Urban vacant lots : ecological quality and social opportunities in Baltimore, Maryland

Dissertation supervisor: Dr. Charles Nilon.Includes vita.Urban vacant lots are a ubiquitous feature in cities worldwide and quickly are becoming a topic of discussion regarding their ecological and social impacts. Vacant lots are typically viewed as discarded spaces within the city and locations for crime, trash, and overgrown vegetation. I suggest, however, that vacant lots are important informal greenspaces for bird habitat and potential locations for social cohesion. I visited 150 vacant lots over three years in Baltimore, Maryland to understand the following objectives: 1) assess the current context and uses of vacant lots, 2) determine the quality of these informal greenspaces as bird habitat, and 3) determine the social implications of vacant lots via the community's perception, and evaluation of possible environmental justice links to vacant lot distribution and composition. In order to determine habitat quality of vacant lots, I conducted community multivariate analyses, N-mixture abundance modeling, nest success modeling, and a body condition analysis for common songbirds. To describe the social implications of vacant lots, I distributed a perception survey to local residents, in addition to a spatial analysis to determine in which neighborhoods vacant lots are clustered and the natural features of such lots. I found that vacant lots have a high variation in their setting and natural features, which provided multiple opportunities for their current and future uses for local residents. Vacant lots also provided important bird habitat features. Specifically, vacant lots within areas of high tree cover and those with closed canopies best supported bird communities and populations, while lots with high shrub densities best supported nesting success. Socially, residents preferred vacant lots with more green features and clear management efforts; and vacant lots were found more often in Hispanic neighborhoods, while lots in poor, African American neighborhoods had fewer green features. Overall, I found that vacant lots offer enormous potential for supporting native bird communities and they are also important spaces for residents within their neighborhoods. Management efforts should thus continue to promote diverse bird communities along with ways to satisfy the public's needs. Across my studies, I would recommend management efforts within vacant lots to focus on providing large areas of open space for perceived safety and neatness, planting trees throughout the site, and incorporating areas with dense shrub vegetation. These actions could have the greatest impacts for vacant lots within neighborhoods with high Hispanic, African American, and young family populations, as those groups were disproportionately exposed to more vacant lots with fewer green features.Includes bibliographical references

Pittsburg State University Goes Native: A Study on the Resources and Wildlife Attraction of a Native Pollinator Garden on a College Campus

Native pollinator gardens benefit urban communities by promoting pollination and providing support for native biodiversity conservation. Urban green spaces encourage social and physical activity, promote education, and positively influence public health in urban dwellers. Many studies have been conducted in order to fully under­stand the importance of native species reintroduction. The continuous research in this area of urban ecology can lead to better conservation and sustainability practices. This paper examines what kind of resources (i.e. costs, plants, area) are required to create a pollinator/native garden on a college campus and what kind of wildlife can be attracted by the implementation of a native patch. The study implements methods of analysis of quantitative data on space area and price as well as qualitative data on plant and animal species. The results of this research on plants native to Kansas and the properties of plants in relation to wildlife attraction should conclude that im­plementing a native garden will attract a variety of wildlife species and promote pollination as well as positively influence public outdoor interaction and education on conservation

Camera Trap Study of the Mammal Communities Across an Urbanization Gradient

Urbanization impacts mammal communities due to habitat removal, resource abundance distribution, and the introduction of exotic species. Other studies have found that wildlife species richness is greatest at intermediate urbanization, while abundance is greatest in cities. This study was done to explore the mammal community across an urban to rural gradient in Pittsburg. Using motion-sensor camera traps, we documented small mammal pres­ence for 24 hours a day, finding patterns in mammal abundance, species richness, and community composition. Our hypothesis was that we will observe trends in mammal communities similar to other cities. Over six weeks, we placed two cameras in either a rural and semi-rural location, or an urban and semi-urban location, rotating their placement each week. We also recorded tracks and scat within the study location in a 15-minute survey. So far, we have collected data on six species over 42 trap nights. The urban environment had a much greater spe­cies abundance and richness than the rural locations. The urban mammal community was dominated by urban adaptor and exploiter species, such as the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) and house cat (Felis catus). There have been no mammal pictures captured at the rural, semi-rural, and semi-urban areas, possibly due to inclement weather. We are continuing to sample these locations. This study will help us determine the effects of urbanization on mammals and what steps we will need to take to improve urban biodiversity

Climate Change Impacts on Bird Communities Vary Throughout Cities in Kansas

It is important to study climate change’s impacts on biodiversity in order to find a solution before the effects on wildlife are irreversible. Our research objective for this project was to determine if climate change affected long-term bird trends in urban and rural areas throughout Kansas. Our hypothesis was that climate change will decrease bird abundance and species richness because altered climate patterns like storms, droughts, and heat waves, may cause a decrease in suitable habitat. We would expect these trends to be strongest in cities, due to the urban heat island effect. The methods used for this project included downloading Bird Breeding Survey (BBS) data and average temperature for the month of June for five locations throughout Kansas. We collected data from 1970 to 2015. To determine the relationship between temperature and bird abundance and species richness, we conducted correlation analyses. All locations’ bird communities had variable relationships with tem­perature. Most cities had weak negative relationships between temperature and species richness and abundance. However, one rural town, Kanopolis, had a strong positive correlation between temperature and bird abundance. We also found differences in community composition across urban and rural BBS sampling locations. For exam­ple, we found more urban adaptor and exploiter species, like European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and house sparrows (Passer domesticus) in Olathe, as compared to urban avoider species in rural towns, like eastern mead­owlarks (Sturnella magna). Overall, climate change impacts might vary throughout different locations due to levels of urbanization, habitat availability, and other abiotic factors

Mammal communities in Kansas mined lands: Second year of Snapshot USA data collection

Mammal communities in Kansas mined lands: Second year of Snapshot USA data collectio

Habitat Ecology, Species Presense, and Public Perception of Three Declining Bat Species in Southeastern Missouri

The populations of three bat species, the Northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), tricolored bat (Per­imyotis subflavus), and little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), have declined in southeastern Missouri since the in­troduction of white-nose syndrome (WNS) in 2012. The current maternity habitat of the remaining populations in the counties of Shannon, Carter, and Reynolds are unknown. In order to provide protection and conservation for the species, it is critical that their maternity roosts be identified. To achieve these goals, we will incorporate bat survey tools such as acoustic surveys, acoustic lures, and mist netting within the three counties to determine spe­cies occupancy and roost locations. During our pilot season in 2018, we were unable to capture our target species but acoustically recorded likely P. subflavus echolocation calls. The next two summers of research will occur within the same counties but include a larger survey area. Beginning in 2019, we will assess the perceived attitudes of bats based on the results of a survey given to local citizens within the study areas to bolster bat conservation and education

Human dimensions survey of park visitors at the Southeast Kansas Nature Center

The management of our natural resources is often a complex task, as many actions have direct or indirect human consequences. Not only do natural resource managers have to evaluate species’ needs and the quality and availability of habitats, the human dimension of the resource needs to be integrated into planning and management efforts. As our society becomes more diverse, natural resource agencies should understand stakeholder values and behaviors in order to manage the resource in an informed, adaptive manner. In collaboration with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, and Parks (KDWP), we developed a survey to assess the demographics and environmental values of visitors to the Southeast Kansas Nature Center in Galena, KS. The Center and surrounding parkland provide a diverse array of resources to park visitors, threatened and endangered herpetofauna, and rich bird community. Data will be collected by students in the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Management class at Pittsburg State University. We will use a snowball sampling methodology to distribute an online survey to adult park visitors. We anticipate presenting data on how park visitors found out about the Center, how visitors utilize the park, their interests in the environment, and how they perceive various aspects of nature. Data will be used by the director of the SE KS Nature Center to inform their park management objectives and actions, promotional materials, and relationships with park visitors

Balancing Urban Biodiversity Needs and Resident Preferences for Vacant Lot Management

Urban vacant lots are often a contentious feature in cities, seen as overgrown, messy eyesores that plague neighborhoods. We propose a shift in this perception to locations of urban potential, because vacant lots may serve as informal greenspaces that maximize urban biodiversity while satisfying residents’ preferences for their design and use. Our goal was to assess what kind of vacant lots are ecologically valuable by assessing their biotic contents and residents’ preferences within a variety of settings. We surveyed 150 vacant lots throughout Baltimore, Maryland for their plant and bird communities, classified the lot’s setting within the urban matrix, and surveyed residents. Remnant vacant lots had greater vegetative structure and bird species richness as compared to other lot origins, while vacant lot settings had limited effects on their contents. Residents preferred well-maintained lots with more trees and less artificial cover, support of which may increase local biodiversity in vacant lots. Collectively, we propose that vacant lots with a mixture of remnant and planted vegetation can act as sustainable urban greenspaces with the potential for some locations to enhance urban tree cover and bird habitat, while balancing the needs and preferences of city residents

The CHC22 Clathrin-GLUT4 Transport Pathway Contributes to Skeletal Muscle Regeneration

Mobilization of the GLUT4 glucose transporter from intracellular storage vesicles provides a mechanism for insulin-responsive glucose import into skeletal muscle. In humans, clathrin isoform CHC22 participates in formation of the GLUT4 storage compartment in skeletal muscle and fat. CHC22 function is limited to retrograde endosomal sorting and is restricted in its tissue expression and species distribution compared to the conserved CHC17 isoform that mediates endocytosis and several other membrane traffic pathways. Previously, we noted that CHC22 was expressed at elevated levels in regenerating rat muscle. Here we investigate whether the GLUT4 pathway in which CHC22 participates could play a role in muscle regeneration in humans and we test this possibility using CHC22-transgenic mice, which do not normally express CHC22. We observed that GLUT4 expression is elevated in parallel with that of CHC22 in regenerating skeletal muscle fibers from patients with inflammatory and other myopathies. Regenerating human myofibers displayed concurrent increases in expression of VAMP2, another regulator of GLUT4 transport. Regenerating fibers from wild-type mouse skeletal muscle injected with cardiotoxin also showed increased levels of GLUT4 and VAMP2. We previously demonstrated that transgenic mice expressing CHC22 in their muscle over-sequester GLUT4 and VAMP2 and have defective GLUT4 trafficking leading to diabetic symptoms. In this study, we find that muscle regeneration rates in CHC22 mice were delayed compared to wild-type mice, and myoblasts isolated from these mice did not proliferate in response to glucose. Additionally, CHC22-expressing mouse muscle displayed a fiber type switch from oxidative to glycolytic, similar to that observed in type 2 diabetic patients. These observations implicate the pathway for GLUT4 transport in regeneration of both human and mouse skeletal muscle, and demonstrate a role for this pathway in maintenance of muscle fiber type. Extrapolating these findings, CHC22 and GLUT4 can be considered markers of muscle regeneration in humans