Social Aspects of Urban Ecology in Developing Countries, with an Emphasis on Urban Domestic Gardens

Cilliers, Sarel S.; Siebert, S.J.; Davoren, Elandrie; Lubbe, Rina

doi:10.1002/9781444345025.ch10

Cited by 15 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Contrary to the claim that domestic gardens have been ignored in urban ecological studies (Cilliers et al, 2011), we found that, in terms of ecosystem services, they were only marginally less frequently examined than parks. Private property owners can significantly influence the ecological structures of an urban area and private gardens can be a useful instrument to increase ecosystem services, independent from central planning and trade-offs inherent in public spaces (Van Heezik et al, 2012).…”

Section: Ecological Structurescontrasting

confidence: 99%

A review of urban ecosystem services: six key challenges for future research

et al. 2015

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a b s t r a c tGlobal urbanization creates opportunities and challenges for human well-being and transition towards sustainability. Urban areas are human-environment systems that depend fundamentally on ecosystems, and thus require an understanding of the management of urban ecosystem services to ensure sustainable urban planning. The purpose of this study is to provide a systematic review of urban ecosystems services research, which addresses the combined domain of ecosystem services and urban development. We examined emerging trends and gaps in how urban ecosystem services are conceptualized in peer-reviewed case study literature, including the geographical distribution of research, the development and use of the urban ecosystem services concept, and the involvement of stakeholders. We highlight six challenges aimed at strengthening the concept's potential to facilitate meaningful inter-and transdisciplinary work for ecosystem services research and planning. Achieving a cohesive conceptual approach in the research field will address (i) the need for more extensive spatial and contextual coverage, (ii) continual clarification of definitions, (iii) recognition of limited data transferability, (iv) more comprehensive stakeholder involvement, (v) more integrated research efforts, and (vi) translation of scientific findings into actionable knowledge, feeding information back into planning and management. We conclude with recommendations for conducting further research while incorporating these challenges.

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Section: Ecological Structurescontrasting

confidence: 99%

A review of urban ecosystem services: six key challenges for future research

et al. 2015

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“…Such an approach may be very useful not only for understanding the underlying motivations for variation of green infrastructure at the household scale (Marco et al 2010, Cook et al 2012), but also for understanding which factors may limit or facilitate the transition of yard management toward sustainable practices. Urban biodiversity studies indicate that variation in socioeconomic factors, which we have used to refer to social, demographic, and economic criteria, are important drivers of variation in residential green infrastructure in cities (Cilliers et al 2012 and references therein). These studies have generated a variety of competing theories and generalizations about which socioeconomic factors are most important at generating urban vegetation variation and under what circumstances (Kendal et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socioeconomic drivers of yard sustainable practices in a tropical city

Meléndez‐Ackerman¹,

Santiago-Bartolomei²,

Vila-Ruiz³

et al. 2014

E&S

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ABSTRACT. A growing body of work has emphasized the importance of residential areas to the overall green infrastructure of cities and recognizes that outcomes related to these areas are best studied using a social-ecological approach. We conducted vegetation surveys to evaluate yard practices that relate to the state of the yard vegetation, including species diversity and abundance, vegetation structure, and the percent of green area of yards versus paved areas, at the Río Piedras watershed within the San Juan metropolitan area. We used concomitant social household surveys to evaluate the association of social-economic and demographic factors at the household scale with these vegetation characteristics, as well as with landscape-level characteristics related to urban morphology and elevation. Our results for this tropical site were consistent with studies elsewhere in that a greater number of social factors at the household scale were more important in explaining the traits related to how green the yards were. On the other hand, we failed to detect the so-called luxury effect on urban vegetation encountered at many sites. Instead, we found consistent vegetation associations with the age of the residents, housing ownership, and, most importantly, with yard size. We have discussed the potential reasons for these discrepancies and the potential consequences of the human-natural links at the household scale to the future dynamics of this portion of the green infrastructure within this urban watershed.

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“…But this view is quickly changing (Shackleton et al 2008, Goddard et al 2009). The benefits of residential vegetation may be variable, in terms of providing ecosystem services such as food supplies, mitigation of urban heat island and urban fragmentation effects, runoff reduction, and above-ground carbon storage; as well, residential vegetation may have positive effects on the quality of human life, health, and well-being (Dunnett and Qasim 2000, Town and Country Planning Association 2004, Williams et al 2009, Cilliers et al 2011, Davies et al 2011, Cameron et al 2012. In some areas, the structural diversity of the vegetation in residential yards can be a good predictor of biological diversity in the urban environment (Müller et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant species richness and abundance in residential yards across a tropical watershed: implications for urban sustainability

Vila-Ruiz¹,

Meléndez‐Ackerman²,

Santiago-Bartolomei³

et al. 2014

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Green spaces within residential areas provide important contributions to the sustainability of urban systems. Therefore, studying the characteristics of these areas has become a research priority in cities worldwide. This project evaluated various aspects of the plant biodiversity of residential yards (i.e., front yards and back yards within the Río Piedras watershed in the San Juan metropolitan area of Puerto Rico). Our work included gathering information on vegetation composition and abundance of woody species (i.e., trees, shrubs, palms, ferns) and large herbs (>2 m height), species origin (native vs. introduced), and species uses (ornamental, food, and medicinal plants). A total of 424 yards were surveyed within an area of 187,191 m². We found 383 woody species, with shrubs being the most abundant plant habitat. As expected, residential yards hosted a disproportionate amount of introduced species (69.5%). The most common shrub species were all non-native ornamentals, whereas the most common tree species included food trees as well as ornamental plants and two native species. Front yards hosted more ornamental species per unit area than backyards, while the latter had more food plants. The high amount of introduced species may present a challenge in terms of implementation of plant conservation initiatives if there is no clear definition of urban conservation goals. On the other hand, the high frequency of yards containing food plants may facilitate the development of residential initiatives that could provide future adaptive capacity to food shortages.

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Social Aspects of Urban Ecology in Developing Countries, with an Emphasis on Urban Domestic Gardens

Cited by 15 publications

References 64 publications

A review of urban ecosystem services: six key challenges for future research

A review of urban ecosystem services: six key challenges for future research

Socioeconomic drivers of yard sustainable practices in a tropical city

Plant species richness and abundance in residential yards across a tropical watershed: implications for urban sustainability

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