This page has only limited features, please log in for full access.
Cities are home to both a majority of the world’s human population, and to a diversity of wildlife. Urban wildlife conservation research and policy has importantly furthered ecological understanding and species protection in cities, while also leveraging wildlife conservation to connect people to urban nature. Thus, urban wildlife conservation intersects conservation research, conservation policy, and the general public in cities worldwide. Yet, species that are often framed as “urban wildlife” are often of higher trophic levels, including birds and mammals that serve as “flagship” species for public support. Other forms of urban life including plants and invertebrates are often largely ignored, producing a normative urban wildlife concept that may bias urban wildlife conservation research and policy, and sentiment in the general public. To develop new strategies in urban wildlife conservation for the urban era, we need to move towards a more inclusive and holistic framing of urban wildlife for both research and the public. In this article, we discuss the normative framing of urban wildlife and how this framing may bias urban conservation efforts, and argue for a holistic approach to urban wildlife inclusive of all life forms for future research, publicity and policy interventions.
Monika Egerer; Sascha Buchholz. Reframing urban “wildlife” to promote inclusive conservation science and practice. Biodiversity and Conservation 2021, 30, 2255 -2266.
AMA StyleMonika Egerer, Sascha Buchholz. Reframing urban “wildlife” to promote inclusive conservation science and practice. Biodiversity and Conservation. 2021; 30 (7):2255-2266.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMonika Egerer; Sascha Buchholz. 2021. "Reframing urban “wildlife” to promote inclusive conservation science and practice." Biodiversity and Conservation 30, no. 7: 2255-2266.
Australia is currently grappling with a range of social and environmental challenges, many of which impact the way our public health system, and society more broadly, function. In this short communication paper we explore urban agriculture in Australia as a Nature-Based Solution (NBS) to address some of the ecological, social, economic and health challenges facing the continent. We argue that urban agriculture has the potential to mitigate the effects of climate change extremes while simultaneously providing multiple benefits such as improving wellbeing, people-nature connections, and food security. We present three exemplar case studies diverse in geography, context and governance from Queensland, Tasmania, and New South Wales exploring verge gardening, market gardening, and a community greening program respectively to highlight the benefits of urban agriculture as a NBS. We advocate that various forms of urban agriculture need to be researched and considered for their potential impacts and multiple benefits to be fully supported, governed, and understood in light of the social-ecological challenges Australian cities face.
Jonathan Kingsley; Monika Egerer; Sonia Nuttman; Lucy Keniger; Philip Pettitt; Niki Frantzeskaki; Tonia Gray; Alessandro Ossola; Brenda Lin; Aisling Bailey; Danielle Tracey; Sara Barron; Pauline Marsh. Urban agriculture as a nature-based solution to address socio-ecological challenges in Australian cities. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 2021, 60, 127059 .
AMA StyleJonathan Kingsley, Monika Egerer, Sonia Nuttman, Lucy Keniger, Philip Pettitt, Niki Frantzeskaki, Tonia Gray, Alessandro Ossola, Brenda Lin, Aisling Bailey, Danielle Tracey, Sara Barron, Pauline Marsh. Urban agriculture as a nature-based solution to address socio-ecological challenges in Australian cities. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 2021; 60 ():127059.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJonathan Kingsley; Monika Egerer; Sonia Nuttman; Lucy Keniger; Philip Pettitt; Niki Frantzeskaki; Tonia Gray; Alessandro Ossola; Brenda Lin; Aisling Bailey; Danielle Tracey; Sara Barron; Pauline Marsh. 2021. "Urban agriculture as a nature-based solution to address socio-ecological challenges in Australian cities." Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 60, no. : 127059.
Landscape connectivity is a critical component of dynamic processes that link the structure and function of networks at the landscape scale. In the Anthropocene, connectivity across a landscape-scale network is influenced not only by biophysical land use features, but also by characteristics and patterns of the social landscape. This is particularly apparent in urban landscapes, which are highly dynamic in land use and often in social composition. Thus, landscape connectivity, especially in cities, must be thought of in a social-ecological framework. This is relevant when considering ecosystem services—the benefits that people derive from ecological processes and properties. As relevant actors move through a connected landscape-scale network, particular services may “flow” better across space and time. For this special issue on dynamic landscape connectivity, we discuss the concept of social-ecological networks using urban landscapes as a focal system to highlight the importance of social-ecological connectivity to understand dynamic urban landscapes, particularly in regards to the provision of urban ecosystem services.
Monika Egerer; Elsa Anderson. Social-Ecological Connectivity to Understand Ecosystem Service Provision across Networks in Urban Landscapes. Land 2020, 9, 530 .
AMA StyleMonika Egerer, Elsa Anderson. Social-Ecological Connectivity to Understand Ecosystem Service Provision across Networks in Urban Landscapes. Land. 2020; 9 (12):530.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMonika Egerer; Elsa Anderson. 2020. "Social-Ecological Connectivity to Understand Ecosystem Service Provision across Networks in Urban Landscapes." Land 9, no. 12: 530.
Dave Kendal; Monika Egerer; Jason A Byrne; Penelope J Jones; Pauline Marsh; Caragh G Threlfall; Gabriella Allegretto; Haylee Kaplan; Hanh K D Nguyen; Sue Pearson; Abigail Wright; Emily J Flies. City-size bias in knowledge on the effects of urban nature on people and biodiversity. Environmental Research Letters 2020, 15, 124035 .
AMA StyleDave Kendal, Monika Egerer, Jason A Byrne, Penelope J Jones, Pauline Marsh, Caragh G Threlfall, Gabriella Allegretto, Haylee Kaplan, Hanh K D Nguyen, Sue Pearson, Abigail Wright, Emily J Flies. City-size bias in knowledge on the effects of urban nature on people and biodiversity. Environmental Research Letters. 2020; 15 (12):124035.
Chicago/Turabian StyleDave Kendal; Monika Egerer; Jason A Byrne; Penelope J Jones; Pauline Marsh; Caragh G Threlfall; Gabriella Allegretto; Haylee Kaplan; Hanh K D Nguyen; Sue Pearson; Abigail Wright; Emily J Flies. 2020. "City-size bias in knowledge on the effects of urban nature on people and biodiversity." Environmental Research Letters 15, no. 12: 124035.
With insect population declines, cities are important habitats for wild pollinators. Urban beekeeping is an increasingly popular activity, yet honeybees present important risks to wild insect pollinators in cities. We argue for new, scientifically evidenced urban pollinator strategies to simultaneously enhance the benefits of urban beekeeping while protecting wild pollinators.
Monika Egerer; Ingo Kowarik. Confronting the Modern Gordian Knot of Urban Beekeeping. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 2020, 35, 956 -959.
AMA StyleMonika Egerer, Ingo Kowarik. Confronting the Modern Gordian Knot of Urban Beekeeping. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 2020; 35 (11):956-959.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMonika Egerer; Ingo Kowarik. 2020. "Confronting the Modern Gordian Knot of Urban Beekeeping." Trends in Ecology & Evolution 35, no. 11: 956-959.
Ecological networks can provide insight into how biodiversity loss and changes in species interactions impact the delivery of ecosystem services. In agroecosystems that vary in management practices, quantifying changes in ecological network structure across gradients of local and landscape composition can inform both the ecology and function of productive agroecosystems. In this study, we examined natural enemy–herbivore co‐occurrence networks associated with Brassica oleracea (cole crops), a common crop in urban agricultural systems. Specifically, we investigated how local management characteristics of urban community gardens and the landscape composition around them affect a) the abundance of B. oleracea herbivores and their natural enemies, b) the natural enemy: herbivore ratio, and c) natural enemy–herbivore co‐occurrence network metrics. We sampled herbivores and natural enemies in B. oleracea plants in 24 vegetable gardens in the California central coast region. We also collected information on garden characteristics and land‐use cover of the surrounding landscape (2 km radius). We found that increased floral richness and B. oleracea abundance were associated with increased parasitoid abundance, non‐aphid herbivore abundance, and increased network vulnerability; increased vegetation complexity suppressed parasitoid abundance, but still boosted network vulnerability. High agricultural land‐use cover in the landscape surrounding urban gardens was associated with lower predator, parasitoid, and non‐aphid herbivore abundance, lower natural enemy: herbivore ratios, lower interaction richness, and higher trophic complementarity. While we did not directly measure pest control, higher interaction richness, higher vulnerability, and lower trophic complementarity are associated with higher pest control services in other agroecosystems. Thus, if gardens function similarly to other agroecosystems, our results indicate that increasing vegetation complexity, including trees, shrubs, and plant richness, especially within gardens located in intensively farmed landscapes, could potentially enhance the biodiversity and abundance of natural enemies, supporting ecological networks associated with higher pest control services.
Stacy M. Philpott; Azucena Lucatero; Peter Bichier; Monika H. Egerer; Shalene Jha; Brenda Lin; Heidi Liere. Natural enemy–herbivore networks along local management and landscape gradients in urban agroecosystems. Ecological Applications 2020, 30, 1 .
AMA StyleStacy M. Philpott, Azucena Lucatero, Peter Bichier, Monika H. Egerer, Shalene Jha, Brenda Lin, Heidi Liere. Natural enemy–herbivore networks along local management and landscape gradients in urban agroecosystems. Ecological Applications. 2020; 30 (8):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleStacy M. Philpott; Azucena Lucatero; Peter Bichier; Monika H. Egerer; Shalene Jha; Brenda Lin; Heidi Liere. 2020. "Natural enemy–herbivore networks along local management and landscape gradients in urban agroecosystems." Ecological Applications 30, no. 8: 1.
Sascha Buchholz; Monika H. Egerer. Functional ecology of wild bees in cities: towards a better understanding of trait-urbanization relationships. Biodiversity and Conservation 2020, 29, 2779 -2801.
AMA StyleSascha Buchholz, Monika H. Egerer. Functional ecology of wild bees in cities: towards a better understanding of trait-urbanization relationships. Biodiversity and Conservation. 2020; 29 (9-10):2779-2801.
Chicago/Turabian StyleSascha Buchholz; Monika H. Egerer. 2020. "Functional ecology of wild bees in cities: towards a better understanding of trait-urbanization relationships." Biodiversity and Conservation 29, no. 9-10: 2779-2801.
Climate change is challenging the sustained delivery of ecosystem services from urban agriculture. Extreme, prolonged drought in combination with high heat events affect urban crop production due to limited water availability and affect environmental management and adaptation to environmental conditions. In this study, we use urban community gardens in central coast California as a system to investigate how people are adapting their management behaviors over three time periods – before, during and after the longest drought in California's recent history. We specifically ask how behavioral change is impacted by water policies and gardener characteristics (including gardening experience, formal education, drought concern, and relationship to nature). Through structural equation modeling and multivariate analyses, we show that nature relatedness and gardening experience impact drought concern which in turn impact behavioral change, and potentially gardener's ability to sustainably manage water and to adapt to drought conditions. Planting motivations are also important, influencing people's adoption and retention of practices over time. Yet where concern may be absent, water policies are able to promote and maintain behavioral change and conservation-based practice adoption. Thus, environmental awareness and experience in combination with policies are needed to promote and support proactive behavioral change and adaptation to create resilient urban food production systems under climate change.
Monika Egerer; Brenda B Lin; Lucy Diekmann. Nature connection, experience and policy encourage and maintain adaptation to drought in urban agriculture. Environmental Research Communications 2020, 2, 041004 .
AMA StyleMonika Egerer, Brenda B Lin, Lucy Diekmann. Nature connection, experience and policy encourage and maintain adaptation to drought in urban agriculture. Environmental Research Communications. 2020; 2 (4):041004.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMonika Egerer; Brenda B Lin; Lucy Diekmann. 2020. "Nature connection, experience and policy encourage and maintain adaptation to drought in urban agriculture." Environmental Research Communications 2, no. 4: 041004.
Biotic and abiotic factors at local to landscape scales influence insect pest and disease dynamics in agricultural systems. However, relative to studies focused on the importance of these drivers of crop plant damage in rural agricultural systems, few studies investigate plant damage from herbivore insects and plant diseases in urban agroecosystems, and consequently, most urban farmers lack knowledge on crop protection tactics. Here we use three common crop species within urban agroecosystems (community gardens) distributed across an urban landscape as a model system to ask how local, landscape, and microclimate factors relate to herbivore and disease plant damage. We hypothesized that plant damage would be lower in gardens with greater local vegetation complexity, landscape‐scale complexity, and less variable temperatures, but that the importance of factors is species‐ and damage‐specific. By measuring Brassica, cucurbit, and tomato insect pest and disease damage across the growing season, we confirmed that the importance of factors varies with crop species and by damage type. Both local complexity factors (e.g., number of trees and shrubs) and landscape complexity (percent natural cover in the landscape) relate to lower incidence of herbivore and disease damage on some crops, supporting our prediction that habitat heterogeneity at both local and landscape scales lowers plant damage. Greater temperature variability related to higher disease damage on tomatoes linking microclimate factors to disease prevalence. Yet, local complexity factors also related to higher incidence of plant damage for other crop species, indicating variable species‐level impacts of local management factors on plant damage. By measuring the abundance of fungus‐feeding lady beetles (Psyllobora) on cucurbits, we confirmed a strong association between natural enemies and powdery mildew. We provide a case study on how changes in local to landscape‐scale factors relate to plant damage in urban agroecosystems and suggest how urban farmers and gardeners can apply this ecological knowledge to improve sustainable urban food production.
Monika Egerer; Heidi Liere; Azucena Lucatero; Stacy M. Philpott. Plant damage in urban agroecosystems varies with local and landscape factors. Ecosphere 2020, 11, e03074 .
AMA StyleMonika Egerer, Heidi Liere, Azucena Lucatero, Stacy M. Philpott. Plant damage in urban agroecosystems varies with local and landscape factors. Ecosphere. 2020; 11 (3):e03074.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMonika Egerer; Heidi Liere; Azucena Lucatero; Stacy M. Philpott. 2020. "Plant damage in urban agroecosystems varies with local and landscape factors." Ecosphere 11, no. 3: e03074.
Connectivity of social-ecological systems promotes resilience across urban landscapes. Community gardens are social-ecological systems that support food production, social interactions, and biodiversity conservation. We investigate how these hubs of ecosystem services facilitate socio-ecological connectivity and service flows as a network across complex urban landscapes. In three US cities (Baltimore, Chicago, New York City), we use community garden networks as a model system to demonstrate how biophysical and social features of urban landscapes control the pattern and magnitude of ecosystem service flows through these systems. We show that community gardens within a city are connected through biological and social mechanisms, and connectivity levels and spatial arrangement differ across cities. We found that biophysical connectivity was higher than social connectivity in one case study, while they were nearly equal in the other two. This higher social connectivity can be attributed to clustered distributions of gardens within neighborhoods (network modularity), which promotes neighborhood-scale connectivity hotspots, but produces landscape-scale connectivity coldspots. The particular patterns illustrate how urban form and social amenities largely shape ecosystem service flows among garden networks. Such socio-ecological analyses can be applied to enhance and stabilize landscape connectedness to improve life and resilience in cities.
Monika Egerer; Nakisha Fouch; Elsa C. Anderson; Mysha Clarke. Socio-ecological connectivity differs in magnitude and direction across urban landscapes. Scientific Reports 2020, 10, 4252 .
AMA StyleMonika Egerer, Nakisha Fouch, Elsa C. Anderson, Mysha Clarke. Socio-ecological connectivity differs in magnitude and direction across urban landscapes. Scientific Reports. 2020; 10 (1):4252.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMonika Egerer; Nakisha Fouch; Elsa C. Anderson; Mysha Clarke. 2020. "Socio-ecological connectivity differs in magnitude and direction across urban landscapes." Scientific Reports 10, no. 1: 4252.
Context Land use change requires measuring shifting patterns in biodiversity at various spatial scales to inform landscape management. Assessing vegetation change at different scales is challenging in urban ecosystems managed by many individuals. Thus, we do not know much about the structure and function of green spaces that support biodiversity. Objective We aim to understand how vegetation structure and function indicators in urban community gardens vary with spatial scale, applying new and traditional methods in landscape ecology to inform future research and application. Methods We performed two methods to assess garden vegetation structure (height) and function (species diversity, cover) at the garden- and garden plot scale. First, we used traditional field sampling to estimate garden vegetation at the garden scale (1 m2 quadrats along transects) and at the plot scale (estimated within entire plot) to measure height, diversity and cover. Second, we used UAV aerial imagery to derive measures of garden and plot vegetation using canopy height models (CHMs). We evaluated differences in CHMs at each scale across the gardens, and compared field and UAV-derived measures. Results Garden vegetation characteristics vary with spatial scale. Plant species richness and vegetation cover, but not height, related to UAV-derived imagery. Conclusions New technologies paired with traditional field methods can together inform how vegetation structure and function vary with spatial scale in urban landscapes. Spatial scale is key to accurate and meaningful urban vegetation analyses. New and traditional methods in urban ecology research should develop together to improve and streamline their future application.
Monika H. Egerer; Benjamin Wagner; Brenda Lin; Dave Kendal; Kai Zhu. New methods of spatial analysis in urban gardens inform future vegetation surveying. Landscape Ecology 2020, 35, 761 -778.
AMA StyleMonika H. Egerer, Benjamin Wagner, Brenda Lin, Dave Kendal, Kai Zhu. New methods of spatial analysis in urban gardens inform future vegetation surveying. Landscape Ecology. 2020; 35 (3):761-778.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMonika H. Egerer; Benjamin Wagner; Brenda Lin; Dave Kendal; Kai Zhu. 2020. "New methods of spatial analysis in urban gardens inform future vegetation surveying." Landscape Ecology 35, no. 3: 761-778.
Stacy M. Philpott; Monika H. Egerer; Peter Bichier; Hamutahl Cohen; Roseann Cohen; Heidi Liere; Shalene Jha; Brenda B. Lin. Gardener demographics, experience, and motivations drive differences in plant species richness and composition in urban gardens. Ecology and Society 2020, 25, 1 .
AMA StyleStacy M. Philpott, Monika H. Egerer, Peter Bichier, Hamutahl Cohen, Roseann Cohen, Heidi Liere, Shalene Jha, Brenda B. Lin. Gardener demographics, experience, and motivations drive differences in plant species richness and composition in urban gardens. Ecology and Society. 2020; 25 (4):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleStacy M. Philpott; Monika H. Egerer; Peter Bichier; Hamutahl Cohen; Roseann Cohen; Heidi Liere; Shalene Jha; Brenda B. Lin. 2020. "Gardener demographics, experience, and motivations drive differences in plant species richness and composition in urban gardens." Ecology and Society 25, no. 4: 1.
Across urban environments, vegetated habitats provide refuge for biodiversity. Gardens (designed for food crop production) and nurseries (designed for ornamental plant production) are both urban agricultural habitats characterized by high plant species richness but may vary in their ability to support wild pollinators, particularly bees. In gardens, pollinators are valued for crop production. In nurseries, ornamental plants rarely require pollination; thus, the potential of nurseries to support pollinators has not been examined. We asked how these habitats vary in their ability to support wild bees, and what habitat features relate to this variability. In 19 gardens and 11 nurseries in California, USA, we compared how local habitat and landscape features affected wild bee species abundance and richness. To assess local features, we estimated floral richness and measured ground cover as proxies for food and nesting resources, respectively. To assess landscape features, we measured impervious land cover surrounding each site. Our analyses showed that differences in floral richness, local habitat size, and the amount of urban land cover impacted garden wild bee species richness. In nurseries, floral richness and the proportion of native plant species impacted wild bee abundance and richness. We suggest management guidelines for supporting wild pollinators in both habitats.
Monika Egerer; Jacob Cecala; Hamutahl Cohen. Wild Bee Conservation within Urban Gardens and Nurseries: Effects of Local and Landscape Management. Sustainability 2019, 12, 293 .
AMA StyleMonika Egerer, Jacob Cecala, Hamutahl Cohen. Wild Bee Conservation within Urban Gardens and Nurseries: Effects of Local and Landscape Management. Sustainability. 2019; 12 (1):293.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMonika Egerer; Jacob Cecala; Hamutahl Cohen. 2019. "Wild Bee Conservation within Urban Gardens and Nurseries: Effects of Local and Landscape Management." Sustainability 12, no. 1: 293.
Urban community gardens are vital green spaces threatened by global social and environmental change factors. Population growth has reduced the amount of space available in cities, and climate change challenges plant growth thresholds. Urban community gardens provide dynamic socio-ecological systems to study how such social and environmental change factors affect the management and delivery of ecosystem services. They provide spaces where urban citizens purposefully interact with nature and receive multiple benefits. In this paper, we synthesize the results of three years of research in a case study of urban community gardens across the Central Coast of California and present a framework showing how both social and environmental change factors at the regional scale affect the ecological make-up of urban community gardens, which in turn affect the ecosystem services coming from such systems. Our study reveals that global environmental change felt at the regional level (e.g., increased built environment, climate change) interact with social change and policy (e.g., population growth, urbanization, water use policy), thus affecting regulations over garden resources (e.g., water availability) and management decisions by gardeners (e.g., soil management, crop planting decisions). These management decisions at the plot-scale, determine the ecological complexity and quality of the gardens and affect the resulting ecosystem services that come from these systems, such as food provision for both humans and urban animals. A greater understanding of how environmental and social change factors drive the management processes of urban community gardens is necessary to design policy support systems that encourage the continued use and benefits arising from such green spaces. Policies that can support urban community gardens to maintain ecological complexity and increase biodiversity through active management of soil quality and plant diversity have the potential to increase social and environmental outcomes that feedback to the larger environmental and social system.
Brenda B. Lin; Monika H. Egerer. Global social and environmental change drives the management and delivery of ecosystem services from urban gardens: A case study from Central Coast, California. Global Environmental Change 2019, 60, 102006 .
AMA StyleBrenda B. Lin, Monika H. Egerer. Global social and environmental change drives the management and delivery of ecosystem services from urban gardens: A case study from Central Coast, California. Global Environmental Change. 2019; 60 ():102006.
Chicago/Turabian StyleBrenda B. Lin; Monika H. Egerer. 2019. "Global social and environmental change drives the management and delivery of ecosystem services from urban gardens: A case study from Central Coast, California." Global Environmental Change 60, no. : 102006.
Cities across the world increasingly reflect the ethno-cultural diversity of a globalized society. How people interact with, and experience urban nature varies with the form, structure, and function of the space, but also with peoples’ ethno-cultural identity. In this study, we investigated the values that gardeners and park users of different ethno-cultural identities associate with urban community gardens, parks and trees and the well-being benefits that they derive from them in Melbourne, Australia. We collected data from park users, and gardeners using intercept questionnaires with open-ended questions about motivations to garden and the importance of parks and trees to understand values, and standardized metrics on personal well-being to understand well-being benefits. The results show that gardeners and park users of different ethno-cultural identities than Australian and European, derived from the country of birth, language spoken, and region of origin, associate different motivations, importance, and well-being benefits to these different urban nature spaces. Community gardens provide food and a strong sense of community and security, particularly for gardeners that speak English as a second language. For these ethno-culturally diverse people, urban parks, like community gardens, are associated with sociocultural and psychological importance, but also with aesthetic importance. Finally, and also for these diverse people, urban trees are associated with aesthetic, naturalness and biodiversity importance rather than sociocultural importance. The results highlight that people involved in the planning and design of urban nature spaces should consider the many values associated with and benefits derived from different types of spaces for multicultural cities.
Monika Egerer; Camilo Ordóñez; Brenda Lin; Dave Kendal. Multicultural gardeners and park users benefit from and attach diverse values to urban nature spaces. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 2019, 46, 126445 .
AMA StyleMonika Egerer, Camilo Ordóñez, Brenda Lin, Dave Kendal. Multicultural gardeners and park users benefit from and attach diverse values to urban nature spaces. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 2019; 46 ():126445.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMonika Egerer; Camilo Ordóñez; Brenda Lin; Dave Kendal. 2019. "Multicultural gardeners and park users benefit from and attach diverse values to urban nature spaces." Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 46, no. : 126445.
Urban gardens are a model system for understanding the intersection between biodiversity conservation and citizen science. They contain high plant diversity that contributes to urban flora. However, this diversity is challenging to document due to site access and complex plant taxonomy with hybrids and cultivars. Community research participation provides a tool to measure plant diversity and distribution by engaging gardeners who are most familiar with their plants to report on their garden's species richness using citizen science. Yet there is little empirical exploration of plant identification consistency between citizen scientists and scientific researchers. This could lead to reporting differences (e.g., missing species, multiple reporting of the same species) due to spatial and temporal effects, different perspectives and knowledge systems, and cultural context. We leverage a scientific survey of garden plants and a questionnaire asking gardeners to report on the species in their gardens to perform an opportunistic comparison of gardener and researcher reported plant diversity in community gardens. The comparison shows that gardeners interpret instructions to report plants quite variably, with some reporting all species (including herbaceous weeds) and crop varieties, while others reporting only their main crop species. Scientist on the other hand seek clarity in terms of species and variety and report all species located in the plot, including the small weed species that are overlooked by some gardeners. Consistency could be improved if researchers are more specific about their reporting expectations when asking community members to participate in data collection. We use this case study to communicate that paired citizen scientist-researcher data collection and dialogue between groups is necessary to improve methods for conducting consistent and collaborative assessments of biological diversity.
Monika Egerer; Brenda Lin; Dave Kendal. Towards better species identification processes between scientists and community participants. Science of The Total Environment 2019, 694, 133738 .
AMA StyleMonika Egerer, Brenda Lin, Dave Kendal. Towards better species identification processes between scientists and community participants. Science of The Total Environment. 2019; 694 ():133738.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMonika Egerer; Brenda Lin; Dave Kendal. 2019. "Towards better species identification processes between scientists and community participants." Science of The Total Environment 694, no. : 133738.
Urban agriculture is widely practiced throughout the world. Urban agriculture practitioners have diverse motivations and circumstances, but one problem is ubiquitous across all regions: insect pests. Many urban farmers and gardeners either choose to, or are required to forego, the use of chemical controls for pest outbreaks because of costs, overspray in populated areas, public health, and environmental concerns. An alternative form of pest control is conservation biological control (CBC)-a form of ecological pest management-that can reduce the severity of pest outbreaks and crop damage. Urban farmers relying on CBC often assume that diversification practices similar to those used in rural farms may reduce insect pest populations and increase populations of beneficial insects, yet these management practices may be inappropriate for applications in fragmented urban environments. In this review, we assess urban CBC research and provide a synthesis for urban agriculture practitioners. Our findings indicate that local and landscape factors differentially affect insect pests and beneficial arthropods across the reviewed studies, and we identify several on-farm practices that can be implemented to increase biological control in urban agriculture.
Joshua E. Arnold; Monika Egerer; Kent M. Daane. Local and Landscape Effects to Biological Controls in Urban Agriculture-A Review. Insects 2019, 10, 215 .
AMA StyleJoshua E. Arnold, Monika Egerer, Kent M. Daane. Local and Landscape Effects to Biological Controls in Urban Agriculture-A Review. Insects. 2019; 10 (7):215.
Chicago/Turabian StyleJoshua E. Arnold; Monika Egerer; Kent M. Daane. 2019. "Local and Landscape Effects to Biological Controls in Urban Agriculture-A Review." Insects 10, no. 7: 215.
Urban community gardens offer unique social and ecological benefits in cities. However, given the dynamic nature of cities and the profound effects of variable land uses on green space provisioning for people and wildlife, investigating community gardens from a landscape perspective offers valuable insight into the functions of these spaces in terms of ecosystem services and sustainable development. In this study, we use garden locations provided by stakeholder groups and fine-scale spatial data to compare community gardens across three cities: New York City, NY, Chicago, IL, and Baltimore, MD (USA). In each city, we assess the spatial distribution of gardens and compare the natural vegetation and impervious surface cover within these gardens to the surrounding neighborhood and landscape. We then compared these cities to clarify the role of community gardens in metropolitan development. Our findings demonstrate that gardens cluster in neighborhoods in New York City and Chicago, but they are more spatially distributed across the landscape in Baltimore. The distribution of Baltimore’s community gardens is more likely to be contributing to a greater network of ecosystem services across a broader urban landscape. Moreover, at the garden scale, gardens in NYC and Chicago have more canopy cover and built infrastructure than the more herbaceous gardens in Baltimore. This suggests that our case study cities exhibit different garden typologies, histories, and potential for ecosystem services. This work provides critical insight into the typology in and around community gardens in different cities, which is useful in understanding the potential ecosystem services and planning trajectories of these cities.
Elsa C. Anderson; Monika H. Egerer; Nakisha Fouch; Mysha Clarke; Melissa J. Davidson. Comparing community garden typologies of Baltimore, Chicago, and New York City (USA) to understand potential implications for socio-ecological services. Urban Ecosystems 2019, 22, 671 -681.
AMA StyleElsa C. Anderson, Monika H. Egerer, Nakisha Fouch, Mysha Clarke, Melissa J. Davidson. Comparing community garden typologies of Baltimore, Chicago, and New York City (USA) to understand potential implications for socio-ecological services. Urban Ecosystems. 2019; 22 (4):671-681.
Chicago/Turabian StyleElsa C. Anderson; Monika H. Egerer; Nakisha Fouch; Mysha Clarke; Melissa J. Davidson. 2019. "Comparing community garden typologies of Baltimore, Chicago, and New York City (USA) to understand potential implications for socio-ecological services." Urban Ecosystems 22, no. 4: 671-681.
Urban ecosystems, as mosaics of residential, industrial, commercial, and agricultural land, present challenges for species survival due to impervious surface, degradation, fragmentation, and modification of natural habitat, pollution, and introduced species. Some urban habitats, such as community gardens, support biodiversity and promote ecosystem services. In gardens, local factors (e.g., vegetation, groundcover) and landscape surroundings (e.g., agriculture, built or impervious cover) may influence species abundance, richness, and functional traits that are present. We examined which local and landscape factors within 19 community gardens in the California central coast influence ground beetle (Carabidae) activity density, species richness, functional group richness, and functional traits-body size, wing morphology, and dispersal ability. Gardens with higher crop richness and that are surrounded by agricultural land had greater carabid activity density, while species and functional group richness did not respond to any local or landscape factor. Gardens with more leaf litter had lower carabid activity, and gardens with more leaf litter tended to have more larger carabids. Changes in local (floral abundance, ground cover) and landscape (urban land cover) factors also influenced the distribution of individuals with certain wing morphology and body size traits. Thus, both local and landscape factors influence the taxonomic and functional traits of carabid communities, with potential implications for pest control services that are provided by carabids.
Stacy M. Philpott; Simone Albuquerque; Peter Bichier; Hamutahl Cohen; Monika H. Egerer; Claire Kirk; Kipling W. Will. Local and Landscape Drivers of Carabid Activity, Species Richness, and Traits in Urban Gardens in Coastal California. Insects 2019, 10, 112 .
AMA StyleStacy M. Philpott, Simone Albuquerque, Peter Bichier, Hamutahl Cohen, Monika H. Egerer, Claire Kirk, Kipling W. Will. Local and Landscape Drivers of Carabid Activity, Species Richness, and Traits in Urban Gardens in Coastal California. Insects. 2019; 10 (4):112.
Chicago/Turabian StyleStacy M. Philpott; Simone Albuquerque; Peter Bichier; Hamutahl Cohen; Monika H. Egerer; Claire Kirk; Kipling W. Will. 2019. "Local and Landscape Drivers of Carabid Activity, Species Richness, and Traits in Urban Gardens in Coastal California." Insects 10, no. 4: 112.
Climatically similar regions may experience different temperature extremes and weather patterns that warrant global comparisons of local microclimates. Urban agroecosystems are interesting sites to examine the multidimensional impacts of climate changes because they rely heavily on human intervention to maintain crop production under different and changing climate conditions. Here, we used urban community gardens across the California Central Coast metropolitan region, USA, and the Melbourne metropolitan region, Australia, to investigate how habitat-scale temperatures differ across climatically similar regions, and how people may be adapting their gardening behaviors to not only regional temperatures, but also to the local weather patterns around them. We show that, while annual means are very similar, there are strong interregional differences in temperature variability likely due to differences in the scale and scope of the temperature measurements, and regional topography. However, the plants growing within these systems are largely the same. The similarities may be due to gardeners’ capacities to adapt their gardening behaviors to reduce the adverse effects of local temperature variability on the productivity of their plot. Thus, gardens can serve as sites where people build their knowledge of local weather patterns and adaptive capacity to climate change and urban heat. Climate-focused studies in urban landscapes should consider how habitat-scale temperature variability is a background for interesting and meaningful social-ecological interactions.
Monika H. Egerer; Brenda B. Lin; Dave Kendal. Temperature Variability Differs in Urban Agroecosystems across Two Metropolitan Regions. Climate 2019, 7, 50 .
AMA StyleMonika H. Egerer, Brenda B. Lin, Dave Kendal. Temperature Variability Differs in Urban Agroecosystems across Two Metropolitan Regions. Climate. 2019; 7 (4):50.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMonika H. Egerer; Brenda B. Lin; Dave Kendal. 2019. "Temperature Variability Differs in Urban Agroecosystems across Two Metropolitan Regions." Climate 7, no. 4: 50.