Conceptualizing social-ecological drivers of urban forest patch condition

Background/Question/Methods

Urban forest patches are a type of urban green infrastructure that can contribute to ecological functioning and sustainability in cities (Kowarik 2011; Elmqvist et al. 2015) and to residents’ well-being (Tyrväinen et al. 2005; Berg et al. 2007; Korpela et al. 2010; Hauru et al. 2012; Song et al. 2016). At the same time, urban forest patches are subject to a variety of pressures. Conceptualizing these forests as a social-ecological system (Vogt et al. 2015) and integrating systems thinking into land management decision-making are key for long-term efforts to promote health, sustainability, and conservation of these important habitats. Here, we introduce a conceptual model of the urban forest patch as a complex social-ecological system, incorporating cross-scale interactions. We developed this model through an interdisciplinary process engaging social and ecological scientists and urban land management decision makers, with a focus on temperate forest social-ecological systems. We place the production and management of urban forest patches in historical perspective, present a conceptual model of urban forest patches within a broader regional context, and identify a series of research questions to highlight future directions for research on urban forest patches.

Results/Conclusions

By conceptualizing social-ecological effects on the condition of urban forest patch assemblages within a metropolitan region, we have synthesized multi-scalar concepts from a set of social and ecological disciplines and areas of expertise, including human and physical geography; urban, plant community, restoration, landscape, and ecosystem ecology; community organizing and NGO administration; public land management; sociology; and human dimensions of natural resources. Our interdisciplinary conceptual model of urban forest patches as social-ecological systems with cross-scale interactions identifies questions about the patterns and processes of system components and their interactions. This urban forest patch model serves as a starting point from which to systematically examine these and other social-ecological questions about urban forest patches. We recognize that our model is a simplification of the system and anticipate that future empirical work may untangle complexity among. This conceptual model identifies how spatial and temporal social-ecological drivers interact with patch-level conditions at multiple scales. Our integrative approach can provide insights into the role of social-ecological drivers in shaping forest health, biodiversity, and benefits forest patches provide to people in urban and urbanizing regions, with direct implications for decision-making to improve management outcomes.