Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
172 results(5 / 7)
Multi‐scalar drivers of biodiversity: local management mediates wild bee community response to regional urbanization
2019Kimberly M. Ballare, John L. Neff, Rebecca Ruppel, Shalene Jha · Ecological Applications · United States
This study assessed bee community composition at 20 grassland and 20 agriculture sites across two US metroplexes over three time periods, identifying 172 species from nearly 13,000 specimens. It found that regional land use differentially impacted bee abundance and diversity depending on local habitat management. Local bare ground and floral richness were significantly related to multiple metrics of bee diversity.
BiodiversityPollinatorsUrban–rural linkageWild Bee Conservation within Urban Gardens and Nurseries: Effects of Local and Landscape Management
2019Monika Egerer, Jacob M. Cecala, Hamutahl Cohen · Sustainability · United States (California)
This study compared the effects of local and landscape features on wild bee species abundance and richness in 19 gardens and 11 nurseries in California, USA. Local features such as floral richness and ground cover, and landscape features like impervious land cover, were assessed. In gardens, floral richness, local habitat size, and urban land cover impacted wild bee species richness, while in nurseries, floral richness and the proportion of native plant species impacted wild bee abundance and richness.
BiodiversityPollinatorsCommunityAGRICULTURE IN URBAN ECOSYSTEMS: A STEP TO CITIES SUSTAINABILITY1
2019THAYZA DE OLIVEIRA BATITUCCI, Erika Cortines, Fábio Souto Almeida, Ângela Alves de Almeida · Ambiente & sociedade · Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
This study analyzed the interactions of agricultural activities and the urban ecosystem through a literature review and a case study of an Urban Agriculture program in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It found that urban agriculture provides considerable ecosystem services, generates income, increases biodiversity conservation, and fosters social inclusion. The research concludes that urban agriculture functions as a mechanism for achieving equilibrium among the components of the urban ecosystem.
Climate changeEconomicsBiodiversityCommunityEVALUACIÓN DE LA CALIDAD DEL SUELO DE UN HUERTO URBANO EN XALAPA, MÉXICO.
2019Yadeneyro de la Cruz Elizondo, Juan Camilo Fontalvo-Buelvas · Suelos Ecuatoriales · Mexico (Xalapa)
In an urban green area in Xalapa, Mexico, soil quality was evaluated prior to the implementation of a university garden. The soil was brown and sandy loam with poor aggregate stability and a bulk density of 2.52 g/cm3. Biologically, earthworm density was poor at 67.2 ind/m2 and the number of edaphic groups was poor at 5, though pH was optimal at 6.58 and organic matter was medium at 6.45%. Overall soil quality was assessed as moderate, indicating a need for an integrated soil management plan for improvement.
Organic cycleBiodiversityCommunityGarden Pollinators and the Potential for Ecosystem Service Flow to Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture
2018Gail Ann Langellotto, Andony Melathopoulos, Isabella Messer, Aaron Anderson, Nathan McClintock, Lucas Costner · Sustainability · United States (Portland, Oregon)
This study sampled bees from gardens in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area and estimated typical foraging distances to assess whether urban gardens might supply pollination services to surrounding agricultural land. It estimates that when pollination-dependent crops are nearby, 30–50% of the garden bee community could potentially provide pollination services to adjacent crops, suggesting urban gardens could provision neighboring farms or serve as a refuge for pollinators.
PollinatorsBiodiversityCurso de agroecología en formación de un huerto comunitario en la unidad de salud de la familia Giserlando Biondi, Jequie-Bahia-Nrasil / Course of agroecology in the formation of a community garden in the health unit of the Giserlando Biondi family, Jequi
2018Leandro Nascimento Bertoldi, Pamela Johanna Menéndez Velásquez · Revista panorama/Panorama. Cuba y salud · Brazil
A course on Agroecology was conducted in Jequié, Bahia, Brazil, focusing on creating organic community gardens and training communities in health promotion, disease prevention, and food and environmental education. The project identified farmers who transitioned from using agrotoxins to biological control, resulting in increased local biodiversity and encouraging community gardening. The initiative also fostered social empowerment, increased self-esteem, and developed collective discussion and production practices within the SUS.
Food educationCommunityHealthBiodiversityCaracterización de huertos urbanos y periurbanos de Xalapa de Enríquez, Veracruz
2018Saúl Ortiz Riveros, Nancy Domínguez González, Noel Reyes Pérez, Marycruz Abato Zárate, Carlos Roberto Cerdán Cabrera, Miguel Ángel Escalona Aguilar, Josè Armando Lozada-García · Revista Biológico Agropecuaria Tuxpan · Mexico (Xalapa)
This study characterized urban and peri-urban gardens within the Xalapa Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture Network (RAUPX) in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, based on garden size, diversity, arthropod presence, and phytosanitary management practices. Findings indicated that producers' phytosanitary practices are corrective rather than preventive and are moderately related to the presence of pests.
CommunityBiodiversityPeri-urban agricultureThe socio-environmental impacts of public urban fruit trees: A Montreal case-study
2018Juliette Colinas, Paula Louise Bush, Kevin Manaugh · Urban forestry & urban greening · Canada (Montreal)
A study in Montreal, Quebec, investigated the socio-environmental impacts of public urban fruit trees, using a public urban orchard as a case study. Semi-structured interviews with users revealed positive impacts on social capital, place attachment, and food knowledge, but no evidence of impact on environmental knowledge. The findings suggest that public, unrestricted-access urban agriculture can have diverse socio-environmental impacts.
CommunityBiodiversityHealthProvidence productivity framework : ideas for a network of sites rethinking productivity in Providence
2018Patricia Noto · Digital Commons - RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) · United States (Providence)
This thesis investigated the role of designers in creating or enhancing productive systems in cities, focusing on Providence, Rhode Island. It proposed rethinking the function of public and quasi-public spaces and expanding the definition of urban productivity beyond community gardens to include a network of agroforestry sites and remediated lands. The study examined a series of diverse sites along the Woonasquatucket River, noting their suitability due to the river's industrial history, varied conditions, and existing community organization connections.
CommunityBiodiversityFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageCivic Stewardship as a Catalyst for Social-Ecological Change in Detroit, Michigancccccc
2018R. Witt, Erika S. Svendsen, Marianne E. Krasny · Cornell University Press eBooks · United States (Detroit)
This chapter explores how civic stewardship has driven social-ecological transformation in Detroit through the work of the nonprofit Greening of Detroit. The organization expanded its mission from restoring the city's tree canopy to include urban agriculture, environmental education, and workforce development, acting as a bridging organization connecting various stakeholders. Sustained community-based stewardship builds resilience, strengthens social networks, and shapes both local change and broader social movements through inclusive green infrastructure and civic participation.
CommunityPolicyFood educationBiodiversityColhendo e plantando vida nas cidades: extensão ao contrário e ecologia de saberes no Aglomerado da Serra, Belo Horizonte - MG
2018Bruno Martins Dala Paula, Luana do Carmo Araujo de Oliveira, Emmanuel Duarte Almada, Filipe Freitas Chaves, Maura Neves Coutinho · Expressa Extensão · Brazil (Belo Horizonte)
This essay reflects on the relationship between urban agriculture practices and life care, based on a university extension project mobilized between resident groups of the Aglomerado da Serra communities in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and members of Grupo Aroeira, over six years (2008-2013). The project was structured through main activities including surveying urban agriculture initiatives in the community, holding a cycle of 'Cultivating Health' meetings, forming a Medicinal Plants Group, creating a literacy class, and organizing open-air markets with urban agrobiodiversity products. This project aimed to cultivate and promote the care for the lives of the residents, valuing their popular knowledge, while bringing these experiences into the university through the practice of 'reverse extension'.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceFood educationBiodiversityLynchburg College Community Garden
2018Kaitlin Hathaway · Digital Showcase Research, Scholarship, & Creative Works (University of Lynchburg) · United States (Lynchburg)
The Lynchburg College Community Garden at Beaver Point, United States, was established in 2016 by students and faculty to teach sustainable agriculture and enrich soil. In spring and summer 2017, projects included donating produce, promoting pollinators, raising chickens, and composting. The abstract also describes a designed rainwater collection and irrigation system.
CommunityFood educationBiodiversityCompostOrganic cycleAssessing Urban Community Gardens’ Impact on Net Primary Production using NDVI
2017Tammy E. Parece, James B. Campbell · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · United States
This study used the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from U.S. Landsat 5, 7, and 8 satellites to assess the environmental impact of urban community gardens across three eastern U.S. cities—Roanoke, VA; Pittsburgh, PA; and Buffalo, NY—over the 2007–2015 growing seasons. It reports that establishing community gardens altered seasonal NDVI trajectories, sometimes declining initially but then increasing over time, revealing the vigorous vegetative character of urban agriculture.
CommunityBiodiversityUrban arthropods respond variably to changes in landscape context and spatial scale
2017Monika Egerer, Courtney Arel, Michelle D. Otoshi, Robyn D. Quistberg, Peter Bichier, Stacy M. Philpott · Journal of Urban Ecology · United States (California)
This three-year study in 19 urban community gardens on the California central coast examined how urban landscape intensification and diversity influence the abundance and richness of five arthropod groups (ants, bees, ladybeetles, parasitoids, spiders) across six spatial scales (200 m to 5 km). All arthropod groups were influenced by landscape factors, but this influence varied with spatial scale and local habitat features, likely due to arthropod community interactions and life history strategies.
CommunityBiodiversityPollinatorsEXPLORING THE SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS OF AGRICULTURAL EXPANSION IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
2017Jennifer Wilhelm · University of New Hampshire Scholars Repository (University of New Hampshire at Manchester) · United States (New Hampshire)
This dissertation addresses agricultural extensification from several angles. Chapter 1's literature review showed an increase in research on urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) and ecosystem services, but highlighted a need for quantifying ecosystem services and functions to clarify ecological tradeoffs. Subsequent chapters focused on a mixed-methods study in New Hampshire, surveying approximately 600 residents (494 general population, 103 food system stakeholders) on their perception of forestland conversion to agriculture.
Environmental trade-offsUrban–rural linkagePeri-urban agricultureBiodiversityClimate changeCreating Socioecological Novelty in Urban Agroecosystems from the Ground Up
2017Monika Egerer, Alessandro Ossola, Brenda B. Lin · BioScience · United States (California central coast)
This study conceptualizes community garden soils within the novel ecosystem framework, arguing that gardeners cultivate novel agroecosystems from their garden beds' soil. On the California central coast, community garden soils may not be influenced by land-use legacies associated with geographic location. Instead, intensive soil reworking by gardeners can wash out legacy signals and decadal chronological trends, leading to soil homogenization that reduces biophysical ties to the underlying earth.
Environmental trade-offsCommunityBiodiversityFood sovereignty & justiceOrganic cycleUrbanization alters communities of flying arthropods in parks and gardens of a medium-sized city
2017Edward Lagucki, Justin Burdine, Kevin E. McCluney · PeerJ · United States (Toledo, Ohio)
This study investigated associations between urbanization and flying arthropod communities in 30 gardens and parks in Toledo, Ohio, during July and August 2016, collecting 2,369 individuals across nine orders using elevated pan traps. Flying arthropod community composition was associated with percent impervious surface and canopy cover. Overall abundance was negatively associated with impervious surface and positively with distance to city center, with specific taxa showing similar responses, indicating urbanization reduces taxa important for urban agriculture.
BiodiversityPollinatorsClimate changeGardening the Community: A Discussion of Japanese Knotweed Eradication Methods
2017Sable Liggera · Smith ScholarWorks (Smith College) · United States (Springfield, MA)
A project was conducted to compare methods for controlling and eradicating Japanese knotweed on the plot of Gardening the Community, an urban gardening organization in Springfield, MA. This study discussed the methodology, effectiveness, and ecological impact of two options: repetitive mowing and the use of the herbicide glyphosate. Glyphosate stem injection was determined to be the most efficient method, reducing knotweed volume by 95-100% after one year, but was rejected due to the organization's no-herbicide policy. The final recommendation was repetitive cutting, which showed a stable decrease in knotweed stem height if more than four cuts were applied in one growing season.
CommunityBiodiversityTaxonomic and functional trait diversity of wild bees in different urban settings
2017Étienne Normandin, Nicolas J. Vereecken, Christopher M. Buddle, Valérie Fournier · PeerJ · Canada
This study collected 32,237 wild bee specimens (200 species, 6 families) from 46 sites in Montreal and Quebec City in 2012 and 2013, across cemeteries, community gardens, and urban parks. It demonstrated that cities are home to diverse communities of wild bees, which in turn affect bee community structure and dynamics. Community gardens specifically harbored high levels of functional trait diversity, suggesting a substantial contribution to urban pollination services.
BiodiversityPollinatorsCommunityA Knotty Problem: Arts Based Action Research in and out of a Community Garden
2017Sam Smiley · Catalyst Feminism Theory Technoscience · United States (Provincetown, MA)
This arts-based action research, conducted by media artist and researcher sam smiley, explored the process of building a sculpture from Japanese Knotweed, an "invasive species," in the B-Street community garden in Provincetown, MA, USA. A series of community interventions with gardeners, naturalists, and sculptors were organized during the May 2016 Appearances Environmental Arts Festival. This article debriefs the journey of the Knotweed Sculpture from the community garden to its ultimate destruction in a bonfire on National Seashore.
CommunityBiodiversityEffects of Garden Attributes on Ant (Formicidae) Species Richness and Potential for Pest Control
2016Naim 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.
BiodiversityCommunityLandscape and Local Correlates of Bee Abundance and Species Richness in Urban Gardens
2016Robyn 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.
BiodiversityPollinatorsCommunityAn Integrated Environmental Analysis Framework for Multi-Functional Urban Food Production Utilizing Nutrient Recycling from Organic Waste Streams
2016William 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.
Organic cycleCompostClimate changeBiodiversityGarden Insects 101: Attracting Beneficials & Deterring Pests - July 19, 2016
2016Cat 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.
CommunityBiodiversityWild Bees in the City: Reimagining Urban Spaces for Pollinator Health
2016Andrea 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.
BiodiversityPollinatorsCommunityUrban–rural linkage