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The urban heat island (UHI) effect is caused by intensive development practices in cities and the diminished presence of green space that results. The evolution of these phenomena has occurred over many decades. In many cities, historic zoning and redlining practices barred Black and minority groups from moving into predominately white areas and obtaining financial resources, a practice that still affects cities today, and has forced these already disadvantaged groups to live in some of the hottest areas. In this study, we used a new dataset on the spatial distribution of temperature during a heat wave in Richmond, Virginia to investigate potential associations between extreme heat and current and historical demographic, socioeconomic, and land use factors. We assessed these data at the census block level to determine if blocks with large differences in temperature also had significant variation in these covariates. The amount of canopy cover, percent impervious surface, and poverty level were all shown to be strong correlates of UHI when analyzed in conjunction with afternoon temperatures. We also found strong associations of historical policies and planning decisions with temperature using data from the University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab’s “Mapping Inequality” project. Finally, the Church Hill area of the city provided an interesting case study due to recent data suggesting the area’s gentrification. Differences in demographics, socioeconomic factors, and UHI were observed between north and (more gentrified) south Church Hill. Both in Church Hill and in Richmond overall, our research found that areas occupied by people of low socioeconomic status or minority groups disproportionately experienced extreme heat and corresponding impacts on health and quality of life.
Kelly Saverino; Emily Routman; Todd Lookingbill; Andre Eanes; Jeremy Hoffman; Rong Bao. Thermal Inequity in Richmond, VA: The Effect of an Unjust Evolution of the Urban Landscape on Urban Heat Islands. Sustainability 2021, 13, 1511 .
AMA StyleKelly Saverino, Emily Routman, Todd Lookingbill, Andre Eanes, Jeremy Hoffman, Rong Bao. Thermal Inequity in Richmond, VA: The Effect of an Unjust Evolution of the Urban Landscape on Urban Heat Islands. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (3):1511.
Chicago/Turabian StyleKelly Saverino; Emily Routman; Todd Lookingbill; Andre Eanes; Jeremy Hoffman; Rong Bao. 2021. "Thermal Inequity in Richmond, VA: The Effect of an Unjust Evolution of the Urban Landscape on Urban Heat Islands." Sustainability 13, no. 3: 1511.
Air pollution and the urban heat island effect are consistently linked to numerous respiratory and heat-related illnesses. Additionally, these stressors disproportionately impact low-income and historically marginalized communities due to their proximity to emissions sources, lack of access to green space, and exposure to other adverse environmental conditions. Here, we use relatively low-cost stationary sensors to analyze PM2.5 and temperature data throughout the city of Richmond, Virginia, on the ten hottest days of 2019. For both hourly means within the ten hottest days of 2019 and daily means for the entire record for the year, the temperature was found to exhibit a positive correlation with PM2.5. Analysis of hourly means on the ten hottest days yielded a diurnal pattern in which PM2.5 levels peaked in the early morning and reached their minima in the mid-afternoon. Spatially, sites exhibiting higher temperatures consistently had higher PM2.5 readings, with vulnerable communities in the east end and more intensely developed parts of the city experiencing significantly higher temperatures and PM2.5 concentrations than the suburban neighborhoods in the west end. These findings suggest an uneven distribution of air pollution in Richmond during extreme heat events that are similar in pattern but less pronounced than the temperature differences during these events, although further investigation is required to verify the extent of this relationship. As other studies have found both of these environmental stressors to correlate with the distribution of green space and other land-use factors in cities, innovative and sustainable planning decisions are crucial to the mitigation of these issues of inequity going forward.
Andre Eanes; Todd Lookingbill; Jeremy Hoffman; Kelly Saverino; Stephen Fong. Assessing Inequitable Urban Heat Islands and Air Pollution Disparities with Low-Cost Sensors in Richmond, Virginia. Sustainability 2020, 12, 10089 .
AMA StyleAndre Eanes, Todd Lookingbill, Jeremy Hoffman, Kelly Saverino, Stephen Fong. Assessing Inequitable Urban Heat Islands and Air Pollution Disparities with Low-Cost Sensors in Richmond, Virginia. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (23):10089.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAndre Eanes; Todd Lookingbill; Jeremy Hoffman; Kelly Saverino; Stephen Fong. 2020. "Assessing Inequitable Urban Heat Islands and Air Pollution Disparities with Low-Cost Sensors in Richmond, Virginia." Sustainability 12, no. 23: 10089.
Warfare and related military activities have intensive, long-term, negative impacts on the environment. But sites of past human conflict also present potential opportunities for conservation and restoration. We provide an approach to valuing military landscapes based on the ecosystem services that they provide. These services are often underappreciated because the benefits gained from the functioning of the ecosystems are not the primary reason for the protection of the sites. We describe these services as collateral values, drawing on the military concept of collateral damages. In this book, we provide examples from across the globe, reflecting conflicts stretching over hundreds of years. Landscapes considered include military battlefields, demilitarized borderlands, and potential peace parks. Specific conflicts include the American Revolutionary and Civil Wars, the Great European Wars, and recent engagements in Cuba, Afghanistan, and the Korean Peninsula. Examples are set within the conceptual framework of warfare ecology with a focus on post-war activities. They address conservation issues including land preservation, protection of biodiversity and water resources, and sustainable tourism. Where possible and appropriate, lessons learned from historical landscape trajectories are discussed in the context of their potential application to the future management of ecosystems still engaged in conflict. We suggest that the increased recognition of the multiple values of these unique landscapes should lead to their increased protection and careful management to preserve and promote the diverse services that they provide.
Todd R. Lookingbill; Peter D. Smallwood. Collateral Values: The Natural Capital Created by Landscapes of War. Landscape Series 2019, 3 -14.
AMA StyleTodd R. Lookingbill, Peter D. Smallwood. Collateral Values: The Natural Capital Created by Landscapes of War. Landscape Series. 2019; ():3-14.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTodd R. Lookingbill; Peter D. Smallwood. 2019. "Collateral Values: The Natural Capital Created by Landscapes of War." Landscape Series , no. : 3-14.
Following their memorialization as protected landscapes, battlefield parks can provide a blend of cultural and other ecosystem services. Among the many threats to providing these services are non-native invasive plants. In this chapter, we assess the threats imposed by biological invasions of non-native plants in battlefield parks and discuss management strategies. We use evidence from the scientific and economic literature and the expert judgment of biologists, economists, and park managers to identify the harms caused by invasives and to characterize their effects on park ecosystem services. Based on this evidence, we propose four generic stressor-response relationships to describe the relationships between invasion extent and ecological endpoints such as park vegetation structure and diversity. Using Antietam National Battlefield as a case study, we tailor the general stressor-response curves to four specific species representing different functional groups of invasive plants: trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous forbs. We next link the ecological response of changes in vegetation structure and diversity to relevant ecosystem service impacts using interviews with national park service personnel and the economic literature. We identify four broad categories of parks users who might be affected by these losses of services: causal visitors, avid recreationalists, park neighbors, and non-use beneficiaries. Our findings reveal a general lack of experimental evidence quantifying the ecosystem service impacts of invasive plants. This lack of evidence, combined with the likely non-linear effects of non-native plant invasions on ecological endpoints, could catch managers unaware of dangerous thresholds in long-term resource management of battlefield landscapes.
Todd R. Lookingbill; Emily S. Minor; Lisa A. Wainger. The Ecosystem Service Impacts from Invasive Plants in Antietam National Battlefield. Landscape Series 2019, 133 -154.
AMA StyleTodd R. Lookingbill, Emily S. Minor, Lisa A. Wainger. The Ecosystem Service Impacts from Invasive Plants in Antietam National Battlefield. Landscape Series. 2019; ():133-154.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTodd R. Lookingbill; Emily S. Minor; Lisa A. Wainger. 2019. "The Ecosystem Service Impacts from Invasive Plants in Antietam National Battlefield." Landscape Series , no. : 133-154.
Parks and other protected lands can provide important source habitat and act as valuable dispersal corridors in urbanizing environments. However, most wetlands within protected areas are managed in isolation without consideration of the broader landscape connections. We studied the importance of wetland habitat connectivity and landscape context to bat activity in five National Parks along a gradient of increasing urbanization within the Mid-Atlantic United States. Ninety-six Anabat stations were set up throughout the parks, from which we derived the characteristic spatial scales at which bat activity was associated with wetlands. This information was used in a graph theoretic framework to construct network models of potential landscape connectivity for those species that had positive associations with wetland land cover. We found that the importance of wetlands as a predictor of bat activity varied on a species-by-species basis and increased when network measures were used that accounted for connected area in a broad spatial context. The results demonstrate that both area and connectivity of wetland foraging habitat may act as orthogonal variables to availability of roosting habitat in explaining the distribution of highly mobile species. We use the results to illustrate the value of network analysis to guide the coordinated management of two of the parks’ most valued natural resources – wetlands and bats.
Todd R. Lookingbill; Andrew J. Elmore; Katharina A.M. Engelhardt; John B. Churchill; J. Edward Gates; Joshua B. Johnson. Influence of wetland networks on bat activity in mixed-use landscapes. Biological Conservation 2010, 143, 974 -983.
AMA StyleTodd R. Lookingbill, Andrew J. Elmore, Katharina A.M. Engelhardt, John B. Churchill, J. Edward Gates, Joshua B. Johnson. Influence of wetland networks on bat activity in mixed-use landscapes. Biological Conservation. 2010; 143 (4):974-983.
Chicago/Turabian StyleTodd R. Lookingbill; Andrew J. Elmore; Katharina A.M. Engelhardt; John B. Churchill; J. Edward Gates; Joshua B. Johnson. 2010. "Influence of wetland networks on bat activity in mixed-use landscapes." Biological Conservation 143, no. 4: 974-983.