Amongst the greatest global environmental challenges of our time are climate change and biodiversity loss. Feedback mechanisms associated with warming climate could also lead to large-scale biodiversity losses worldwide and it would therefore be logical to seek mitigation methods beneficial for both impact categories. However, research on the topic remains relatively scarce. Our study focuses on two key aspects of environmental sustainability, carbon storage capacity and species biodiversity, to determine whether these correlate at different levels of urban density. GIS-datasets are utilized to estimate the carbon storage potential and species diversity across the urban landscape as well as their association at different levels of urban land use intensity. The results highlight the importance of small green spaces at dense urban cores, indicating that in environments where green infrastructure is limited high species diversity and carbon storage are more likely to overlap, whereas at urban fringe the observed relationship is weaker and divergence of the two impact categories becomes more probable. The study draws attention to the role fragmented, limited green spaces play at establishing functioning ecosystems at local scale and provides new information to support the development of sustainable planning and management practices across the urban land use gradient.
Managing nature-based solutions (NBS) in urban areas for carbon mitigation and biodiversity outcomes is a global policy challenge, yet little is known about how to both assess and weave diverse knowledge systems and values into carbon-biodiversity trade-off assessments. This paper examines the spatial relationships between biophysical and social values for carbon sequestration potential (measured as carbon dioxide, CO2, flux) and biodiversity in Helsinki, Finland, using integrated valuation. The approach combines methods from carbon sequestration modelling, expert scoring approaches to biodiversity assessment and public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS). Results indicate strong spatial associations between biophysical assessment of CO2 flux and biodiversity priorities, and weaker associations between biophysical and social values. Integration of social and biophysical values leads to multiple pathways for protection of NBS to achieve carbon mitigation and biodiversity outcomes, as well as options for the spatial targeting of education and capacity building programs to areas of local concern.
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