Research & reports

John Taylor, Sarah Taylor Lovell, Sam E. Wortman, M.K. Chan · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · United States (Chicago)

In Chicago, semi-structured interviews and plant inventories were conducted with 59 African American, Chinese-origin, and Mexican-origin households regarding ecosystem services and tradeoffs in their home food gardens. A total of 387 plant species were identified; gardens of African American households were rich in ornamental species, while those of Chinese-origin households had a depauperate flora. Shade trees and a developed shrub layer were absent from most gardens, suggesting a tradeoff in ecosystem services favoring food production. Only 9.6% of the inventoried species were native to the Chicago area.

Leila de Castro Louback Ferraz, E. R. de O. Carvalho, Mayara Márcia Sarsur Viana, Nathália Rabelo Pereira Oliveira · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil

A study of community gardens run by the municipal government of Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais, Brazil for nearly 33 years — cited as a reference example of urban agriculture in Brazil — found that more than 95 plant species are cultivated there, spanning food, condiment, ornamental and medicinal uses. This is described as contributing to improved quality of life for the population by securing food security with variety and quality, as well as playing a role in guaranteeing income in the urban setting.

Lowenstein D.M., Matteson K.C., Minor E.S. · Oecologia, 179(3):811-821 · United States

A study measuring wild bee diversity and cucumber pollination (a pollination service) across urban Chicago. Sites with more bee species had better pollination, and even densely populated residential areas supported high bee richness. It demonstrates that growing diverse flowers in urban gardens sustains pollinators and directly benefits urban agricultural yields.

· Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences · United States

Documents seed exchange networks in the United States (including the Seed Savers Exchange) and their role in food system resilience and heritage crop diversity.

Renan Yamashita Ferreira · · Brazil (Criciúma)

This article reports on the survey, registration, diagnosis, and restoration of urban public green spaces in Criciuma/SC, Brazil. Green spaces created in urban allotment processes were demarcated on maps, and a diagnosis describing vegetation, degradation factors, and necessary improvement actions was elaborated. Actions such as tree planting, organic matter input, fencing, and removal of invasive species and waste were carried out in some areas. Engaging the local community is recommended to aid recovery, and intrusion problems should be restrained with prompt inspection, which is more efficient with community surveillance.

Sebastião Gabriel Chaves Maia · Revista Ouricuri · Brazil (São Paulo)

This case study focuses on understanding the representations of rural environments within urban spaces, emphasizing urban agriculture practices. It applies theoretical assumptions of pluriactivity and multifunctionality from traditional rural agriculture to urban agriculture in Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil. The organization of urban gardens exemplifies the application of rural representation in urban settings, with these activities contributing to local well-being, the local economy, and the conservation of agrobiodiversity.

Jacques Abelman · Kobra (Universitätsbibliothek Kassel) · Brazil (Porto Alegre)

The "Cultivating the City" project attempts to apply landscape architectural thinking to integrate urban agriculture into the city. A proposed network of urban agriculture typologies, emphasizing agroforestry with native species, was developed for Porto Alegre, Brazil. These hypothetical designs aim to serve as a basis for dialogue among potential stakeholders and as catalysts for future projects.

Luciene Rodrigues, Maria Antônia Carniello · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil

This study aimed to document the use and agricultural management practices of tuberous plants by residents in urban backyards in Cáceres, Mato Grosso, Brazil, using semi-structured interviews. Nine species were recorded, including Manihot esculenta, with carrot, sweet potato, ginger, and saffron cited for medicinal use (8.3% to 16.6%). Planting followed seasons and lunar phases, and soil fertility was corrected with organic fertilizer and sawdust.

Matthew Potteiger · · United States (New York City)

This paper explores a fundamental shift in urban agriculture based on productive urban ecologies and foraging practices. Part one identifies urban foraging as a significant cultural practice, summarizing ethnographic research in Syracuse and New York City, and a multi-city USDA Forest Service study. Part two focuses on design strategies for urban foraging and productive ecologies, presenting case studies and design proposals for Syracuse and New York City. The study outlines a paradigm shift in design and planning to integrate urban agriculture with critical landscape systems and re-localize urban metabolism.

Bill Musser · · United States (Iowa)

The CBHL 2015 annual meeting and conference was hosted by Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa, from June 16-20, 2015. The conference theme reflected the growing public interest in creating edible landscapes.

Mabel Hernández Osorio, Ana Lid del Ángel Pérez, Carlos Nahin Castro José · Revista Biológico Agropecuaria Tuxpan · Mexico

This study in Veracruz, Mexico, identified insect pests associated with urban cultivation of vegetables and aromatic species in two types of recycled containers. Daily ethological monitoring revealed five insect pests: whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum), red spider mite (Tetranychus urticae C.L.Koch), leaf miner (Liriomyza sp), thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis), and aphids (Myzus persicae). The findings aim to inform preventive actions and biological control strategies to reduce pest presence in urban container vegetable production.

Jeremy Woodruff · Journal of sonic studies · United States (Pittsburgh)

This essay explores the contribution of sound art to progressive ecology groups in Pittsburgh, focusing on the installation "Gongburgh: Steeltown Forests" developed at the Hazelwood Food Forest (HFF). The composition, using sounds from the urban garden, gamelan, and steel factories, aimed to create social connections and promote the HFF through a sustainable music-making experiment. It highlights novel similarities and differences between these sounds and their social organization, raising political questions for the garden and listeners.

Renee Meschi · Sound Ideas (University of Puget Sound) · United States (Tacoma)

This research examined the plants, fungi, and people of Tacoma's Swan Creek Park Food Forest (SCPFF) in the United States. The study investigated the site's history, including indigenous plant use by the First People of Cascadia, Native American food sovereignty projects, and the influence of immigration waves. It concluded with recommendations for ethical development and cultural sensitivity at the SCPFF.

Melissa N. Poulsen, Kristyna R. S. Hulland, Carolyn A. Gulas, Hieu M. Pham, Sarah L Dalglish, Rebecca K. Wilkinson, Peter J. Winch · Culture Agriculture Food and Environment · United States (Baltimore)

This qualitative study explored the perceived benefits of community gardening in Baltimore, Maryland, through in-depth and focus group interviews with community gardeners. Gardeners reported benefits at multiple levels, including psychological benefits and a connection with nature individually, trusting relationships and shared learning at the neighborhood level, and reclaiming city space and improving the food environment at the community level.

Melissa Johnston, Andre Knight-Lira, Zoë Mager, Nadine Mulrooney, Matthew Poppleton, Samantha Shaw, Matthew Wilkinson · · Canada (Peterborough)

This document compiles research reports written by students in the Environmental Resource Studies/Science (ERTS) 3160H class at Trent University in the winter of 2014. The students critically examined urban food forests around the world and made suggestions for designing a food forest in Peterborough. Urban food forests have the potential to provide the same services as current urban forests, but also produce food and perhaps increase biodiversity in the process.

Pierrette Hondagneu‐Sotelo · · United States (California)

This chapter discusses possibilities for rethinking and reinventing new models of garden making in Southern California and metropolitan regions more generally. In Southern California, diverse gardens promoting environmental and cultural sustainability, shared backyard gardening, organic vegetable gardening, wall gardens, and lawn removal efforts are observed. The chapter reviews these projects, looking at new efforts in private residential gardens, urban community gardens, and public spaces, with a focus on immigration and the Southern California region.

L. Fernández, Walter Alejandro Muiño, Pablo Valentín Ermini · Americanae (AECID Library) · Latin America

This ethnobotanical study examines the knowledge, uses and meanings that gardeners in the Zona Norte and Villa Germinal neighborhoods of Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina, attach to weeds -- spontaneous plant species growing alongside cultivated crops. It collected and identified 57 weed species, found that roughly half of informants remove weeds without using them while the rest use them mainly as fertiliser and animal feed, that the most frequently cited use in the literature is medicinal, and that Cynodon dactylon ("gramilla") was the species appearing most often in the gardens while also being regarded as a "pest."

Wei He-y · Chinese Landscape Architecture · United States

Motivated by the need for developing Chinese landscape architecture to draw on foreign experience, this paper analyzed the number, content, and trends of topics at the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) annual meetings from 2009 to 2012, with an in-depth discussion of the hotspots. The results show that the planning and design category had the highest proportion of topics, and that American landscape architecture focused on sustainable development, parks and gardening, rainwater harvesting, ecological theory, digital technology, urban plants, public open space, and urban agriculture. The pursuit of sustainable development and multidisciplinary integration emerged as a distinctive feature of American landscape architecture, and the paper uses these results to outline prospects for Chinese landscape architecture.

Mary M. Gardiner, Caitlin E. Burkman, Scott P. Prajzner · Environmental Entomology · United States

This article discusses the ecological value of urban vacant land in the United States, particularly its role in supporting arthropod biodiversity and ecosystem services. It notes that vacant lands can offer opportunities to preserve declining species and restore ecosystem functions. The article emphasizes the need for quantifying the current ecological value of vacant land and assessing how changes in its ecosystem management affect biodiversity and ecosystem processes, with a specific focus on arthropods.

Klaire Elise Freeman · OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network) · United States (Cleveland)

A study in Cleveland, Ohio, examined the role of wasps in urban gardens and vacant lots, collecting 13,339 arthropods, including 5,165 wasps across 24 families and 369 morphospecies. The findings showed higher wasp abundance, species richness, and number of families in vacant lots compared to urban gardens. Specifically, vacant lots had 2,703 individuals and 288 morphospecies, while gardens had 2,462 individuals and 231 morphospecies.

Caitlin E. Burkman · OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network) · United States (Cleveland)

A two-year study investigated the influence of habitat management and landscape on spider assemblages within urban greenspaces in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. This research was set against the backdrop of thousands of acres of vacant land resulting from economic decline and population loss, which are being reutilized for strategies like urban agriculture and small native planting parks. Spiders were used as a model throughout this process, but the abstract does not state specific research findings.

Рена Упитис, Scott Hughes, Anna C. Peterson · Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies · Canada

An 8-month qualitative study was conducted at a school garden program in one public elementary school in southeastern Ontario, Canada. Data collected from eight students through observations, semi-structured interviews, and student photographs identified five themes enhancing environmental stewardship (including connecting with nature, caretaking, and harvesting) and three themes explaining the program's long-term success (including parental involvement and community connections). The study highlighted benefits of the school garden program, as well as some difficulties associated with the program and limitations of the study.

Catalina Freixas, Pablo Moyano Fernandez · Suburban Sustainability · United States (St. Louis)

This paper examines the role of eco-urbanism in St. Louis, a shrinking city experiencing population loss and economic decline since the 1950s. It reviews the implementation and benefits of three eco-urbanism strategies: community gardens, greenways, and urban forests. The study identifies social, ecological, and economic benefits, and suggests further adoption of eco-urbanism ideology and improved implementation strategies by the municipal government.

Liangtao Li, Weller Lorraine, Yuanyuan Tao, Zhenrong Yu, Li, Liangtao, Weller, Lorraine, Tao, Yuanyuan, Yu, Zhenrong · · United States (California)

A field survey of 14 community gardens in Los Angeles, United States, examined how the diversity and distribution pattern of urban vegetation varieties relates to gardeners' ethnic background and construction mode. A total of 439 plant varieties were identified, showing that community gardens function as an important species pool for the urban ecosystem and maintain rich native taxa resources, that the plants grown are mainly edible and play a significant role in protecting ethnic and regional native culture, and that the landscape structure and function of the vegetation are shaped by ethnic background and construction mode. The findings are discussed for their implications for urban green space planning and leisure agriculture in China.

Rebecca J. McLain, Patrick T. Hurley, Marla R. Emery, Melissa R. Poe · Local Environment · United States

Drawing on an integrated urban political ecology and human-plant geographies framework, researchers examined foraging for wild food across Baltimore, New York City, Philadelphia, and Seattle. Foraging is a vibrant, ongoing practice among diverse urban residents, yet regulations, planning practices, and the attitudes of conservation practitioners frame it as out of place in urban landscapes and something to be discouraged.