☆ 4.7 Article

Contributions of green spaces and isolated trees to landscape connectivity in an urban landscape

URBAN FORESTRY & URBAN GREENING (2021)

Journal

URBAN FORESTRY & URBAN GREENING

Volume 64, Issue -, Pages -

Publisher

ELSEVIER GMBH

DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127277

Keywords

Functional connectivity; NDVI; Structural connectivity; Urban canopy

Funding

Mexican National Science and Technology Council (CONACyT) FORDECyT Project Uso de big data para la gestion ambiental del Desarrollo sostenible (lntegralidad Gamma) [296842]

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Abstract

Vegetation plays a crucial role in conserving biodiversity in urban areas, but the lack of fine spatial resolution vegetation inventories and ecological information poses a challenge for conservation efforts. The use of very high-resolution imagery can help map different types of vegetation covers in cities, assess their structural and functional connectivity, and evaluate their health status.

Vegetation plays a fundamental role in conserving the biological diversity of urban areas. From isolated trees to multi-hectare patches, green spaces are critical to species conservation in urban landscapes. The abundance of green spaces can regulate the availability of habitat and resources for species' survival. In many urban areas, the lack of vegetation inventories and ecological information at fine spatial resolutions limits conservation efforts. To evaluate the potential of very high-resolution imagery (WorldView-2, 30-cm resolution) to fill this gap, we sought to a) map contrasting urban vegetation cover types (grass, shrubs and woody vegetation) at the meter scale and with high accuracy, b) quantify the structural and functional connectivity of urban vegetation, and c) estimate the status of productive vegetation. We focused our analysis on land use and cover in the city of Xalapa in Veracruz, Mexico, and employed multiscale satellite imagery to estimate vegetation cover, connectivity, and health. We identified 38,579 patches of woody vegetation, of which 93 % corresponded to isolated trees contributing to 27 % of vegetation connectivity. Without woody vegetation, the connectivity index decrease up to 97 %; removing grass or shrubs would reduce connectivity by 38 % or 32 %, respectively. We identified 10 patches disproportionately important to connectivity, of which seven had some type of legal protection. Across vegetation types, 38 % of the vegetated area was unhealthy. Wooded element connectivity assessment at a fine spatial resolution is crucial to conserve and restore these key resources for biodiversity and human well-being in urban environments.

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The Role of Brownfields and Their Revitalisation for the Functional Connectivity of the Urban Tree System in a Regrowing City

Manuel Wolff, Dagmar Haase, Joerg Priess, Tobias Leander Hoffmann

Summary: The connectivity of green infrastructure is crucial for enhancing biodiversity in cities. Revitalising brownfields as a Nature Based Solution is being prioritised, supporting cities' goals of densification and greenery development. This paper introduces a model using Leipzig, Germany as an example to identify and prioritize the role of revitalised and existing brownfields in green infrastructure connectivity. Comparing metrics, brownfields serve as important stepping stones (13%), and revitalised brownfields significantly contribute to global connectivity (87%), similar to Leipzig's central parks. The spatial-explicit network approach presented in this paper offers a planning tool to prioritize brownfields and assess the added value of their renaturing by identifying strategic corridors, connectivity relevance, and potential alternative paths. Furthermore, the study proposes a standardized evaluation of NBS strategies using freely available software tools and high-resolution canopy data.

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