Browsing by Subject "biodiversity"

The ongoing growth and densification of urban areas is threatening biodiversity in cities. Previously continuous habitats are reduced and fragmented into smaller areas, which increases the edge effect and changes the qualities of the original habitat. Urban greenspaces are frequently used by people, and disturbances, such as trampling, and understorey management are increasing the similarity of habitat patches (i.e. homogenisation). In this study, I investigated the effects of small-scale homogeneity in forests produced by urbanisation on the distribution patterns and trait composition of carabid beetles. Sampling was done with pitfall traps during the summer of 2021 and altogether 21 study sites were selected in the City of Lahti, Finland. The study sites represented three different environments: 1) structurally complex (heterogenous) habitat in remnant spruce forests in the city, 2) structurally simple (homogenous) habitat in remnant spruce forests in the city, 3) structurally simple habitat under spruce trees in managed urban parks. In addition to the beetles, a set of environmental variables was collected to quantify the complexity of the three habitat types. As expected, habitat homogeneity affected carabid beetle species composition so that the proportion of generalist and open-habitat species was greater in homogenous sites, including homogenous forest remnants and highly homogenous urban parks, whereas the proportion of forest specialists was greater in heterogenous forests. Species richness was higher in the homogenous sites due to species-rich open-habitat genera in the carabid beetle family. Trait distribution at the community level showed clear differences between the three studied habitat types. As expected, the proportions of large and heavy species were higher in the forest habitats than in the parks, whereas homogenous habitats, especially highly homogenous park sites consisted of a higher proportion of flight capable species than heterogenous forests. At the species level, individual beetles were generally smaller in the parks, whereas the results between the two forest types varied and a clear difference between habitat specialists and generalists could not be detected. As cities grow, keeping the management of greenspaces moderate, selecting native vegetation, and preserving decaying woody material are ways to increase habitat heterogeneity, which according to this study, can support biodiversity and life of different organisms in urban areas.

As biodiversity loss is identified to be one of the pressing environmental challenges today, Finnish cities have begun to follow in the footsteps of many European cities by creating urban greening plans in the form of increasing meadow habitats. The ecological and economic benefits of urban meadows are well understood, but when meadow habitats are brought into people’s everyday environments, it is important to consider how it affects people’s environmental aesthetic experiences. ‘Aesthetics’ is often understood solely as individual preferences, but the aim of this thesis was to address the aesthetic appreciation of meadows through the field of environmental aesthetics. Combining the fields of environmental aesthetics and ecology, this study provides a fresh perspective to the value debate over urban meadows. The analysis of the work approached the topic from the perspective of Finnish cities. After compiling the operational programs that solely consider urban meadows, qualitative content analysis was used to analyze what ecological and aesthetic aspects are brought up in the documents and how they are valuated. To emphasize the aesthetic perspective, it was further investigated through discourse analysis whether there are consistent ways in which cities construct an image of the aesthetic values of urban meadows. The content analysis showed that the documents have both ecological and aesthetic viewpoints. The ecological content emphasized that meadows are important tool in increasing biodiversity and also provide recreational possibilities for people. The aesthetic content focused on the cultural-historical role of the meadows as well as the experiences provided by the meadows. Based on the content analysis, three uniform discourses were identified throughout the documents. The first relates to meadows which are the remains of cities’ agricultural history, and their cultural and ecological values are easily recognizable. The second refers to meadows that are currently emerging from other green types such as lawns and grasslands reverting to woodland. They are seen as having ecological and recreational value, but as they are unlikely to meet the expectations for flowering meadows, city officials want to inform citizens about the ecological qualities of these meadows to avoid negative feedback. The last discourse focuses on the experiential side of meadows, but instead of talking about the environmental aesthetic experience as understood in theoretical research, the argumentation is restricted to visual and recreational experiences. The way in which the aesthetic qualities, values and experiences of urban meadows are understood in a professional context reflects the way in which they are presented to the users of green areas. This thesis has revealed that the terminology used in the documents referring to environmental aesthetics is insufficient and does not correspond to the concepts presented in the theory of the work. Expanding the debate on environmental aesthetics would turn the goal of ‘people tolerating unordered ecosystems’ to ‘how can unordered ecosystems be aesthetically appreciated’. While informing citizens about the ecological benefits of urban meadows, they should also be informed about the potential aesthetic values of urban meadows, such as wildness, aesthetic diversity, and how the ordinary environment becomes extraordinary.

The archipelago is a unique urban green space and a popular place to visit in the city of Helsinki. Nevertheless, multiple factors, such as urban expansion, recreational and environmental values create pressure on the development of the Helsinki archipelago. Visitors form an important group of stakeholders considering the development and future of the area. This qualitative interview study examines what do the visitors value in the Helsinki archipelago and what value the islands’ biodiversity has for them. A value framework by Himes and Muraca (2018) was applied as a theoretical framework in this thesis. The values of visitors are divided into categories of instrumental, relational and intrinsic values. The data were collected via 20 semi-structured interviews at three different islands in Helsinki archipelago. The interviews were conducted in August 2021. The results are analyzed with thematic method and are supported with quantified data analysis by applying the co-occurrence analysis with Atlas.ti 9.0 software. For the visitors interviewed, the most frequently emphasized value of the Helsinki archipelago is related to nature. In general, the islands are seen as an accessible recreational day-trip destination, where nature provides an environment to relax and recover. Many visitors enjoy sharing the experience with family or friends – sometimes even with strangers. A contrast to the constructed urban environment is important for the urban residents. Bridges to, or excessive infrastructure on the islands are not desired. The main value of biodiversity in Helsinki archipelago emerges via new experiences that are different from elsewhere in the urban environment. Additionally, biodiversity facilitates an immersive nature experience that supports well-being. Biodiversity in the archipelago has also intrinsic value: The archipelago is a valuable place for the ecosystems and biota to flourish. For the visitors, the archipelago is a pristine natural environment worth maintaining as it is.

Ihmistoiminnan, kuten kaupungistumisen, seurauksena syntyvät maankäytön muutokset kiihdyttävät globaalia luontokatoa. Kaupunkien maankäyttösektori vaikuttaa päätöksillään paikallisen luonnon monimuotoisuuden turvaamiseen kaupungistumisen ristipaineissa. Zonation on spatiaalisen priorisoinnin työkalu, jonka avulla tuotetaan luonnon monimuotoisuuteen liittyvää tietoa päätöksenteon tueksi. Sitä käytetään osana laajempaa systemaattisen suunnittelun prosessia. Zonationia on käytetty lähinnä suojelualueverkostojen suunnittelussa, mutta sen käytöllä on mahdollisuuksia myös laajemmin kaupunkialueiden maankäytön suunnittelussa. Tämän Pro gradun päämääränä oli tutkia maakuntatason suunnittelutarpeisiin tehtyjen Zonation analyysien hyödyntämistä käytännössä kuntatasolla. Tapaustutkimuksen kontekstina oli suomalainen hierarkkinen maankäytön suunnittelun systeemi, jossa lopulliset maankäytön muutokset toteutetaan kuntatasolla. Datankeruumenetelmänä käytettiin teemahaastatteluja. Yhteensä haastateltiin seitsemää ympäristö- ja suunnitteluvirkailijaa kunta- sekä maakuntatasolta Uudeltamaalta, Espoosta, Vantaalta. Tutkimuskysymykset olivat seuraavat: 1. Millä tavoin maakuntatason suunnittelun tueksi tuotettuja Zonation analyysejä on hyödynnetty kuntatasolla? Ja 2. Mitkä tekijät vaikuttivat analyysien tiedon hyödyntämiseen tämän tutkimuksen tapausesimerkissä? Tämän Pro gradu tutkimuksen tuloksista selvisi, että Zonation analyysejä käytettiin pääasiassa vahvistamaan tietoa jo tunnistetuista ekologisista yhteyksistä kunnissa. Lisäksi tuloksista kävi ilmi, että analyysien tiedon hyödyntämiseen vaikuttivat positiivisesti hyvin toimiva yhteistyö suunnittelutasojen välillä, sekä sidosryhmien osallistaminen analyysien suunnitteluprosessissa. Tiedon hyödyntämisen esteenä taas olivat Zonationilla tuotettujen analyysien sekä itse Zonation-ohjelman toimintalogiikan vaikeatulkintaisuus ja ajanpuute. Myös suunnittelutasojen väliset erot luontoalueiden tarkastelutasossa ja suunnittelumittakaavassa vaikuttivat analyysien hyödyntämiseen. Tuloksista selvisi myös, että analyyseistä tehtävien lopputuotteiden selkeydellä ja käyttäjäystävällisyydellä voidaan helpottaa analyysien tiedon viemistä käytäntöön. Tämän Pro gradun tulokset ovat linjassa alan tutkimuskirjallisuuden kanssa, ja vahvistavat niitä. Lisäksi tulokset lisäävät tietoa tapauksista, joissa spatiaalisen priorisoinnin analyysejä on hyödynnetty käytännössä, mitä on toivottu alan tutkimuskirjallisuudessa. Tulosten perusteella ehdotetaan, että jatkotutkimuksissa datankeruuseen kannattaisi sisällyttää pienenpiä kuntia, ja laajemmin systemaattisen suunnittelun prosessien sidosryhmäläisiä, sekä luontokonsultteja.