As urbanization increases globally, habitat loss is increasing at an unprecedented rate, eroding the suitability of many landscapes for most forms of wildlife, including bees. At least some of this habitat loss is through the ongoing expansion of urban areas, a process termed ‘urbanization’. Studies of the effects of urbanization and urban land use on bees have reported a mixture of results, including some instances where at least some species appear to do better in urban areas than they do in lands surrounding urban areas. While the impacts of urbanization on bee communities has been investigated, tree canopy cover has been largely overlooked as a contributor to urban bee distributions, despite their potential importance as a predictor of bee activity. I investigated the impacts of urban land use and tree canopy cover on bee communities across a variety of neighbourhoods in a medium-sized Canadian city (Ottawa, Ontario). In total, I surveyed bee communities in 27 residential yards that varied in terms of the degree of urban land use (measured as percent impervious surface area) and tree canopy cover (percent deciduous canopy cover) across a range of spatial scales. Using linear regression and model selection, I determined that bee abundance was negatively correlated with the degree of urban land use surrounding a yard, and positively correlated with the richness of the local (i.e., yard) flowering plant community. Yard floral richness, but not urban land use or tree cover, was also a predictor of the diversity of the bee community visiting the yard. In fact, tree canopy cover did not factor in any of the top models predicting either bee abundance, richness, or diversity. My results support the idea that urban land use could negatively impact bee communities, but also suggest that landscaping and urban planning decisions that maximize local floral richness could counteract some of the negative impacts of urbanization on bee populations.

付記する学位プログラム名: 霊長類学・ワイルドライフサイエンス・リーディング大学院 / 京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(理学) / 甲第23406号 / 理博第4741号 / 新制||理||1680(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院理学研究科生物科学専攻 / (主査)教授 平田 聡, 教授 村山 美穂, 教授 伊谷 原一 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

<p dir="ltr">Existing literature suggests that having gardens and trees in schoolyards has proven to be positive for student health. Tree canopies in schoolyards provide shade, mitigate urban heat island effects, reduce air, and noise pollution, and even improve mental well-being. Edible schoolyards can enhance children’s hands-on learning experience, foster stronger environmental stewardship, offer fresh food opportunities, and help develop healthier eating habits. However, the implementation of green and edible schoolyards in Indiana remains relatively low. This thesis aims to explore the current tree canopy and garden coverage within the school grounds to understand how these green spaces correlate with demographic factors such as race, income, and population density, aiming to identify potential inequities in the school environment creation. Moreover, it gathers green feature coverage data and staff perspectives to further investigate the potential of expanding different edible green features in schoolyards of the Indianapolis region.</p><p dir="ltr">This study included 167 public schoolyards in the research process. Geospatial data analytic and social science methods were utilized in this research. First, ArcGIS was used to analyze the spatial distribution pattern of school Tree Canopy Coverage (TCC) and garden existence. We also examined the relationships between TCC and garden existences to other demographic factors using R language to understand impact criteria and summarize future hurdles and opportunities. In the second method, online surveys were distributed to the same schools to understand the attitudes of school staff towards edible schoolyards. Some preliminary challenges were identified with the 35 responses collected, including funding mechanisms, collaboration limitations, and lack of integration into curriculums to allow valuable education. This research concludes with 2 case studies to represent two common typologies of schoolyards in Indianapolis, using interviews to gain a deeper understanding of further concerns and future working directions for green schoolyard advocates.</p>

Street trees are an important component of the urban forest that can provide direct and indirect benefits to social and ecological sustainability in cities. Temporal and spatial interactions between human and non-human management agents determine the distribution and health of street tree populations in urban areas. This dissertation seeks to enhance our understanding of the spatial patterns and processes affecting street trees by investigating the agents and social-ecological determinants of changes to street tree distributions in urban residential neighborhoods. The research was guided by three primary questions: (1) Are recent changes to the spatial distribution of street trees influenced by socio-demographic household and neighborhood characteristics? (2) Which management agents are the strongest predictors of recent changes to street tree distributions and does the contribution of these agents vary in relationship to social-ecological patterns within a city? (3) To what extent are household street tree management decisions related to the built and bioecological material characteristics of the public right-of-way? These questions were investigated in a case study that examined street tree management and public right-of-way (PROW) canopy change associated with single-family residential areas in and near the City of Tampa, Florida. The methodological approach employed a multi-method design using a conceptual framework developed to capture the complexity of management within human ecosystems. Urban remote sensing and spatial analytical techniques were used to examine the geographic association between patterns of street tree change and socio-demographic characteristics. Household survey techniques were utilized to examine the determinants of street tree management; specifically planting, removal, and trimming. Interviews with key informants familiar with urban forest management provided additional insights to complement the location specific knowledge of household survey respondents. Street tree change was examined for the period of 2003 to 2006, and information about household management actions also included recent years (i.e., 2009-2011). A citywide pattern of street tree increases was disproportionately distributed with respect to socioeconomic status; with greater increases in affluent neighborhoods. Patterns of change within local portions of the study area revealed significant and spatially variable relationships with socioeconomic status, as well as race/ethnicity variables and indicators of lifestyle differences. The findings suggest that the citywide pattern of change associated with socioeconomic status may perpetuate an inequitable outcome in the distribution of street trees at the expense of less affluent neighborhoods. The local patterns of change indicate that the processes driving street tree distributions may also reflect differences in attitudes toward trees. The case study did not find sufficient evidence to link the actions of individual agents with street tree change. Street tree increases were more likely in areas where tree trimming had been reported and where property market values were greater, but less likely in PROW segments with overhead power lines. Households, public agencies and builders, but not neighborhoods, were the primary human street tree management agents. Past and ongoing land development and redevelopment decisions, including the configuration of PROW infrastructures, may be one of the most important factors affecting patterns of street tree change. Landscape decisions and practices influenced by household and neighborhood group dynamics also appear to be important factors affecting street tree change. Damages caused by storm event and differences in tree species lifecycle characteristics represent important non-human agents of street tree change. The findings indicated that public agencies are not the only managers of street trees and household tree management does not stop at the boundary of private property. There was no evidence of a relationship between household management actions and the material conditions of the PROW. However, there was a relationship between the presence of either power lines or sidewalks and household survey responses about who should bear responsibility for street tree management and the liability. Household respondents expressed an increased sense of personal responsibility for street tree management when a sidewalk was in front of their home. This dissertation addressed an important gap in understanding about the factors driving street tree change. Planting, removal, and trimming of street trees in Tampa is a shared responsibility with complex spatial patterns and multi-scalar drivers. An important conclusion is that the sustainability of street tree populations within the urban forest will require urban planners and managers to better understand how these management agents cooperate if they are to promote healthy, safe and beneficial street tree populations as a part of the urban forest.

A influência benéfica de áreas verdes no conforto humano em áreas urbanas tem sido reconhecida por estudos de diferentes campos do conhecimento. A fim de verificar a relação existente do conforto humano com métricas de cobertura arbórea na cidade de Piracicaba/SP, foram dispostos 43 registradores higrotérmicos microprocessados durante 40 dias de coleta tanto na estação chuvosa e seca dos anos de (2015-2016), bem como uma estação meteorológica móvel, da marca Davis Vantage Vu, de modo a obter as variáveis de conforto humano relacionadas com a sensação térmica relatada pelos residentes. Para tanto, foram utilizados índices de avaliação de conforto térmico (UTCI - Universal Thermal Comfort Index) e (PET- Physiologically Equivalent Temperature) obtidos por meio do modelo RayMan Pro. Questionários aplicados aos residentes das áreas de estudo possibilitaram verificar se os resultados obtidos por meio dos índices UTCI e PET correspondiam à real sensação de conforto térmico relatada pelos entrevistados. O tecido urbano foi caracterizado por meio de classificação supervisionada realizada pelo software MultiSpec feita a partir de imagem multiespectral de alta resolução do satélite WorldView 2 no ano de 2011 para a cidade de Piracicaba/SP. Buffers (áreas de influências dos pontos analisados) de 10, 20 e 500 metros foram gerados ao redor dos pontos de estudo pelo software Quantum Gis, v. 2.4, possibilitando correlacionar a porcentagem de cobertura com os dados microclimáticos obtidos com o objetivo de se obter modelos estatísticos que conseguissem predizer o quanto de cobertura arbórea seria necessária para a diminuição de uma dada temperatura média urbana. Foram obtidos valores de Índice de Floresta Urbana (IFU) para os bairros analisados. As estações Davis Vantage Vu foi calibrada com a da ESALQ/USP no intuito de que os dados climáticos tivessem maior veracidade e estivessem condizentes com a sensação térmica relatada pelos entrevistados; além disso, foram feitos ajustes dos dias de coleta na tentativa de padronizá-los. Dentre os resultados obtidos, os valores de IFUs corresponderam aos bairros mais confortáveis. Verificou-se, também, maior correlação dos dados microclimáticos dos 43 pontos com o uso e ocupação do solo para buffers de 20 metros na estação chuvosa e buffers de 500 metros na estação seca. Sendo assim, modelos estatísticos serviram para afirmar que aproximadamente 57% (R2 = 0,57) do valor da temperatura média urbana foi explicado pela quantidade de cobertura arbórea na estação chuvosa e 60% (R2 = 0,60) do valor da temperatura média urbana foi explicado pela quantidade de cobertura arbórea na estação seca. Como resultado precípuo desta pesquisa, os modelos gerados permitiram responder uma resposta ainda inexistente: a quantidade de árvores necessária para diminuir o calor excessivo em determinada área urbana, algo altamente desejável em tempos de alterações climáticas e com cidades em crise de abastecimento de água e energia elétrica. Constatou-se, portanto, que para diminuir 1°C da temperatura média urbana é necessário acrescentar 14,31% de cobertura arbórea na estação seca e 27,70% na estação chuvosa no município de Piracicaba/SP. Como avanço nesta pesquisa e inédito para a cidade, os modelos estatísticos permitem ser adotados por outras cidades com a finalidade de proporcionar maior conforto ambiental urbano para a população e inspecionar e avaliar a situação da arborização urbana nas cidades brasileiras. / The beneficial influence of green areas on human comfort in urban areas has been recognized by studies from different fields of knowledge. In order to verify the existing relationship of human comfort with tree cover metrics in the city of Piracicaba/SP, 43 microprocessed hygrothermal registers were arranged during 40 days of collection in both rainy and dry season of the years 2015-2016, as well as a mobile weather station of the Davis Vantage Vu brand, in order to obtain the human comfort variables related to the thermal sensation reported by residents. The thermal comfort index (UTCI) and PET (Physiologically Equivalent Temperature) values were obtained using the RayMan Pro model. Questionnaires applied to the residents of the study areas made it possible to verify if the results obtained through the UTCI and PET index corresponded to the real sensation of thermal comfort reported by the interviewees. The urban area was characterized by supervised classification performed by MultiSpec software made from a high-resolution multispectral image of WorldView 2 satellite in 2011 for the city of Piracicaba/SP. Buffers (areas of influence of the analyzed points) of 10, 20 and 500 meters were generated around the points of study by Quantum Gis software, v. 2.4, making it possible to correlate the percentage of coverage with the microclimatic data, obtained with the objective of make statistical models that could predict how much tree cover would be necessary for the decrease of a given urban temperature average. Urban Forest Index (IFU) values were obtained for the neighborhoods analyzed. The Davis Vantage Vu stations were calibrated with ESALQ/USP stations in order to make the climate data more accurate and consistent with the thermal sensation reported by the interviewees; In addition, adjustments of collection days were made in an attempt to standardize them. Among the results obtained, IFU values corresponded to the most comfortable neighborhoods. It was also verified a higher correlation of the microclimatic data of the 43 points with the use and occupation of the soil for buffers of 20 meters in the rainy season and buffers of 500 meters in the dry season. Thus, statistical models served to assert that approximately 57% (R&sup2; = 0.57) of the mean urban temperature was explained by the amount of tree cover in the rainy season and 60% (R&sup2; = 0.60) of the average temperature was explained by the amount of tree cover in the dry season. As a result of this research, the models generated allowed to respond to a still non-existent response: the amount of trees needed to reduce excessive heat in a given urban area, something highly desirable in times of climate change and with cities in crisis of water and energy supply power. It was verified, therefore, that to reduce 1&deg;C of the urban average temperature it is necessary to add 14.31% of tree cover in the dry season and 27.70% in the rainy season in the city of Piracicaba/SP. As an advance in this research and unprecedented for the city, the statistical models allow adoption by other cities with the purpose of providing greater urban environmental comfort for the population and to inspect and evaluate the situation of urban afforestation in Brazilian cities.

A influência benéfica de áreas verdes no conforto humano em áreas urbanas tem sido reconhecida por estudos de diferentes campos do conhecimento. A fim de verificar a relação existente do conforto humano com métricas de cobertura arbórea na cidade de Piracicaba/SP, foram dispostos 43 registradores higrotérmicos microprocessados durante 40 dias de coleta tanto na estação chuvosa e seca dos anos de (2015-2016), bem como uma estação meteorológica móvel, da marca Davis Vantage Vu, de modo a obter as variáveis de conforto humano relacionadas com a sensação térmica relatada pelos residentes. Para tanto, foram utilizados índices de avaliação de conforto térmico (UTCI - Universal Thermal Comfort Index) e (PET- Physiologically Equivalent Temperature) obtidos por meio do modelo RayMan Pro. Questionários aplicados aos residentes das áreas de estudo possibilitaram verificar se os resultados obtidos por meio dos índices UTCI e PET correspondiam à real sensação de conforto térmico relatada pelos entrevistados. O tecido urbano foi caracterizado por meio de classificação supervisionada realizada pelo software MultiSpec feita a partir de imagem multiespectral de alta resolução do satélite WorldView 2 no ano de 2011 para a cidade de Piracicaba/SP. Buffers (áreas de influências dos pontos analisados) de 10, 20 e 500 metros foram gerados ao redor dos pontos de estudo pelo software Quantum Gis, v. 2.4, possibilitando correlacionar a porcentagem de cobertura com os dados microclimáticos obtidos com o objetivo de se obter modelos estatísticos que conseguissem predizer o quanto de cobertura arbórea seria necessária para a diminuição de uma dada temperatura média urbana. Foram obtidos valores de Índice de Floresta Urbana (IFU) para os bairros analisados. As estações Davis Vantage Vu foi calibrada com a da ESALQ/USP no intuito de que os dados climáticos tivessem maior veracidade e estivessem condizentes com a sensação térmica relatada pelos entrevistados; além disso, foram feitos ajustes dos dias de coleta na tentativa de padronizá-los. Dentre os resultados obtidos, os valores de IFUs corresponderam aos bairros mais confortáveis. Verificou-se, também, maior correlação dos dados microclimáticos dos 43 pontos com o uso e ocupação do solo para buffers de 20 metros na estação chuvosa e buffers de 500 metros na estação seca. Sendo assim, modelos estatísticos serviram para afirmar que aproximadamente 57% (R2 = 0,57) do valor da temperatura média urbana foi explicado pela quantidade de cobertura arbórea na estação chuvosa e 60% (R2 = 0,60) do valor da temperatura média urbana foi explicado pela quantidade de cobertura arbórea na estação seca. Como resultado precípuo desta pesquisa, os modelos gerados permitiram responder uma resposta ainda inexistente: a quantidade de árvores necessária para diminuir o calor excessivo em determinada área urbana, algo altamente desejável em tempos de alterações climáticas e com cidades em crise de abastecimento de água e energia elétrica. Constatou-se, portanto, que para diminuir 1°C da temperatura média urbana é necessário acrescentar 14,31% de cobertura arbórea na estação seca e 27,70% na estação chuvosa no município de Piracicaba/SP. Como avanço nesta pesquisa e inédito para a cidade, os modelos estatísticos permitem ser adotados por outras cidades com a finalidade de proporcionar maior conforto ambiental urbano para a população e inspecionar e avaliar a situação da arborização urbana nas cidades brasileiras. / The beneficial influence of green areas on human comfort in urban areas has been recognized by studies from different fields of knowledge. In order to verify the existing relationship of human comfort with tree cover metrics in the city of Piracicaba/SP, 43 microprocessed hygrothermal registers were arranged during 40 days of collection in both rainy and dry season of the years 2015-2016, as well as a mobile weather station of the Davis Vantage Vu brand, in order to obtain the human comfort variables related to the thermal sensation reported by residents. The thermal comfort index (UTCI) and PET (Physiologically Equivalent Temperature) values were obtained using the RayMan Pro model. Questionnaires applied to the residents of the study areas made it possible to verify if the results obtained through the UTCI and PET index corresponded to the real sensation of thermal comfort reported by the interviewees. The urban area was characterized by supervised classification performed by MultiSpec software made from a high-resolution multispectral image of WorldView 2 satellite in 2011 for the city of Piracicaba/SP. Buffers (areas of influence of the analyzed points) of 10, 20 and 500 meters were generated around the points of study by Quantum Gis software, v. 2.4, making it possible to correlate the percentage of coverage with the microclimatic data, obtained with the objective of make statistical models that could predict how much tree cover would be necessary for the decrease of a given urban temperature average. Urban Forest Index (IFU) values were obtained for the neighborhoods analyzed. The Davis Vantage Vu stations were calibrated with ESALQ/USP stations in order to make the climate data more accurate and consistent with the thermal sensation reported by the interviewees; In addition, adjustments of collection days were made in an attempt to standardize them. Among the results obtained, IFU values corresponded to the most comfortable neighborhoods. It was also verified a higher correlation of the microclimatic data of the 43 points with the use and occupation of the soil for buffers of 20 meters in the rainy season and buffers of 500 meters in the dry season. Thus, statistical models served to assert that approximately 57% (R&sup2; = 0.57) of the mean urban temperature was explained by the amount of tree cover in the rainy season and 60% (R&sup2; = 0.60) of the average temperature was explained by the amount of tree cover in the dry season. As a result of this research, the models generated allowed to respond to a still non-existent response: the amount of trees needed to reduce excessive heat in a given urban area, something highly desirable in times of climate change and with cities in crisis of water and energy supply power. It was verified, therefore, that to reduce 1&deg;C of the urban average temperature it is necessary to add 14.31% of tree cover in the dry season and 27.70% in the rainy season in the city of Piracicaba/SP. As an advance in this research and unprecedented for the city, the statistical models allow adoption by other cities with the purpose of providing greater urban environmental comfort for the population and to inspect and evaluate the situation of urban afforestation in Brazilian cities.

This body of work began as an exploration of the University of Manitoba’s Southwood Lands (a former eighteen-hole golf course), with the intention of proposing something new for the site. However, analysis and critical thinking led to the realization that there was a need to not only look at the Southwood Lands, but also the entire Fort Garry Campus. The work evolved through a process of discovery, using a variety of methods from walking the site, documentation through photography, visits to the archives to uncover history, and mapping from afar. One of the underlying objectives was to highlight the importance of taking additional time to understand a place prior to making decisions, revealing what makes a place unique, where the opportunities are, and what has been hidden over time. The idea of a site being a blank slate is dismissed, drawing on the importance of found conditions in decision making. Looking deeper into a place also leads to a greater respect for what is already there. It is what we already have that is so often discarded, and seen as having no value in decision making (the natural areas in a city or the trees on a former golf course for example). It is also the ecosystems that are seen as scrubby and unkept that are the most complex systems and richest spaces for life. Once complex, biologically rich systems are erased there is no going back to them. It is the existing conditions that are worth taking the extra time to investigate, a process that must occur prior to making design decisions that seek to remove or make new. It is only though looking, and looking carefully with un-objective eyes, and an open mind, that design can truly enhance what we already have. This practicum works under the premise that landscape has value in its own right. The landscape is not empty space, not just a place to put buildings, not a luxury that can easily be cut from budgets, and certainly not something that can be considered an afterthought. Instead, landscape is valued as something which is working and active, an essential part of life on this planet that is becoming increasingly important with a rapidly changing climate. The intellectual foundation for organizing ideas around approaching the site have been interpreted from Christophe Girot’s ‘Four Trace Concepts in Landscape Architecture’. They are in this order: landing, grounding, finding, and founding. While Girot’s four trace concepts organize ideas around approaching the site, there are three underlying principles that guide the entire body of work: 1. Landscape as infrastructure and organizing system; 2. Design as a process of discovery; 3. Investigation through multiple scales of inquiry. A strategy for the Fort Garry Campus is where this work concludes, followed by reflections on the importance of context in design and the lessons learned throughout the practicum process.

This body of work began as an exploration of the University of Manitoba’s Southwood Lands (a former eighteen-hole golf course), with the intention of proposing something new for the site. However, analysis and critical thinking led to the realization that there was a need to not only look at the Southwood Lands, but also the entire Fort Garry Campus. The work evolved through a process of discovery, using a variety of methods from walking the site, documentation through photography, visits to the archives to uncover history, and mapping from afar. One of the underlying objectives was to highlight the importance of taking additional time to understand a place prior to making decisions, revealing what makes a place unique, where the opportunities are, and what has been hidden over time. The idea of a site being a blank slate is dismissed, drawing on the importance of found conditions in decision making. Looking deeper into a place also leads to a greater respect for what is already there. It is what we already have that is so often discarded, and seen as having no value in decision making (the natural areas in a city or the trees on a former golf course for example). It is also the ecosystems that are seen as scrubby and unkept that are the most complex systems and richest spaces for life. Once complex, biologically rich systems are erased there is no going back to them. It is the existing conditions that are worth taking the extra time to investigate, a process that must occur prior to making design decisions that seek to remove or make new. It is only though looking, and looking carefully with un-objective eyes, and an open mind, that design can truly enhance what we already have. This practicum works under the premise that landscape has value in its own right. The landscape is not empty space, not just a place to put buildings, not a luxury that can easily be cut from budgets, and certainly not something that can be considered an afterthought. Instead, landscape is valued as something which is working and active, an essential part of life on this planet that is becoming increasingly important with a rapidly changing climate. The intellectual foundation for organizing ideas around approaching the site have been interpreted from Christophe Girot’s ‘Four Trace Concepts in Landscape Architecture’. They are in this order: landing, grounding, finding, and founding. While Girot’s four trace concepts organize ideas around approaching the site, there are three underlying principles that guide the entire body of work: 1. Landscape as infrastructure and organizing system; 2. Design as a process of discovery; 3. Investigation through multiple scales of inquiry. A strategy for the Fort Garry Campus is where this work concludes, followed by reflections on the importance of context in design and the lessons learned throughout the practicum process.

No description available.