For high EVL type forest, strictly protection is most important to maintain the forest in natural succession and its eco-services. For medium EVL type forest, the key points of management are restoring their health and vigor by regulating their composition and structure in a seminatural way. For low EVL type forest, some area could be used to extensive exploration for economic benefits, and the rests should be reconstructed towards the original stand in composition and structure, based on the 'shadow ecosystem' in a close-to-nature way to promote the capacity of providing more eco-services.

[Analysis of urban forest landscape pattern in Hefei].

PubMed

Wu, Zemin; Wu, Wenyou; Gao, Jian; Zhang, Shaojie

2003-12-01

Based on the theory and methodology of landscape ecology, the landscape pattern of the study area (17.6 km2) in the downtown of Hefei was analyzed by using the techniques of RS, GPS and GIS. The object was to provide a comprehensive method to study urban forest structure and its function in environmental improvement. The results showed that there were 5 major landscape elements, i.e., building and hard pavement surface, water, road, urban forest, and general green land in the area. The landscape matrix was building and pavement surface, occupied 73.13% of total land. Road was the typical corridor element in the city and occupied 6.89%. Green land occupied 11.44%, in which, urban forest patch occupied 9.18%. There were 408 urban forest patches, with an area of 161.16 hm2. The average area of the patch was 0.396 hm2, and the maximum area was 12 hm2. 48% of urban forest patch was identified as small scale patches with < 500 m2 of area, and only 8.6% of them was larger than 1 hm2. The number of general green land patch was 255, with an area of 39.74 hm2, which accounted for 2.26% of land area, and its average and maximum area was 0.1558 hm2 and 3.86 hm2, respectively. There were 147 water patches, with an area of 149.93 hm2, and occupied 8.54% of land, and the average and maximum area of the patch was 1.02 hm2 and 16 hm2, respectively. In the study area, both of the Shannon-Weiner landscape diversity index and evenness were low, only 0.928 and 0.576, respectively. In addition, the dominance of urban forest patch and general green land was 0.39 showing that the two landscape elements had a certain influence on the environment of the study area. The concept of interior habitat for forest was introduced in this paper, which was employed to make a scale class system of urban forest patch. The threshold area with interior habitat for urban forest patch was 9800 m2, and there was 31.69 hm2 of interior habitat of urban forest in total, which occupied 19.7% of the total area of urban forest patch. This situation was not favorable for providing more habitats to support species diversity. It's suggested that the concept of interior habitat could be employed to identify urban forest patch, and a scale system of small scale patch of urban forest-middle patch-large patch-extra large patch was build in the paper. Based on this system, the ratio of different scales of urban forest patch in the study area should be 2:2:2:3. The authors also suggested that larger pieces (1.5-3.0 hm2) of urban forest patch should be built, and more urban forests should be established in the northeastern part of the city in the future.

A review of impacts by invasive exotic plants on forest ecosystem services

Treesearch

Kevin Devine; Songlin Fei

2011-01-01

Many of our forest ecosystems are at risk due to the invasion of exotic invasive plant species. Invasive plant species pose numerous threats to ecosystems by decreasing biodiversity, deteriorating ecosystem processes, and degrading ecosystem services. Literature on Kentucky's most invasive exotic plant species was examined to understand their potential impacts on...

Diversity-dependent temporal divergence of ecosystem functioning in experimental ecosystems

Treesearch

Nathaly R. Guerrero-Ramírez; Dylan Craven; Peter B. Reich; John J. Ewel; Forest Isbell; Julia Koricheva; John A. Parrotta; Harald Auge; Heather E. Erickson; David I. Forrester; Andy Hector; Jasmin Joshi; Florencia Montagnini; Cecilia Palmborg; Daniel Piotto; Catherine Potvin; Christiane Roscher; Jasper van Ruijven; David Tilman; Brian Wilsey; Nico Eisenhauer

2017-01-01

The effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning generally increase over time, but the underlying processes remain unclear. Using 26 long-term grassland and forest experimental ecosystems, we demonstrate that biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships strengthen mainly by greater increases in functioning in high-diversity communities in grasslands and forests...

Maximizing Amazonia's Ecosystem Services: Juggling the potential for carbon storage, agricultural yield and biodiversity in the Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Connell, C. S.; Foley, J. A.; Gerber, J. S.; Polasky, S.

2011-12-01

The Amazon is not only an exceptionally biodiverse and carbon-rich tract of tropical forest, it is also a case study in land use change. Over the next forty years it will continue to experience pressure from an urbanizing and increasingly affluent populace: under a business-as-usual scenario, global cropland, pasture and biofuels systems will carry on expanding, while the Amazon's carbon storage potential will likely become another viable revenue source under REDD+. Balancing those competing land use pressures ought also take into account Amazonia's high - but heterogeneous - biodiversity. Knowing where Amazonia has opportunities to make efficient or optimal trade offs between carbon storage, agricultural production and biodiversity can allow policymakers to direct or influence LUC drivers. This analysis uses a spatially-explicit model that takes climate and management into account to quantify the potential agricultural yield of both the Amazon's most important agricultural commodities - sugar, soy and maize - as well as several that are going to come into increasing prominence, including palm oil. In addition, it maps the potential for carbon to be stored in forest biomass and relative species richness across Amazonia. We then compare carbon storage, agricultural yield and species richness and identify areas where efficient trade offs occur between food, carbon, and biodiversity - three critical ecosystem goods and services provided by the world's largest tropical forest.

Assessing urban forest effects and values: Morgantown's Urban Forest

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Robert E. III Hoehn; Daniel E. Crane; Jack C. Stevens; Jonathan Cumming; Sandhya Mohen; Anne Buckelew. Cumming

2012-01-01

An analysis of the community forest in Morgantown, WV, was undertaken in 2004 to characterize the structural and functional attributes of this forest resource. The assessment revealed that this city has about 658,000 trees with canopies that cover 35.5 percent of the area. The most common tree species are sugar maple, black cherry, and hawthorn. The urban forest...

The 2008 South China Freeze and its Impact on the Forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, B.; Ai, C.; Wang, Y.; Li, Z.; Cao, Y.; Wang, X.

2008-12-01

An unprecedented calamity caused by snow and freezing rain occurred in South China in 2008. This freeze was closely related to the La Nina phenomenon according to a report from the World Meteorological Organization. The freeze stroke 19 provinces in China, and damaged forests of 19.33 million ha with a standing volume loss of 371 million m3. It is estimated that the direct economic loss in the form of destroyed forests is over $8 billion. The indirect loss in the form of impaired ecological functions, such as water and soil conservation, water resources conservancy, biodiversity and forest carbon pool etc is enormous. The calamity of snow and freezing rain affected the structure and function of forest ecosystems. The snow load and freezing rain caused mechanical damage to the trees, with the species of Pinus massoniana, Cunninghamia lanceolata, Pinus elliottii and Phyllostachys pubescens etc. being the most seriously affected. The cold weather could also cause the physiological hurt to the trees. The change of the biotic components leads to the change of abiotic components in the ecosystems. The sunlight under the canopy was intensified due to the opening up of the canopy. The air temperature in the forest, the nutrient and microorganism in soil, the litterfall dynamic were also affected. The alteration of the forest ecosystem structure brought in the alteration of its functions. The damage of the ecosystem structure weakened the capacity of the water and soil conservation, water resources conservancy and reduced the biodiversity in forest ecosystems. Forest gaps allow more sunlight into the freeze-damaged ecosystem, inducing the invasion of more masculine species. The direction and progress of the community succession was therefore altered. At the same time, the freeze made a great impact on the stability and health of the forest ecosystem, increasing the potential risk of outbreak of forest fire and plant diseases/insect pests. Some suggestions on the rebuilding and recovery of damaged forest were given in this paper.

An assessment of forest ecosystem health in the Southwest

Treesearch

Cathy W. Dahms; Brian W. Geils

1997-01-01

This report documents an ecological assessment of forest ecosystem health in the Southwest. The assessment focuses at the regional level and mostly pertains to lands administered by the National Forest System. Information is presented for use by forest and district resource managers as well as collaborative partners in the stewardship of Southwestern forests. The...

Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project: the experiment

Treesearch

Steven L. Sheriff

2002-01-01

Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP) is a unique experiment to learn about the impacts of management practices on a forest system. Three forest management practices (uneven-aged management, even-aged management, and no-harvest management) as practiced by the Missouri Department of Conservation were randomly assigned to nine forest management sites using a...

Predicting forest successional stages using mutitemporal Landsat imagery with forest inventory and analysis data

Treesearch

Weiguo Liu; Conghe Song; Todd A. Schroeder; Warren B. Cohen

2008-01-01

Forest succession is an important ecological process that has profound biophysical, biological and biogeochemical implications in terrestrial ecosystems. Therefore, information on forest successional stages over an extensive forested landscape is crucial for us to understand ecosystem processes, such as carbon assimilation and energy interception. This study explored...

Analyzing the cost effectiveness of Santiago, Chile's policy of using urban forests to improve air quality.

PubMed

Escobedo, Francisco J; Wagner, John E; Nowak, David J; De la Maza, Carmen Luz; Rodriguez, Manuel; Crane, Daniel E

2008-01-01

Santiago, Chile has the distinction of having among the worst urban air pollution problems in Latin America. As part of an atmospheric pollution reduction plan, the Santiago Regional Metropolitan government defined an environmental policy goal of using urban forests to remove particulate matter less than 10 microm (PM(10)) in the Gran Santiago area. We used cost effectiveness, or the process of establishing costs and selecting least cost alternatives for obtaining a defined policy goal of PM(10) removal, to analyze this policy goal. For this study, we quantified PM(10) removal by Santiago's urban forests based on socioeconomic strata and using field and real-time pollution and climate data via a dry deposition urban forest effects model. Municipal urban forest management costs were estimated using management cost surveys and Chilean Ministry of Planning and Cooperation documents. Results indicate that managing municipal urban forests (trees, shrubs, and grass whose management is under the jurisdiction of Santiago's 36 municipalities) to remove PM(10) was a cost-effective policy for abating PM(10) based on criteria set by the World Bank. In addition, we compared the cost effectiveness of managing municipal urban forests and street trees to other control policies (e.g. alternative fuels) to abate PM(10) in Santiago and determined that municipal urban forest management efficiency was similar to these other air quality improvement measures.

The socioeconomics and management of Santiago de Chile's public urban forests

Treesearch

Francisco J. Escobedo; David J. Nowak; John E. Wagner; Carmen Luz De la Maza; Manuel Rodr& #237; guez; Daniel E. Crane; Jamie Hern& #225; ndez; Hern& #225; Jamie ndez

2006-01-01

Santiago, Chile's semi-arid climate and urbanized environment poses a severe limitation for the establishment and maintenance of urban forests. Municipalities, or comunas, are the main stakeholders in the management of Santiago's public urban forests. A tenable hypothesis would be that as the socioeconomic level of a comuna...

Studies on Interpretive Structural Model for Forest Ecosystem Management Decision-Making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Suqing; Gao, Xiumei; Zen, Qunying; Zhou, Yuanman; Huang, Yuequn; Han, Weidong; Li, Linfeng; Li, Jiping; Pu, Yingshan

Characterized by their openness, complexity and large scale, forest ecosystems interweave themselves with social system, economic system and other natural ecosystems, thus complicating both their researches and management decision-making. According to the theories of sustainable development, hierarchy-competence levels, cybernetics and feedback, 25 factors have been chosen from human society, economy and nature that affect forest ecosystem management so that they are systematically analyzed via developing an interpretive structural model (ISM) to reveal their relationships and positions in the forest ecosystem management. The ISM consists of 7 layers with the 3 objectives for ecosystem management being the top layer (the seventh layer). The ratio between agricultural production value and industrial production value as the bases of management decision-making in forest ecosystems becomes the first layer at the bottom because it has great impacts on the values of society and the development trends of forestry, while the factors of climatic environments, intensive management extent, management measures, input-output ratio as well as landscape and productivity are arranged from the second to sixth layers respectively.

Impacts of urban forests on offsetting carbon emissions from industrial energy use in Hangzhou, China.

PubMed

Zhao, Min; Kong, Zheng-hong; Escobedo, Francisco J; Gao, Jun

2010-01-01

This study quantified carbon storage and sequestration by urban forests and carbon emissions from energy consumption by several industrial sources in Hangzhou, China. Carbon (C) storage and sequestration were quantified using urban forest inventory data and by applying volume-derived biomass equations and other models relating net primary productivity (NPP) and mean annual biomass increments. Industrial energy use C emissions were estimated by accounting for fossil fuel use and assigning C emission factors. Total C storage by Hangzhou's urban forests was estimated at 11.74 Tg C, and C storage per hectare was 30.25 t C. Carbon sequestration by urban forests was 1,328, 166.55 t C/year, and C sequestration per ha was 1.66 t C/ha/year. Carbon emissions from industrial energy use in Hangzhou were 7 Tg C/year. Urban forests, through sequestration, annually offset 18.57% of the amount of carbon emitted by industrial enterprises, and store an amount of C equivalent to 1.75 times the amount of annual C emitted by industrial energy uses within the city. Management practices for improving Hangzhou's urban forests function of offsetting C emissions from energy consumption are explored. These results can be used to evaluate the urban forests' role in reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.