Biodiverse green infrastructure for the 21st century: from “green desert” of lawns to biophilic cities

Modern urban green infrastructures are following globalisation trends and contribute to homogenization at all levels of green areas from the master plan to the finest scale. We discuss the place and role of three principal urban living spaces, the “skeleton” of green infrastructures: lawns, green walls and green roofs. This “trio” of modern GI elements provide significant ecosystem services, it contributes to biodiversity and social values; and have environmental and economic impact. The main goal of our approach to sustainable GI is to introduce a new landscape architecture style – biodiversinesque – as an alternative to the existing global homogenised picturesque-gardenesque. This new approach will combine the best achievements of innovative and alternative landscape design solutions (biodiverse lawns, pictorial meadows, walls and green roofs) and implement them on three major scales: city, intermediate neighborhood and the small biotope level

Green tea powder and Lactobacillus plantarum affect gut microbiota, lipid metabolism and inflammation in high-fat fed C57BL/6J mice

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes is associated with obesity, ectopic lipid accumulation and low-grade inflammation. A dysfunctional gut microbiota has been suggested to participate in the pathogenesis of the disease. Green tea is rich in polyphenols and has previously been shown to exert beneficial metabolic effects. Lactobacillus plantarum has the ability to metabolize phenolic acids. The health promoting effect of whole green tea powder as a prebiotic compound has not been thoroughly investigated previously. METHODS: C57BL/6J mice were fed a high-fat diet with or without a supplement of 4% green tea powder (GT), and offered drinking water supplemented with Lactobacillus plantarum DSM 15313 (Lp) or the combination of both (Lp + GT) for 22 weeks. Parameters related to obesity, glucose tolerance, lipid metabolism, hepatic steatosis and inflammation were examined. Small intestinal tissue and caecal content were collected for bacterial analysis. RESULTS: Mice in the Lp + GT group had significantly more Lactobacillus and higher diversity of bacteria in the intestine compared to both mice in the control and the GT group. Green tea strongly reduced the body fat content and hepatic triacylglycerol and cholesterol accumulation. The reduction was negatively correlated to the amount of Akkermansia and/or the total amount of bacteria in the small intestine. Markers of inflammation were reduced in the Lp + GT group compared to control. PLS analysis of correlations between the microbiota and the metabolic variables of the individual mice showed that relatively few components of the microbiota had high impact on the correlation model. CONCLUSIONS: Green tea powder in combination with a single strain of Lactobacillus plantarum was able to promote growth of Lactobacillus in the intestine and to attenuate high fat diet-induced inflammation. In addition, a component of the microbiota, Akkermansia, correlated negatively with several metabolic parameters known to be risk factors for the development of type 2 diabetes

Lawn as a cultural and ecological phenomenon: A conceptual framework for transdisciplinary research

AbstractGlobalisation and urbanisation are driving the worldwide homogenisation of urban landscapes. The flora and fauna of cities in different parts of the world are very similar, irrespective of geography and climate. One of the most powerful symbols of modern urban landscapes is the lawn. There are just a few management options for urban lawns, regardless of how they are used and where in the city they are situated. Today, lawns occupy much of the green open spaces in cities (70–75%) and are located in private front and rear gardens, public parks, cemeteries, golf courses and along roads. Most people in the Western world view lawns as a ‘natural’ and even compulsory element of the urban landscape, without questioning their social, symbolic, ecological or aesthetic values. In this article we discuss the conceptual framework and methodological approaches being used in an ongoing transdisciplinary collaboration project including stakeholders to study lawns in Sweden as a social and ecological phenomenon. The overall aim is to understand the role of lawns in sustainable urban planning, design and management. The transdisciplinary approach allows us to exchange knowledge between scientific disciplines in order to influence the studies within each subject throughout the project and to achieve a multi-dimensional understanding of the lawn as a phenomenon. The involvement and close collaboration of stakeholders in the project allows us to obtain first-hand information on planning issues connected to lawns and existing planning data from cities and to focus on true implementation aspects rather than just theoretical recommendations

Tillstånd och trender för arter och deras livsmiljöer

2015 års upplaga av den svenska rödlistan är den fjärde i ordningen. Den är baserad på IUCN:s rödlistningskriterier och revideras vart femte år. I rödlistan bedöms risken som enskilda arter av djur, växter och svampar löper att försvinna från Sverige. Bedömningen utförs av ArtDatabankens medarbetare i samverkan med över 100 externa experter, indelade i 14 expertkommittéer för olika organismgrupper. Under arbetet med 2015 års rödlista har tillstånd och trender bedömts för 21 600 arter och 1 318 lägre taxa (apomiktiska arter, underarter och varieteter), sammanlagt ca 22 900 taxa. Av de bedömda arterna klassificerades 2 029 som hotade (kategorierna CR, EN och VU) och 4 273 som rödlistade (inkluderar även kategorierna NT, RE och DD). Förhållandet mellan antalet rödlistade och antalet bedömda arter ar 19,8 %, vilket är ungefär samma värde som 2010 och 2005. I denna rapport jämförs antalet och andelen rödlistade arter mellan olika organismgrupper, biotoper, substrat och påverkansfaktorer. Texten ar indelad i en allmän del och åtta kapitel inriktade på olika landskapstyper. Landskapstyperna utgör en grov indelning av landets miljöer enligt följande kategorier: Skog, Jordbrukslandskap, Urbana miljöer, Fjäll, Våtmarker, Sötvatten, Havsstränder och Havsmiljöer. Skogen och jordbrukslandskapet är de artrikaste landskapstyperna med 1 800 respektive 1 400 arter som har en stark anknytning dit, och ytterligare flera hundra arter som förekommer där mer sporadiskt. De faktorer som påverkar flest rödlistade arter i Sverige är skogsavverkning och igenväxning, som båda utgör ett hot mot vardera ca 30 % av de rödlistade arterna. Avverkning minskar arealen av skog där naturliga strukturer och naturlig dynamik upprätthålls, och den orsakar därmed förlust av livsmiljöer. Igenväxning orsakas av ett antal faktorer, bland annat upphörande hävd (bete och slåtter), gödsling, trädplantering och brist på naturliga störningsregimer som t.ex. regelbundna översvämningar kring vattendrag och sjöar. Andra viktiga påverkansfaktorer är fiske, torrläggning av våtmarker, tillbakagång hos värdarter (främst alm och ask som drabbats av invasiva svampsjukdomar), klimatförändringar och konkurrens från invasiva arter. IUCN:s rödlisteindex beräknas för ett urval av de bedömda organismgrupperna. Rödlisteindex visar att skillnaderna mellan rödlistorna från 2000, 2005, 2010 och 2015 är små. Ett par undantag finns dock. Groddjur och stora däggdjur har fått en något förbättrad situation sedan 2000. Totalt förefaller det ändå som att trycket mot Sveriges artstock har förblivit relativt konstant under de senaste 15 åren

Bumble Bees (Bombus spp) along a Gradient of Increasing Urbanization

BACKGROUND: Bumble bees and other wild bees are important pollinators of wild flowers and several cultivated crop plants, and have declined in diversity and abundance during the last decades. The main cause of the decline is believed to be habitat destruction and fragmentation associated with urbanization and agricultural intensification. Urbanization is a process that involves dramatic and persistent changes of the landscape, increasing the amount of built-up areas while decreasing the amount of green areas. However, urban green areas can also provide suitable alternative habitats for wild bees. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We studied bumble bees in allotment gardens, i.e. intensively managed flower rich green areas, along a gradient of urbanization from the inner city of Stockholm towards more rural (periurban) areas. Keeping habitat quality similar along the urbanization gradient allowed us to separate the effect of landscape change (e.g. proportion impervious surface) from variation in habitat quality. Bumble bee diversity (after rarefaction to 25 individuals) decreased with increasing urbanization, from around eight species on sites in more rural areas to between five and six species in urban allotment gardens. Bumble bee abundance and species composition were most affected by qualities related to the management of the allotment areas, such as local flower abundance. The variability in bumble bee visits between allotment gardens was higher in an urban than in a periurban context, particularly among small and long-tongued bumble bee species. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that allotment gardens and other urban green areas can serve as important alternatives to natural habitats for many bumble bee species, but that the surrounding urban landscape influences how many species that will be present. The higher variability in abundance of certain species in the most urban areas may indicate a weaker reliability of the ecosystem service pollination in areas strongly influenced by human activity

Local management and landscape effects on diversity of bees, wasps and birds in urban green areas

Today almost all ecosystems on Earth are directly or indirectly influenced by human activity. Most species occur in ecosystems that are managed by humans and only a small fraction of biodiversity exists in protected areas. Therefore, human dominated areas must also be considered for conservation of biodiversity. I have studied the effect of urbanization and green area management on bumble bees, compared the effects of urbanization and agriculture on trap-nesting insects, and also included how management practices and landscape changes through urbanization affect birds. Further, the social drivers behind management practices of three different types of urban green areas (cemeteries, city parks and allotment gardens) were studied through interviews with managers. I also interviewed local managers of allotment gardens to get their perspective on the management. I found that diversity of bumble bees, trap-nesting insects, and birds decreased with urbanization, whereas bumble bee abundance and species composition, and bird species composition, were most affected by local management and habitat quality. Allotment gardens had much higher abundances of bumble bees than city parks and cemeteries. Management practices differed among the three types of green areas and were most affected by social organization, local ecological knowledge and sense of place of the managers. Both local ecological knowledge and sense of place were more pronounced among allotment gardeners. Among the allotment gardeners the most important social drivers were that the management was meaningful and very important for their well-being. To favour bumble bees, trap-nesting insects, and birds within cities it is important to improve the qualities of urban green areas as habitat for these species. Further, it is important to maintain a variety of green areas within the city, and to enhance the connectivity among green areas within the city and with habitats in the hinterlands. Planners should recognize urban green areas that are normally overlooked in green plans of the city, such as allotment gardens. These areas have a large potential for biodiversity conservation within cities

Measuring social-ecological dynamics behind the generation of ecosystem services

The generation of ecosystem services depends on both social and ecological features. Here we focus on management, its ecological consequences, and social drivers. Our approach combined (1) quantitative surveys of local species diversity and abundance of three functional groups of ecosystem service providers (pollinators, seed dispersers, and insectivores) with (2) qualitative studies of local management practices connected to these services and their underlying social mechanisms, i.e., institutions, local ecological knowledge, and a sense of place. It focused on the ecology of three types of green areas (allotment gardens, cemeteries, and city parks) in the city of Stockholm, Sweden. These are superficially similar but differ considerably in their management. Effects of the different practices could be seen in the three functional groups, primarily as a higher abundance of pollinators in the informally managed allotment gardens and as differences in the composition of seed dispersers and insectivores. Thus, informal management, which is normally disregarded by planning authorities, is important for ecosystem services in the urban landscape. Furthermore, we suggest that informal management has an important secondary function: It may be crucial during periods of instability and change as it is argued to promote qualities with potential for adaptation. Allotment gardeners seem to be the most motivated managers, something that is reflected in their deeper knowledge and can be explained by a sense of place and management institutions. We propose that co-management would be one possible way to infuse the same positive qualities into all management and that improved information exchange between managers would be one further step toward ecologically functional urban landscapes

Using citizen-reported data to predict distributions of two non-native insect species in Sweden

Information on exotic species' current and potential distribution is vital for decisions on management. Species distribution models can predict where colorizations are likely; however, the collection of species' distribution data over large areas in order to parameterize the models is costly. Therefore, modelling methods that are able to use low-cost information such as citizen-reported data are potentially very useful. In this study, we used the species habitat modelling program Maxent to predict the potential geographical distribution of two non-native insect species in Sweden, the butterfly Araschnia levana and the shield bug Graphosoma lineatum. For this we used citizen-reported presence-only open-access data in combination with climate and land cover data from national databases. Our models showed that presence of A. levana was best predicted by winter temperature and habitats related to open grasslands. For G. lineatum, summer temperature and open green areas, in both urban and rural areas were the best predictors for species presence. These models show that large areas of non-colonized potential habitats exist within Sweden. For A. levana these yet-to-be-colonized habitats are mainly in the south, while for G. lineatum these habitats occur in the south and along the Baltic Sea coast. Comparisons of temporal patterns in species reporting for A. levana and G. lineatum to similar insects with known stable populations revealed large 'willingness to report' effects that could potentially bias range expansion rates. Once corrected for, current distribution expansion rates were estimated as 1.9 km/yr and 1.07 km/yr respectively. The study shows the use of public reports in conservation science as a way of gathering species information over large areas. This increases the data sources available for researchers to predict the distribution of species and have the additional value of the involvement of the public in conservation efforts