Browsing by discipline "Urban Ecology"

Urbanization is occurring at rapid rates worldwide. While the effects of urbanization are numerous, those on wildlife are of utmost concern in the continued fight for biodiversity conservation. Specifically, the focus on global pollinator declines is of interest due to the interconnectedness between pollinators and plant communities. It is feared that urban areas could become dead zones to these species, specifically bumblebees. Bumblebees are one of the native pollinators of Finland, and therefore were the focus of this study, which was conducted in Helsinki (southern Finland). This project's focus was on the influence of both local (i.e. flowering resources) and landscape (i.e. levels of urbanization) features on bumblebee communities. More specifically, I was interested in the effects of urbanization on bumblebee abundance and species richness. To study this question, community gardens (allotment gardens) were used as study sites along a gradient of urbanization from low to high (chosen by GIS mapping of the levels of impervious surfaces within 500 m of the sites). It is thought that these greenspaces could function as habitat for bumblebees in cities. This study was conducted during the summer of 2013 in 12 community gardens across the city of Helsinki. Two methods to survey bee populations were utilized, pan traps as well as sweep netting. Furthermore, a vegetation analysis was conducted to assess the level of resources present within the gardens, while GIS was used to measure a set of landscape variables in and around each garden. At the end of the season (June to September) the bees were identified and Generalized Linear Mixed Effects models were used to analyze the data. This study found that local variables more strongly predicted both bee abundance and species richness. Even though landscape variables were not strong predictors, this does not make them irrelevant in future conservation strategies. However, it is thought that as long as community gardens are planted appropriately (i.e. native flowers) the bees will be present in these gardens despite the surrounding matrix of inhospitable land (sealed surfaces). In conjunction with the investigation into the effects of local versus landscape determinants, this study also aimed to investigate the perception of gardeners towards bees. A questionnaire was utilized in order to gauge gardeners' opinions towards the bees in their plot and the garden as a whole. These results helped to evaluate the overall attitude towards bees, and in short, were very favorable. This extrapolates to a possibility of working in conjunction with gardeners to conserve habitat for pollinators in the continued effort for interconnected greenspaces in urban areas.

The increased rates of population growth and urbanization worldwide raises the question of food security and self-reliance in cities. In view of this situation, in recent years there has been a re-emergence of urban agriculture in its traditional form and in new variations, such as on urban rooftops. A number of rooftop urban farms exist in the world; however, very few studies have been done to establish the quality of crops they produce, specifically concerning the concentrations of contaminants. The main purpose of this study was to investigate levels of contamination in edible plants grown on urban rooftops. I determined concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and trace metals in the biomass of three types of horticultural crops grown in the city of Helsinki, Finland. Lettuce, radish and peas were planted on five rooftops in various areas of Helsinki and control samples were acquired from local food stores and markets. Both groups of crops were analyzed for concentrations of 11 trace elements using the Elan 6000 ICP-MS and 16 PAHs using Shimadzu GC-MS-QP2010 Ultra system with the AOC-20i /AOC-20s autosampler. Additionally, lettuce and pea samples from the roofs were analyzed washed and unwashed to establish levels of particulate contamination on the surface of plants that can be mechanically removed through washing. Results obtained suggest that concentrations of PAHs and trace metals in rooftop vegetables in Helsinki are very low and the differences in their concentrations compared to control (store) samples are insignificant. This demonstrates that the consumption of vegetables produced in uncontaminated soil on urban roofs in Helsinki is safe. All samples showed concentrations well below the safety limits for heavy metals and PAHs established in the European Union (EC, 2006). Finally, there was a difference in concentration of PAHs and trace metals between washed and unwashed samples, however most of the results did not show statistical significance.

Cities of the 21st century consume massive amounts of energy, and indoor climate control within the built environment is responsible for a large fraction of the total demand. With pressures to make buildings more environmentally friendly, new energy efficient technologies and designs are continually sought after. A green roof, or a living roof, is a structural design approach that can provide a variety of ecosystem services along with the reduction of building energy demands. It has been shown that green roofs are effective tools for reducing cooling energy demands in warm and sunny climates; however, in cold climates, where heat energy demands dominate, there is a lack of research and general uncertainty about how beneficial a green roof may be. This thesis, conducted during the winter of 2013-2014, focused on the thermal performance of green roofs in cold weather (winter) conditions. The aim of the study was to quantify the reduction in energy loss that a green roof achieves and to examine the thermal behaviour of each of the green roof layers. Extensive green roofs with hot boxes underneath were constructed in Lahti (southern Finland). Heat sensors were placed vertically through the bare and green roofs to measure linear heat transfer from the interior to the exterior. Heat transfer by conduction was assessed, and a steady state analysis was used to quantify heat flux values. Furthermore, a green roof thermal conductivity model was developed to estimate the thermal conductivity of each of the layers under various environmental conditions (changing moisture contents, frost depths, and during freezing and thawing periods). Monthly comparisons of the energy lost through the two roofing structures were quantified. My results showed that green roofs reduced the amount of energy loss through the surface compared to bare roofs throughout the winter season. The overall reduction in energy loss, due to the presence of green roofs, was on average, 32.6%. Layer analysis showed that thermal conductivity of each of the layers decreased when penetrated by frost. A frost depth that extended through the whole green roof yielded the highest thermal resistance for the green roof at 3.96 m2KW-1. Comparatively, the bare roof had a thermal resistance of 0.27 m2KW-1. During times of snow coverage, the snow acted as a good thermal insulator, reducing the relative benefits achieved from green roofs. During refreezing and thawing, the green roof experienced the lowest values of thermal resistance at 1.83 m2KW-1. These results can be used for quantifying possible heat loss reductions in similar climates using a similar green roof, and the layer analysis provides information of how to best design green roof components for thermal resistance.