Research & reports

Nishio Sogo, Takada Norio, Saito Toshihiro, Yamamoto Toshiya, Iketani Hiroyuki · BMC Genetics, 17: 81 · Japan

Comparing wild, Chinese, local, and modern Japanese pear cultivars, the study found reduced heterozygosity and allelic richness in modern cultivars, which were genetically close to Kanto local cultivars and strongly biased toward 'Nijisseiki'.

Naim Edwards · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States (Ann Arbor)

This study investigated ant (Formicidae) species diversity in relation to garden attributes at three gardening sites in Ann Arbor, Michigan, along with predation experiments testing biocontrol of Cabbage Looper moths and Squash Bugs. It sampled 19 ant species from 12 genera, finding that soil texture, intense tilling and distance from less-disturbed areas significantly reduced species richness, with less-tilled plots averaging nearly double the species of tractor-tilled plots. Ants consumed Cabbage Looper eggs and larvae, and the authors conclude that reducing disturbance in and around gardens can promote ant biodiversity and beneficial pest predation.

Fortel L., Henry M., Guilbaud L., Mouret H., Vaissiere B. E. · Journal of Insect Conservation · Lyon, France

Surveys use of human-made nesting structures (trap nests / bee hotels) by cavity-nesting wild bees in an urban setting, examining how artificial nesting aids may supplement scarce urban nesting resources.

Sandra María Fonseca da Costa, Runrid Fox-Kämper, Russell Good, Ivana Sentić, S. Treija, Jasminka Rizovska Atanasovska, Hervé Bonnavaud · · Europe

This chapter provides an understanding of the position of allotment and community gardens within the urban fabric across Europe. It offers insights into their diverse locations, relationships to other green spaces, reciprocal impact on the urban landscape and people, and their role in green infrastructure, including functions, connectivity, and accessibility for residents.

Giovanni Sanesi, Giuseppe Colangelo, Raffaele Lafortezza, Enrico Calvo, Clive Davies · Landscape Research · Italy (Milan)

This study assessed land use changes and policy impacts on urban green infrastructure (UGI) in the Metropolitan Area of Milan, Italy. Since the 1970s, policies have led to the creation of 10,000 hectares of new forests and green systems, such as Boscoincittà and Parco Nord Milano, to address green space loss. The research, part of the Emonfur project, aims to identify effective measures for increasing UGI quality and quantity.

Robyn D. Quistberg, Peter Bichier, Stacy M. Philpott · Environmental Entomology · United States (California)

This study investigated bee abundance and species richness in 19 urban community gardens on the California central coast using aerial nets and pan traps. Researchers found 55 bee species and identified that local factors, such as garden size, floral abundance, mulch cover, bare ground, and grass, were generally more important correlates than landscape factors. Medium bees were less abundant in areas with more medium-intensity developed land within 2 km.

William Kort · UWM Digital Commons (University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee) · United States

This study developed a framework for life cycle environmental assessment of urban organic waste utilization in urban agriculture, specifically fruit and vegetable production. Results suggest that a full "urban nutrient cycle" offers significant environmental benefits, including meeting up to 70% of vegetable and 17% of fruit consumption needs in Northern and Eastern U.S. cities, with potential water savings of 10-17% of annual domestic use. Optimizing resource recovery through source separation leads to 1-2% lower wastewater generation and up to 44% greater phosphorus recovery, while overall energy and emissions benefits are 1-2% of a city's annual totals.

Janina Borysiak, Andrzej Mizgajski · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global

This study identified 64 cultural ecosystem services provided by urban allotment garden ecosystems. These services fit into the lowest level of the CICES v.4.3 classification, representing class types within one section, two divisions, three groups, and eight classes. All identified services were tabulated and discussed in light of the latest scientific publications.

Alexandra Rizhinashvili · Digital Library of the Belarusian State University (Belarusian State University) · Global

This study analyzed the key limnetic parameters of four small shallow lakes: two located in allotment garden areas and two in forest-covered areas. It found that lakes with largely unexploited catchments contain a "hidden" source of nutrient load, primarily phosphates. Furthermore, lakes with catchments occupied by allotment gardens exhibited intensive overgrowth by floating vegetation.

Terry Hartig, Peter H. Kahn · Science · Global

Natural features, settings, and processes in urban areas can help reduce stress associated with urban life. Public health benefits from street trees, green roofs, community gardens, parks, open spaces, and extensive connective pathways for walking and biking. Such urban design provisions also yield ecological benefits, both directly and by shaping attitudes toward the environment and environmental protection.

Petites ruches · · France (Auxerre)

The shared garden of the Maison de Quartier des Piedalloues in Auxerre, France, features lawns intentionally left high to attract butterflies such as the 'demi-deuil', which pollinate knautia flowers. Residents have also participated in creating palisades or 'branch walls' using split acacia stakes within the garden.

J. Scott MacIvor, Laurence Packer · PLoS ONE · Global

This study modeled the occupancy probability of six solitary bee species using nest boxes set along an urbanization gradient over three consecutive years. Native M. pugnata showed decreased occupancy with increasing building footprint, and a similar but not significant pattern was found for native O. pumila. Conversely, introduced M. rotundata and M. centuncularis, along with native M. campanulae, exhibited increased occupancy with rising urbanization.

Kajsa Ignell, Åsa Bugge Marin · · Argentina (Buenos Aires)

A field study was conducted in November and December 2015 at six urban agricultural sites in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The study aimed to map ecosystem services at these sites and assess urban agriculture's potential to strengthen adaptive capacity and resilience in Buenos Aires. The mapping and research showed that urban agriculture provides many ecosystem services, creating a sense of community and other social values, and contributing to urban temperature regulation, added biodiversity, and water infiltration.

Cat Buxton · · United States

This record describes a community event titled "Garden Insects 101: Attracting Beneficials & Deterring Pests" held on July 19, 2016, from 6 PM to 7 PM at the WRJ Community Garden at Ratcliffe Park in the United States. The event featured Cat Buxton discussing beneficial insects and pests.

هالة فالح احمد · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Iraq

A field study in Iraq investigated the role and importance of school gardens within educational institutions. The research found that school gardens eliminate desertification, moderate weather, and bring happiness to students and teachers, while their neglect obstructs the teaching process. The study recommends organizing teacher courses on school environment and health, and conducting periodic cleaning and repair campaigns for school gardens and buildings.

Andrea Burr · Consilience · United States (St. Louis, Missouri)

This interdisciplinary pilot study in St. Louis, Missouri, USA (2013-2015) investigated relationships between pollinator health and urban land-uses. Wild bees were sampled weekly at urban farms, community gardens, and prairie pockets, and ethnographic interviews were conducted with 30 decision-makers in summer 2015. Informants described bees' role in crop yield and reported planting to attract pollinators, suggesting the city is viable for pollinator habitat.

Michele Lobo · Geographical Review · Australia (Darwin)

This paper examines public spaces in Darwin, Australia, where the visibility of Aboriginal people and migrants often generates fear and anxiety. Focusing on a drop-in open-air café-community garden-op shop, the study argues that playful events and spontaneous multisensory encounters involving humans, non-humans, and material things can animate these spaces. It suggests that the vibrancy of matter and non-human life forms can inform how diverse cities are co-inhabited, challenging social cohesion policies centered on integration into a dominant white majority culture.

Monika Egerer, Peter Bichier, Stacy M. Philpott · Annals of the Entomological Society of America · Global

This study identified landscape and local habitat factors influencing lady beetle abundance and species richness in urban community gardens. Assessing 19 gardens over two years, it found that the amount of natural area surrounding gardens at 3 km was the strongest correlate of abundance and species richness. Gardens embedded in more urban landscapes had higher lady beetle abundance and richness, suggesting that urban landscape quality and local habitat management may interact to shape lady beetle communities within gardens.

Ana Cristina Torres, Anne Caroline Prévot, Sophie Nadot · Letras Verdes Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Socioambientales · France (Paris)

A study of 9 Parisian community gardens revealed the limitations of the dominant approach in conservation sciences and urban planning, which seeks to halt environmental deterioration by establishing an ethical basis of attitudes deemed appropriate for conserving a particular nature, by limiting human-nature interaction. Considering citizen subjectivities, the study offers perspectives to nourish conservation sciences and rethink cities.

David M. Lowenstein, Maryam Gharehaghaji, David H. Wise · Environmental Entomology · United States

A study at 28 urban food-production sites in the Midwestern United States measured the removal of sentinel eggs and larvae of the cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni) by predators over a 3-day period. Predators removed 50% of eggs and 25% of larvae, with mortality rates not predicted by landscape factors and similar across residential gardens, community gardens, and farms. Laboratory assays confirmed that lady beetles, spiders, and pirate bugs consumed eggs and larvae at high rates.

Christopher Schliephake · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · South Korea

This essay examines contemporary urbanism's re-negotiation of nature's place in cities, presenting bottom-up and top-down urban agriculture models as alternative approaches to re-embed urban systems in natural cycles. It discusses socio-historical changes in urban landscapes since industrialization and analyzes the cultural urban ecology in South Korean director Hae-jun Lee’s 2009 film "Cast Away on the Moon." The film imaginatively explores these issues, prompting a re-consideration of urban lifestyles and the regenerative potential of working with soil.

Lalieta Somwaru · Brazilian Journal of Science and Technology · Suriname

In Suriname, "The Green School" project, initiated in October 2013, is being implemented in all primary schools nationwide. This project aims to positively influence children's environmental behavior through practical activities, focusing on biodiversity (including school gardens), waste, water, and energy. Of the 333 primary schools in Suriname, 286 have been officially designated "Green Schools," and monitoring has shown improvements in classroom and schoolyard cleanliness and sustainable water and energy usage.

Antoine Zammit, Ina Šuklje Erjavec, Gabriela Maksymiuk, Dimitra Theochari, Runrid Fox-Kämper, Russell Good, Emanuele Sommariva · · Global

This chapter explores allotment gardens as a challenge for urban designers, identifying specific urban design quality considerations for these green spaces. It also examines the evolving role of urban designers in top-down and bottom-up processes to achieve suitable spatial quality. The chapter suggests that allotment gardens can enhance diversity, robustness, and amenity in urban areas, particularly when accessible from residential developments, and should be designed as safe and secure places.

Annalisa Metta · Iris (Roma Tre University) · Global

This publication compiles visions from 50 architects, landscape architects, designers, and environmental leaders from 15 countries on sustainability, sustainable design, urbanism, and architecture. Through articles, interviews, and project presentations, they share insights from their work, including community gardens and environmental education. Annalisa Metta contributes 10 tips for young designers on responsibility and sustainability in open space design.

Tammy E. Parece, Elena Serrano, James B. Campbell · The Professional Geographer · United States (Roanoke)

A socioeconomic evaluation in Roanoke, Virginia, analyzed ten variables, including food options, across census block groups to identify neighborhoods that would benefit from urban agriculture. The study found that one block group qualified in all ten variables, and two-thirds showed need in at least half, with most of these areas located in the city's middle. This analysis produced a hierarchy of locations based on socioeconomic need for new urban agriculture sites.