Vacant lots: An underexplored resource for ecological and social benefits in cities

Anderson, Edmund G.; Minor, Emily S.

doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2016.11.015

Cited by 112 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 96 publications

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“…Creating new forests by planting trees in cities is well established in restoration ecology, e.g., [26][27][28][29], ranging from near-natural sites at the urban fringe, e.g., [30,31], to anthropogenically altered sites [32][33][34]. Yet such tree plantings and related maintenance require the allocation of considerable resources and do not always yield satisfying results, e.g., when continued maintenance is necessary [31,35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first pathway is the colonization of previously cleared or abandoned urban-industrial land, indicated as ruderal succession in Figure 1. Outcomes of ruderal succession series have been reported for a range of urban-industrial land-use types [40][41][42][43][44], including vacant lots [33,[45][46][47], transportation corridors [48,49], post-industrial sites [38,43,[50][51][52], and landfills [53,54]. A second, less acknowledged pathway towards emerging urban forests is spontaneous rewilding of designed greenspaces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emerging Urban Forests: Opportunities for Promoting the Wild Side of the Urban Green Infrastructure

et al. 2019

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Many cities aim to increase urban forest cover to benefit residents through the provision of ecosystem services and to promote biodiversity. As a complement to traditional forest plantings, we address opportunities associated with “emerging urban forests” (i.e., spontaneously developing forests in cities) for urban biodiversity conservation. We quantified the area of successional forests and analyzed the species richness of native and alien plants and of invertebrates (carabid beetles, spiders) in emerging forests dominated by alien or native trees, including Robinia pseudoacacia, Acer platanoides, and Betula pendula. Emerging urban forests were revealed as shared habitats of native and alien species. Native species richness was not profoundly affected by the alien (co-)dominance of the canopy. Instead, native and alien plant species richnesses were positively related. Numbers of endangered plants and invertebrates did not differ between native- and alien-dominated forest patches. Patterns of tree regeneration indicate different successional trajectories for novel forest types. We conclude that these forests (i) provide habitats for native and alien species, including some endangered species, (ii) allow city dwellers to experience wild urban nature, and (iii) support arguments for adapting forests to dynamic urban environments. Integrating emerging urban forests into the urban green infrastructure is a promising pathway to sustainable cities and can complement traditional restoration or greening approaches.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging Urban Forests: Opportunities for Promoting the Wild Side of the Urban Green Infrastructure

et al. 2019

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“…() recommend that every increase of artificial land be compensated by a 2.2‐fold increase of green infrastructure to maintain ecosystem services. Thus, any kind of unused land or vacant lot should be considered for extending the network of green infrastructure that, beside enhancing biodiversity (Anderson & Minor, ; Deák, Hüse, & Tóthmérész, ; Hüse, Szabó, Deák, & Tóthmérész, ; Standish et al., ) could greatly increase human wellbeing (Tzoulas et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three years of vegetation development worth 30 years of secondary succession in urban‐industrial grassland restoration

Kövendi-Jakó

Halassy

Csecserits

et al. 2019

Applied Vegetation Science

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Questions:The restoration of unused urban-industrial areas has largely been neglected despite their great potential for nature conservation purposes. We applied three plant introduction treatments at a highly degraded industrial area to test whether plant material introduced onto industrial areas initiates plant assemblages similar in composition to those of reference grasslands. We specifically asked (a) Does restoration differ between primary and secondary reference sites in terms of overall species richness and cover three years after the introduction of plant material? (b) What is the sociability of species of the vegetation resulting from different treatments?Location: Restoration and reference grassland sites with acidic sandy soil in the temperate region of the EU, NE Hungary, Nyírség. Methods:As restoration techniques, we (a) directly seeded a single dominant species, (b) applied a commercial seed mixture, and (c) transferred hay. We compared species composition, cover, species richness and sociability of species in restoration treatments to reference grasslands. Inventories of vascular plant species were made at five randomly placed 2 m × 2 m sampling units per plot. Results:The species composition of seeded restoration plots (with a single dominant species and a commercial seed mixture) became similar to that of reference grasslands. Both types of seeding resulted in a similar cover, whereas seeding a commercial seed mixture and hay transfer resulted in a species richness similar to that of reference grasslands. The cover of the natural constituents (NC) of seeded plots also reached that of reference grasslands, while hay addition resulted in a lower cover and a higher number of NC than other methods. Conclusions:The introduction of propagules in degraded industrial areas can provide communities similar, after three years, to those of secondary reference grasslands that are 30 years of age. We conclude that investing in the restoration of native grasslands at unused urban-industrial sites can be a great opportunity to enhance biodiversity. K E Y W O R D Sdry grassland, hay transfer, industrial area, multiple reference sites, old fields, seed sowing, sociability of species, species richness, urban-industrial restoration, vegetation cover | 139

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“…trees, grass, various plants and animals (Anderson et al, 2017;Chawla, 2015;Coe et al, 2014;Moore and Cooper Marcus, 2008). Nature connection is nurtured, if children are allowed to play outdoors in nature-rich places.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trees as affordances for connectedness to place– a framework to facilitate children’s relationship with nature

Laaksoharju

Rappe

2017

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening

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This study, informed by phenomenology and ethnography, explores urban children's relationship with trees in a garden camp context: what are trees for urban children? Studying Finnish 7-to 12-year-old children, the research employed triangulation: participant and non-participant observation methods with mixed data collection over the course of three years. Engaging in grounded theory analysis after an intermission, the study unites the theoretical constructs of affordance and connectedness to place. Based on empirical observations, this study provides a theoretical framework to clarify the phased process of how urban children's connectedness to place is evolving. Exploitation of tree affordances during place-based play reflected connectedness to place; utilization of trees became more versatile over time. The results showed trees to be intriguing and multifaceted, satisfying many of the children's private and social needs. Trees provided the materials, space and often purpose and contents for the actual play that could not have thrived without them. In addition, children learned to manage possible tree-related risks mainly from experience and through scaffolding with peers. Recommendations for supporting beneficial nature contact emphasize allowing childdirected, place-based play time and planning biodiverse, low-maintenance spaces with a wide variety of trees that will invite children to use green spaces according to their needs.

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Vacant lots: An underexplored resource for ecological and social benefits in cities

Cited by 112 publications

References 96 publications

Emerging Urban Forests: Opportunities for Promoting the Wild Side of the Urban Green Infrastructure

Emerging Urban Forests: Opportunities for Promoting the Wild Side of the Urban Green Infrastructure

Three years of vegetation development worth 30 years of secondary succession in urban‐industrial grassland restoration

Trees as affordances for connectedness to place– a framework to facilitate children’s relationship with nature

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