Connectivity and ecological networks : Technical Information Note 01/2016

This Information Note introduces connectivity and ecological networks within the context of landscape planning, design and management and should assist discussions members typically hold with professional ecologists

The role of managed natural spaces in connecting people with urban nature : a comparison of local user, researcher, and provider views

Increasing evidence of the health and wellbeing benefits of urban natural spaces has resulted in policy goals to increase their use. Making these spaces accessible and attractive to potential users is fundamental to achieving these goals since a mismatch between design and use can mean that the potential benefits of these spaces are not fully realised. Yet there has been limited investigation of whether the ambitions of providers align with local user preferences. Using a qualitative approach, we combined interviews of providers and researchers with focus groups of local users to reflect on the provision and use of urban natural spaces in the UK, and analysed the resulting transcripts using framework analysis. Three overarching themes were identified: (i) the role of managed environments in connecting people with nature; (ii) built features as facilitators of connection with nature; and (iii) challenges to connecting with nature arising from built features and the management of natural spaces. Although there were points of agreement between the stakeholder groups, we identified some key differences. Local users expressed a preference for both wilder and more formal urban natural spaces and opposed the removal of built features significant to the local history of the area. Whilst researchers recognised these views, providers were not aware of local user preferences for wilder spaces or the extent that local users considered the local heritage and its artefacts important. Understanding these differing perspectives on local natural spaces is important for maximising the value of these spaces to provide co-benefits for the environment and health

Untangling perceptions around indicators for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services

Biodiversity indicators are commonly monitored to ensure the sustainable management of ecosystems and the conservation of multiple ecosystem goods and services. Indicators are important for tracking the ecological outcomes of conservation programmes, but they are also important in a wider context such as monitoring progress towards broader sustainability goals and serving to generate public support and funding for these programmes. Little attention is usually given to the social and cultural dimensions of biodiversity indicators. In this paper, using a discrete choice experiment, we compare the impact of within-species, between-species and within-ecosystem level biodiversity indicators on public preferences for conservation programmes in Spanish pine forests. Specifically we show that preferences towards conservation programmes are significantly affected by the interaction between indicators and their perceived role in delivering ecosystem services. Genetic variation, the number of invasive species and keystone elements were associated equally frequently with provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services, whereas population structure, the number of native species and the area of land conserved were more variable in how they were associated with different ecosystem services. Our results highlight the importance of considering the perceived social relevance of indicators alongside their ecological suitability in the design of conservation programmes and monitoring

ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE IN MEXICO CITY: A SPATIAL-QUANTILE APPROACH

The majority of studies on environmental justice show that groups with lower socio-economic status are more likely to face higher levels of air pollution. Most of these studies have assumed simple, linear associations between pollution and deprived groups. However, empirical evidence suggests that health impacts are greater at high pollution concentrations. In this paper, we investigate the associations of extreme levels of particulate matter up to 10 micrometres in size (PM10) and ozone with deprived conditions, children and elderly people at sub-municipal level in Mexico City, using Áreas Geoestadisticas Básicas (AGEBs) as the unit of analysis. We used spatial quantile regression to analyse the association for each quantile of the range of pollution values, while also addressing spatial autocorrelation issues. Across AGEBs, higher levels of PM10 are significantly positively associated with deprived economic conditions and elderly people. These results demonstrate clear variations in the associations between PM10 and vulnerable groups across the ranges of these pollutants. Ozone levels are positively associated with higher numbers of children. The findings reflect differences in the source and degradation of these pollutants and provide important evidence for decision-makers addressing air pollution inequalities and injustice in Mexico City and other cities

Generative models of network dynamics provide insight into the effects of trade on endemic livestock disease

We develop and apply analytically tractable generative models of livestock movements at national scale. These go beyond current models through mechanistic modelling of heterogeneous trade partnership network dynamics and the trade events that occur on them. Linking resulting animal movements to disease transmission between farms yields analytical expressions for the basic reproduction number R0. We show how these novel modelling tools enable systems approaches to disease control, using R0 to explore impacts of changes in trading practices on between-farm prevalence levels. Using the Scottish cattle trade network as a case study, we show our approach captures critical complexities of real-world trade networks at the national scale for a broad range of endemic diseases. Changes in trading patterns that minimise disruption to business by maintaining in-flow of animals for each individual farm reduce R0, with the largest reductions for diseases that are most challenging to eradicate. Incentivising high-risk farms to adopt such changes exploits `scale-free' properties of the system and is likely to be particularly effective in reducing national livestock disease burden and incursion risk. Encouragingly, gains made by such targeted modification of trade practices scale much more favourably than comparably targeted improvements to more commonly adopted farm-level biosecurity

Willingness to pay for policies to reduce future deaths from climate change: evidence from a British survey

Objectives: Without urgent action, climate change will put the health of future populations at risk. Policies to reduce these risks require support from today's populations; however, there are few studies assessing public support for such policies. Willingness to pay (WtP), a measure of the maximum a person is prepared to pay for a defined benefit, is widely used to assess public support for policies. We used WtP to investigate whether there is public support to reduce future health risks from climate change and if individual and contextual factors affect WtP, including perceptions of the seriousness of the impacts of climate change. Study design: A cross-sectional British survey. Methods: Questions about people's WtP for policies to reduce future climate change-related deaths and their perceptions of the seriousness of climate change impacts were included in a British survey of adults aged 16 years and over (n=1859). We used contingent valuation, a survey-based method for eliciting WtP for outcomes like health which do not have a direct market value. Results: The majority (61%) were willing to pay to reduce future increases in climate change-related deaths in Britain. Those regarding climate change impacts as not at all serious were less willing to pay than those regarding the impacts as extremely serious (OR 0.04, 95% CI 0.02-0.09). Income was also related to WtP; the highest-income group were twice as likely to be willing to pay as the lowest-income group (OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.40-3.29). Conclusions: There was public support for policies to address future health impacts of climate change; the level of support varied with people's perceptions of the seriousness of these impacts and their financial circumstances. Our study adds to evidence that health, including the health of future populations, is an outcome that people value and suggests that framing climate change around such values may help to accelerate action