Vegetation trends associated with urban development: The role of golf courses

Abstract

Globally, cities are growing rapidly in size and density and this has caused profound impacts on urban forest ecosystems. Urbanization requiring deforestation reduces ecosystem services that benefit both city dwellers and biodiversity. Understanding spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation changes associated with urbanization is thus a vital component of future sustainable urban development. We used Landsat time series data for three decades from 1988 to 2018 to characterize changes in vegetation cover and habitat connectivity in the Perth Metropolitan Area, in a rapidly urbanising Australian biodiversity hotspot, as a case study to understand the impacts of urbanization on urban forests. Moreover, as golf courses are a major component in urban areas, we assessed the role of golf courses in maintaining vegetation cover and creating habitat connectivity. To do this we employed (1) land use classification with post-classification change detection, and (2) Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA). Over 17,000 ha of vegetation were cleared and the area of vegetation contributing to biodiversity connectivity was reduced significantly over the three decades. The spatial patterns of vegetation loss and gain were different in each of the three decades reflecting the implementation of urban planning. Furthermore, MSPA analysis showed that the reduction in vegetation cover led to habitat fragmentation with a significant decrease in the core and bridge classes and an increase in isolated patches in the urban landscape. Golf courses played a useful role in maintaining vegetation cover and contributing to connectivity in a regional biodiversity hotspot. Our findings suggest that for future urban expansion, urban planning needs to more carefully consider the impacts of deforestation on connectivity in the landscape. Moreover, there is a need to take into consideration opportunities for off-reserve conservation in smaller habitat fragments such as in golf courses in sustainable urban management.

Spatial statistical analysis of the relationship between self-reported mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown and closeness to green infrastructure

“…The rationale behind low level of anger and the existence of urban parks might lay on the sense of relief derived from having visual contact with vegetated landscapes ( Hedblom et al, 2019 ; Velarde et al, 2007 ), which may lead to a reduction in feelings of annoyance ( Ulrich, 1979 ). Instead, the positive relationship between very high level of anger and closeness to natural areas may respond to the progressive loss or degradation of non-artificial vegetated areas in developed cities over the years due to urbanization ( Bengtsson et al, 2019 ; Nguyen et al, 2020 ). This could justify the accumulation of responses from people lacking access to grasslands, lawns or forests.…”

Impacts of urbanization, LULC, LST, and NDVI changes on the static water table with possible solutions and water policy discussions: A case from Islamabad, Pakistan

“…These climate changes lead to groundwater and surface water depletion and exacerbate the demand-supply imbalance. Due to climate change, rain pattern changes affect aquifer recharge (Appiah et al, 2015;Sohail et al, 2019;Nguyen et al, 2020;Liu et al, 2021).…”

Assessing Vegetation Cover Change Using Remote Sensing: Case Study at Binh Duong Province, Vietnam

“…It supplies ecosystem services that benefit humans and the environment. In addition, urban green areas mitigate urban heat island effects which threaten human health [8]. Economic development, population growth, and overspread of urban and infrastructure systems have caused stress in harmonization between resource conservation and human demand [9].…”