Eco-system Services and Integrated Urban Planning. A Multi-criteria Assessment Framework for Ecosystem Urban Forestry Projects

In the world the cities development must take place through urban sustainable interventions. This aims at promoting city economic growth, protecting citizens health and safeguarding natural and environmental components. In this perspective, forestry initiatives, raise the environmental, social and cultural quality level, as well as the income capacity of territory urban portions in joint manner. These are multiple benefits, noted as eco-systemic services, which provide regulation, support and recreational activities for population. However, the urban interventions including, also and not only, forestry—definable as Ecosystem Integrated Forestry Projects (EIFP)—are less considered as one of the main action modalities to apply within urbanized areas. This is due to the complexity both to jointly evaluate eco-system services produced by EIFP, both to develop initiatives in urban areas and provide services considering not only specific dimensional standards, but also the multidimensional effects that single initiative generates within urban context of reference. Thus, an economic evaluation methodology is defined according to multi-criteria logic based on the system of functional relationships between objectives, targets and performance indicators. The proposed methodology helps to define logical-mathematical models able to answer different evaluation questions related to EIFP. The construction of such models can be made using Linear Programming algorithms as tools for expressing functional relations between elements characterizing the problem to be solved

Nonstationary Precipitation Intensity-Duration-Frequency Curves for Infrastructure Design in a Changing Climate

Extreme climatic events are growing more severe and frequent, calling into question how prepared our infrastructure is to deal with these changes. Current infrastructure design is primarily based on precipitation Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) curves with the so-called stationary assumption, meaning extremes will not vary significantly over time. However, climate change is expected to alter climatic extremes, a concept termed nonstationarity. Here we show that given nonstationarity, current IDF curves can substantially underestimate precipitation extremes and thus, they may not be suitable for infrastructure design in a changing climate. We show that a stationary climate assumption may lead to underestimation of extreme precipitation by as much as 60%, which increases the flood risk and failure risk in infrastructure systems. We then present a generalized framework for estimating nonstationary IDF curves and their uncertainties using Bayesian inference. The methodology can potentially be integrated in future design concepts

Perceptions of wood in rivers and challenges for stream restoration in the United States

This article reports a study of the public perception of large wood in rivers and streams in the United States. Large wood is an element of freshwater aquatic ecosystems that has attracted much scientific interest in recent years because of its value in biological and geomorphological processes. At the heart of the issue is the nature of the relationship between scientific recognition of the ecological and geomorphological benefits of wood in rivers, management practices utilizing wood for river remediation progress, and public perceptions of in-channel wood. Surveys of students' perceptions of riverscapes with and without large wood in the states of Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Oregon, and Texas suggest that many individuals in the United States adhere to traditionally negative views of wood. Except for students in Oregon, most respondents considered photographs of riverscapes with wood to be less aesthetically pleasing and needing more improvement than rivers without wood. Analysis of reasons given for improvement needs suggest that Oregon students are concerned with improving channels without wood for fauna habitat, whereas respondents elsewhere focused on the need for cleaning wood-rich channels for flood risk management. These results underscore the importance of public education to increase awareness of the geomorphological and ecological significance of wood in stream systems. This awareness should foster more positive attitudes toward wood. An integrated program of research, education, and policy is advocated to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and public perception for effective management and restoration of river systems with wood