Mathematical modeling of an urban pigeon population subject to local management strategies

International audienceThis paper addresses the issue of managing urban pigeon population using some possible actions that makes it reach a density target with respect to socio-ecological constraints. A mathematical model describing the dynamic of this population is introduced. This model incorporates the effect of some regulatory actions on the dynamic of this population. We then used mathematical viability theory, which provides a framework to study compatibility between dynamics and state constraints. The viability study shows when and how it is possible to regulate the pigeon population with respect to the constraints

The geographic scale of genetic differentiation in the feral pigeon (Columba livia): implications for management

Understanding the genetic connectivity among populations of spreading and problematic species is important to determine the spatial scale at which management actions need to be conducted. The feral pigeon (Columba livia) is considered to be a pest or an invasive species in many cities around the world, leading to frequent attempts to control its populations. In the present study, we used microsatellites markers to investigate the relationship between genetic structure and geographic distance among feral pigeons from different locations, and the patterns of genetic differentiation at two geographic scales, within and between urbanised areas. A Mantel’s test revealed that the levels of genetic differentiation increased significantly with the geographic distance separating the locations. We also found that neighbouring locations within urban areas are usually not genetically differentiated, suggesting that all of the feral pigeons in an urban zone constitute a single management unit. Our results suggest that in large, interconnected cities control by culling at the scale of a neighbourhood, in addition of generating ethical issues, will not be effective to decrease pigeon population sizes

Explorando la relación ser humano-naturaleza: agricultura urbana, ciencias de la conservación y ciudad

La tendencia dominante de las ciencias de la conservación y del urbanismo, ha buscado detener el deterioro ambiental estableciendo una base ética de actitudes consideradas apropiadas para conservar una naturaleza particular. A través del estudio de 9 jardines comunitarios parisinos, mostramos los límites que muestra esta aproximación al limitar la interacción ser humano-naturaleza. Tomando en cuenta subjetividades ciudadanas, brindamos perspectivas para nutrir las ciencias de la conservación y repensar las ciudades, en vista a alimentar la reflexión sobre el desafío global mayor que es la conservación de la naturaleza

Assessing the emergence of pro-biodiversity practices in citizen scientists of a backyard butterfly survey

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Urban Biodiversity, City-Dwellers and Conservation: How Does an Outdoor Activity Day Affect the Human-Nature Relationship?

Urban conservation education programs aim to increase knowledge and awareness towards biodiversity and to change attitudes and behaviour towards the environment. However, to date, few urban conservation education studies have evaluated to what extent these programs have managed to achieve their goals. In this study, we experimentally explored the influence of an urban conservation activity day on individual knowledge, awareness and actions towards biodiversity, in both the short and longer term

Science fiction blockbuster movies – A problem or a path to urban greenery?

Urban greenery in cities is important for human health, for resilient and sustainable cities, and for flora and fauna. The importance of urban greenery is highlighted in numerous global, national and local policies. However, the rapid increase of urban sprawl and densification globally has reduced access, availability and quality of urban greenery. According to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), cities “do not know how to incorporate nature and nature contribution to people into city planning”. Perhaps this limitation is because urban planners, architects, landscape architects (urban designers) and urban ecologist (nature conservationist) view nature in cities differently. In addition, few studies on cities focus on nature and ecology. In this paper, we highlight the need to develop new designs and nature conservation approaches that promote biodiversity in cities. Science fiction (SF) and science have a history of inspiring each other and inspiring innovative solutions. For example, SF blockbusters have affected people’s engagement in climate change. Here, we evaluate how 44 of the most viewed American SF movies depict nature in cities, including diversity of species and how characters interact with nature. We reveal that these movies tend to ignore nature in their depictions of future cities. If nature is depicted in SF it is very similar to contemporary cities with monoculture lawns and ornamental gardens. Moreover, SF movies do not depict innovative ways of including nature in cityscapes, they illustrate unrealistic settings without basic ecological functions (e.g., pollinators), and their characters do not interact with nature when nature is depicted or only frame the scene as a façade. We suggest that urban designers, urban ecologists, and SF artists collaborate to imagine how to integrate nature and biodiversity into the depictions of future cities, a strategy that could help change norms about urban greenery

Le souci de la nature: Apprendre, inventer, gouverner

La nature nous relie les uns aux autres et à l’ensemble du vivant.Mais quelles expériences avons-nous aujourd’hui de la nature ?Celles-ci, ou leur absence, façonnent-elles nos façons de vivre et de penser, d’agir et de gouverner ? Existe-t-il une valeur ajoutée de l’expérience de nature pour l’éthique et la politique ? Il est urgent de préserver un « souci de la nature » qui soit au cœur des institutions, des politiques publiques, de nos dynamiques de transmission et d’apprentissage.Cet ouvrage, s’affranchissant des frontières disciplinaires, interroge, de l’enfance à l’âge vieillissant, de l’individu aux différents collectifs qui organisent nos vies, la spécificité des expériences de nature, et de leur éventuelle extinction, l’hypothèse de l’amnésie environnementale, ou à l’inverse les nouveaux modes de partage et de reconnexion avec la nature, et leur continuum avec notre humanisme.Une invitation à inventer un mode de partage. (Résumé éditeur

Penser la gouvernance de la biodiversité à travers l’analyse des dynamiques socio-écologiques

Cet article propose des pistes pour repenser la gouvernance de la nature – notamment dans les espaces urbains à partir de l’étude des différentes représentations de la nature, de leur construction sociale et de la manière dont elles articulent les rapports de force entre acteurs. En effet, les nouvelles politiques d’aménagement favorables à la biodiversité heurtent les représentations socialement construites pendant ces dernières décennies qui considèrent certains espaces (la ville) comme totalement dédiés aux humains, ce qui conduit souvent à des conflits. Nous plaidons ici pour l’analyse critique des processus sociétaux menant à ces conceptions conflictuelles de la nature à travers la prise en considération des dynamiques interactives entre les acteurs humains et non-humains du système. Ces recherches pourraient participer à la résolution de conflits socio-écologiques potentiels.This paper addresses the evolution of nature conceptions in the last two decades as a response to the global ecological crisis and the parallel redefinition of landscape and society-environment relations it implies. Contemporary scholars now increasingly emphasize that natural conditions are not separate from social processes. Thinking nature and human-environment interdependencies in these novel terms involved in return a fundamental reconsideration and reorganization of the physical and imagined landscapes, as well as a redefinition of the relations between nature and its human and non-human components. We then further proceed to explain current conservation disputes based on these conceptual refashioning and illustrate how social conflicts develop out of the diversity of nowadays co-existing nature understandings. Former perspectives may collide with institutional efforts of urban nature restoration which results in increased human-biodiversity encounters. Similarly, in the context of environmental conservation there can be fierce local resistance to the implementation of environmental policies as coexisting discourses about nature may give conflicting protection prescriptions for different kinds of biodiversity. In conclusion we discuss how conservation and governance models could be better informed by the clarification of nature representations and values. We further argue for the critical analysis of the societal processes shaping conflicting nature conceptions, by considering the interactive dynamics between all human and non-human stakeholders of the system, as research priorities to resolve potential social-ecological conflicts

Biodiversité, services écosystémiques et bien-être

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