David Miller

Green Space and Stress: Evidence from Cortisol Measures in Deprived Urban Communities

Contact with green space in the environment has been associated with mental health benefits, but the mechanism underpinning this association is not clear. This study extends an earlier exploratory study showing that more green space in deprived urban neighbourhoods in Scotland is linked to lower levels of perceived stress and improved physiological stress as measured by diurnal patterns of cortisol secretion. Salivary cortisol concentrations were measured at 3, 6 and 9 h post awakening over two consecutive weekdays, together with measures of perceived stress. Participants (n = 106) were men and women not in work aged between 35–55 years, resident in socially disadvantaged districts from the same Scottish, UK, urban context as the earlier study. Results from linear regression analyses showed a significant and negative relationship between higher green space levels and stress levels, indicating living in areas with a higher percentage of green space is associated with lower stress, confirming the earlier study findings. This study further extends the findings by showing significant gender differences in stress patterns by levels of green space, with women in lower green space areas showing higher levels of stress. A significant interaction effect between gender and percentage green space on mean cortisol concentrations showed a positive effect of higher green space in relation to cortisol measures in women, but not in men. Higher levels of neighbourhood green space were associated with healthier mean cortisol levels in women whilst also attenuating higher cortisol levels in men. We conclude that higher levels of green space in residential neighbourhoods, for this deprived urban population of middle-aged men and women not in work, are linked with lower perceived stress and a steeper (healthier) diurnal cortisol decline. However, overall patterns and levels of cortisol secretion in men and women were differentially related to neighbourhood green space and warrant further investigation.

Assessment of path choices on a country walk using a virtual environment

Virtual environments can provide landscape researchers new opportunities to explore aspects of landscape perception and response. A virtual environment requires a detailed 3D model of a place and the use of a high performance computer to allow people to explore it interactively. As with any new experimental tool, we should first establish the validity of the technique. This paper describes the process of model building for a section of the Dee valley in northeast Scotland, the development of software to support interactive exploration, and an experiment which was designed to answer some primary questions about validity and some secondary ones about local landscape preferences. The findings were encouraging for the further use of virtual environments and showed that people made choices in the virtual environment which fitted their stated preferences and were different from the choices other subjects made on the basis of still images.

An investigation of the potential of digital photogrammetry to provide measurements of forest characteristics and abiotic damage

This paper describes the use of digital photogrammetric techniques in the provision of spatial data on forest canopies. Such data have application in the monitoring of onset and progression of abiotic damage such as windthrow, and as input to predictive models of wind damage. The derivation of digital elevation models and orthophotographs at multiple dates in the lifetime of a forest was tested for a 7 km 2 study site. The spatial variation in the surface roughness of the forest, incorporating canopy and micro-topography effects was derived and measured. A three-dimensional model of the canopy was obtained from multi-date digital elevation data and the results indicate that accurate estimates of canopy height are possible at a fine spatial resolution. # 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Landscape-scale vegetation change in the Cairngorms, Scotland, 1946-1988: implications for land management

Abstract Land cover change data were derived from interpretation of aerial photographs taken in 1946 and 1988 for 1000 km2 area of the Cairngorms area, Scotland. These data are compared with qualitative predictions based on the successional models of Miles (1985 J. Soil. Sci., 36). The impacts of man are shown to have been of the greatest magnitude, with conifer planting showing the greatest net increase in area between 1946 and 1988. Successional changes in seminatural vegetation did occur but none totalled more than 5 km2. Areas of semi-natural woodland were already scarce by 1946, but the extensive areas of heather also showed few successional transitions to other communities, such as grassland, scrub or woodland. The findings are discussed in relation to changes in land use and herbivore densities over this time period. The theoretical successional framework of Miles (1985), with the important addition of the more direct effects of man, is shown to be a valuable tool for the examination of vegetation change data and the implications for management in an area such as the Cairngorms.

Using image depth variables as predictors of visual quality

Depth is an important part of our understanding and appreciation of landscape. Attempts made to measure attributes of photographs of landscapes and to develop predictive models of scenic beauty have either failed to include depth or included it by subjective separation of the foreground, mid-ground, and background within the photograph. The process of measurement from photographs is also limiting because it does not provide a mechanism for readily assessing the effect on visual qualities of proposed landscape changes. The process described here requires a detailed digital model of the environment but is then able to generate variables relating to land-cover type, their depth, and patterns of depth in any view direction. Among these variables are several which are closely correlated with scenic beauty and which can together make a good predictive model. Computer systems, which include hardware implementations of three-dimensional visible surface algorithms, offer the possibility of very fast generation of scenic beauty estimates from any location. Such estimates are among the requirements for autonomous agent-based modelling of landscape behaviour.

Public Attitudes And Participation In Wind Turbine Development

Research for this paper was undertaken into the relationship between public opinion on wind power and public participation in turbine site planning and design. The research focussed on the contribution of environmental attitude studies to participatory environmental impact assessment of renewable energy policy and land use. A questionnaire survey was undertaken at wind farm sites at three stages in the site planning process and at three public events where the application of wind power was a topic of discussion. The attitudinal data produced was subjected to a series of statistical tests to determine which of the attitudes revealed could be quantified significantly in terms of public opinion. The most significant responses related to the proximity of wind turbines to respondents homes with the proposition that wind turbine designers should seek community input of the highest significance. Respondents also indicated a preference for traditional turbine structures that blended in with the landscape and remained out of sight. Respondents personal perception of land use change regarding wind power near them was mostly significant relative to respondent age with younger respondents tending to be more accepting of wind turbine land use whilst older respondents objected. Living place was also found to be significant with urban respondents more accepting of wind power than rural ones. Fundamentally respondents although polarised for or against on certain issues, all shared a wish for more public input and participation in local land use for wind power.

Mitigating Stress and Supporting Health in Deprived Urban Communities: The Importance of Green Space and the Social Environment

Environment-health research has shown significant relationships between the quantity of green space in deprived urban neighbourhoods and people’s stress levels. The focus of this paper is the nature of access to green space (i.e., its quantity or use) necessary before any health benefit is found. It draws on a cross-sectional survey of 406 adults in four communities of high urban deprivation in Scotland, United Kingdom. Self-reported measures of stress and general health were primary outcomes; physical activity and social wellbeing were also measured. A comprehensive, objective measure of green space quantity around each participant’s home was also used, alongside self-report measures of use of local green space. Correlated Component Regression identified the optimal predictors for primary outcome variables in the different communities surveyed. Social isolation and place belonging were the strongest predictors of stress in three out of four communities sampled, and of poor general health in the fourth, least healthy, community. The amount of green space in the neighbourhood, and in particular access to a garden or allotment, were significant predictors of stress. Physical activity, frequency of visits to green space in winter months, and views from the home were predictors of general health. The findings have implications for public health and for planning of green infrastructure, gardens and public open space in urban environments.

Integrating Analytical and Participatory Techniques for Planning the Sustainable Use of Land Resources and Landscapes

Planning the sustainable use of land resources and landscapes must be a process in which stakeholders and the public work together to establish common guidelines for understanding the options of, and the implications for, future land uses. Key aspects of this process are the establishment of meaningful knowledge bases and tools, and methodologies based on the enhanced involvement of stakeholders in making decisions, and their subsequent implementation. The gradation of power or control in public participation proposed by Arnstein (1969), extending from ‘citizen control’ to ‘manipulation’, provides a conceptual basis for considering the evolution in political thinking about participation in areas such landscape planning. This chapter discusses the integration of analytical and participatory techniques for planning the sustainable use of land resources and landscapes using two examples, one from South America and the second from Europe. The first example considers land use in the Amazon, and the second, the socio-economic, ecological and visual aspects of land-use changes in a European landscape. Each example involved active participation of stakeholders and the public in the process of decision making. A framework is presented for the Amazonian example, which comprises methodologies and survey instruments for multi-level, integrated assessments of landuse and land-cover change. The framework was developed in collaboration between Indiana University and several Brazilian institutions. It adopts an historical ecological approach (Brondizio 2006) and applies a range of tools from the social, ecological and geographic sciences in fieldwork and laboratory analysis (Moran and Ostrom 2005). The framework and methodologies are being used by scientists in the Amazon Initiative (AI)—Land Degradation Assessment (LDA) thematic network as a tool for responding to land degradation problems occurring at farm to regional Chapter 16 Integrating Analytical and Participatory Techniques for Planning the Sustainable Use of Land Resources and Landscapes

Chapter 25 – Targeting Sustainable Provision of Forest Ecosystem Services with Special Focus on Carbon Sequestration

Abstract Contemporary societies expect a range of services (including of carbon sequestration) to be supplied from forest ecosystems. Their growing societal importance is clearly reflected in policies. The conceptual framework for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) states that people are integral parts of ecosystems and that a dynamic interaction exists between them and other parts of ecosystems. This approach encompasses social, economic and environmental interactions, and the dynamics and cross scale issues that have multiple outcomes. However, forest multifunctionality is a challenge since the combination of multiple ecosystem services may be very different and dependent on a high number of factors. Stakeholder priorities with respect to individual ecosystem services may be variable, as may be a range of stakeholders. Reflexive, participatory and multilevel governance, in a continuous process of its adjustment, needs therefore to be developed to enable forestry decision-makers to consider existing opinions and behavioural patterns of the diverse stakeholders who drive the forestry change and respond to it. In such a retrospective, numerous questions have arisen, among which the integration of carbon sequestration into multifunctional forestry is among priorities. Carbon forestry enables society to buy time for development of low carbon and decarbonisation technologies; while its integration into multifunctional land use offers innovation, employment and new markets, with locally and regionally oriented value chains. This particularly concerns remote areas where forestry could foster socio-economic development and combine it with the enhancement of nature and rural landscape. However, the question: how to multiply synergies and balance trade-offs merits attention. Fostering resilience of forestry systems to climate change necessitates the establishment of an appropriate framework, because, although multipurpose afforestation may result in lower rates of carbon sequestration, it is expected to be more attractive to people as it will provide additional benefits and will promote sustainable development.

A Probabilistic Approach to Environmental Change Detection with Area-Class Map Data

One of the primary methods of studying change in the natural and man-made environment is that of comparison of multi-date maps and images of the earths surface. Such comparisons are subject to error from a variety of sources including uncertainty in surveyed location, registration of map overlays, classification of land cover, application of the classification system and variation in degree of generalisation. Existing geographical information systems may be criticised for a lack of adequate facilities for evaluating errors arising from automated change detection. This paper presents methods for change detection using polygon area-class maps in which the reliability of the result is assessed using Bayesian multivariate and univariate statistics. The method involves conflation of overlaid vector maps using a maximum likelihood approach to govern decisions on boundary matching, based on a variety of metrics of geometric and semantic similarity. The probabilities of change in the resulting map regions are then determined for each class of change based on training data and associated knowledge of prior probabilities of transitions between particular types of land cover.