Urban Biodiversity: From Research to Practice

274 Pages·2017·12.285 MB·English

by  Alessandro Ossola, Jari Niemelä

URBAN BIODIVERSITY
Urban biodiversity is an increasingly popular topic among researchers. Worldwide,
thousands of research projects are unravelling how urbanisation impacts the biodiver-
sity of cities and towns, as well as its benefits for people and the environment through
ecosystem services. Exciting scientific discoveries are made on a daily basis. However,
researchers often lack time and opportunity to communicate these findings to the com-
munity and those in charge of managing, planning and designing for urban biodiversity.
On the other hand, urban practitioners frequently ask researchers for more comprehen-
sible information and actionable tools to guide their actions.
This book is designed to fill this cultural and communicative gap by discussing a
selection of topics related to urban biodiversity, as well as its benefits for people and the
urban environment. It provides an interdisciplinary overview of scientifically grounded
knowledge vital for current and future practitioners in charge of urban biodiversity
management, its conservation and integration into urban planning. Topics covered
include pests and invasive species, rewilding habitats, the contribution of a diverse
urban agriculture to food production, implications for human well-being, and how to
engage the public with urban conservation strategies.
For the first time, world-leading researchers from five continents convene to offer
a global interdisciplinary perspective on urban biodiversity narrated with a simple but
rigorous language. This book synthesizes research at a level suitable for both students
and professionals working in nature conservation and urban planning and management.
Alessandro Ossola is a Research Coordinator within the Centre for Smart Green
Cities at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. He is also an Honorary Research
Fellow at the University of Melbourne, Australia and a former US National Academy
of Science, Engineering and Medicine NRC Associate within the US Environmental
Protection Agency in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Jari Niemelä is Professor of Urban Ecology and Director of the Helsinki Institute
for Sustainability Science, Department of Environmental Sciences, at the University of
Helsinki, Finland.
Routledge Studies in Urban Ecology
https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Studies-in-Urban-Ecology/book-series/
RSUE
Urban Ecosystems
Understanding the Human Environment
By Robert A. Francis and Michael A. Chadwick
Urban Forests, Trees, and Greenspace
A Political Ecology Perspective
Edited by L. Anders Sandberg, Adrina Bardekjian and Sadia Butt
Green Infrastructure
Incorporating Plants and Enhancing Biodiversity in Buildings and Urban
Environments
By John W. Dover
Urban Landscape Ecology
Science, Policy and Practice
Edited by Robert A. Francis, James D.A. Millington and Michael A. Chadwick
Urban Expansion, Land Cover and Soil Ecosystem Services
Edited by Ciro Gardi
Urban Biodiversity
From Research to Practice
Edited by Alessandro Ossola and Jari Niemelä
URBAN BIODIVERSITY
From Research to Practice
Edited by Alessandro Ossola and Jari Niemelä
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
 2018 selection and editorial matter, Alessandro Ossola and Jari
Niemelä; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Alessandro Ossola and Jari Niemelä to be identified as the
authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
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recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
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or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ossola, Alessandro, editor. | Niemelèa, Jari, editor.
Title: Urban biodiversity : from research to practice / edited by
Alessandro Ossola and Jari Niemelèa.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge,
2018. | Series: Routledge studies in urban ecology | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017029223| ISBN 9781138224384 (hbk) | ISBN
9781138224391 (pbk) | ISBN 9781315402581 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Urban ecology (Biology)—Research.
Classification: LCC QH541.5.C6 U73 2018 | DDC 307.76072—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017029223
ISBN: 978-1-138-22438-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-22439-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-40258-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK
CONTENTS
List of contributors vii
Foreword x
Preface xii
1 Bringing urban biodiversity research into practice 1
Alessandro Ossola, Ulrike M. Irlich and Jari Niemelä
2 Soil as a foundation to urban biodiversity 18
Katalin Szlavecz, Ian Yesilonis and Richard Pouyat
3 Urban biodiversity and ecosystem services 36
Johannes Langemeyer and Erik Gómez-Baggethun
4 Planning for protection: promoting pest suppressing urban
landscapes through habitat management 54
Dieter F. Hochuli and Caragh G. Threlfall
5 Urban agriculture: an opportunity for biodiversity and food
provision in urban landscapes 71
Brenda B. Lin and Monika H. Egerer
6 Urban biological invasions: when vertebrates come to town 87
Lucas A. Wauters and Adriano Martinoli
vi Contents
7 Management of plant diversity in urban green spaces 101
Myla F.J. Aronson, Max R. Piana, J. Scott MacIvor and
Clara C. Pregitzer
8 Managing biodiversity through social values and preferences 121
Kate E. Lee and Dave Kendal
9 Biodiversity and psychological well-being 134
Kalevi Korpela, Tytti Pasanen and Eleanor Ratcliffe
10 Governance perspectives on urban biodiversity 150
Sara Borgström
11 Managing urban green spaces for biodiversity conservation:
an African perspective 167
Sarel S. Cilliers, Stefan J. Siebert, Marié J. Du Toit and
Elandrie Davoren
12 Urban green infrastructures and ecological networks for
urban biodiversity conservation 186
Emily S. Minor, Elsa C. Anderson, J. Amy Belaire, Megan
Garfinkel and Alexis Dyan Smith
13 Designing nature in cities to safeguard meaningful experiences
of biodiversity in an urbanizing world 200
Assaf Shwartz
14 Biodiversity-friendly designs in cities and towns: towards a
global biodiversinesque style 216
Maria Ignatieva
15 Integrating urban biodiversity mapping, citizen science
and technology 236
Cynnamon Dobbs, Angela Hernández, Francisco de la Barrera,
Marcelo D. Miranda and Sonia Reyes Paecke
Index 248
CONTRIBUTORS
Elsa C. Anderson, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA.
Myla F.J. Aronson, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources,
Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
Francisco de la Barrera, Institute of Geography, Center for Sustainable Urban
Development (CEDEUS), Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago,
Chile.
J. Amy Belaire, St. Edward’s University, Austin, TX, USA.
Sara Borgström, Royal Institute of Technology, KTH, Department of Sustainable
Development, Environmental Science and Engineering, Stockholm, Sweden.
Sarel S. Cilliers, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West
University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Elandrie Davoren, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-
West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Cynnamon Dobbs, Department of Ecosystems and Environment, Faculty of
Agronomy and Forest Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile,
Santiago, Chile.
Marié J. Du Toit, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West
University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Monika H. Egerer, Environmental Studies Department, University of California,
Santa Cruz, CA, USA.
Megan Garfinkel, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA.
viii Contributors
Erik Gómez-Baggethun, Department of International Environment and
Development Studies (Noragric), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU),
Ås, Norway, and Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA).
Angela Hernández, Centro de Investigacion en Ecosistemas de la Patagonia
(CIEP), Coyhaique, Chile.
Dieter F. Hochuli, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of
Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Maria Ignatieva, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala,
Sweden.
Ulrike M. Irlich, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, Africa Secretariat,
Century City, South Africa and Centre for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch
University, Matieland, South Africa.
Dave Kendal, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of
Melbourne, Burnley, VIC, Australia.
Kalevi Korpela, School of Social Sciences and Humanities and Psychology,
University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
Johannes Langemeyer, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology
(ICTA), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and Hospital del Mar Medical
Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain.
Kate E. Lee, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences and Melbourne School of
Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
Brenda B. Lin, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
(CSIRO), Aspendale, VIC, Australia.
J. Scott MacIvor, Department of Biological Science, University of Toronto
Scarborough, Toronto, Canada.
Adriano Martinoli, Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, Università
degli Studi dell’Insubria, Varese, Italy.
Emily S. Minor, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA.
Marcelo D. Miranda, Department of Ecosystems and Environment, Center for
Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Faculty of Agronomy and Forest
Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Jari Niemelä, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki,
Helsinki, Finland.
Alessandro Ossola, Centre for Smart Green Cities, Department of Biological
Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. School of Ecosystem and
Forest Science, The University of Melbourne, Richmond, Australia.
Contributors ix
Sonia Reyes Paecke, Faculty of Agronomy and Forest Engineering, Center for
Sustainable Urban Development (CEDEUS), Pontificia Universidad Catolica de
Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Tytti Pasanen, School of Social Sciences and Humanities/Psychology, University
of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
Max R. Piana, Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick,
NJ, USA.
Richard Pouyat, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Research &
Development, Washington, DC, USA.
Clara C. Pregitzer, Natural Resources Group, New York City Department
of Parks and Recreation, New York City, NY, USA. School of Forestry and
Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Eleanor Ratcliffe, School of Social Sciences and Humanities/Psychology,
University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
Assaf Shwartz, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Department of
Landscape Architecture, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Stefan J. Siebert, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-
West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Alexis Dyan Smith, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, USA.
Katalin Szlavecz, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Caragh G. Threlfall, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of
Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Lucas A. Wauters, Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, Università
degli Studi dell’Insubria, Varese, Italy.
Ian Yesilonis, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, c/o Baltimore
Ecosystem Study, Baltimore, MD, USA.