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Daniel R. Richards
Future Cities Laboratory, Singapore-ETH Centre, ETH Zurich, 1 Create Way #06-01, 138602, Singapore

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Journal article
Published: 07 May 2021 in Landscape and Urban Planning
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The health benefits of urban green spaces (UGS) are important considerations in the design of urban environments. Researchers have analysed how the quantity of UGS impacts health outcomes, but less work has quantified the relative health benefits of different components of UGS provision. We examined the associations of different indicators of UGS provision with self-reported mental and general health based on a national representative household survey (n = 1000) in Singapore. We quantified three quantitative attributes of UGS (vegetation cover, canopy cover, park area) using Geographic Information System (GIS) data and measured visual greenness using the Green View Index (GVI) based on Google Street View panoramic images. We measured the subjective attributes of UGS, namely, usage quality and quantity of UGS within a 400 m circular buffer zone of residences using the survey. Among all the UGS indicators at the 400 m scale, only canopy cover and perceived usage quality were significantly associated with positive mental health, whereas none of the UGS indicators were related to general health. For visual greenness at different distance scales, there was a significant relationship between the indicator calculated by the sum of GVI at a 100 m scale and mental health. Canopy cover at a 400 m scale had a stronger correlation with mental health than perceived usage quality of nearby UGS and visual greenness at a 100 m scale. The findings highlight the importance of measuring both objective and subjective attributes of UGS provision and provide useful information for urban greening.

ACS Style

Liqing Zhang; Puay Yok Tan; Daniel Richards. Relative importance of quantitative and qualitative aspects of urban green spaces in promoting health. Landscape and Urban Planning 2021, 213, 104131 .

AMA Style

Liqing Zhang, Puay Yok Tan, Daniel Richards. Relative importance of quantitative and qualitative aspects of urban green spaces in promoting health. Landscape and Urban Planning. 2021; 213 ():104131.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Liqing Zhang; Puay Yok Tan; Daniel Richards. 2021. "Relative importance of quantitative and qualitative aspects of urban green spaces in promoting health." Landscape and Urban Planning 213, no. : 104131.

Research article
Published: 28 January 2021 in PLOS ONE
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Population and economic growth in Asia has led to increased urbanisation. Urbanisation has many detrimental impacts on ecosystems, especially when expansion is unplanned. Singapore is a city-state that has grown rapidly since independence, both in population and land area. However, Singapore aims to develop as a ‘City in Nature’, and urban greenery is integral to the landscape. While clearing some areas of forest for urban sprawl, Singapore has also reclaimed land from the sea to expand its coastline. Reclaimed land is usually designated for future urban development, but must first be left for many years to stabilise. During the period of stabilisation, pioneer plant species establish, growing into novel forest communities. The rate of this spontaneous vegetation development has not been quantified. This study tracks the temporal trends of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), as a proxy of vegetation maturity, on reclaimed land sensed using LANDSAT images. Google Earth Engine was used to mosaic cloud-free annual LANDSAT images of Singapore from 1988 to 2015. Singapore’s median NDVI increased by 0.15 from 0.47 to 0.62 over the study period, while its land area grew by 71 km2. Five reclaimed sites with spontaneous vegetation development showed variable vegetation covers, ranging from 6% to 43% vegetated cover in 2015. On average, spontaneous vegetation takes 16.9 years to develop to a maturity of 0.7 NDVI, but this development is not linear and follows a quadratic trajectory. Patches of spontaneous vegetation on isolated reclaimed lands are unlikely to remain forever since they are in areas slated for future development. In the years that these patches exist, they have potential to increase urban greenery, support biodiversity, and provide a host of ecosystem services. With this knowledge on spontaneous vegetation development trajectories, urban planners can harness the resource when planning future developments.

ACS Style

Leon Yan-Feng Gaw; Daniel Rex Richards. Development of spontaneous vegetation on reclaimed land in Singapore measured by NDVI. PLOS ONE 2021, 16, e0245220 .

AMA Style

Leon Yan-Feng Gaw, Daniel Rex Richards. Development of spontaneous vegetation on reclaimed land in Singapore measured by NDVI. PLOS ONE. 2021; 16 (1):e0245220.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Leon Yan-Feng Gaw; Daniel Rex Richards. 2021. "Development of spontaneous vegetation on reclaimed land in Singapore measured by NDVI." PLOS ONE 16, no. 1: e0245220.

Journal article
Published: 05 November 2020 in Ecosystem Services
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Birds are among the most visible and charismatic forms of urban biodiversity. Urban birds provide important ecosystem services but are also associated with some disservices. How urban residents perceive these services and disservices, and the factors shaping these perceptions, are not well understood. We studied how awareness of birds in the landscape, knowledge of bird species, and nature relatedness influence these perceptions. For this purpose, we conducted a questionnaire survey of 1000 Singapore residents. We used structural equation modeling to explore relationships between socio-demographics and past nature-related experiences on bird awareness, bird knowledge and nature relatedness, and to understand how these personal factors affect perceptions of ecosystem services and disservices. Despite their mainly low awareness and knowledge of birds, respondents were generally positive in their responses and expressed few concerns regarding disservices. Perceptions of regulation and maintenance services were positively related to bird knowledge. Perceptions of cultural services were positively influenced by bird awareness and nature relatedness, and stronger nature relatedness was important for decreasing associations with bird disservices. Successful implementation of ecosystem services management should firstly understand citizens’ perceptions, and include efforts to increase bird knowledge and awareness through activities such as public education and outreach campaigns.

ACS Style

Rachel A.T. Leong; Tze Kwan Fung; Uma Sachidhanandam; Zuzana Drillet; Peter J. Edwards; Daniel R. Richards. Use of structural equation modeling to explore influences on perceptions of ecosystem services and disservices attributed to birds in Singapore. Ecosystem Services 2020, 46, 101211 .

AMA Style

Rachel A.T. Leong, Tze Kwan Fung, Uma Sachidhanandam, Zuzana Drillet, Peter J. Edwards, Daniel R. Richards. Use of structural equation modeling to explore influences on perceptions of ecosystem services and disservices attributed to birds in Singapore. Ecosystem Services. 2020; 46 ():101211.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rachel A.T. Leong; Tze Kwan Fung; Uma Sachidhanandam; Zuzana Drillet; Peter J. Edwards; Daniel R. Richards. 2020. "Use of structural equation modeling to explore influences on perceptions of ecosystem services and disservices attributed to birds in Singapore." Ecosystem Services 46, no. : 101211.

Journal article
Published: 22 October 2020 in Environmental Research Letters
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ACS Style

Xiao Ping Song; Hao Ran Lai; Lahiru S Wijedasa; Puay Yok Tan; Peter J Edwards; Daniel R Richards. Height–diameter allometry for the management of city trees in the tropics. Environmental Research Letters 2020, 15, 114017 .

AMA Style

Xiao Ping Song, Hao Ran Lai, Lahiru S Wijedasa, Puay Yok Tan, Peter J Edwards, Daniel R Richards. Height–diameter allometry for the management of city trees in the tropics. Environmental Research Letters. 2020; 15 (11):114017.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Xiao Ping Song; Hao Ran Lai; Lahiru S Wijedasa; Puay Yok Tan; Peter J Edwards; Daniel R Richards. 2020. "Height–diameter allometry for the management of city trees in the tropics." Environmental Research Letters 15, no. 11: 114017.

Journal article
Published: 26 August 2020 in Nature Communications
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Mangrove forests hold some of the highest densities of carbon recorded in any ecosystem, but have experienced widespread deforestation through conversion to aquaculture and agriculture. Alongside deforestation, mangroves have shown simultaneous natural expansion in some parts of the world, and considerable investments have been made into restoration programmes. Here we estimate net changes in the global mangrove carbon stock due to land cover change between 1996 and 2016, using data on mangrove deforestation and forestation, and proportional changes in carbon stock during processes of mangrove loss and gain. The global mangrove carbon stock declined by 158.4 Mt (95% CI = −156.8–525.9 Mt); a reduction of 1.8% of the stock present in 1996. Efforts to conserve and restore mangroves appear to have had some success, and - along with natural forestation - have contributed to relatively low net losses of mangrove carbon stocks over two decades.

ACS Style

Daniel R. Richards; Benjamin S. Thompson; Lahiru Wijedasa. Quantifying net loss of global mangrove carbon stocks from 20 years of land cover change. Nature Communications 2020, 11, 1 -7.

AMA Style

Daniel R. Richards, Benjamin S. Thompson, Lahiru Wijedasa. Quantifying net loss of global mangrove carbon stocks from 20 years of land cover change. Nature Communications. 2020; 11 (1):1-7.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel R. Richards; Benjamin S. Thompson; Lahiru Wijedasa. 2020. "Quantifying net loss of global mangrove carbon stocks from 20 years of land cover change." Nature Communications 11, no. 1: 1-7.

Correction
Published: 19 May 2020 in Wetlands Ecology and Management
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The article “Impacts of hydrological restoration on lowland river floodplain plant communities”, written by Daniel R. Richards. Helen L. Moggridge. Philip H. Warren. Lorraine Maltby, was originally published electronically on the publisher’s internet portal on 10 March 2020 without open access.With the author(s)’ decision to opt for Open Choice the copyright of the article changed on 30 April 2020 to © The Author(s) 2020 and the article is forthwith distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.

ACS Style

Daniel R. Richards; Helen L. Moggridge; Philip H. Warren; Lorraine Maltby. Correction to: Impacts of hydrological restoration on lowland river floodplain plant communities. Wetlands Ecology and Management 2020, 28, 419 -419.

AMA Style

Daniel R. Richards, Helen L. Moggridge, Philip H. Warren, Lorraine Maltby. Correction to: Impacts of hydrological restoration on lowland river floodplain plant communities. Wetlands Ecology and Management. 2020; 28 (3):419-419.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel R. Richards; Helen L. Moggridge; Philip H. Warren; Lorraine Maltby. 2020. "Correction to: Impacts of hydrological restoration on lowland river floodplain plant communities." Wetlands Ecology and Management 28, no. 3: 419-419.

Journal article
Published: 28 April 2020 in Scientific Reports
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Fragmentation is a major driver of ecosystem degradation, reducing the capacity of habitats to provide many important ecosystem services. Mangrove ecosystem services, such as erosion prevention, shoreline protection and mitigation of climate change (through carbon sequestration), depend on the size and arrangement of forest patches, but we know little about broad-scale patterns of mangrove forest fragmentation. Here we conduct a multi-scale analysis using global estimates of mangrove density and regional drivers of mangrove deforestation to map relationships between habitat loss and fragmentation. Mangrove fragmentation was ubiquitous; however, there are geographic disparities between mangrove loss and fragmentation; some regions, like Cambodia and the southern Caribbean, had relatively little loss, but their forests have been extensively fragmented. In Southeast Asia, a global hotspot of mangrove loss, the conversion of forests to aquaculture and rice plantations were the biggest drivers of loss (>50%) and fragmentation. Surprisingly, conversion of forests to oil palm plantations, responsible for >15% of all deforestation in Southeast Asia, was only weakly correlated with mangrove fragmentation. Thus, the management of different deforestation drivers may increase or decrease fragmentation. Our findings suggest that large scale monitoring of mangrove forests should also consider fragmentation. This work highlights that regional priorities for conservation based on forest loss rates can overlook fragmentation and associated loss of ecosystem functionality.

ACS Style

Dale N. Bryan-Brown; Rod M. Connolly; Daniel R. Richards; Fernanda Adame; Daniel A. Friess; Christopher J. Brown. Global trends in mangrove forest fragmentation. Scientific Reports 2020, 10, 1 -8.

AMA Style

Dale N. Bryan-Brown, Rod M. Connolly, Daniel R. Richards, Fernanda Adame, Daniel A. Friess, Christopher J. Brown. Global trends in mangrove forest fragmentation. Scientific Reports. 2020; 10 (1):1-8.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dale N. Bryan-Brown; Rod M. Connolly; Daniel R. Richards; Fernanda Adame; Daniel A. Friess; Christopher J. Brown. 2020. "Global trends in mangrove forest fragmentation." Scientific Reports 10, no. 1: 1-8.

Research article
Published: 27 April 2020 in PLOS ONE
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Urban residents can benefit from spending time in outdoor spaces and engaging with nature-related activities. Such engagement can improve health and well-being, support community cohesion, and improve environmentally-friendly behaviours. However, engagement with nature may not be equal amongst different members of society. We investigated individual variation in engagement with nature in Singapore, a high-density city in tropical Southeast Asia. Through a survey of 1000 residents, we analysed relationships between demographic factors such as age, income, and sex, and the frequency of visitation to different ecosystem types, and the frequency of engagement with different nature-related activities. Parks and neighbourhood open spaces were among the most commonly-visited outdoor spaces, with nature reserves and other natural areas being visited less frequently. Common activities included sitting outdoors, art and photography, and running, while hiking and nature recreation were less frequent. In contrast with previous studies, we found relatively small differences among different groups of the population in their preferred types of outdoor activities. Older people, those with lower incomes, and without degrees were less likely to visit most types of outdoor space and engage with most types of nature-related activities. In the case of nature reserves, the distance from the visitor’s home had a significantly negative influence on the frequency of visitation. These findings demonstrate that the benefits of engagement with nature are not equally enjoyed by all demographic groups, and that some groups lack engagement across the board. Strategies to increase nature engagement in tropical cities could include increasing the local availability and accessibility of different types of outdoor space, and education and public outreach programmes to encourage participation.

ACS Style

Daniel R. Richards; Tze Kwan Fung; Rachel A. T. Leong; Uma Sachidhanandam; Zuzana Drillet; Peter J. Edwards. Demographic biases in engagement with nature in a tropical Asian city. PLOS ONE 2020, 15, e0231576 .

AMA Style

Daniel R. Richards, Tze Kwan Fung, Rachel A. T. Leong, Uma Sachidhanandam, Zuzana Drillet, Peter J. Edwards. Demographic biases in engagement with nature in a tropical Asian city. PLOS ONE. 2020; 15 (4):e0231576.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel R. Richards; Tze Kwan Fung; Rachel A. T. Leong; Uma Sachidhanandam; Zuzana Drillet; Peter J. Edwards. 2020. "Demographic biases in engagement with nature in a tropical Asian city." PLOS ONE 15, no. 4: e0231576.

Short review
Published: 27 April 2020 in Landscape and Urban Planning
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Urban ecosystem service (UES) is becoming an influential concept to guide the planning, design, and management of urban landscapes towards urban sustainability. However, its use is hindered by definitional ambiguity, and the conceptual bases underpinning its application remain weak. This is exemplified by two different but equally valid interpretations of UES: “urban ecosystem services”, referring to ecosystem services from analogs of natural and semi-natural ecosystems within urban boundaries, and “urban ecosystem services”, a much broader term that includes the former group as well as urban services in a city. While we recognize that a single definition of UES is not possible nor necessary as its application is context-dependent, it is nevertheless useful to clarify the relationships between these interpretations to promote consistent use, and importantly, explore how a broader interpretation of UES might advance its applications in areas that have been neglected. We developed a conceptual framework that links UES to natural and human-derived capital to explain the relationships between the dual meanings of UES and proposed three normative propositions to guide its application: (1) integrate holistically multiple components of natural capital to provide UES, (2) reduce dependence on non-renewable abiotic resources and human-derived capital, and (3) enhance UES through technology. The framework we developed helps to resolve the current ambiguity in the meanings of UES, highlights the need to recognise neglected aspects of natural capital important for UES, and can be used to clarify relationships with related concepts conveying dependence of human well-being on nature.

ACS Style

Puay Yok Tan; Jingyuan Zhang; Mahyar Masoudi; Jahson Berhane Alemu; Peter J. Edwards; Adrienne Grêt-Regamey; Daniel R. Richards; Justine Saunders; Xiao Ping Song; Lynn Wei Wong. A conceptual framework to untangle the concept of urban ecosystem services. Landscape and Urban Planning 2020, 200, 103837 -103837.

AMA Style

Puay Yok Tan, Jingyuan Zhang, Mahyar Masoudi, Jahson Berhane Alemu, Peter J. Edwards, Adrienne Grêt-Regamey, Daniel R. Richards, Justine Saunders, Xiao Ping Song, Lynn Wei Wong. A conceptual framework to untangle the concept of urban ecosystem services. Landscape and Urban Planning. 2020; 200 ():103837-103837.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Puay Yok Tan; Jingyuan Zhang; Mahyar Masoudi; Jahson Berhane Alemu; Peter J. Edwards; Adrienne Grêt-Regamey; Daniel R. Richards; Justine Saunders; Xiao Ping Song; Lynn Wei Wong. 2020. "A conceptual framework to untangle the concept of urban ecosystem services." Landscape and Urban Planning 200, no. : 103837-103837.

Journal article
Published: 06 April 2020 in Ecological Indicators
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Leaf area index (LAI) is an important structural parameter of vegetation, and is used in many models of climate and ecosystem services. Maps of LAI are typically produced by relating satellite remote sensing with field-based measurements of LAI, but such field measurements are time consuming to collect over large areas. In this study we develop a rapid and scalable method for mapping LAI by fusing high-resolution freely-available Sentinel 2 satellite imagery with ground measurements of LAI extracted from a large publicly available database of street-level panoramic photographs. The use of existing street-level photographs allowed large numbers of training data to be automatically obtained. The method developed here was validated against a field dataset collected using established techniques. The use of existing online databases of street-level photographs will allow rapid mapping of LAI in many situations worldwide. The technique developed here may be particularly useful in cities, which have high heterogeneity in vegetation, and high densities of street level photographs collected along road networks. The approach could be applied to map LAI at high resolution across very large areas, for national- or continental-scale comparison.

ACS Style

Daniel Richards; James Wei Wang. Fusing street level photographs and satellite remote sensing to map leaf area index. Ecological Indicators 2020, 115, 106342 .

AMA Style

Daniel Richards, James Wei Wang. Fusing street level photographs and satellite remote sensing to map leaf area index. Ecological Indicators. 2020; 115 ():106342.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel Richards; James Wei Wang. 2020. "Fusing street level photographs and satellite remote sensing to map leaf area index." Ecological Indicators 115, no. : 106342.

Original paper
Published: 10 March 2020 in Wetlands Ecology and Management
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Many lowland floodplain habitats have been disconnected from their rivers by flood defence banks. Removing or lowering these banks can reinstate regular flooding and thus restore these important wetland plant communities. In this study we analyse changes in wetland hydrology and plant community composition following the lowering of flood defence banks at a floodplain of the River Don in the United Kingdom (UK). The aim of the restoration project was to improve the quality of “floodplain grazing marsh” habitat, which is a group of wetland communities that are of conservation interest in the UK. We analyse changes in species richness and community composition over a period of 6 years, and compare the presence of indicator species from the target floodplain grazing marsh plant communities. The lowering of the flood banks increased the frequency of flood events, from an estimated average of 1.7 floods per year to 571 floods per year. The increased flooding significantly increased the proportion of time that the wetland was submerged, and the heterogeneity in hydrological conditions within the floodplain. There were significant differences in composition between the pre-restoration and restored plant communities. Plants with traits for moisture tolerance became more abundant, although the communities did not contain significantly more ‘target’ floodplain grazing marsh species at the end of the study period than prior to restoration. Colonisation by floodplain grazing marsh species may have been limited because environmental conditions were not yet suitable, or because of a shortage of colonising propagules. While the desired target plant community has not been achieved after 5 years, it is encouraging that the community has changed dynamically as a result of hydrological changes, and that moisture-tolerant species have increased in occurrence. Over the next few decades, the restored flood regime may cause further environmental change or colonisation events, thus helping increase the occurrence of desired floodplain grazing marsh indicator species.

ACS Style

Daniel R. Richards; Helen L. Moggridge; Philip H. Warren; Lorraine Maltby. Impacts of hydrological restoration on lowland river floodplain plant communities. Wetlands Ecology and Management 2020, 28, 403 -417.

AMA Style

Daniel R. Richards, Helen L. Moggridge, Philip H. Warren, Lorraine Maltby. Impacts of hydrological restoration on lowland river floodplain plant communities. Wetlands Ecology and Management. 2020; 28 (3):403-417.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel R. Richards; Helen L. Moggridge; Philip H. Warren; Lorraine Maltby. 2020. "Impacts of hydrological restoration on lowland river floodplain plant communities." Wetlands Ecology and Management 28, no. 3: 403-417.

Journal article
Published: 10 March 2020 in Urban Forestry & Urban Greening
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The tendency for cities to be warmer than surrounding rural areas, known as the urban heat island effect, has become a matter of increasing concern, particularly in regions with a hot, humid climate. While urban vegetation may reduce air temperatures, the magnitude of this cooling effect varies between different types of vegetation. In this study we compared the cooling effect of five vegetation types that are commonly encountered in the tropical city of Singapore: grass, shrub, managed trees, managed trees over shrub, and secondary forest. Ambient air temperatures were monitored over 18 months at 88 locations, and analysed in relation to characteristics of the surrounding vegetation. Generalised additive modelling revealed significant temperature reductions associated with increasing cover of managed trees, managed trees over shrubs below, and secondary forest vegetation, with the latter vegetation type having the greatest effect. We conclude that vegetation can significantly ameliorate temperatures in cities with a hot, humid climate, but not all types of vegetation are equally effective. By demonstrating the cooling benefits of secondary forest in densely-populated urban areas, public education and engagement campaigns could help overcome negative perceptions of such vegetation.

ACS Style

Richards; Tze Kwan Fung; Richard Neil Belcher; Pj Edwards. Differential air temperature cooling performance of urban vegetation types in the tropics. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 2020, 50, 126651 .

AMA Style

Richards, Tze Kwan Fung, Richard Neil Belcher, Pj Edwards. Differential air temperature cooling performance of urban vegetation types in the tropics. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 2020; 50 ():126651.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Richards; Tze Kwan Fung; Richard Neil Belcher; Pj Edwards. 2020. "Differential air temperature cooling performance of urban vegetation types in the tropics." Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 50, no. : 126651.

Journal article
Published: 08 March 2020 in Sustainability
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Urban vegetation is important in providing ecosystem services to people. Different urban vegetation types provide contrasting suites of ecosystem services and disservices. Understanding public perceptions of the ecosystem services and disservices can therefore play an important role in shaping the planning and management of urban areas. We conducted an online survey (n = 1000) to understand how residents in the tropical city of Singapore perceived urban vegetation and the associated ecosystem services and disservices. The questionnaire was designed to explore whether different urban vegetation types (grass, shrubs, trees, trees over shrubs, and secondary forest) were perceived as equal in providing benefits. Respondents considered ecosystem services provided by urban vegetation to be more important than disservices. Among ecosystem services, regulating services were most highly rated, with more than 80% of the respondents appreciating urban vegetation for providing shade and improving air quality. Respondents recognized that different vegetation types provided different ecosystem services. For example, secondary forest was most commonly associated with education and wildlife, while trees were strongly associated with cooling and air quality. We conclude that in developing plans and designs for urban vegetation and ecosystem services, it is important to understand the perceptions, priorities, and concerns of residents.

ACS Style

Zuzana Drillet; Tze Fung; Rachel Leong; Uma Sachidhanandam; Peter Edwards; Daniel Richards. Urban Vegetation Types are Not Perceived Equally in Providing Ecosystem Services and Disservices. Sustainability 2020, 12, 2076 .

AMA Style

Zuzana Drillet, Tze Fung, Rachel Leong, Uma Sachidhanandam, Peter Edwards, Daniel Richards. Urban Vegetation Types are Not Perceived Equally in Providing Ecosystem Services and Disservices. Sustainability. 2020; 12 (5):2076.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zuzana Drillet; Tze Fung; Rachel Leong; Uma Sachidhanandam; Peter Edwards; Daniel Richards. 2020. "Urban Vegetation Types are Not Perceived Equally in Providing Ecosystem Services and Disservices." Sustainability 12, no. 5: 2076.

Journal article
Published: 05 March 2020 in Scientific Reports
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Humans may have evolved a need to connect with nature, and nature provides substantial cultural and social values to humans. However, quantifying the connection between humans and nature at a global scale remains challenging. We lack answers to fundamental questions: how do humans experience nature in different contexts (daily routines, fun activities, weddings, honeymoons, other celebrations, and vacations) and how do nature experiences differ across countries? We answer these questions by coupling social media and artificial intelligence using 31,534 social media photographs across 185 countries. We find that nature was more likely to appear in photographs taken during a fun activity, honeymoon, or vacation compared to photographs of daily routines. More importantly, the proportion of photographs with nature taken during fun activities is associated with national life satisfaction scores. This study provides global evidence of the biophilia hypothesis by showing a connection between humans and nature that contributes to life satisfaction and highlights how nature serves as background to many of our positive memories.

ACS Style

Chia-Chen Chang; Gwyneth Jia Yi Cheng; Thi Phuong Le Nghiem; Xiao Ping Song; Rui Ying Rachel Oh; Daniel R. Richards; L. Roman Carrasco. Social media, nature, and life satisfaction: global evidence of the biophilia hypothesis. Scientific Reports 2020, 10, 1 -8.

AMA Style

Chia-Chen Chang, Gwyneth Jia Yi Cheng, Thi Phuong Le Nghiem, Xiao Ping Song, Rui Ying Rachel Oh, Daniel R. Richards, L. Roman Carrasco. Social media, nature, and life satisfaction: global evidence of the biophilia hypothesis. Scientific Reports. 2020; 10 (1):1-8.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Chia-Chen Chang; Gwyneth Jia Yi Cheng; Thi Phuong Le Nghiem; Xiao Ping Song; Rui Ying Rachel Oh; Daniel R. Richards; L. Roman Carrasco. 2020. "Social media, nature, and life satisfaction: global evidence of the biophilia hypothesis." Scientific Reports 10, no. 1: 1-8.

Journal article
Published: 21 January 2020 in Scientific Reports
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Urban parks and green spaces are among the few places where city dwellers can have regular contact with nature and engage in outdoor recreation. Social media data provide opportunities to understand such human–environment interactions. While studies have demonstrated that geo-located photographs are useful indicators of recreation across different spaces, recreation behaviour also varies between different groups of people. Our study used social media to assess behavioural patterns across different groups of park users in tropical Singapore. 4,674 users were grouped based on the location and content of their photographs on the Flickr platform. We analysed how these groups varied spatially in the parks they visited, as well as in their photography behaviour. Over 250,000 photographs were analysed, including those uploaded and favourited by users, and all photographs taken at city parks. There were significant differences in the number and types of park photographs between tourists and locals, and between user-group axes formed from users’ photograph content. Spatial mapping of different user groups showed distinct patterns in the parks they were attracted to. Future work should consider such variability both within and between data sources, to provide a more context-dependent understanding of human–environment interactions and preferences for outdoor recreation.

ACS Style

Xiao Ping Song; Daniel R. Richards; Puay Yok Tan. Using social media user attributes to understand human–environment interactions at urban parks. Scientific Reports 2020, 10, 1 -11.

AMA Style

Xiao Ping Song, Daniel R. Richards, Puay Yok Tan. Using social media user attributes to understand human–environment interactions at urban parks. Scientific Reports. 2020; 10 (1):1-11.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Xiao Ping Song; Daniel R. Richards; Puay Yok Tan. 2020. "Using social media user attributes to understand human–environment interactions at urban parks." Scientific Reports 10, no. 1: 1-11.

Journal article
Published: 19 December 2019 in Remote Sensing
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Urban vegetation provides many ecosystem services that make cities more liveable for people. As the world continues to urbanise, the vegetation cover in urban areas is changing rapidly. Here we use Google Earth Engine to map vegetation cover in all urban areas larger than 15 km2 in 2000 and 2015, which covered 390,000 km2 and 490,000 km2 respectively. In 2015, urban vegetation covered a substantial area, equivalent to the size of Belarus. Proportional vegetation cover was highly variable, and declined in most urban areas between 2000 and 2015. Declines in proportional vegetated cover were particularly common in the Global South. Conversely, proportional vegetation cover increased in some urban areas in eastern North America and parts of Europe. Most urban areas that increased in vegetation cover also increased in size, suggesting that the observed net increases were driven by the capture of rural ecosystems through low-density suburban sprawl. Far fewer urban areas achieved increases in vegetation cover while remaining similar in size, although this trend occurred in some regions with shrinking populations or economies. Maintaining and expanding urban vegetation cover alongside future urbanisation will be critical for the well-being of the five billion people expected to live in urban areas by 2030.

ACS Style

Daniel R. Richards; Richard Neil Belcher. Global Changes in Urban Vegetation Cover. Remote Sensing 2019, 12, 23 .

AMA Style

Daniel R. Richards, Richard Neil Belcher. Global Changes in Urban Vegetation Cover. Remote Sensing. 2019; 12 (1):23.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel R. Richards; Richard Neil Belcher. 2019. "Global Changes in Urban Vegetation Cover." Remote Sensing 12, no. 1: 23.

Journal article
Published: 06 November 2019 in Sustainability
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Humans rely upon ecosystem services to regulate their environment and to provide resources and cultural benefits. As the world’s urban population grows, it becomes increasingly important to find ways of improving the provision of ecosystem services in urban areas. However, the kinds of ecosystem services that are most needed or demanded by urban populations, and the opportunities to provide these, vary widely in cities around the world. Here we explore variation in climate, Human Development Index (HDI), and population density, and discuss their implications for providing and managing urban ecosystem services. Using 221 published studies of urban ecosystem services, we analyse the extent to which existing research adequately covers global variation in climatic and social conditions. Our results reveal an under-representation of studies from tropical cities and from lower HDI countries, with implications for how we conceptualize and quantify urban ecosystem services, and how we transfer benefits across case studies. Future work should be aimed at correcting these deficits and determining the extent to which conclusions about urban ecosystem services are transferable from one city to another.

ACS Style

Daniel Richards; Mahyar Masoudi; Rachel R. Y. Oh; Erik S. Yando; Jingyuan Zhang; Daniel A. Friess; Adrienne Grêt-Regamey; Puay Yok Tan; Peter J. Edwards. Global Variation in Climate, Human Development, and Population Density Has Implications for Urban Ecosystem Services. Sustainability 2019, 11, 6200 .

AMA Style

Daniel Richards, Mahyar Masoudi, Rachel R. Y. Oh, Erik S. Yando, Jingyuan Zhang, Daniel A. Friess, Adrienne Grêt-Regamey, Puay Yok Tan, Peter J. Edwards. Global Variation in Climate, Human Development, and Population Density Has Implications for Urban Ecosystem Services. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (22):6200.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel Richards; Mahyar Masoudi; Rachel R. Y. Oh; Erik S. Yando; Jingyuan Zhang; Daniel A. Friess; Adrienne Grêt-Regamey; Puay Yok Tan; Peter J. Edwards. 2019. "Global Variation in Climate, Human Development, and Population Density Has Implications for Urban Ecosystem Services." Sustainability 11, no. 22: 6200.

Data descriptor
Published: 01 August 2019 in Data
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The natural and semi-natural areas within cities provide important refuges for biodiversity, as well as many benefits to people. To study urban ecology and quantify the benefits of urban ecosystems, we need to understand the spatial extent and configuration of different types of vegetated cover within a city. It is challenging to map urban ecosystems because they are typically small and highly fragmented; thus requiring high resolution satellite images. This article describes a new high-resolution map of land cover for the tropical city-state of Singapore. We used images from WorldView and QuickBird satellites, and classified these images using random forest machine learning and supplementary datasets into 12 terrestrial land classes. Close to 50 % of Singapore’s land cover is vegetated while freshwater fills about 6 %, and the rest is bare or built up. The overall accuracy of the map was 79 % and the class-specific errors are described in detail. Tropical regions such as Singapore have a lot of cloud cover year-round, complicating the process of mapping using satellite imagery. The land cover map provided here will have applications for urban biodiversity studies, ecosystem service quantification, and natural capital assessment.

ACS Style

Leon Yan-Feng Gaw; Alex Thiam Koon Yee; Daniel Rex Richards; Gaw; Yee. A High-Resolution Map of Singapore’s Terrestrial Ecosystems. Data 2019, 4, 116 .

AMA Style

Leon Yan-Feng Gaw, Alex Thiam Koon Yee, Daniel Rex Richards, Gaw, Yee. A High-Resolution Map of Singapore’s Terrestrial Ecosystems. Data. 2019; 4 (3):116.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Leon Yan-Feng Gaw; Alex Thiam Koon Yee; Daniel Rex Richards; Gaw; Yee. 2019. "A High-Resolution Map of Singapore’s Terrestrial Ecosystems." Data 4, no. 3: 116.

Perspective
Published: 29 April 2019 in People and Nature
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Urban ecosystems provide many benefits to people, including regulation of environmental conditions, recreational opportunities, and positive health impacts. However, many urban ecosystems are under pressure from increasing urbanisation, because the economic benefits they provide are rarely captured by the people who own and manage them. Such ecosystems are seldom economically competitive compared to more profitable residential, commercial, and industrial land uses. To develop more sustainable cities, we require new approaches for encouraging and enabling interventions that maintain, improve and create urban ecosystems. Payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes are increasingly used to incentivise conservation and changes in environmental management in rural settings, but this approach has rarely been considered in cities. Here, we explain how payments for urban ecosystem services (PUES) could help protect, restore, and manage urban ecosystems. To implement PUES, we must understand the differences between various public and private actors who could potentially provide or benefit from urban ecosystem services. For example, utilities companies could pay for reduced water treatment costs via deculverting streams, homeowners could pay for improved stormwater management via increasing permeable surface area, and business proprietors could pay for street tree installation and maintenance to provide shade and reduce air conditioning costs. Urban densities, land values, and land tenure will impact the types of PUES projects that are most likely to be viable. To be successful, PUES will require an improved understanding of urban ecosystem service science—particularly how service provision changes under different land management practices. Nevertheless, because of the high densities, co‐location, and wide variety of stakeholders that live in cities, there is potential for PUES to become an innovative funding source to support future urban ecosystem management. A plain language summary is available for this article.

ACS Style

Daniel R. Richards; Benjamin Thompson. Urban ecosystems: A new frontier for payments for ecosystem services. People and Nature 2019, 1, 249 -261.

AMA Style

Daniel R. Richards, Benjamin Thompson. Urban ecosystems: A new frontier for payments for ecosystem services. People and Nature. 2019; 1 (2):249-261.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel R. Richards; Benjamin Thompson. 2019. "Urban ecosystems: A new frontier for payments for ecosystem services." People and Nature 1, no. 2: 249-261.

Journal article
Published: 12 October 2018 in Landscape and Urban Planning
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The public benefits of visible street greenery have been well recognised in a growing literature. Nevertheless, this issue was rare to be included into urban greenery and planning practices. As a response to this situation, we proposed an actionable approach for quantifying the daily exposure of urban residents to eye-level street greenery by integrating high resolution measurements on both greenery and accessibility. Google Street View (GSV) images in Singapore were collected and extracted through machine learning algorithms to achieve an accurate measurement on visible greenery. Street networks collected from Open Street Map (OSM) were analysed through spatial design network analysis (sDNA) to quantify the accessibility value of each street. The integration of street greenery and accessibility helps to measure greenery from a human-centred perspective, and it provides a decision-support tool for urban planners to highlight areas with prioritisation for planning interventions. Moreover, the performance between GSV-based street greenery and the urban green cover mapped by remote sensing was compared to justify the contribution of this new measurement. It suggested there was a mismatch between these two measurements, i.e., existing top-down viewpoint through satellites might not be equivalent to the benefits enjoyed by city residents. In short, this analytical approach contributes to a growing trend in integrating large, freely-available datasets with machine learning to inform planners, and it makes a step forward for urban planning practices through focusing on the human-scale measurement of accessed street greenery.

ACS Style

Yu Ye; Daniel Richards; Yi Lu; Xiaoping Song; Yu Zhuang; Wei Zeng; Teng Zhong. Measuring daily accessed street greenery: A human-scale approach for informing better urban planning practices. Landscape and Urban Planning 2018, 191, 103434 .

AMA Style

Yu Ye, Daniel Richards, Yi Lu, Xiaoping Song, Yu Zhuang, Wei Zeng, Teng Zhong. Measuring daily accessed street greenery: A human-scale approach for informing better urban planning practices. Landscape and Urban Planning. 2018; 191 ():103434.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yu Ye; Daniel Richards; Yi Lu; Xiaoping Song; Yu Zhuang; Wei Zeng; Teng Zhong. 2018. "Measuring daily accessed street greenery: A human-scale approach for informing better urban planning practices." Landscape and Urban Planning 191, no. : 103434.