Urban Ecosystem Ecology
Jacqueline Aitkenhead-Peterson and Astrid Volder, Editors
Book and Multimedia Publishing Committee David Baltensperger, Chair Warren Dick, ASA Editor-in-Chief E. Charles Brummer, CSSA Editor-in-Chief Sally Logsdon, SSSA Editor-in-Chief Mary Savin, ASA Representative Hari Krishnan, CSSA Representative April Ulery, SSSA Representative Managing Editor: Lisa Al-Amoodi
Agronomy Monograph 55
Copyright © 2010 by American Society of Agronomy, Inc. Crop Science Society of America, Inc. Soil Science Society of America, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The views expressed in this publication represent those of the individual Editors and Authors. These views do not necessarily reflect endorsement by the Publisher(s). In addition, trade names are sometimes mentioned in this publication. No endorsement of these products by the Publisher(s) is intended, nor is any criticism implied of similar products not mentioned. American Society of Agronomy, Inc. Crop Science Society of America, Inc. Soil Science Society of America, Inc. 5585 Guilford Road, Madison, WI 53711-1086 USA
Agronomy Monograph Series ISSN 0065-4663 (print) ISSN 2156-3276 (online) Available online at https://www.agronomy.org/publications/browse ISBN: 978-0-89118-175-0 (print) Library of Congress Control Number: 2010911235 Cover design: Patricia Scullion Cover photo: Istock Printed on recycled paper. Printed in the United States of America.
Contents Foreword Preface Contributors Conversion Factors for SI and Non-SI Units
1
Urbanization: Impacts on Clouds, Precipitation, and Lightning
ix xi xiii xv
1
J.M. Shepherd J.A. Stallins M.L. Jin T.L. Mote
2
The Urban Physical Environment: Temperature and Urban Heat Islands
29
Gordon M. Heisler Anthony J. Brazel
Urban Air Quality
3
57
Sri Juari Santosa
4
Birds in Urban Ecosystems: Population Dynamics, Community Structure, Biodiversity, and Conservation
75
Eyal Shochat Susannah Lerman Esteban Fernández-Juricic
Urban Mammals
5
87
Robert McCleery
6
Habitat Function in Urban Riparian Zones Joan G. Ehrenfeld Emilie K. Stander
v
103
vi
Urban Ecosystem Ecology
7
Chemical, Physical, and Biological Characteristics of Urban Soils
119
Richard V. Pouyat Katalin Szlavecz Ian D. Yesilonis Peter M. Groffman Kirsten Schwarz
Lawn Ecology
8
153
Thomas W. Cook Erik H. Ervin
Urban Plant Ecology
9
179
Astrid Volder
10
Urban Agriculture: A Comparative Review of Allotment and Community Gardens
199
David L. Iaquinta Axel W. Drescher
Urban Forestry
11
227
Astrid Volder W. Todd Watson
12
Inside Out: Invasive Plants and Urban Environments
241
Sarah Hayden Reichard
Urban Riparian Function
13
253
Emilie K. Stander Joan G. Ehrenfeld
14
Urban Impacts on the Water Cycle and Potential Green Infrastructure Implications Steven J. Burian Christine A. Pomeroy
277
vii
Contents
15
Chemistry of Urban, Suburban, and Rural Surface Waters
297
Meredith K. Steele William H. McDowell Jacqueline A. Aitkenhead-Peterson
Urban Stream Ecology
16
341
Allison H. Roy Michael J. Paul Seth J. Wenger
17
Water Use in Urban Ecosystems: Complexity, Costs, and Services of Urban Ecohydrology
353
G. Darrel Jenerette Karrin P. Alstad
18
Services in Natural and Human Dominated Ecosystems
373
Jacqueline A. Aitkenhead-Peterson Meredith K. Steele Astrid Volder
19
Green Roofs and Garden Roofs
391
D. Bradley Rowe Kristin L. Getter
20
Bioretention, Low Impact Development, and Stormwater Management
413
Ming-Han Li Bruce Dvorak Chan Yong Sung
21
Greenspaces, Green Structure, and Green Infrastructure Planning
431
Anne R. Beer
Subject Index
449
Foreword H
umans significantly affect their ecosystem. Nowhere is this more evident than
in our towns and cities around the world. We have options when it comes to the sustainability of our cities. We have to pay attention to meeting the needs of today without compromising the needs of the future. However, to truly understand those options, we need to have the best knowledge available so that we can make the best decisions possible. It has everything to do with the stewardship of our natural resources, while at the same time using those resources to meet the needs of today’s urban population. This volume deals with the impacts of urbanization on the environment— soils, air, and water quality, the animals and humans who live there—and offers some solutions to contemporary problems. Its coverage exemplifies the wide range of specialties in the agronomic sciences and shows how scientists define ecosystem functions and solve problems. To read this book will give instruction in how agronomy, an art and science, serves society in the urban landscape. The authors of the publication have summarized hundreds of research articles dealing with urban ecosystems. Students, city planners, and scientists will find this book to be a useful reference. Appreciation is expressed to the editors, chapter authors, the book publishing committee, and reviewers for the production of a truly outstanding book.
F.J. Pierce President American Society of Agronomy
J.G. Lauer President Crop Science Society of America
N.B. Comerford President Soil Science Society of America
ix
Preface L
iving organisms interact with every other biotic and abiotic element in their local
environment, and this is central to the concept of an ecosystem. The founder of the term ecology, Eugene Odum, stated: “Any unit that includes all of the organisms (i.e., the “community”) in a given area interacting with the physical environment so that a flow of energy leads to clearly defined trophic structure, biotic diversity, and material cycles (i.e., exchange of materials between living and nonliving parts) within the system is an ecosystem.” Urban ecosystems are modified from the initial ecosystem that was originally present at that specific spatial location. For example, under the Bailey Ecosystem Classification, New York was an Eastern Broadleaf Forest (Oceanic) Province, Las Vegas was an Intermountain Semi-desert and Desert Province, and Dallas was a Southwest Plateau and Plains Dry Steppe and Shrub Province. In an urban ecosystem the physical, chemical and biological components are altered relative to the original ecosystem present. The urban physical environment has an affect on clouds, precipitation and lightning (Shepherd et al., Chapter 1), on temperature (Heisler and Brazel, Chapter 2) and on air quality (Santosa, Chapter 3). Habitats and food sources differ for wildlife (Shochat et al., Chapter 4; McCleery, Chapter 5; Ehrenfeld and Stander, Chapter 6). Vegetation in the urban ecosystem is very different from the vegetation that was once present prior to urbanization and includes turfgrass species (Cook and Ervin, Chapter 8), horticultural and nonnative forest species (Volder, Chapter 9; Volder and Watson, Chapter 11), agriculture in the form of allotments and community gardens (Iaquinta and Drescher, Chapter 10), and novel and invasive species of plant life (Reichard, Chapter 12). The physical, chemical, and biological components of the soil on which this vegetation grows is also altered (Pouyat et al., Chapter 7), and the function of riparian areas may be drastically changed (Stander and Ehrenfeld, Chapter 13). The hydrology and surface water biogeochemistry are different from those found in natural ecosystems, primarily due to larger proportions of impervious surfaces and waste inputs into the watershed (Burian and Pomeroy, Chapter 14; Steele et al., Chapter 15). These changes in surface water volume and chemistry impact surface water ecology in watersheds that have a high proportion of urbanization (Roy et al., Chapter 16). Use of water in urban ecosystems is described by Jenerette and Alstad (Chapter 17) in context of its complexity, cost, and the service of urban ecohydrology. The final section of the book examines the role of the services an urban ecosystem provides (Aitkenhead-Peterson et al., Chapter 18) and sustainable development in urban ecosystems through roof gardens (Rowe and Getty, Chapter 19), bioretention and low impact development (Li et al., Chapter 20), and the provision of green spaces in planning (Beer, Chapter 21). Finally, as editors we would like to sincerely thank all of our contributors who made this book possible.
Jacqueline Aitkenhead-Peterson and Astrid Volder, Editors Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
xi
Contributors Aitkenhead-Peterson, J.A. Alstad, K.P. Beer, A.R. Brazel, A.J. Burian, S.J. Cook, T.W. Drescher, A.W. Dvorak, B.D. Ehrenfeld, J.G. Ervin, E.H. Fernández-Juricic, E. Getter, K.L. Groffman, P.M. Heisler, G.M. Iaquinta, D.L. Jenerette, G.D. Jin, M.L. Lerman, S. Li, M.-H.
Dep. of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M Univ., 2474 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Botany and Plant Sciences, Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92571 (
[email protected]) Professor Emeritus, Dep. of Landscape, Univ. of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK (
[email protected]) School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State Univ., Coor Hall, 975 S. Myrtle, Tempe, AZ 85287-5302 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Univ. of Utah, 122 S. Central Campus Dr., Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Horticulture, Oregon State Univ., 4017 Ag. and Life Sciences Bldg., Corvallis, OR 97331-7304 (cookt@hort. oregonstate.edu) Inst. of Physical Geography, Albert-Ludwigs-Univ., Werthmannstr. 4, D-79085 Freiburg, Germany (Axel.Drescher@ sonne.uni-freiburg.de) Dep. of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M Univ., 3731 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3137 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers Univ., 14 College Farm Rd., New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ., 330 Smyth Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0404 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Biological Sciences, Purdue Univ., G-420 Lily Hall, 915 W. State St., West Lafayette, IN 47907 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Horticulture, Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI 48824 (
[email protected]) Cary Inst. of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, NY 12545 (
[email protected]) USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, SUNY ESF, 5 Moon Library, Syracuse, NY 13210 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Nebraska Wesleyan Univ., 5000 Saint Paul Ave., Lincoln, NE 685042794 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Botany and Plant Sciences, Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92571 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Meteorology, San Jose State Univ., Duncan Hall 620, San Jose, CA 95192 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Univ. of Massachusetts, 319 Morrill Science Ctr. South, 611 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Landscape Architecture, Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX 77843-3137 (
[email protected])
xiii
xiv McCleery, R. McDowell, W.H. Mote, T.L. Paul, M.J. Pomeroy, C.A. Pouyat, R.V. Reichard, S.H. Rowe, D.B. Roy, A.H.
Santosa, S.J. Schwarz, K.
Shepherd, J.M. Shochat, E. Stallins, J.A. Stander, E.K. Steele, M.K. Sung, C.Y. Szlavecz, K. Volder, A. Watson, W.T. Wenger, S.J. Yesilonis, I.D.
Urban Ecosystem Ecology Western Illinois Univ.. Dep. of Biological Sciences. 1 Univ. Circle, Macomb, IL 61455 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Natural Resources, James Hall, Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Geography, Univ. of Georgia, Rm. 213 Geog-Geol Bldg., 204 Field St., Athens, GA 30602-2502 (
[email protected]) Tetra Tech, Inc., Ctr. for Ecological Sci., 400 Red Brook Blvd., Ste. 200, Owings Mills, MD 21117 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Univ. of Utah, 122 S. Central Campus Dr., Salt Lake City, UT 84112 (
[email protected]) U.S. Forest Service, North Research Station, c/o Baltimore Ecosystem Study, 5200 Westland Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21227 (
[email protected]) School of Forest Resources, Univ. of Washington, Box 354115, Seattle, WA 98195 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Horticulture, Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI 48824 (
[email protected]) USEPA, National Risk Management Research Lab., 26 West Martin Luther King Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45268; currently at Dep. of Biology, Kutztown Univ., Kutztown, PA 19530 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Chemistry, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sekip Utara Kotak Pos Bls. 21, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (
[email protected]) Dep. of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, NJ 08901; currently at Cary Inst. of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY 12545-0129 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Geography, Univ. of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 (
[email protected]) Global Inst. of Sustainability, Arizona State Univ., Box 875411, Tempe, AZ 85287 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Geography, Florida State Univ., Rm. 323 Bellamy Bldg., Tallahassee, FL 32306‐2190 (
[email protected]) USEPA, Urban Watershed Management Branch, 2890 Woodbridge Ave., MS-104, Edison, NJ 08837 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M Univ., 2474 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843 (
[email protected]) Texas Transportation Inst., Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX 77843-3135 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Johns Hopkins Univ., 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Horticultural Sciences, Texas A&M Univ., TAMU 2133, College Station, TX 77843-2133 (
[email protected]) Dep. of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M Univ., TAMU 2138, College Station, TX 77843-2138 (
[email protected]) Univ. of Georgia, River Basin Ctr., 100 Riverbend Rd., Athens, GA 30602 (
[email protected]) U.S. Forest Service, North Research Station, c/o Baltimore Ecosystem Study, 5200 Westland Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21227 (
[email protected])