Maintaining Indiana\u27s Urban Green Spaces: A Report from the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment

Cities use green infrastructure, including forests, community gardens, lawns and prairies, to improve the quality of life for residents, promote sustainability and mitigate the effects of climate change. These and other kinds of green spaces can decrease energy consumption, increase carbon storage and improve water quality, among other benefits. More than 70 percent of Hoosiers reside in urban settings, and green infrastructure can provide significant economic advantages. In Indianapolis, for example, urban forests provide a $10 million annual benefit through stormwater control, carbon sequestration, energy reduction and air pollution filtration. However, just like human-built infrastructure, urban green infrastructure will be subject to the impacts of a changing climate, and its management must be considered as Indiana gets warmer and precipitation patterns change. This report from the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment (IN CCIA) applies climate projections for the state to explore the potential threats to urban green infrastructure, and considers potential management implications and opportunities

Implications of climate change for managing urban green infrastructure in Indiana

Urban areas around the world are increasingly investing in networks of urban forests, gardens, and other forms of green infrastructure for its many benefits, including enhanced livability, sustainability, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Proactive planning for climate change requires anticipating potential climate change impacts to green infrastructure and adjusting management strategies accordingly. We apply climate change projections for Indiana to assess the possible impacts of climate change on common forms of urban green infrastructure, and identify management implications. Projected changes in Indiana’s temperature and precipitation could pose numerous management challenges for managing urban green infrastructure, including water stress; pests, weeds, disease and invasive species; flooding; frost risk; and timing of maintenance. Meeting these challenges will involve managing for key characteristics of resilient systems (e.g. biodiversity, redundancy) as well as more specific strategies addressing particular climate changes (e.g. shifting species compositions, building soil water holding capacity). Climate change also presents opportunities to promote urban green infrastructure. Unlike human built infrastructure, green infrastructure is conducive to grassroots stewardship and governance, relieving climate change-related strains on municipal budgets. Many online resources for adapting urban green infrastructure to climate change are already available, and emerging research will enhance understanding of best management practices

From Old Northwest Territory to New Entrepreneurial State

This project proposes to investigate the unique combination of choice and accident that has shaped the distinctive or common culture of neighboring states (illinois and Indiana) over two centuriesOpe

From Old Northwest Territory to New Entrepreneurial State

This project proposes to investigate the unique combination of choice and accident that has shaped the distinctive or common culture of neighboring states (illinois and Indiana) over two centuriesOpe