URBAN ECOSYSTEMS &
BIODIVERSITY IN EUROPE &
NORTH AMERICA
By Richard C. Smardon, Ph.D.
Faculty of Environmental Studies
SUNY College of Environmental Science
& Forestry, Syracuse, New York
General schedule for the day - Oct. 21,2003
• 08:15-08:45
• 08:45-10:20
•
•
•
•
•
08:45-09:00
09:00-09:15
09:15-09:30
09:30-09:45
09:45-10:00
• 10:00-10:15
• 10:15-10:25
Intro, organization, last class summary
Lecture on conservation diversity &
urban ecosystems
Definitions and principles
International urban biodiversity
European biodiversity programs
North American biodiversity “
Principles of urban ecosystem
conservation & biodiversity
Effective public participation
Summary
Schedule for the day - Oct. 21, 2003
• 10:45-13:50
• 12:30-13:30
• 13:30-15:15
• 15:15-16:15
Distribution of tasks, articles + papers
for students - Students work in groups:
Part 1: Development of restoration
goals and functions for local stream
Lunch
Students work in groups on Part II:
Development of water quality
treatment & habitat restoration
alternatives for same waterway
Presentation of results
Urban Ecosystems Overview
Definitions & Principles
• 1970’s
early work on urban vegetation & wildlife
» US Forest Service & NE US universities
• 1980’s
shift to systems perspective
» J. Forester and H. Odum systems analysis
• 1990’s
large scale biodiversity assessment
» In Europe w/agenda 21 & US with LTER
• Radical idea > combing people within ecosystems
–
–
–
–
Human activity concentrated in an urban cluster
Humans as species dominating earth’s ecosystems
Model of ecology must include human impact
Understanding such processes= utility to problem solving
Set or Urban Ecosystem protocols
• Biophysical drivers
– Flow of energy
– Cycling of matter
– Flow of information
• Socio-economic drivers
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Information flow
Cultural values/institutions
Economic systems
Power hierarchies
Land use & management
Demographic patterns
Designed & built environ.
• Patterns/processes
–
–
–
–
–
Primary production
Populations
Organic matter
Nutrients
disturbance
International Biodiversity Programs
• Sustainable cities under Agenda 21
– Status of LA21 Implementation :
• Europe 5292 local/36 countries
• N. America 101 local authorities/2countries
–
–
–
–
Best practices data base in UN Habitat program- 40 cities
Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) - 500 cities
Urban Environmental Forum- UN Settlements Program
WHO’s healthy cities program - 1500 cities
• Assessing urban biodiversity
• Urban biosphere Reserves
• Green space protection and function
Assessing Urban Biodiversity
• International Convention on Biological Diversity
– http://www.unep.org/themes/biodiversity/
• As implemented thru Chapter 28 of Local Agenda 21
– Articulates the process by which local plans are developed
– Does not specify what local plans should include
– Process oriented > development of local plans thru local needs &
concerns thru participatory processes
– Recognizes the potential for diversity in action plans developed
locally
Urban Biosphere Reserves?
• Urban working group to examine feasibility
– By looking at existing examples:
•
•
•
•
Green belts around Rio de Janeiro
Cerrado Biosphere Reserve around Brasilia
Cordilla Volconica Central Biosphere Reserve near San Jose, CR
Alto Manzanaris Biosphere Reserve near Madrid
– By looking at scenarios
• City as biosphere reserve
• Greenbelt biosphere reserve around the city
• Mixture of 1 and 2 above
Potential Urban Biosphere Reserves
• New York City
Metropolitan area
• Being studied by the
NY Urban Biosphere
Group at Columbia
Potential Urban Biosphere Reserves
• Cape Town in South
Africa
• Also being studied by
the Urban Biosphere
Group at Columbia
Urban Greenspace Assessment
• Programs below stress protecting, maintaining or restoring
urban greenspace for the functions they provide, e.g., air
quality, watershed protection, habitat, plus food and fiber:
• FAO’s Urban and Periurban policy agenda
– Http://www.fao.org/urbanag
• RUAF- Resource Center on Urban Agriculture & Forestry
– Http://www.ruaf.org/ruaf_inf_fr.html
• FAO’s Trees for the Urban Millennium
– Http:www.fao.org/docrep/x3989/x3989eo9.htm
Urban Greenspace Assessment
• Street lined with almond,
coconut and mango trees
in Port Moresby, Pupua
New Guinea which means
local food security
• Fuel wood supply market
in Cape Verde
European Urban Ecosystems & Biodiversity
• Aalborg Charter: Charter of European Cites & Towns
Towards Sustainability at http:www.iclei.org/europe/ECHARTER
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Recognition of existing planning & financial frameworks
Systematic identification w/public consultation of problems/causes
Prioritization of tasks to address problems
Vision for sustainable community thru participatory processes
Consideration/assessment of alternative strategic options
Long-term local action plan with measurable targets
Implementation including; timetable & allocation responsibilities
Systems & procedures for monitoring & reporting implementation
Other European Programs
• European Academy: Urban Environment http://www.ceral.net
• European Commission;http://europa.eu.int/com/environment/urban.ht
• European Environmental Agency; http://www.bsdcold.natural
sceinces.be/belgium/links/themes/urban
• International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives
ICLEI at http://www.iclei.org/europe
• URGE-Development of Urban Greenspaces to Improve the
Quality of Life & Urban Regions at http:www.urgeproject.org.reports.htm
• Regional Environmental Center for Central & Eastern
Europe at http://www.rec.org/REC/Programs
• UNEP-European Regional Portal at
http://europe.unep.net/index.php?struct_id=urbarea
Sample Biodiversity Assessments
• Brussels Capitol Region
first biodiversity
assessment report
• Types of green spaces in
percentages of total open
and green spaces in the
Brussels capital region
Wildlife and the city publication from the Netherlands
URGE -Development of Urban Green Spaces to
Improve Quality of Life in Cities & Urban Regions
• Case study sites and
reference cities in
Europe
• European Union
funded projects
involving greenspace
criteria and indicators
Sample URGE Projects in Europe
• URGE Project in
Genoa Italy
• Case Study are within
Genoa City
• Public green and
urban parks map 1997
URGE - Urban Green Spaces to Improve the Quality
of Life in Cities and Urban Regions - Criteria
• Whole city scale indicators
– Fragmentation of urban green
• Size, shape isolation,
connectivity
– Level of nature protection
• Preparation for protected
green areas
– Biodiversity-species & habitat
• Diversity of breeding birds &
vascular plants
• Biotype diversity
• Site scale indicators
– Fragmentation
• Same measures
– Naturalness
• Degree of disturbance
• Exotica/rare species
– Biodiversity-species
• Diversity of birds, vascular
plants, carbid beetles,
butterflies
• Biotype diversity
North American Urban Ecosystems & Biodiversity;
Sustainable Development Activity
• President’s Council on Sustainable Development -1993-1999
– Task of developing & recommending a national sustainable strategy
• Clinton-Gore Livable Communities Initiative - 1999
• Smart Growth Network since 1966 - partnership of government.
Business and civic organizations that support smart growth
• Sustainable Communities Network since 1993 - 15 NP organizations
• Joint Center for Sustainable Communities since 1996
• Sponsored by USEPA, DOE, DOT, HUD, USDA & NOAA
• Dozens of NGO’s states, cities are supporting LA21 related activities
in US and Canada
• North America has at least 101 local authorities with LA21 plans
Example: North American Biodiversity Plan
• Chicago Wilderness:
Biodiversity Recovery Plan
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
1: Executive Summary
2: Values of Biodiversity
3: Biodiversity Challenge
4: Assessment Processes
5: Terrestrial Communities
6: Aquatic Communities
7: Endangered/Threatened
8: Preserving land/water
9: Management, Research &
Monitoring
– 10: Education/ Communication
– 11: Role of Key Players
Urban Ecosystems/Biodiversity Research
• National Science Foundation Urban LTER’s : Baltimore & Phoenix
• Sustainable Forest Research Group at UBC
– Research themes on urban ecology within Vancouver forested parks
• Center for Urban Ecology (CUE) in Wash., D.C. with NPS
• Center for Urban and Regional Ecology; regional biodiversity
– Includes U.Georgia. Georgia State, Emory & Morehouse
• Ecological Cities Project at U Mass., Amherst
• Urban Ecological Institute at Boston College
• Urban Ecology Laboratory at U. of Washington, Seattle
– NSF Biocomplexity, urban to rural gradient, and spatial analysis
• US Forest Service projects: Baltimore LTER, Houston and UFORE
• US Environmental Protection Agency at Baltimore LTER
• Metropolitan DC Urban Biodiversity Mode
Urban LTER: Baltimore
• Institute of Ecosystems Studies
• Spatial structure of socioeconomic, ecological &
physical change over time
• Fluxes of energy, matter, capitol
& population/over time
• How can people improve their
understanding of urban
ecosystems?
• Book: Understanding Urban
Ecosystems: A New Frontier of
Science
Central Arizona-Phoenix LTER
• Arizona State University
• Generate & test general
ecological theory
• Enhance understandability of
ecology of cities
• Identify feedback between
ecological and socioeconomic
factors, and
• Involve k-12 students in the
enterprise of scientific
discovery
US Forest Service UFORE Project
• Collect from random plots:
ground cover, shrubs, trees:
species & physical dimensions
• For correlation w/climate data,
pollution, carbon sequestration
& diversity indices
• Data collected for Atlanta,
Baltimore, Boston, Calgary,
NYC, Philadelphia, Santiago &
Syracuse
• Future data sites=Baton Rouge,
Melbourne, Morgantown & San
Juan, PR
Cities Analyzed
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Atlanta, GA
Baltimore, MD (1999, 2001)
Brooklyn, NY
Boston, MA
Calgary, AB
Freehold, NJ
Hefei, China
Jersey City, NJ
Moorestown, NJ
New York, NY
Ningbo, China
Philadelphia, PA
Santiago, Chile
Syracuse, NY (1999, 2001)
Toronto, ON
Woodbridge, NJ
New Cities
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Baton Rouge, LA
Fuenlabrada, Spain
Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Houston, TX
Melbourne, Australia (2004)
Morgantown, WV
Porto Allegro, Brazil
San Juan, PR
Wilmington, DE (2004)
Currently quantifies:
•
•
•
•
•
Structure (e.g., spp. composition)
Air pollution removal and value (hourly to yearly)
VOC emissions (hourly to yearly)
Annual carbon storage and sequestration and value
Seasonal effects on building energy use and
associated energy costs
• Pollen allergenicity index
• Tree transpiration / water use (hourly to yearly)
• Pest potentials
North American Greenspace Programs
• Sustainability and Food Security programs
– Cities Feeding People Program IDRC, Canada
– New Jersey Urban Ecology Program
• Urban Greenspace programs
–
–
–
–
Evergreen Foundation in Canada
Greenlinks Project; Restoring habitat in British Columbia
Audubon Society of Portland Oregon
Open Land Project: Urban Greening in Chicago
• Wildlife habitat Programs
– Environmental Literacy Council: Urban Wildlife
– Texas Wildscapes
North American Greenways
• Connecting open space &
habitat
• Multi-nodal transportation
• Aesthetics and recreation
• Air and water quality
maintenance
• Urban climate amelioration
• Supported by some government
programs and private land trusts
One Hundred American Greenways
Central European Greenways Study Tour 2002
• Central European Greenways regional
greenways program managed by
Environmental Partnership for Central Europe
• Participants of Study Tour - five CE
national greenway co-ordinators
• Supported by German Marshall Fund of the
USA
Greenways
in Central
Europe
One Hundred American Greenways
Central European Greenways Study Tour 2002
• Goals of Greenways Study Tour
– bringing American experience to Europe
– learning from existing models of development and financing
of greenways
• public, private, nonprofit sector collaboration
• creation of coalitions along greenway
• striking a balance between heritage preservation and
prudent economic exploitation
• using professional services and methods
– building partnership among existing greenway organizations
in USA and Central Europe
One Hundred American Greenways
Map of Greenways Study Tour, April-May 2003
Visited trails and Greenways
Urban Greenways, Portland, Willamette Greenway, OR
Visited trails and Greenways
Urban Greenways, Manhattan, NYC
Visited trails and Greenways
Towpath, Erie Canal,
OH
Visited trails and Greenways
Rails-trails, OD Trail, Washington-Arlington
Visited trails and Greenways
Greenbelt, Capital Greenbelt Area, Harrisburg, PA
One Hundred American Greenways
Central European Greenways Study Tour 2002
Destroyed pedestrian bridge in Podyji National Park,
which is currently being repaired with the
contribution of the Czech Greenways Flood Fund,
initiated with help of US donors
www.nadacepartnerstvi.cz
North American Waterway Restoration
•
•
•
Urban river restoration initiative
Federal Interagency Stream
Restoration Working group
Citizen initiated activity across US
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Blackstone River.MA & RI
Bronx River, NYC
California Streams Program
Ninemile Run in Pittsburg, PA
Lower Passaic River in NJ
Rouge River Gateway in Detroit
San Antonio River, Texas
South Platte River in Denver
Visited trails and Greenways
Natural Trails, Portland metropolitan area, OR
Visited trails and Greenways
Center for Wooden Boats, Blueways in Seattle, WA
Visited trails and Greenways
Urban Greenways, South Plate River, Denver, CO
One Hundred American Greenways
Central European Greenways Study Tour 2002
Paul Labovitz, director of Rivers And Trails Program NPS,
helping to start the idea of revitalization of 13th
Century Water Mill Canal in Znojmo region, Czech Rep.
Public Participation & Biodiversity
• For Europe: Agenda 21 plus the Aalborg
Charter provides participatory processes
• In North America: Local restoration projects
are providing the fuel for activity
• Most biodiversity assessments are being
done in Europe and Australia
• But NGO’s and land trusts are doing much
of the work in North America
Summary
• In Europe driving forces are Local Agenda 21 plus Aalborg
Charter plus Convention on Biodiversity.
• Some interest in Greenway Development and ecosystems
restoration.
• In North America there is not so much action on Local
Agenda 21 but more interest in CCP program.
• In North America - there is much interest/activity in
Greenspace development and ecosystem restoration.
• General need for urban ecosystems research and twinning
programs between North America and Europe.