Assignment 2: Assessing the current and possible future ecosystem values of an urban area

Due 16 Oct by 23:59 Points 100 Submitting a file upload Available 18 Jul at 0:00 - 20 Oct at 23:59

ASSIGNMENT 2: Assessing the current and possible future ecosystem values of an urban area - 25%
of the total course mark

Due date: Monday, 6 October 2023 (by midnight); Word length: 3,000 + 10%

Notes:

The research you do for this assignment is examinable.

Read through the whole assignment instructions first. While you need to do some technical work,
the emphasis is on how you interpret and apply knowledge. The marking guide at the back provides
the weighting.

Learning objectives:

To look at the urban landscape from an ecological point of view and describe the services that
ecosystems provide. Identify ways of improving ecosystem values and services provided, and
describe why that might be valuable.

To familiarise with a biodiversity assessment tool to estimate the biodiversity value of a local area.
This gives you an idea of the ecosystem's value. This is because, as discussed in lectures, biodiversity
is a measure of ecosystem health.

Introduction:

Keep in mind the difference between functional and indigenous biodiversity. That is, one dimension
of biological diversity is the richness of species of plants and animals in a particular area. They all
perform certain ecological tasks. These relate to the biogeochemical cycles. For example, plants take
up carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, while providing habitat and food for animals. They also help
filter water and so help keep streams clean. These plants and animals can be native to New Zealand,
or introduced. Some introduced species become plant or animal pests (such as willows in rivers or
possums in the bush), while others can perform tasks such as trees providing food and shelter for
other species. Confusingly, some species can be both: willows in swampy land are both a pest as well
as habitat for birds, insects and fish. So biological diversity can be high in urban centres because of
the number of introduced species (see Reading 4 referenced in the Methods section below,
particularly section 3.2 (p 216)).

In practice, this means that New Zealand councils have strategies to protect and enhance native
plants and animals. In addition, introduced species such as European, Australian or North American
trees will also be present, performing various ecological roles. Hence introduced species also have
value and can play a part in enhancing urban ecosystem health.

Safety and Privacy:

You will be assessing different parts of Auckland City on foot. Please be sensible, and obey all road
rules. Do NOT go on to private property, and if you take photographs, do NOT take photos of
members of the public. Photographs must be taken from the street. Do not post photographs on
websites or share them with others – they will be used only for this assignment.

Method:

In your neighbourhood and within walking distance, select a block of no more than one kilometre
square. Try to find an area with various land uses, including public green spaces such as parks and
residential and/or business/industrial areas. It does not have to have all those land uses, as some of
you won’t have access to such areas, but try to get some variety as this will make the job easier.
Please provide a map (digital or drafted by yourself and photographed or scanned) of the relevant
area.

Some of you might be in fairly built-up areas like the Auckland central business district. If so, you can
walk to a block with a bit of variety in it if yours does not have at least some variety in land use.

The idea is to collect data for your area in order to assess the potential of your city block for
biodiversity. You are looking at terrestrial (land-based) and aquatic (streams, ponds, wetlands,
coastal areas) that could be used for ecological enhancement.

Conduct a literature review as part of the research. This involves using the lectures as a starting
point, using the material in the reading list (see below), and then using search engines such as
Google Scholar to find relevant publications discussing the following:

urban ecology

urban biodiversity

ecosystem services

ecological restoration

To help with this process, please look through the following in Canvas
Ecological Restoration in Urban Environments in New Zealand (Clarkson & Kirby 2016) (reading list)

Auckland Ecosystems 2017 (files/reading) – this includes a good introduction to how ecosystems are
identified. It provides a lot of detail that you do not need to go through, but it does provide examples
of different types of ecosystems. Pick one and have a read through.

Mill Ass Synthesis Report (files/reading). This is summarised from the 2005 Millennium Assessment
report and provides a very good introduction to ecosystem services concepts, among other things.
See also Natural capital and ecosystem services in reading list.

Urban Ecology and Sustainability (Wu 2014) (reading list) provides a good historical context for how
urban ecology concepts have evolved.

Some of the concepts in reading (4) might be a bit challenging, but the basic idea is that urban
systems were seen as ‘natural systems’ some 100 years ago, and that has since been overtaken by
seeing urban systems as unnatural. Another school of thought involved looking at how plants and
animals adapted to urban systems (studying ecology in cities). More recently, there is a strand of
research that looks at the city as ecosystems, or a human society-ecological system that consists of
natural and socio-economic components. This takes an approach that humans and natural systems
continue to interact, even in cities – an ecology of cities.

This article is very useful as well as it discusses sustainable development concepts covered elsewhere
in the lectures. It also makes the point that while most urban planning involves managing ecosystems
for the benefit of people and reducing environmental impacts, a broader perspective sees an
evolution of plants and animals with humans to create new ecological systems.

Nature Into Neighbourhoods (Files/ Reading) – this is useful for finding ways to increase biodiversity
in a neighbourhood.

Integrating stormwater management with economic, social, cultural and ecological goals in
Christchurch – Reading List

LIUDD – van Roon and van Roon – Files/Background Reading.

Websites

For backgrounders and national initiatives on biodiversity:

http://www.environmentguide.org.nz/issues/biodiversity/Links to an external site.
http://www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/conservation-activities/in-your-garden/Links to an external
site.

For Auckland region initiatives see https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/environment/what-we-do-

to-help-environment/Pages/our-biodiversity-services.aspxLinks to an external site.

And https://urbanark.nz/Links to an external site.

Before you go into the field

Examine your local area using Auckland Council’s GeoMaps. Go to

https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/geospatial/geomaps/Pages/default.aspxLinks to an external
site. and open GeoMaps. There is also an accompanying guide you can open separately. Using the
Discover tool in the menu bar (the third icon from the left) type in Significant Ecological Areas and
select add for the recommended version. See if there are any SEAs in your area.

The map will indicate green space. The map will also give you an idea of the size of the area you are
looking at. Green space exists in both the public and private areas eg people’s back or front yards,
commercial areas with grassed or planted areas. Make notes about the area you will walk around
before you go out into the field to get an idea of the proportion of your area that is:

Category 1, hard surface = roads, driveways, parking lots, building roofs, concrete etc.

Category 2 = grassland or pasture, that is, open ground that is not built on.

Category 3 = trees over grass that does not have an ‘understorey’ – that is, that area underneath the
tree canopy that doesn’t have a lot of shrubs or groundcover vegetation other than grass.

Category 4 = urban ‘forest’ – that is, there are definite layers of vegetation beneath the main canopy
(i.e. sub-canopy, shrub and ground tiers) that make it harder to look through or walk beneath the
trees; most of this you will identify in the field.

Category 5 = ecological sites (which have already been mapped before you go into the field, see
above). There will not be many of these, and your area may have none.
In the field

Go out and have a look at the block you have chosen. Obviously, you can’t walk onto people’s
property, but confirm as much as you can the proportion of your area (both public and private space)
falling into the above categories. Also note any changes, as these may not be reflected in the GIS
map. This process is known as ‘ground truthing’.

Your map should be detailed enough to give you a good idea of the percentages of the different
ecosystem types within the sub-area of your suburb. You are going to have to calculate the area of all
the different polygons you draw. Within reason, include small bits of habitat (e.g. a grass lawn) with
whatever surrounds them. An example of an appropriate scale of mapping is shown below in Figure
1 (B = built up, P = pasture, T = trees etc. over open ground, F = forest. (Note there is no ecological
site (Significant Ecological Area) on this example).

Figure 1 An example of how to categories sections of your suburb.

Figure 1 An example of how to categorise sections of your suburb.

You should be able to produce a map similar to the above using Good Maps satellite view and
drawing on a screenshot. Use the same approximate scale as above; that is, you can categorise areas
according to the predominant land use rather than trying to measure areas below about say, a
standard backyard.

While doing the fieldwork, identify what is being done or could be done to enhance the biodiversity
value of your suburb. For example, are there efforts underway, or opportunities available, to create
new habitats using such things as ecological corridors or buffers, private land, along streams, green
roofs, and so on?

After the fieldwork

Using either the measuring tool in the Auckland Council GIS viewer, calculate the percentage cover of
the five different types of ecosystems within your sub-areas. Enter this data into Table 1 below (1 to
5). This is an area (or cover) measure.

Using either the measuring tool in the Auckland Council GIS viewer, or a ruler, calculate the
percentage of stream length, or length around a pond or lake or wetland, or a coastal area, that fall
into the categories in Table 1. This is a linear (or length) measure.

Categories 1-5 have a maximum possible value of 100% and 6-8 also a maximum value of 100%.

Calculate the total biodiversity value of your suburb by applying the multipliers in Table 1 and add up
all the scores in the final column. This value will range from 160 (100% cover of ecological sites, and
ecological sites surround all waterways) to 0 (total cover of hardstand and buildings). The more
complex and biologically diverse ecosystems types are given greater weighting in Table 1.

Table 1 Categories 1-5 are measured by area and have a maximum value of 100% . Categories 6-8 are
linear measures and also add to a maximum of 100%.

Data

% cover or % length

Multiplier

Final score

Ecosystems

1. Hardstand
X0

2. Pasture

X 0.2

3. Trees over open

X 0.3

4. Forest

X 0.6
5. Ecological site

X 1.0

Waterways

6. Hard stand

X0

7. Pasture or trees over pasture

X 0.3

8. Forest or ecological site

X 0.6
Total (maximum 160)

Write-up

Assess the existing biodiversity values for your area, then work out what the biodiversity potentially
could be if parts of the area you are looking at were ecologically restored. This is based on the
literature you have reviewed to get background information on urban ecology and biodiversity
values, as well as what you identified in the field. For example, during your field trip you could have
identified areas of council parkland that could be used to extend forest habitat, especially if it
included areas surrounding waterways that might have been unplanted. What about areas of private
land that are not planted? Could green corridors be created incorporating private and public land?
What is the potential for using buildings, incorporating (for example) green roofs? The objective is to
identify various ways of enhancing biodiversity and ecological values and services.

Calculate what the existing biodiversity values, and then what the improved values might be. Include
in your report:

The biodiversity inventory and map work.

Some history of your area. You can find the history of Auckland and its suburbs using online
resources. You don’t need to go into a great deal of detail, but sufficient to discuss in broad terms
how your area might have changed over the past couple of hundred years and how this would have
influenced ecosystem values as measured by biodiversity. If you can’t find material specific to your
area, you can make educated guesses using the broad history of Auckland.

What values (services) do ecosystems/biodiversity provide to your area currently?

What values could be improved, and where? This might include such things as creating ecological
corridors or other new habitat through restoration plantings; daylighting (i.e. exposing streams by
removing cover associated with such things as undergrounding streams through commercial,
residential or recreational property) and planting out streams; animal pest and weed control; and
establishing buffers around high quality habitat. Some of these things will be happening already, so
remember to identify this. See the readings above, the lectures, and your own research, for ideas.

You are writing a report not an essay. Your report should include a title page, a table of contents, an
introduction, a summary of methods, your findings, maps, discussion and conclusions, a list of
references and, if you wish appendices. Let the questions you have been asked above guide your
headings.