Mapping the Design Process for Urban Ecology Researchers

The integration of research into the design process is an opportunity to build ecologically informed urban design solutions. To date, designers have traditionally relied on environmental consultants to provide the best available science; however, serious gaps in our understanding of urban ecosystems remain. To evaluate ecosystem processes and services for sustainable urban design and to further advance our understanding of social-ecological processes within the urban context, we need to integrate primary research into the urban design process. In this article, we develop a road map for such a synthesis. Supporting our proposals by case studies, we identify strategic entry points at which urban ecology researchers can integrate their work into the design process

Ecological engineering practices for the reduction of excess nitrogen in human-influenced landscapes: A guide for watershed managers

Excess nitrogen (N) in freshwater systems, estuaries, and coastal areas has well-documented deleterious effects on ecosystems. Ecological engineering practices (EEPs) may be effective at decreasing nonpoint source N leaching to surface and groundwater. However, few studies have synthesized current knowledge about the functioning principles, performance, and cost of common EEPs used to mitigate N pollution at the watershed scale. Our review describes seven EEPs known to decrease N to help watershed managers select the most effective techniques from among the following approaches: advanced-treatment septic systems, low-impact development (LID) structures, permeable reactive barriers, treatment wetlands, riparian buffers, artificial lakes and reservoirs, and stream restoration. Our results show a broad range of N-removal effectiveness but suggest that all techniques could be optimized for N removal by promoting and sustaining conditions conducive to biological transformations (e.g., denitrification). Generally, N-removal efficiency is particularly affected by hydraulic residence time, organic carbon availability, and establishment of anaerobic conditions. There remains a critical need for systematic empirical studies documenting N-removal efficiency among EEPs and potential environmental and economic tradeoffs associated with the widespread use of these techniques. Under current trajectories of N inputs, land use, and climate change, ecological engineering alone may be insufficient to manage N in many watersheds, suggesting that N-pollution source prevention remains a critical need. Improved understanding of N-removal effectiveness and modeling efforts will be critical in building decision support tools to help guide the selection and application of best EEPs for N management. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York (outside the USA)

Challenges to incorporating spatially and temporally explicit phenomena (hotspots and hot moments) in denitrification models

Denitrification, the anaerobic reduction of nitrogen oxides to nitrogenous gases, is an extremely challenging process to measure and model. Much of this challenge arises from the fact that small areas (hotspots) and brief periods (hot moments) frequently account for a high percentage of the denitrification activity that occurs in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In this paper, we describe the prospects for incorporating hotspot and hot moment phenomena into denitrification models in terrestrial soils, the interface between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and in aquatic ecosystems. Our analysis suggests that while our data needs are strongest for hot moments, the greatest modeling challenges are for hotspots. Given the increasing availability of high temporal frequency climate data, models are promising tools for evaluating the importance of hot moments such as freeze-thaw cycles and drying/rewetting events. Spatial hotspots are less tractable due to our inability to get high resolution spatial approximations of denitrification drivers such as carbon substrate. Investigators need to consider the types of hotspots and hot moments that might be occurring at small, medium, and large spatial scales in the particular ecosystem type they are working in before starting a study or developing a new model. New experimental design and heterogeneity quantification tools can then be applied from the outset and will result in better quantification and more robust and widely applicable denitrification models. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

Planning for the Future of Urban Biodiversity: A Global Review of City-Scale Initiatives

Cities represent considerable opportunities for forwarding global biodiversity and sustainability goals. We developed key attributes for conserving biodiversity and for ecosystem services that should be included in urban-planning documents and reviewed 135 plans from 40 cities globally. The most common attributes in city plans were goals for habitat conservation, air and water quality, cultural ecosystem services, and ecological connectivity. Few plans included quantitative targets. This lack of measurable targets may render plans unsuccessful for an actionable approach to local biodiversity conservation. Although most cities include both biodiversity and ecosystem services, each city tends to focus on one or the other. Comprehensive planning for biodiversity should include the full range of attributes identified, but few cities do this, and the majority that do are mandated by local, regional, or federal governments to plan specifically for biodiversity conservation. This research provides planning recommendations for protecting urban biodiversity based on ecological knowledge