2017 ESA Annual Meeting (August 6 -- 11)

OOS 19 - Beyond Biodiversity in Urban Agriculture Research: Ecosystem Services, Social Dimensions, and Management Applications

Wednesday, August 9, 2017: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM
Portland Blrm 253, Oregon Convention Center
Organizer:
Monika Egerer
Co-organizer:
Hamutahl Cohen
Moderator:
Hamutahl Cohen
One of the predominant ways in which our world is changing is through urbanization. As people migrate to cities, the subsequent conversion of natural habitat into impervious cover has implications for local and regional biodiversity. Global interest in urban agriculture has also increased with increasing urbanization: a contemporary renaissance in urban agriculture has transformed urban land into productive green spaces and habitats for biodiversity. Approximately 20% of today’s global food supply comes from urban agriculture, and urban food production relies heavily on ecosystem services provided by urban biodiversity. While we know much about local and landscape drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem services in rural agricultural systems, we are still elucidating the links between landscape features, local biodiversity, ecosystem services, and food production in urban systems. Urban agricultural systems are influenced by human and non-human interactions, thus understanding the ecology of these socio-ecological systems requires interdisciplinary approaches. As much of this work directly involves urban agriculture practitioners, an interdisciplinary approach that feeds research findings back into management practices can have advantageous ecological and social outcomes. This session aims to synthesize research findings, experiences and challenges of urban agriculture research with a focus on inter- and transdisciplinary studies. While urban ecologists have well catalogued the abundance and richness of arthropods, birds, and other organisms in urban agricultural systems, we explore next steps in research that highlight biodiversity-ecosystem service relationships and implications for sustainable urban agriculture management. This session brings together scientists utilizing a diverse combination of ecological and social methods to ask questions like: What are new approaches to study ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation in a changing city landscape? What experiences from urban field work help contextualize research results and outcomes? How do we take what we know about urban biodiversity and begin to inform management decisions to enhance food cultivation in the city? Further, we explore how scientists have successfully disseminated research to local communities around urban agriculture through unique strategies like citizen science programs and social media.
8:00 AM
Socio-ecological feedbacks affecting bee diversity in urban farms and community gardens
Gerardo R. Camilo, Saint Louis University; Damon Hall, Saint Louis University; Paige A. Muñiz, Saint Louis University; Nicole Schaeg, Saint Louis University
8:20 AM
Bee community structure across urban prairie fragments and gardens
Shalene Jha, University of Texas at Austin; Kimberly M. Ballare, University of Texas; John Neff, Central Texas Melittological Institute
8:40 AM Cancelled
OOS 19-3
9:20 AM
Agro-ecological transitions and hysteresis: Combining experiment with theory
Theresa Wei Ying Ong, University of Michigan; John H. Vandermeer, University of Michigan
9:40 AM
9:50 AM
Herbivore regulation in urban community gardens: Direct and indirect pathways of control
Heidi Liere, Seattle University; Peter Bichier, University of California, Santa Cruz; Monika Egerer, University of California, Santa Cruz; Shalene Jha, University of Texas at Austin; Brenda B. Lin, CSIRO; Stacy M. Philpott, University of California, Santa Cruz
10:10 AM
Garden biodiversity and the social-political drivers of garden land access
Lorraine Weller Clarke, University of the District of Columbia; G. Darrel Jenerette, University of California
10:30 AM
The effect of local and landscape scale land cover on microclimate and water use in urban gardens
Brenda B. Lin, CSIRO; Monika Egerer, University of California, Santa Cruz; Shalene Jha, University of Texas at Austin; Heidi Liere, Seattle University; Stacy M. Philpott, University of California, Santa Cruz
10:50 AM
Developing a longitudinal research design for assessing the social, ecological, and health and dietary impacts of urban agriculture in a low-income community in Greater Providence, RI
John R. Taylor, University of Rhode Island; Maya Vadiveloo, University of Rhode Island; Alison Tovar, University of Rhode Island; Laura Bozzi, Southside Community Land Trust