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Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2011

  • Title: To Green or Not to Green: An Investigation of Urban Greening, Biodiversity, and Human Behavior
  • Author: Ashley Golphin (Kent State University)
  • Abstract:

    Urban ecosystems create one of the greatest challenges to global sustainability, biodiversity retention, and public health. Attaining sustainable urban socio-ecological systems requires understanding how urban landscapes can be designed and managed to support wildlife diversity and human health. Urban greening, the expansion and conservation of vegetated areas in cities through local stewardship practices, is one such land management tool that can be utilized to study the effects of urban green space on humans and wildlife. Cityroots, an urban greening program in the City of Boston, provides technical and financial support to community groups who want to improve their neighborhoods through greening. The support offered is based on environmental justice and allows community members to transform abandoned lots (non-green space) into community gardens and parks (green space). Throughout the City of Boston, seven Cityroots community-developed green spaces were chosen for this study and paired with seven nearby abandoned lots to explore how human use patterns, along with related measures of urban biodiversity (i.e., macroinvertebrate and avian populations) differ between urban green and non-green sites. Human use patterns involved behavior observations at the study sites during different times of the day. Statistical analysis showed that human behaviors are significantly different between green and non-green sites and suggests that humans are more engaged in green sites, particularly with regard to active and passive recreation. Sample collection and data analysis for macroinvertebrate and avian diversity are ongoing. Preliminary analysis suggest that naturally regenerating sites that occur as part of urban disinvestment may have biodiversity benefits while intentionally planned green spaces provide more benefits for local residents. The results of this study provide new insights into the relative importance of landscape perception in influencing human behavior and yield practical implications for urban planners to develop greenscapes that support human health and well-being.

  • Research Category: Biodiversity Studies; Regional Studies