Ecology and urban planning

Urban areas harbour diverse nature ranging from semi-natural habitats to wastelands, parks and other highly human-influenced biotopes with their associated species assemblages. Maintenance of this urban biodiversity for the residents and for its intrinsic value in the face of increasing population and expanding cities requires that ecological knowledge should be better integrated into urban planning. To achieve this goal understanding of ecological patterns and processes in urban ecosystems is needed. The first step in the necessary urban ecological research is to find out what kind of nature exists in cities. Second, knowledge about ecological processes important in urban nature is required. Although ecological processes in cities are the same as in rural areas, some of them, such as invasion by alien species, are more prevalent in urban than in rural conditions. Third, based on ecological knowledge, management schemes maintaining the diversity of urban nature should be designed. These procedures should also include protection of urban nature, e.g. in urban national parks. Finally, as ecology alone cannot provide the complex information about human influence on urban ecosystems, interdisciplinary research involving natural and social sciences is imperative for a holistic approach to integrating ecology into the process of urban planning.     

城市生态学学科定义、研究内容、研究方法和分析与探索

从生态学的学科定义、生态学的发展现状、城市生态学的发展历史与现状、城市生态学来发展趋势的出发,认为将城市生态学定义为“研究城市及其群体的发生、发展与自然、资源、环境之间相互作用的过程和规律的科学”,既能涵盖城市生态学已有的内容,也能指导城市生态学未来的局长。城市生态学的研究中,城市与自然、资源、环境相互作用的具体机制应全面深入地展开,城市生态系统的研究应更为精确,城市生态学应参与可持续生态系统、生物多样性保护、全球变化的研究。结合城市生态学的发展的经验和目前面对的挑战,案例研究和理论研究相结合、现场观测资料与统计资料相结合、对比研究与定位研究相结合、自然科学和社会科学相结合、并充分利用现代新技术和数理模型分析方法应该是城市生态学研究的主要方法。     

城市生态学学科定义、研究内容、研究方法的分析与探索

从生态学的学科定义、生态学的发展现状、城市生态学的发展历史与现状、城市生态学未来发展趋势的出发,认为将城市生态学定义为“研究城市及其群体的发生、发展与自然、资源、环境之间相互作用的过程和规律的科学”,既能涵盖城市生态学已有的内容,也能指导城市生态学未来的发展。城市生态学的研究中,城市与自然、资源、环境相互作用的具体机制应全面深入地展开,城市生态系统的研究应更为精确,城市生态学应参与可持续生态系统、生物多样性保护、全球变化的研究。结合城市生态学的发展经验和目前面对的挑战,案例研究与理论研究相结合、现场观测资料与统计资料相结合、对比研究与定位研究相结合、自然科学和社会科学相结合、并充分利用现代新技术和数理模型分析方法应该是城市生态学研究的主要方法。     

中国城市森林研究现状及发展趋势

工业的发展与人口剧增使城市环境不断恶化 ,引起人们对生活空间质量日益关注与重视。城市森林作为解决城市环境问题的有效途径而得到广泛研究。为推进城市森林的进一步研究 ,本文阐明了城市森林的概念、性质、分类及范围 ,并从城市森林的研究方法、结构、功能、维护管理与规划建设等几方面 ,对我国城市森林的研究现状、存在的问题及发展趋势进行了探讨。     

城市露水及其生态效应研究进展

城市露水是一种不可忽视的凝结水资源和湿度来源,其生态效应研究具有重要意义。本文就近年来城市露水及其生态效应研究进展进行了综述,并着重论述了在城市生态环境影响下城市露水量、城市露水化学生态、城市露水研究模型构建、城市露水生态模拟、城市露水收集方法等方面的研究状况。城市露水的形成明显受城市大气环境的影响,表现为城市露水量减少,城市露水中的一些离子浓度偏高,其化学成分与城市大气环境相关等。城市露水生态过程的模型构建和露水的生态模拟工作已经开展,但非常有限。另外．文章指出了城市露水及其生态效应研究存在的问题。提出了今后城市露水及其生态效应的研究方向。     

Urbanization drives unique latitudinal patterns of insect herbivory and tree condition

Urban landscapes are characterized by high proportions of impervious surface resulting in higher temperatures than adjacent natural landscapes. In some cities, like those at cooler latitudes, trees may benefit from warmer urban temperatures, but trees in many cities are beset with problems like drought stress and increased herbivory. What drives patterns of urban tree health across urbanization and latitudinal temperature gradients? In natural systems, latitude–herbivory relationships are well‐studied, and recent temperate studies have shown that herbivory generally increases with decreasing latitudes (warmer temperatures). However, the applicability of this latitude–herbivory theory in already‐warmed urban systems is unknown. In this study, we investigated how the interaction of urbanization, latitudinal warming and scale insect abundance affected urban tree health. We predicted that trees in warmer, lower latitude cities would be in poorer health at lower levels of urbanization than trees at cooler, higher latitudes due to the interaction of urbanization, latitudinal temperature and herbivory. To evaluate our predictions, we surveyed the abundance of scale insect herbivores on a single, common tree species Acer rubrum in eight US cities spanning 10° of latitude. We estimated urbanization at two extents, a local one that accounted for the direct effects on an individual tree, and a larger one that captured the surrounding urban landscape. We found that urban tree health did not vary with latitudinal temperature but was best predicted by local urbanization and herbivore abundance. We did not observe increased herbivore abundance in warmer, lower latitudes cities, but instead herbivore abundance peaked in the mid latitudes of our study. This study demonstrates that urban landscapes may deviate from classical theory developed in natural systems and reinforces the need for research reconciling ecological patterns in urban landscapes.     

House Wrens Troglodytes aedon reduce repertoire size and change song element frequencies in response to anthropogenic noise

Anthropogenic noise (≤ 3 kHz) can affect key features of birds’ acoustic communication via two different processes: (1) song‐learning, because songbirds need to hear themselves and other birds to crystallize their song, and (2) avoidance of song elements that overlap with anthropogenic noise. In this study we tested whether anthropogenic noise reduces the number of song elements in the repertoire of House Wren Troglodytes aedon, an urban species. Additionally, we tested whether the proportion of high‐frequency elements (i.e. elements where the minimum frequency is above 3 kHz) is related to anthropogenic noise levels, and how the frequencies and duration of shared elements between males change with different levels of anthropogenic noise. We recorded 29 House Wren males exposed to different anthropogenic noise levels (36.50–79.50 dB) during two consecutive breeding seasons from four locations. We recorded each male on 2 days during each season continuously for 50 min (we collected 104 h of recordings) and measured anthropogenic noise levels every 10 min inside each male territory during the recording period. In general, individuals inhabiting noisier territories had smaller repertoires. However, only in two locations with anthropogenic noise levels between 38.60 and 79.50 dB did males inhabiting noisier territories have smaller repertoires. In the other two locations with lower anthropogenic noise (36.50–66.50 dB), the anthropogenic noise inside each territory was not related to the repertoire size. Individuals inhabiting the noisiest location showed a tendency to include more high‐frequency elements in their songs. In 26% of the elements, the anthropogenic noise affected their frequency features. Our results showed that not all House Wrens inhabiting urban environments modify their songs at the highest level of organization (i.e. repertoire) to reduce the masking effect of anthropogenic noise on acoustic communication.     

城市公园可达性研究——方法与关键问题

城市公园是城市居民主要的休闲游憩场所,对促进其身心健康,建设和谐可持续社会具有重要意义。伴随快速城市化,城市居民对城市公园的需求与日俱增,不仅仅关注城市公园的数量,更关心能否方便快捷地进入公园进行游憩活动。这对城市公园的评价和合理规划提出了新要求。基于GIS的可达性研究从公园与市民相互关系角度出发,能够较好地评价城市公园的空间分布,是评价城市公园空间分布合理性和服务公平性的主要手段。多种可达性计算方法的出现为城市公园可达性研究中方法的选择提供了充分的余地,但不同的方法基于不同的理论,对数据要求不同,反映可达性的不同方面,对各种可达性计算方法的理解是选择适宜可达性计算方法进行城市公园可达性研究的前提。将城市公园可达性研究中常用的可达性计算方法分为4类6种,分别评述了其原理和优缺点,为城市公园可达性研究中方法的选择提供参考。同时分析了城市公园可达性研究中的关键问题,探讨了未来城市公园可达性研究的重点。     

Assessing the impact of revegetation and weed control on urban sensitive bird species

Nature in cities is concentrated in urban green spaces, which are key areas for urban biodiversity and also important areas to connect people with nature. To conserve urban biodiversity within these natural refugia, habitat restoration such as weed control and revegetation is often implemented. These actions are expected to benefit biodiversity, although species known to be affected by urbanization may not be interacting with restoration in the ways we anticipate. In this study, we use a case study to explore how urban restoration activities impact different bird species. Birds were grouped into urban sensitivity categories and species abundance, and richness was then calculated using a hierarchical species community model for individual species responses, with “urban class” used as the hierarchical parameter. We highlight variable responses of birds to revegetation and weed control based on their level of urban sensitivity. Revegetation of open grassy areas delivers significant bird conservation outcomes, but the effects of weed control are neutral or in some cases negative. Specifically, the species most reliant on remnant vegetation in cities seem to remain stable or decline in abundance in areas with weed control, which we suspect is the result of a simplification of the understorey. The literature reports mixed benefits of weed control between taxa and between locations. We recommend, in our case study site, that weed control be implemented in concert with replanting of native vegetation to provide the understory structure preferred by urban sensitive birds. Understanding the impacts of revegetation and weed control on different bird species is important information for practitioners to make restoration decisions about the allocation of funds for conservation action. This new knowledge can be used both for threatened species and invasive species management.     

近20年城市遥感研究现状及其发展趋势

随着城市化进程的不断加速,城市遥感研究已成为地理学、生态学、城市规划学等学科领域主要发展方向之一。城市化使人口与经济增长的同时,也使得城市原有的生态环境状况发生改变,从而引起了一系列城市生态环境问题。城市遥感是一门多学科交叉研究领域,近年来已经取得了一系列显著的研究成果。对近年来城市遥感研究涉及的城市地表温度、边界扩张、不透水表面、景观格局以及生态安全5个方面的理论、研究方法、应用动态以及发展方向进行了较为详细的总结与探讨。主要得出如下结论：（1）数据源从单个遥感数据研究走向多源遥感数据融合发展,多源遥感数据尤其是结合高分辨率数据越来越多的被应用到城市研究的各个领域中;（2）城市遥感的研究目标不断扩展、深化和聚焦;（3）城市遥感研究已开始从二维空间向三维空间拓展;（4）城市遥感涉及的研究对象之间相互作用,相互影响在深入解读城市遥感研究理论意义和潜在挑战的基础上,结合最新研究对本文所涉及的主题进行了补充和完善,为城市典型生态环境问题的解决提供新的思路;今后应按照城市形态与构成、城市关键要素、生态环境响应、生态环境评价以及城市扩展与环境预测的体系结构进行综合分析。     

韧性城市研究综述——基于城市复杂系统视角

在全球气候变化与持续城市化的背景下,增强城市韧性是提升城市应急管理能力,实现城市系统可持续发展的重要途径。明确城市韧性的内涵、核心要素及相互作用机理,开展城市系统韧性测度与城市系统模拟,对提升变化环境下城市系统恢复力与韧性水平,缓解变化环境对城市系统运行稳定性冲击压力具有重要意义。基于文献与资料分析,全面解析韧性城市核心概念与各国韧性城市建设、管理与研究实践。此外,研究从城市复杂系统视角探究变化环境对城市系统影响机制、测度方法与系统模拟路径。研究为韧性城市理论、方法与实证研究提供了参考,并为我国韧性城市建设实践提供决策依据与政策建议。     

热岛效应对植物生长的影响以及叶片形态构成的适应性

热岛效应是一种由于地表覆盖改变及人类活动导致的热量在城区空间范围内聚集的现象,是城市气候最明显的特征之一,随着越来越多的人口涌入城市以及伴随而生的超大城市的出现,城市热岛效应将更加凸显,这种环境温度的升高必将影响到各种景观园林植物的生理状态乃至形态结构。选取以生长在热岛点和有大量绿植覆盖的低温点的两种典型园林植物大叶黄杨和丁香作为实验材料,研究了这两种植物叶在城市热岛效应影响下,在热岛点和低温点中的形态特征。结果表明,在热岛点环境温度和二氧化碳浓度显著高于低温点,但其他环境要素差异并不显著。热岛点的大叶黄杨和丁香叶生物量分别是低温点的1.6倍和1.4倍。进一步研究表明,相较于低温点,在热岛点生长的植物叶表现出较低的比叶面积、单位重量和单位面积叶氮含量。生物量在向各部分组织分配时,热岛点的植物叶倾向于将更多的生物量分配给叶肉部分,而减少了对叶柄的生物量投入。     

林下广场、无林广场和草坪的温湿度及人体舒适度

园林绿地是缓解城市热岛效应的有效途径,绿地在降温增湿方面发挥着重要作用。选择北京市万芳亭公园林下广场、无林广场和草坪作为研究对象,对三者调节城市小气候的效应进行了定量化研究。每天8:00～18:00,每2h一次分别对林下广场、无林广场和草坪的温度、相对湿度进行同步测定,连续测定7d。结果表明:在一天中的高温时段(12:00～16:00),林下广场的温度最低、相对湿度最高;在傍晚(18:00)草坪的温度最低、相对湿度最高。与无林广场相比,林下广场的降温幅度为0.3～3.3℃,平均值为1.9℃;增湿幅度为1.1%～5.9%,平均值为4.1%。林下广场的日最高温度值是最低的,可大大缩短高温持续时间,最多可缩短8h。在一天中的任何时刻,林下广场和无林广场的温度、相对湿度差异均达到了极显著水平(Duncan’s多重比较,p<0.01)。林下广场调节城市小气候的功能最佳,人体舒适度最好,是夏季人们户外活动的较佳选择。     

Environmental and socio‐economic factors related to urban bird communities

Urban fauna communities may be strongly influenced by environmental and socio‐economic factors, but the relative importance of these factors is poorly known. Most research on urban fauna has been conducted in large cities and it is unclear if the patterns found in these locations coincide with those from smaller human settlements. We examined the relative importance of environmental and socio‐economic factors in explaining variation in urban bird communities across 72 neighbourhoods in 18 regional towns in south‐eastern Australia. Native bird species richness varied from 6 to 32 across neighbourhoods and was higher in neighbourhoods with more nectar‐rich plants. Variation in bird species diversity across neighbourhoods was also strongly positively related to the density of nectar‐rich plants, but was higher also in neighbourhoods with higher socio‐economic status (reflecting higher levels of disposal income, education and home ownership). The density of native birds across neighbourhoods per season varied from 1 to 15 birds per hectare and was lower in neighbourhoods with a greater cover of impervious surfaces. The density of exotic birds (introduced to Australia) per season also varied across neighbourhoods (0–13 birds per hectare) and was lower in neighbourhoods with more nectar‐rich plants and higher in neighbourhoods with greater impervious surface cover. Our results demonstrated that the vegetation characteristics of household gardens, along streetscapes and in urban parklands had a strong influence on the richness and diversity of urban bird communities. The density of native and exotic birds varied primarily in response to changes in the built environment (measured through impervious surface cover). Socio‐economic factors had relatively little direct influence on urban birds, but neighbourhood socio‐economics may influence bird communities indirectly through the positive relationship between socio‐economic status and vegetation cover recorded in our study area.     

城市绿地研究进展

2016年7月8-10日在中国上海召开了第二届国际城市生态学大会,会议的主题是“快速城市化和全球环境变化背景下城市生态学面临的挑战”。会议设16个专场,主要议题包括：城市化动态、城市可持续性研究、城市生物多样性评估和城市生态学教育等。城市绿地是大会的研究热点之一,会上讨论了城市绿地与城市生物多样性的密切联系、城市绿地的温度调节作用和文化服务,以及城市绿地与紧凑城市的关系等众多城市发展中的重要科学问题。为了推动城市绿地和城市生态学研究的进一步发展,本文对SURE大会上与城市绿地相关的研究内容进行综述和介绍。本次大会对未来城市绿地研究具有重要启示：(1)加强城市绿地的生态系统服务与可持续科学教育的研究;(2)加强小尺度城市绿地的评估、规划和管理研究;(3)加强城市绿地多功能的综合性研究。     

城市森林概念探析

在讨论、揭示有关城市森林和森林概念的基础上,对城市森林进行定义,认为城市森林是指在城市及其周边范围内以乔木为主体,达到一定的规模和覆盖度,能对周围的环境产生重要影响,并具有明显的生态价值和人文景观价值等的各种生物和非生物的综合体。进一步探讨城市森林的范围,对城市森林与园林以及城市绿地进行比较,并对城市森林的发展提出几点看法和建议。     

上海四种常见树种单株固碳能力差异及其影响因子

城市树木的固碳能力是决定城市绿地碳汇大小的重要因素。为探究上海常见树种单株固碳能力的差异及影响因子,使用174个城市森林固定样地的长期观测数据,估算了香樟、水杉、银杏和雪松四个树种的单株固碳能力(即年固碳量),采用多元线性回归模型分析了各树种单株固碳能力与个体大小、植株密度和城市环境因子(温度、降水量和夜间灯光强度)的关系。结果表明:(1)香樟、水杉、银杏和雪松的单株固碳能力分别介于4.01-51.58 kg/a、1.04-13.47 kg/a、0.62-18.56 kg/a和1.48-8.47 kg/a之间,在各径组中香樟的固碳能力均显著高于其他树种。(2)个体大小是决定单株固碳能力的最主要因子,个体越大(胸径0-50 cm范围内)单株固碳能力越大;植株密度越大,香樟和水杉的单株固碳能力越小,银杏的单株固碳能力越大。(3)城市环境因子中,温度对树木单株固碳能力有显著负向影响,而降水量和夜间灯光强度对树木单株固碳能力的影响因树种而异。其中香樟和水杉分别与降水量呈显著负相关和正相关关系,但均与夜间灯光强度呈显著正相关关系。在上海未来城市森林建设和管理中,应根据不同树种单株固碳能力的差异及其对不同环境因子的敏感性,适地适树绿化造林,提升城市森林的固碳效益。     

Fine‐scale variation within urban landscapes affects marking patterns and gastrointestinal parasite diversity in red foxes

1. Urban areas are often considered to be a hostile environment for wildlife as they are highly fragmented and frequently disturbed. However, these same habitats can contain abundant resources, while lacking many common competitors and predators. The urban environment can have a direct impact on the species living there but can also have indirect effects on their parasites and pathogens. To date, relatively few studies have measured how fine‐scale spatial heterogeneity within urban landscapes can affect parasite transmission and persistence.
2. Here, we surveyed 237 greenspaces across the urban environment of Edinburgh (UK) to investigate how fine‐scale variation in socio‐economic and ecological variables can affect red fox (Vulpes vulpes) marking behavior, gastrointestinal (GI) parasite prevalence, and parasite community diversity.
3. We found that the presence and abundance of red fox fecal markings were nonuniformly distributed across greenspaces and instead were dependent on the ecological characteristics of a site. Specifically, common foraging areas were left largely unmarked, which indicates that suitable resting and denning sites may be limiting factor in urban environments. In addition, the amount of greenspace around each site was positively correlated with overall GI parasite prevalence, species richness, and diversity, highlighting the importance of greenspace (a commonly used measure of landscape connectivity) in determining the composition of the parasite community in urban areas.
4. Our results suggest that fine‐scale variation within urban environments can be important for understanding the ecology of infectious diseases in urban wildlife and could have wider implication for the management of urban carnivores.

     

辽宁中部城市群城市增长时空格局及其驱动力

基于1988、1992、1997、2000和2004年5期Landsat TM卫星遥感影像数据,采用GIS空间分析和景观格局分析的方法,分析了辽宁中部城市群城市增长的时空格局特征,并对其驱动力进行了探讨.结果表明: 1988-2004年间,辽宁中部城市群城市面积持续增加,增长强度逐渐增强, 城市面积由812.55 km²增至1345.86km², 平均增长速率为32-96 km²·a^-1;1997年以后,城市增长强度迅速增大,以1997-2000年的城市扩展强度最大;辽宁中部城市群的城市增长主要集中在中部城镇密集带.1988-1997年,研究区城市面积的增长速度较慢,空间结构紧凑,以边缘增长和填充增长为主;1997-2004年,城市面积增长较快,表现为扩散的城市增长格局和复杂的城市斑块形状,以开发区的飞地式增长和扩散增长为主.非农业人口增长、经济增长、城市群城市空间的相互吸引、工业发展与开发区建设政策等因素是辽宁中部城市群城市空间快速增长的主要驱动力.