A Plant Sociological Procedure for the Ecological Design and Enhancement of Urban Green Infrastructure

Abstract

Urban green infrastructure could represent an important mean for environmental mitigation, if designed according to the principles of restoration ecology. Moreover, if suitably executed, managed and sized, they may be assimilated to meta-populations of natural habitats, deserving to be included in the biodiversity monitoring networks. In this chapter, we combined automatised and expert opinion-based procedures in order to select the vascular plant assemblages to populate different microhabitats (differing in terms of light and moisture) co-occurring on an existing green roof in Zurich (Switzerland). Our results lead to identify three main plant species groups, which prove to be the most suitable for the target roof. These guilds belong to mesoxeric perennial grasslands (Festuco-Brometea), nitrophilous ephemeral communities (Stellarietea mediae) and drought-tolerant pioneer species linked to nutrient-poor soils (Koelerio-Corynephoretea). Some ruderal and stress-tolerant species referred to the class Artemisietea vulgaris appear to fit well with local roof characteristics, too. Inspired by plant sociology, this method also considers conservation issues, analysing whether the plants selected through our procedure were characteristic of habitats of conservation interest according to Swiss and European laws and directives. Selecting plant species with different life cycles and life traits may lead to higher plant species richness, which in turn may improve the functional complexity and the ecosystem services provided by green roofs and green infrastructure in general.

Landolt Indicator Values in Modern Research: A Review

“…The conservation of biodiversity in urban areas is of great importance. The Landolt indicator values are applied in developing a feasible concept for a building envelope to promote biodiversity [100] and to identify the main plant species groups which are most suitable for the target green roof [101].…”

Agroforestry as a Driver for the Provisioning of Peri-Urban Socio-Ecological Functions: A Trans-Disciplinary Approach

“…In a historical climate change context, these issues are crucial [27][28][29]. This is especially true if we consider the opposite potential role of peri-urban systems in delivering agri-environmental support, regulating and provisioning services to the city [10,12,30]. On the social-cultural side, peri-urban contexts are easily marked by a fragmented social tissue, disrupted cultural places and low socio-cultural resilience.…”

Urban Planning for Climate Change: A Toolkit of Actions for an Integrated Strategy of Adaptation to Heavy Rains, River Floods, and Sea Level Rise

“…However, in this framework it emerges how local public administrations are working on processes of integration and the innovation of urban planning tools and instruments at the local level in response to climate change (in Europe, 66% of cities declare having a climate change action plan) moving from the mere defensive approach, adopted so far, to strategies and actions inspired by Nature-based Solutions (NbS) [13,14]. This trend is triggering virtuous processes of environmental regeneration, based on compensation and the ecological-environmental potential of the solutions adopted, providing integrated responses both to the need for anthropic development and the preservation of natural capital, combining morphological, cultural, and social redevelopment with ecological and landscape enhancement actions [15].…”