Reconsidering the New Normal: Trauma, Vulnerability & Resilience in Post-Katrina New Orleans

Traumatic anthropogenic or natural disasters can redefine the ecological and social diversity of cities, with "new normal" conditions often emerging in post-trauma urban landscapes. The objective of our ULTRA project is to examine how the pace and trajectory of recovery in post-Katrina New Orleans reflect ecological and social diversity. Specifically, we are examining potential parallels and interactions between ecological and social diversity within and among neighborhoods, and across the New Orleans metropolitan area. We are doing so by (1) organizing and coordinating a network of scholars and practitioners to exchange experience and knowledge and thereby advance understanding of connections between diversity and recovery in post-trauma urban ecosystems; (2) assembling a central data archive on the structure and diversity of ecological communities of New Orleans, which involves conducting an inventory of the post-Katrina urban forest; (4) and conducting a GIS-based spatial analysis of pre- and post-trauma landscape and social metrics derived from satellite imagery and the 2000 and 2010 federal census, analyzed for diversification and compared to stabilization metrics. This citywide study is being supplemented with three fine-grained studies in the neighborhoods of the Lower Ninth Ward, Hollygrove, and Pontchartrain Park. Qualitative data collected in these neighborhoods provides insight into the relationships between trauma and ecological and social diversity, and identify variation in the timing, pace, and trajectory of neighborhood recovery. In the future, we will expand our efforts to consider how diversity reflects the availability and valuation of ecosystem services in post-trauma urban landscapes. Our intent is to develop New Orleans as a natural laboratory for the study of ecological and community resiliency

An Agent-based Collective Model to Simulate Peer Pressure Effect on Energy Consumption

This paper presents a novel model for simulating peer pressure effect on energy awareness and consumption of families. The model is built on two well-established theories of human behaviour to obtain realistic peer effect: the collective behaviour theory and the theory of cognitive dissonance. These theories are implemented in a collective agentbased model that produces fine-grained behaviour and consumption data based on social parameters. The model enables the application of different energy efficiency interventions which aim to obtain more aware occupants and achieve more energy saving. The presented experiments show that the implemented model reflects the human behaviour theories. They also provide examples of how the model can be used as an analytical tool to interpret the effect of energy interventions in the given social parameters and decide the optimal intervention needed in different cases

Differential responses to woodland character and landscape context by cryptic bats in urban environments

© 2015 Lintott et al. Urbanisation is one of the most dramatic forms of land use change which relatively few species can adapt to. Determining how and why species respond differently to urban habitats is important in predicting future biodiversity loss as urban areas rapidly expand. Understanding how morphological or behavioural traits can influence species adaptability to the built environment may enable us to improve the effectiveness of conservation efforts. Although many bat species are able to exploit human resources, bat species richness generally declines with increasing urbanisation and there is considerable variation in the responses of different bat species to urbanisation. Here, we use acoustic recordings from two cryptic, and largely sympatric European bat species to assess differential responses in their use of fragmented urban woodland and the surrounding urban matrix. There was a high probability of P. pygmaeus activity relative to P. pipistrellus in woodlands with low clutter and understory cover which were surrounded by low levels of built environment. Additionally, the probability of recording P. pygmaeus relative to P. pipistrellus was considerably higher in urban woodland interior or edge habitat in contrast to urban grey or non-wooded green space. These results show differential habitat use occurring between two morphologically similar species; whilst the underlying mechanism for this partitioning is unknown it may be driven by competition avoidance over foraging resources. Their differing response to urbanisation indicates the difficulties involved when attempting to assess how adaptable a species is to urbanisation for conservation purposes

Urban Biodiversity and Landscape Ecology: Patterns, Processes and Planning

Effective planning for biodiversity in cities and towns is increasingly important as urban areas and their human populations grow, both to achieve conservation goals and because ecological communities support services on which humans depend. Landscape ecology provides important frameworks for understanding and conserving urban biodiversity both within cities and considering whole cities in their regional context, and has played an important role in the development of a substantial and expanding body of knowledge about urban landscapes and communities. Characteristics of the whole city including size, overall amount of green space, age and regional context are important considerations for understanding and planning for biotic assemblages at the scale of entire cities, but have received relatively little research attention. Studies of biodiversity within cities are more abundant and show that longstanding principles regarding how patch size, configuration and composition influence biodiversity apply to urban areas as they do in other habitats. However, the fine spatial scales at which urban areas are fragmented and the altered temporal dynamics compared to non-urban areas indicate a need to apply hierarchical multi-scalar landscape ecology models to urban environments. Transferring results from landscape-scale urban biodiversity research into planning remains challenging, not least because of the requirements for urban green space to provide multiple functions. An increasing array of tools is available to meet this challenge and increasingly requires ecologists to work with planners to address biodiversity challenges. Biodiversity conservation and enhancement is just one strand in urban planning, but is increasingly important in a rapidly urbanising world