While climate change is increasingly being viewed as one of the most critical issues affecting the landscape design and horticultural industries today, research indicates that many current professionals feel unprepared to address climate change issues in their practice. This paper summarises a survey of faculty and students in post-secondary horticulture and landscape architecture/design programmes within the United States about existing practices of educating students (future professionals) about climate change, as well as perceived priority topics and information needs. Results identify areas where additional instructional resources may be needed, as well as climate-related topics receiving more emphasis than others. The study also identifies differences in student and faculty perceptions about the extent and importance of instruction in specific areas. Finally, this paper raises a number of unresolved questions regarding the underlying reasons for some topics receiving greater emphasis, and the potential implications from lack of emphasis on others.

Land requirements and impacts from future development are a significant concern throughout the world. In Florida (USA), the state’s population increased from 18.8 M to 21.5 M between 2010 and 2020, and is projected to reach 26.6 M by 2040. To accommodate these new residents, 801 km² of wetlands were converted to developed uses between 1996 and 2016. These conversions present a significant threat to Florida’s unique ecosystems and highlight the need to prioritize conservation and water resource protection, both for the natural and human services that wetland and upland landscapes provide. To better understand the relationship between future development and water resources, we used future development and event mean concentration (EMC) models for Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida (USA) to assess impacts from development patterns on water quality/runoff and water resource protection priorities. This study found that if future development densities increased by 30%, reductions of 7713 acres for developed land, 17,768 acre feet of stormwater volume, ~88k lb/yr total nitrogen, and ~15k lb/yr total phosphorus could be achieved. It also found that urban infill, redevelopment, and stormwater management are essential and complementary tools to broader growth management strategies for reducing sprawl while also addressing urban stormwater impacts.

Rapid urban expansion across southwestern Florida has led to extensive habitat fragmentation and degradation, presenting significant ecological challenges for the persistence of multiple species, including the Big Cypress fox squirrel (Sciurus niger avicennia; BCFS), a state threatened and imperiled subspecies endemic to the Big Cypress Basin. This study uses high-resolution ecological modeling, Omniscape, to assess the functional connectivity of BCFS habitat within the urbanizing landscape of Fort Myers, Florida, and a green infrastructure (GI) transect-based approach to identify strategies for improving habitat and connectivity within the urban landscape. Results demonstrate that BCFS movement is disproportionately represented in high-density urban zones, with priority bottleneck patterns emerging in surrounding lower-density, transitional land use areas such as suburban neighborhoods and golf courses. By combining spatial modeling and applied GI design, this study offers a replicable framework for embedding species conservation into local and regional planning processes. Given the model-based and species-specific scope of this study, future research should focus on empirical validation and extending this framework across multiple species and scales. Overall, the findings emphasize the importance of multiscalar, landscape-sensitive planning strategies to mitigate anthropogenic fragmentation, enhance ecological resilience, and support the long-term persistence of native species in rapidly developing regions.

Population growth and land use change often have significant environmental impacts, affecting biodiversity, water supply, agricultural production, and other resources. Future scenario models can provide a better understanding of these changes, helping planners and the public understand the consequences of choices regarding development density, land use, and conservation. This study presents a model that has been used to identify alternative future scenarios for Florida considering future population growth and land use. It includes two scenarios: a “Sprawl” scenario reflecting a continuation of current development patterns and a “Conservation” scenario with higher densities, redevelopment, and more land protection. The study incorporates sea level rise scenarios for both 2040 and 2070. Results show that the Sprawl scenario could lead to 3.5 million acres of new developed land and 1.8 million acres of lost agricultural land by 2070 in Florida. In contrast, the Conservation scenario for 2070 results in 1.3 million fewer acres of developed land and 5 million more acres of protected natural land, showing that it is possible to accommodate future population growth while reducing impacts to agricultural and conservation priorities in Florida. Although this is by no means a “prediction” of future Florida, it has been useful as a tool for evaluating potential future land use scenarios and is a model that may be more broadly applied by other locations and users.

Residential yards are underappreciated and under-studied urban ecosystems. While there is a slow paradigm change taking place for using native plants in urban landscapes, little is known about the perceptions and preferences for native landscapes and the inclination to use native plants in residential yards. For this study, two plots were designed and planted with native plants to resemble residential gardens, and site visit surveys were used to collect data. Likert scale and checkbox questions with additional written comments were used to assess perceptions and preferences on the aesthetics, maintenance, environmental value, and willingness to adopt a native plant garden. The results were mostly positive; a high majority of respondents found the yards aesthetically pleasing, well-maintained, and very good for the environment. Although perceptions were positive, the results for willingness to use native plants in their own yard were nearly equal between willing and not willing/neutral. However, a high majority stated their likelihood to use native plants would increase if they knew more about the ecological benefits. The knowledge gained from this study will help (1) designers to create ecology-based aesthetic landscapes, (2) policy-makers to craft ecology-focused landscape codes and ordinances, and (3) educators and advocates to target behaviors and preferences in educational materials and social marketing campaigns.