Historic garden study to help manage vital urban green spaces

Historic garden study to help manage vital urban green spaces

A historic Aberdeen garden could play an important role in the development of urban green spaces, following a study that showed how different types of vegetation can be used to best manage these vital areas.

The study, which took place at the Cruickshank Botanic Garden at the University of Aberdeen’s Old Aberdeen campus, found that selecting the right type of vegetation when planning urban green spaces can play an important role in creating a flourishing local ecosystem while protecting our climate.

Urban green spaces are seen as vital to building resilience to both climate and land use changes, as well as helping achieve government targets aiming to increase green space provision to communities.

However, relatively little is known about how these should be designed to make the most of specific hydrological ecosystem services that help build resilience.

The study, led by a team from the University’s School of Geosciences, along with international collaborators, and funded by the Leverhulme Trust, analysed plots at the Cruickshank Botanic Gardens over one growing season to see how different vegetation types might affect what happened to rainfall.

They found that the use of grassland encouraged greater groundwater recharge, while conifers increased transpiration – the process where plant roots absorb water and then release it as vapour through leaves, one of the major sources of water being released into the atmosphere, which can help to cool the local air.

The results of the study, which was one of the first of its type in such an environment, is published in the journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

Lead author Dr Jamie Lee Stevenson said that urban green spaces are increasingly seen as important in building resilience to both climate and land use changes, making their study a potentially important resource for future green space design and planning.

He said: “The choice of urban green space vegetation is important in maximising specific ecosystem services such as groundwater recharge and the cooling of local air temperatures which can help mitigate and improve resilience against climate and land use change.

“In this study we used an array of sensors and developed a new modelling approach, comparing vegetation types at a plot scale, to see clearly how different vegetation types compare in terms of the derived ecosystem services they provide.

“The results provide clear, quantifiable, evidence of functional differences in a previously unstudied area that could be used by those managing urban green spaces for climate and land use change resilience. It also provides a sound basis for further studies in other urban environments and locations.”

Search News

Browse by Month

2024

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug There are no items to show for August 2024
  9. Sep
  10. Oct There are no items to show for October 2024
  11. Nov There are no items to show for November 2024
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2024

2021

  1. Jan There are no items to show for January 2021
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May There are no items to show for May 2021
  6. Jun
  7. Jul There are no items to show for July 2021
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

2020

  1. Jan There are no items to show for January 2020
  2. Feb
  3. Mar There are no items to show for March 2020
  4. Apr There are no items to show for April 2020
  5. May There are no items to show for May 2020
  6. Jun There are no items to show for June 2020
  7. Jul
  8. Aug There are no items to show for August 2020
  9. Sep
  10. Oct There are no items to show for October 2020
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

2019

  1. Jan There are no items to show for January 2019
  2. Feb There are no items to show for February 2019
  3. Mar There are no items to show for March 2019
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

2018

  1. Jan
  2. Feb There are no items to show for February 2018
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul There are no items to show for July 2018
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

2017

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep There are no items to show for September 2017
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

2016

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr There are no items to show for April 2016
  5. May There are no items to show for May 2016
  6. Jun
  7. Jul There are no items to show for July 2016
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov There are no items to show for November 2016
  12. Dec

2014

  1. Jan There are no items to show for January 2014
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

2013

  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr There are no items to show for April 2013
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2013

2012

  1. Jan
  2. Feb There are no items to show for February 2012
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov There are no items to show for November 2012
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2012

2011

  1. Jan There are no items to show for January 2011
  2. Feb
  3. Mar There are no items to show for March 2011
  4. Apr
  5. May There are no items to show for May 2011
  6. Jun There are no items to show for June 2011
  7. Jul There are no items to show for July 2011
  8. Aug There are no items to show for August 2011
  9. Sep There are no items to show for September 2011
  10. Oct There are no items to show for October 2011
  11. Nov
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2011

2010

  1. Jan There are no items to show for January 2010
  2. Feb There are no items to show for February 2010
  3. Mar There are no items to show for March 2010
  4. Apr There are no items to show for April 2010
  5. May There are no items to show for May 2010
  6. Jun There are no items to show for June 2010
  7. Jul There are no items to show for July 2010
  8. Aug There are no items to show for August 2010
  9. Sep
  10. Oct There are no items to show for October 2010
  11. Nov There are no items to show for November 2010
  12. Dec There are no items to show for December 2010