Habitat complexity influences fine scale hydrological processes and the incidence of stormwater runoff in managed urban ecosystems

Ossola, Alessandro; Hahs, Amy K.; Livesley, Stephen J.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.05.002

Cited by 54 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(71 reference statements)

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“…Together, this accounted for considerable differences in overall model results. This appears consistent with findings that high habitat complexity can reduce runoff in urban green spaces by an order of magnitude relative to vegetated spaces with low complexity, due to differences in both soil properties and surface cover (Ossola et al 2015). It also supports the assertion that, under common land use practices in England, urban areas tend to experience less erosion than intensive agriculture (e.g.…”

Section: Sediment Deliverysupporting

confidence: 88%

The impact of land use/land cover scale on modelling urban ecosystem services

et al. 2016

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Context Urbanisation places increasing stress on ecosystem services; however existing methods and data for testing relationships between service delivery and urban landscapes remain imprecise and uncertain. Unknown impacts of scale are among several factors that complicate research. This study models ecosystem services in the urban area comprising the towns of Milton Keynes, Bedford and Luton which together represent a wide range of the urban forms present in the UK. Objectives The objectives of this study were to test (1) the sensitivity of ecosystem service model outputs to the spatial resolution of input data, and (2) whether any resultant scale dependency is constant across different ecosystem services and model approaches (e.g. stock-versus flow-based).Methods Carbon storage, sediment erosion, and pollination were modelled with the InVEST framework using input data representative of common coarse (25 m) and fine (5 m) spatial resolutions. Results Fine scale analysis generated higher estimates of total carbon storage (9.32 vs. 7.17 kg m -2 ) and much lower potential sediment erosion estimates (6.4 vs. 18.1 Mg km -2 year -1 ) than analyses conducted at coarser resolutions; however coarse-scale analysis estimated more abundant pollination service provision. Conclusions Scale sensitivities depend on the type of service being modelled; stock estimates (e.g. carbon storage) are most sensitive to aggregation across scales, dynamic flow models (e.g. sediment erosion) are most sensitive to spatial resolution, and ecological process models involving both stocks and dynamics (e.g. pollination) are sensitive to both. Care must be taken to select model data appropriate to the scale of inquiry.

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Section: Sediment Deliverysupporting

confidence: 88%

The impact of land use/land cover scale on modelling urban ecosystem services

et al. 2016

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“…Consequently, simple and diminished plant communities in urban systems (Pickett et al, 2001;Alberti, 2008;Cilliers and Siebert, 2011) also modify urban brown spaces (i.e., soils, sensu Allison, 2006;Pouyat et al, 2007a) and their function. Supporting this, previous research suggests that altered plant biomass and cover, and the concomitant changes in plant litter can cascade down to urban soils, their decomposers, and organismal life-supporting processes (see Pavao-Zuckerman and Coleman, 2007;Vauramo and Setälä, 2010;Ossola et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…Consequently, plant types producing labile litter are prone to faster C and N loss than e.g., slow-growing conifers that produce recalcitrant litter (Wardle et al, 2004;Bardgett and Wardle, 2010). Currently, only little information is available on the effects of plant functional groups on belowground processes in urban soils (but see Setälä, 2010, 2011;Edmondson et al, 2014b;Ossola et al, 2015). To our knowledge, studies that explicitly explore the effects of plant functional groups on urban park soils are non-existent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation Type and Age Drive Changes in Soil Properties, Nitrogen, and Carbon Sequestration in Urban Parks under Cold Climate

et al. 2016

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Urban green spaces provide ecosystem properties fundamental to the provision of ecosystem services, such as the sequestration of carbon and nutrients and serving as a reservoir for organic matter. Although, urban vegetation influences soil physico-chemical properties, it remains unknown whether ecosystem properties depend on plant species portfolios. We tested the influence of three common functional plant groups (evergreen trees, deciduous trees, grass/lawn) for their ability to modify soils in parks of various ages under cold climatic conditions in Finland. We hypothesized that (i) plant functional groups affect soils differently resulting in divergent ecosystem properties, and (ii) that these ecosystem properties also depend on park age. We included 41 urban parks of varying ages (10, 50, and >100 years) and additional control forests. Park soils were sampled for physico-chemical parameters up to 50 cm depth. Our data indicate that plant functional groups modify soils differently, especially between the evergreen and lawn treatments at 50 and >100 year old parks. Soils under evergreen trees had the lowest pH and generally the highest percentage organic matter, percentage total carbon and percentage total nitrogen. Soil pH remained the same, whereas concentrations of organic matter, total carbon and total nitrogen declined by depth. Soils in the reference forests had lower pH but higher percentages organic matter, total carbon, and total nitrogen than those in parks. We estimate that old parks with evergreen trees can store 35.5 and 2.3 kg N m −2 -considerably more than in urban soils in warmer climates. Our data suggest that plant-soil interactions in urban parks, in spite of being constructed environments, are surprisingly similar to those in natural forests.

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“…In urban landscapes, vegetation has been found to be the major habitat for most species of vertebrates and invertebrates living aboveground, while simultaneously influencing the belowground habitat for fungi, microorganisms, and burrowing organisms (Byrne, 2007). The complexity of urban vegetation has also been recently found to be a significant predictor for the diversity of numerous organisms involved in key biogeochemical and hydrological processes (Ossola et al, 2015b(Ossola et al, , 2016.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variation in Vegetation Structure and Composition across Urban Green Space Types

et al. 2016

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HIGHLIGHTS• Vegetation structure and composition were measured in four major green space types • Remnants and golf courses supported highest native plant richness • Residential neighborhoods and urban parks supported highest exotic plant richness • Residential neighborhoods lacked key habitat structures including old trees • Green spaces can achieve complex vegetation with both native and exotic vegetationThe ecological sustainability and function of urban landscapes is strongly influenced by the composition and structure of the local plant community. Taxonomic composition generally refers to the identity of the species comprising the community, while we define structure as the presence of multiple canopy layers, as well as stems of varying diameter and age. These aspects of urban vegetation significantly influence the ecology of cities, yet they are generally poorly quantified across the range of natural and constructed plant communities present in urban landscapes. We quantified vegetation composition and structure to (i) simultaneously assess their variation across four green spaces types (golf courses, public parks, residential neighborhoods, and patches of remnant vegetation) in Melbourne, Australia, and (ii) investigate the relationship between vegetation composition and structure within these green spaces. The four green space types supported distinctly different plant communities. Vegetation composition in the residential neighborhoods differed significantly from the others (p < 0.05), largely due to the increased richness of shrubs and cultivated plants, and the reduced presence of large trees. Residential neighborhoods had the highest plant species richness, although a large proportion of these species occurred infrequently. The structural complexity of understorey vegetation (calculated as % volume occupied) below 0.5 m was highest in remnant patches followed by golf courses, public parks, and residential neighborhoods. The structural complexity of understorey vegetation in remnant vegetation patches was very similar to that of golf courses even though some of the latter were dominated by exotic plant species. Variation in the composition and structure of urban vegetation might have great implications for Threlfall et al.Vegetation across Urban Green Spaces the retention of faunal diversity within cities because different taxa have specific habitat requirements. Hence, further understanding of variations in the composition and structure of both natural and constructed plant communities in cities will greatly improve our ability to create urban landscapes that enhance both plant and animal biodiversity.

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Habitat complexity influences fine scale hydrological processes and the incidence of stormwater runoff in managed urban ecosystems

Cited by 54 publications

References 48 publications

The impact of land use/land cover scale on modelling urban ecosystem services

The impact of land use/land cover scale on modelling urban ecosystem services

Vegetation Type and Age Drive Changes in Soil Properties, Nitrogen, and Carbon Sequestration in Urban Parks under Cold Climate

Variation in Vegetation Structure and Composition across Urban Green Space Types

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