Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

A Multi-City Comparison Of Front And Backyard Differences In Plant Species Diversity And Nitrogen Cycling In Residential Landscapes, Dexter H. Locke, Meghan Avolio, Tara Trammell, Rinku Roy Chowdhury, J. Morgan Grove, John Rogan, Deborah G. Martin, Neil D. Bettez, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Peter M. Groffman, Sharon J. Hall, James B. Heffernan, Sarah E. Hobbie, Kelli L. Larson, Jennifer L. Morse, Multiple Additional Authors

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

We hypothesize that lower public visibility of residential backyards reduces households’ desire for social conformity, which alters residential land management and produces differences in ecological composition and function between front and backyards. Using lawn vegetation plots (7 cities) and soil cores (6 cities), we examine plant species richness and evenness and nitrogen cycling of lawns in Boston, Baltimore, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix, Los Angeles (LA), and Salt Lake City (SLC). Seven soil nitrogen measures were compared because different irrigation and fertilization practices may vary between front and backyards, which may alter nitrogen cycling in soils. In addition to lawn-only measurements, …

Assessing The Impacts Of Federal Forest Planning On Wildfire Risk Mitigation In The Pacific Northwest, Usa, Alan A. Ager, Michelle A. Day, Karen C. Short, Cody R. Evers

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

We analyzed the impact of amenity and biodiversity protection as mandated in national forest plans on the implementation of hazardous fuel reduction treatments aimed at protecting the wildland urban interface (WUI) and restoring fire resilient forests. We used simulation modeling to delineate areas on national forests that can potentially transmit fires to adjacent WUI. We then intersected these areas with national forest planning maps to determine where mechanical treatments are allowed for restoration and fire protection, versus areas where they are prohibited. We found that a large proportion of the national forest lands (79%) can spawn fires that burn adjacent …

Diurnal And Seasonal Variations Of No, No2 And Pm2.5 Mass As A Function Of Traffic Volumes Alongside An Urban Arterial, Christine M. Kendrick, Peter Koonce, Linda A. George

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Urban arterial corridors are landscapes that give rise to short and long-term exposures to transportation-related pollution. With high traffic volumes and a wide mix of road users, urban arterial environments are important targets for improved exposure assessment to traffic-related pollution. A common method to estimate exposure is to use traffic volumes as a proxy. The study presented here analyzes a unique yearlong dataset of simultaneous roadside air quality and traffic observations for a U.S. arterial to assess the reliability of using traffic volumes as a proxy for traffic-related exposure. Results show how the relationships of traffic volumes with NO and …

Portland-Vancouver Ultra-Ex: Evaluating Relationships Between Governance And Environmental Quality In Urban Ecosystems, J. Alan Yeakley, Sally Duncan, Steve Bollens, Connie P. Ozawa, Vivek Shandas, Heejun Chang, Marion Dresner, Sean N. Gordon, John A. Harrison, Jeffrey D. Kline, Anita T. Morzillo, Noelwah R. Netusil, Gretchen Rollwagen-Bollens, Mark Stephan, Paul R. Thiers

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Portland-Vancouver Urban Long Term Research Area (ULTRA-Ex) is a multidisciplinary project aimed at understanding the feedbacks between human and natural systems in urban settings. The ULTRA-Ex project is seeking to answer the overarching question: How do human governance and biophysical systems respond interactively to both press and pulse disturbances in urban socio-ecological systems?

This presentation provides early observations and findings from the PV ULTRA-Ex project.