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802 results for “urban data”
Data for the parameterization of radiative transfer processes in urban climate models
<p><em>Radiative Transfer</em> <em>Model</em> (RTM) is a key component in microscale building resolving urban climate models (<em>UCM</em>), which are used to simulate the flow within urban area. We use different parameterizations of RTMs in the model system <a href="https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/13/1335/2020/gmd-13-1335-2020.html">PALM</a> version 6.0 to show how much detail modellers should include in their simulation.</p> <p>We introduce the output PALM model results for two examples: (1) A simplified urban geometry consisting of an urban crossing (UC) and (2) a realistic urban domain located at the town square Ernst-Reuter-Platz in Charlottenburg in Berlin (ER). The netCDF files contain the radiative flux received by each surface in the domains, including the shortwave (direct and diffuse) radiation as well as the longwave radiation. Also, the data set includes the 3D flow variables (<em>u</em>, <em>v</em>, <em>w</em>) and the potential temperature. The model drivers (input data) for both examples are included as well.</p> <p>The data set consists of the following model input/output data:</p> <p>1) Simplified urban domain (UC):</p> <ul> <li>Input driver for the model PALM for UC (UC_model_driver.tar.gz)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for UC when using RTM_01: radiation for horizontal surfaces (UC_RTM_01.nc)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for UC when using RTM_02: sky view effect (building shadows) (UC_RTM_02.nc)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for UC when using RTM_03: vegetation interaction with SW radiation (UC_RTM_03.nc)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for UC when using RTM_04: receiving radiation from surface emission (UC_RTM_04.nc)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for UC when using RTM_05: vegetation interaction with LW radiation (UC_RTM_05.nc)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for UC when using RTM_06: single reflection (UC_RTM_06.nc)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for UC when using RTM_07: vegetation interaction with reflected radiation (UC_RTM_07.nc)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for UC when using RTM_08: multiple reflections (UC_RTM_08.nc)</li> <li>3D data for the UC reference case which includes u,v,w,theta</li> </ul> <p>2) Realistic urban domain (ER):</p> <ul> <li>Input driver for the model PALM for ER (ER_model_driver)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for ER when using RTM_01: radiation for horizontal surfaces (ER_RTM_01.nc)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for ER when using RTM_02: sky view effect (building shadows) (ER_RTM_02.nc)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for ER when using RTM_03: vegetation interaction with SW radiation (ER_RTM_03.nc)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for ER when using RTM_04: receiving radiation from surface emission (ER_RTM_04.nc)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for ER when using RTM_05: vegetation interaction with LW radiation (ER_RTM_05.nc)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for ER when using RTM_06: single reflection (ER_RTM_06.nc)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for ER when using RTM_07: vegetation interaction with reflected radiation (ER_RTM_07.nc)</li> <li>Radiation fluxes for ER when using RTM_08: multiple reflections (ER_RTM_08.nc)</li> <li>3D data for the ER reference case which includes u,v,w,theta</li> </ul> <p>For more information and analysis, please check out the relevant publication in the international journal Geoscientific Model Development: Salim et. al, Importance of radiative transfer processes in urban climate models:A study based on the PALM model system 6.0, submitted to GMD.</p>
WASHTREET - Hydraulic, wash-off and sediment transport experimental data obtained in an urban drainage physical model
<p><strong>WASHTREET</strong><strong> -</strong> <strong>Hydraulic, wash-off and sediment transport experimental data obtained in an urban drainage physical model.</strong></p> <p>This dataset contains the results from the tests carried out at a laboratory physical model in the Hydraulic Laboratory of the Centre for Technological Innovation in Construction and Civil Engineering (CITEEC) at the University of A Coruña (Spain) as part of the <a href="https://zenodo.org/communities/washtreet">WASHTREET project</a>. The objective of the project is to perform a series of high-resolution experiments where urban surface wash-off and sediment transport through gully pots and pipes were accurately measured in laboratory-controlled conditions in a separate drainage system.</p> <p>The experimental facility is a 36 m2 full-scale street section and consists of a rainfall simulator placed over a concrete street surface with two gully pots that drain runoff into an underground pipe system. Further details of the physical model are provided in ‘1_Physical_model_description.pdf’. Two zip files with rain intensity distributions (‘2_Rain_intensity_maps.zip’) and model topographies (‘3_Elevation_data.zip’) complete physical model information as accurately measured inputs for hydraulic, wash-off and sediment transport experiments. ‘4_Hydraulic_tests_description.pdf’ describes experimental procedure, equipment, measuring points, results and data set files of the hydraulic characterization of the experiments. Data regarding these hydraulic tests is included in ‘5_Hydraulic_tests.zip’. In these tests, flow in both gully pots and in the pipe system outlet, and a total of 6 surface and 6 pipe depths were measured by ultrasound distance sensors for the different simulated rains.</p> <p>‘6_Washoff_tests_description.pdf’ includes information of the experimental initial conditions, the different sediment granulometries used, measuring points, experimental procedure and result files regarding wash-off and sediment transport experiments. Data files of a total of 23 tests are included in ‘7_Wash-off_tests.zip’. In these experiments, an initial mass of sediment is distributed over the model surface, and the wash-off and sediment transport processes are measured during a steady and uniform rainfall by total suspended solids (TSS) and particle size distribution (PSD) samples at the entrance of gully pots and at the pipe system outlet. Online turbidity measurements at pipe system outlet, pipe depths and flow at pipe system outlet are also measured during the experiments. Results regarding mass balances, which are performed at the end of the experiment to assess the final distribution of sediments, are also included. At last, some relevant photos and videos taken during the experiments are provided in ‘8_Multimedia.zip’. </p> <p>Flow measurements have been used in Naves et al. (2019) (DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.05.003">10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.05.003</a>), together with the related datasets <a href="http://www.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3239401">WASHTREET - PIV data</a> and <a href="http://www.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3241337">WASHTREET - Structure from Motion data</a>, to calibrate a 2D shallow water model.</p> <p>The WASHTREET project is being developed in the scope of the PhD thesis of the first author, which is in receipt of a Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities predoctoral grant [FPU14/01778]. The project also receive funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under POREDRAIN project RTI2018-094217-B-C33 (MINECO/FEDER-EU)</p> <p> </p> <p>Derived publications:</p> <ul> <li>Naves, J., Anta, J., Suárez, J., & Puertas, J. (2020). Hydraulic, wash-off and sediment transport experiments in a full-scale urban drainage physical model. <em>Scientific Data</em>, <em>7</em>(1), 1-13. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0384-z">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-0384-z</a></li> <li>Naves, J., Rieckermann, J., Cea, L., Puertas, J., & Anta, J. (2020). Global and local sensitivity analysis to improve the understanding of physically-based urban wash-off models from high-resolution laboratory experiments. <em>Science of The Total Environment</em>, <em>709</em>, 136152. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136152">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136152</a></li> <li>Naves, J., Anta, J., Puertas, J., Regueiro-Picallo, M., & Suárez, J. (2019). Using a 2D shallow water model to assess Large-Scale Particle Image Velocimetry (LSPIV) and Structure from Motion (SfM) techniques in a street-scale urban drainage physical model. <em>Journal of Hydrology</em>, <em>575</em>, 54-65. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.05.003">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.05.003</a></li> <li>Naves, J., Anta, J., Suárez, J., & Puertas, J. (2020). Development and Calibration of a New Dripper-Based Rainfall Simulator for Large-Scale Sediment Wash-Off Studies. <em>Water</em>, <em>12</em>(1), 152. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010152">https://doi.org/10.3390/w12010152</a></li> </ul>
Data from: Mapping phosphorus hotspots in Sydney's organic wastes: a spatially-explicit inventory to facilitate urban phosphorus recycling
Phosphorus is an essential element for food production whose main global sources are becoming scarce and expensive. Furthermore, losses of phosphorus throughout the food production chain can also cause serious aquatic pollution. Recycling urban organic waste resources high in phosphorus could simultaneously address scarcity concerns for agricultural producers who reply on phosphorus fertilisers, and waste managers seeking to divert waste from landfills to decrease environmental burdens. Recycling phosphorus back to agricultural lands however requires careful logistical planning to maximize benefits and minimize costs including, processing and transportation. The first step towards such analyses is quantifying recycling potential in a spatially-explicit way. Here we present such inventories and scenarios for the Greater Sydney Basin's recyclable phosphorus supply and agricultural demand. In 2011, there was fifteen times more phosphorus available in organic waste than agricultural demand for phosphorus in Sydney. Hypothetically, if future city residents shifted to a plant-based diet, eliminated edible food waste, and removed animal production in the Greater Sydney Basin, available phosphorus supply would decrease to 7.25 kt of phosphorus per year, even when accounting for population growth by 2031, and demand would also decrease to 0.40 kt of phosphorus per year. Creating a circular phosphorus economy for Sydney, in all scenarios considered, would require effective recycling strategies which include transport outside of the Greater Sydney Basin. These spatially explicit scenarios can be used as a tool to facilitate stakeholders engagement to identify opportunities and barriers for appropriate organic waste recycling strategies.
Data of seismic urban noise in the city of Hamburg, Germany 2018
<p>Use is free for scientific purposes, provided the aforementioned reference is appropriately cited.</p> <p>The dataset contains raw seismic data in mini-seed format which was used in the publication: doi will follow soon.</p> <p>The zip-file contains the raw data of three broadband stations and their inventories as xml-files. The recording time ranges from 2018-01-01 until 2018-04-19.</p> <p>The data presented here is partly funded through the German Research Foundation (DFG) under Germany‘s Excellence Strategy – EXC 2037 'CLICCS - Climate, Climatic Change, and Society' – Project Number: 390683824, and the Cluster of Excellence 'CliSAP' (EXC177), contribution to the Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN) of Universität Hamburg.</p> <p> </p>
Data from: Accelerated epigenetic age and cognitive decline among urban-dwelling adults
Objectives. Epigenetic modifications are closely linked with aging, but their relationship with cognition remains equivocal. Given known sex differences in epigenetic aging, we explored sex-specific associations of three DNA methylation-based (DNAm) measures of epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) with baseline and longitudinal change in cognitive performance among middle-aged urban adults. Methods. We used exploratory data from a sub-group of participants in the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study with complete DNA samples and whose baseline ages were >50.0y (2004-2009) to estimate three DNAm EAA measures: (A) universal epigenetic age acceleration (AgeAccel); (B) intrinsic epigenetic age acceleration (IEAA) ; and (C) extrinsic epigenetic age acceleration (EEAA). Cognitive performance was measured at baseline visit (2004-2009) and first follow-up (2009-2013) with 11 test scores covering global mental status and specific domains such as learning/memory, attention, visuo-spatial, psychomotor speed, language/verbal and executive function executive. A series of mixed-effects regression models were conducted adjusting for covariates and multiple testing (N=147-156, ~51% men, k=1.7-1.9 observations/participant, mean follow-up time~4.7y). Results. EEAA, a measure of both biological age and immunosenescence, was consistently associated with greater cognitive decline among men on tests of visual memory/visuo-constructive ability (Benton Visual Retention Test: γ11=0.0512±0.0176, p=0.004) and attention/processing speed (Trail making test, part A: γ11=0.219±0.080, p=0.007). AgeAccel and IEAA were not associated with cognitive change in this sample. Conclusions. EEAA capturing immune system cell aging was associated with faster decline among men in domains of attention and visual memory. Larger longitudinal studies are needed to replicate our findings.
Data from: Urbanization-driven climate change increases invertebrate lipid demand, relative to protein—a response to dehydration
<p>1. Climatic change alters not only animal energy balance, but also water balance, but this latter topic has received less attention. Water can be obtained through consumption of moist food and metabolism of dry food. The breakdown of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins can produce metabolic water. Metabolism of lipids produces large amounts of water, whereas excretion of nitrogenous waste related to protein metabolism requires water losses.</p> <p>2. Here we tested the hypothesis that climatic shifts associated with urbanization influences animal lipid demand relative to protein, due to shifts in water balance.</p> <p>3. We placed artificial diets high in lipid or protein, and either with or without supplemented water, at 16 pairs of sites along an urbanization gradient in Toledo, OH, USA.</p> <p>4. Lipid consumption, relative to protein, increased with urbanization and mean temperature, but water supplementation reduced the magnitude of this association. Ants were ~50% of the observed consumers.</p> <p>5. These results suggest that shifts in nutritional demand with climatic change are partially predictable from physiological first principles related to water balance and nutrient metabolism. Because ants and other arthropods play key roles in many food webs and ecosystems, increased demand for lipids with urbanization or climate change could have major consequences for ecosystem services (e.g. urban waste removal, seed predation). Overall, our results suggest that warming related to urbanization increases animal demand for lipids, in part to maintain water balance, and this could have important implications for both animal health and ecosystem services.</p>
Caterpillar survival in the city: Attack rates on model lepidopteran larvae along an urban-rural gradient show no increase in predation with increasing urban intensity (Raw Data)
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Growing native plants in urban gardens is often promoted as a possible means of increasing lepidopteran populations. However, the efficacy of such efforts has not been well studied. Lepidopterans vary widely in their ability to survive in cities, and the few previous studies of caterpillar abundance or biomass across an urban-rural gradient have yielded mixed results. We placed clay caterpillar models in native plant gardens to assess whether the attack rate on these models varied with degree of urbanization (percent impervious surface within 1 km radius of each garden), and whether responses differed across predator taxa. We also examined how garden characteristics (plant biovolume density, plant species richness) affected probability of attack. Overall, attack rates on these models decreased with increasing impervious surface, although predator taxa varied in their sometimes complex responses. For parasitoid wasps, which accounted for 47% of all attacks, increasing biovolume density increased attack probability at impervious surface levels below 35%, but decreased the probability of attack at higher levels of impervious surface. In contrast, probabilities of attack by both predatory wasps and vertebrates decreased with increasing percent impervious surface, but did not vary with impervious surface for ants and spiders. Predation on caterpillars in urban gardens may be lower than in rural ones; however, this potential increase in survival may be a result of declines in some predator taxa, such as predatory wasps and insectivorous birds. More studies across an urban gradient are needed to measure factors other than predation that influence caterpillar survival in gardens.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
Data for: Female-biased sex ratios in urban centres create a fertility trap in post war Finland
<p>Because sex ratios are a key factor regulating mating success and subsequent fitness both across and within species, there is widespread interest in how population-wide sex ratio imbalances affect marriage markets and the formation of families in human societies. Although most modern cities have more women than men and suffer from low fertility rates, the effects of female-biased sex ratios have garnered less attention than male-biased ratios. Here, we analyze how sex ratios are linked to marriages, reproductive histories, dispersal and urbanization by taking advantage of a natural experiment in which an entire population was forcibly displaced during World War II to other local Finnish populations of varying sizes and sex ratios. Using a discrete time-event generalised linear mixed-effects model, and including factors that change across time, such as annual sex ratio, we show how sex ratios, reproduction, and migration are connected in a female-dominated environment. Young childless women migrated toward urban centers where work was available to women, and away from male-biased rural areas. In such areas where there were more females, women were less likely to start reproduction. Despite this constraint, women showed little flexibility in mate choice, with no evidence for an increase in partner age difference in female-biased areas. We propose that together these behaviours and conditions combine to generate an 'urban fertility trap' which may have important consequences for our understanding of the fertility dynamics of today including the current fertility decline across the developed world.</p>
Data from: Anthropogenic disruption of the night sky darkness in urban and rural areas
The growing emissions of artificial light to the atmosphere are producing, among other effects, a significant increase of the night sky brightness (NSB) above its expected natural values. A permanent sensor network has been deployed in Galicia (northwest of Iberian peninsula) to monitor the anthropogenic disruption of the night sky darkness in a countrywide area. The network is composed of 14 detectors integrated in automated weather stations of MeteoGalicia, the Galician public meteorological agency. Zenithal NSB readings are taken every minute and the results are openly available in real time for researchers, interested stakeholders and the public at large through a dedicated website. The measurements allow one to assess the extent of the loss of the natural night in urban, periurban, transition and dark rural sites, as well as its daily and monthly time courses. Two metrics are introduced here to characterize the disruption of the night darkness across the year: the significant magnitude (m1/3) and the moonlight modulation factor (γ). The significant magnitude shows that in clear and moonless nights the zenithal night sky in the analysed urban settings is typically 14–23 times brighter than expected from a nominal natural dark sky. This factor lies in the range 7–8 in periurban sites, 1.6–2.5 in transition regions and 0.8–1.6 in rural and mountain dark sky places. The presence of clouds in urban areas strongly enhances the amount of scattered light, easily reaching amplification factors in excess of 25, in comparison with the light scattered in the same places under clear sky conditions. The periodic NSB modulation due to the Moon, still clearly visible in transition and rural places, is barely notable at periurban locations and is practically lost at urban sites.
Data from: Impacts of urbanization on insect herbivory and plant defences in oak trees
Systematic comparisons of species interactions in urban vs. rural environments can improve our understanding of shifts in ecological processes due to urbanization. However, such studies are relatively uncommon and the mechanisms driving urbanization effects on species interactions (e.g., between plants and insect herbivores) remain elusive. Here we investigated the effects of urbanization on leaf herbivory by insect chewers and miners associated with the English oak (Quercus robur) by sampling trees in rural and urban areas throughout most of the latitudinal distribution of this species. In performing these comparisons, we also controlled for the size of the urban areas (18 cities) and gathered data on CO2 emissions. In addition, we assessed whether urbanization affected leaf chemical defences (phenolic compounds) and nutritional traits (phosphorus and nitrogen), and whether such changes correlated with herbivory levels. Urbanization significantly reduced leaf chewer damage but did not affect leaf miners. In addition, we found that leaves from urban locations had lower levels of chemical defences (condensed and hydrolysable tannins) and higher levels of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) compared to leaves in rural locations. The magnitude of urbanization effects on herbivory and leaf defences was not contingent upon city size. Importantly, while the effects of urbanization on chemical defences were associated with CO2 emissions, changes in leaf chewer damage were not associated with either leaf traits or CO2 levels. These results suggest that effects of urbanization on herbivory occur through mechanisms other than changes in the plant traits measured here. Overall, our simultaneous assessment of insect herbivory, plant traits, and abiotic correlates advances our understanding of the main drivers of urbanization effects on plant-herbivore interactions.
Data from: Genetic diversity and population structure in contemporary house sparrow populations along an urbanization gradient.
House sparrow (Passer domesticus) populations have suffered major declines in urban as well as rural areas, while remaining relatively stable in suburban ones. Yet, to date no exhaustive attempt has been made to examine how, and to what extent, spatial variation in population demography is reflected in genetic population structuring along contemporary urbanization gradients. Here we use putatively neutral microsatellite loci to study if and how genetic variation can be partitioned in a hierarchical way among different urbanization classes. Principal coordinate analyses did not support the hypothesis that urban/suburban and rural populations comprise two distinct genetic clusters. Comparison of FST values at different hierarchical scales revealed drift as an important force of population differentiation. Redundancy analyses revealed that genetic structure was strongly affected by both spatial variation and level of urbanization. The results shown here can be used as baseline information for future genetic monitoring programmes and provide additional insights into contemporary house sparrow dynamics along urbanization gradients.
Data from: Urban warming reduces aboveground carbon storage
A substantial amount of global carbon is stored in mature trees. However, no experiments to date test how warming affects mature tree carbon storage. Using a unique, citywide, factorial experiment, we investigated how warming and insect herbivory affected physiological function and carbon sequestration (carbon stored per year) of mature trees. Urban warming increased herbivorous arthropod abundance on trees, but these herbivores had negligible effects on tree carbon sequestration. Instead, urban warming was associated with an estimated 12% loss of carbon sequestration, in part because photosynthesis was reduced at hotter sites. Ecosystem service assessments that do not consider urban conditions may overestimate urban tree carbon storage. Because urban and global warming are becoming more intense, our results suggest that urban trees will sequester even less carbon in the future.
Data from: Rapid evolution of ant thermal tolerance across an urban-rural temperature cline
Rates of urbanization are accelerating worldwide. The increases in temperature associated with 'urban heat island' effects provide both an ecological imperative and a unique opportunity to explore the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that underlie organismal responses to rapid environmental change. We used the acorn ant, Temnothorax curvispinosus (Mayr 1866), to compare shifts in thermal tolerance of ants from rural and urban habitats throughout Cleveland, USA. Urban warming in the region has been ongoing for the past century which translates to 20 or fewer acorn ant generations. Using a common garden experiment, we found gains in the ability to withstand high temperatures and losses in the ability to withstand cool temperatures among ants in urban habitats. Owing to the greater magnitude of phenotypic change in lower compared with upper tolerances, tolerance breadth decreased in urban habitats. Mechanistically, these shifts in thermal tolerance under urbanization reflected both evolutionary change and phenotypic plasticity, as ants from urban areas exhibited higher thermal tolerances compared with ants from rural areas regardless of rearing temperature, and ants reared in the warmer temperature treatment exhibited higher tolerances than ants reared in the cooler temperature treatment. We also found evidence of evolved plasticity as the slope of the response to warmer and colder rearing environments differed significantly among rural and urban populations. While much of the ecological forecasting literature focuses on plastic responses to environmental change, our study provides evidence of rapid evolution of thermal tolerances, and suggests the importance of including evolutionary responses in forecasts of organismal responses to climatic change.
Data from: Lower bumblebee colony reproductive success in agricultural compared to urban environments
Urbanisation represents a rapidly growing driver of land-use change. While it is clear that urbanisation impacts species abundance and diversity, direct effects of urban land-use on animal reproductive success are rarely documented. Here we show that urban land-use is linked to long-term colony reproductive output in a key pollinator. We reared colonies from wild-caught bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) queens, placed them at sites characterised by varying degrees of urbanisation from inner city to rural farmland, and monitored the production of sexual offspring across the entire colony cycle. Our land-use cluster analysis identified three site categories, and this categorization was a strong predictor of colony performance. Crucially, colonies in the two clusters characterized by urban development produced more sexual offspring than those in the cluster dominated by agricultural land. These colonies also reached higher peak size, had more food stores, encountered fewer parasite invasions and survived for longer. Our results show a link between urbanisation and bumblebee colony reproductive success, supporting the theory that urban areas provide a refuge for pollinator populations in an otherwise barren agricultural landscape.
Data from: A model to identify urban traffic congestion hotspots in complex networks
The rapid growth of population in urban areas is jeopardizing the mobility and air quality worldwide. One of the most notable problems arising is that of traffic congestion. With the advent of technologies able to sense real-time data about cities, and its public distribution for analysis, we are in place to forecast scenarios valuable for improvement and control. Here, we propose an idealized model, based on the critical phenomena arising in complex networks, that allows to analytically predict congestion hotspots in urban environments. Results on real cities' road networks, considering, in some experiments, real- traffic data, show that the proposed model is capable of identifying susceptible junctions that might becomes hotspots if mobility demand increases.
Data from: Taylor's Power Law and its decomposition in urban facilities
As one of the few generalities in ecology, Taylor's power law admits a power function relationship $V=aM^{b}$ between the variance $V$ and mean number $M$ of organisms in a quadrat. We examine the spatial distribution data of seven urban service facilities in 37 major cities in China, and find that Taylor's law is validated among all types of facilities. Moreover, Taylor's law is robust if we shift the observation window or vary the size of the quadrats. The exponent $b$ increases linearly with the logarithm of the quadrat size, i.e., $b(s) = b_0 + A\log(s)$. Furthermore, the ANOVA test indicates that $b$ takes distinct values for different facilities in different cities. We decompose $b$ into two different factors, a city-specific factor (CSF) and a facility-specific factor (FSF). variations in $b$ can be explained to a large extent by the differences between cities and types of facilities. Facilities are more evenly distributed in larger and more developed cities. Competitive interchangeable facilities (e.g. pharmacy), with larger FSFs and smaller $b$s, are less aggregated than complimentary services (e.g., restaurants).
Data from: A model of urban scaling laws based on distance dependent interactions
Socio-economic related properties of a city grow faster than a linear relationship with the population, in a log–log plot, the so-called superlinear scaling. Conversely, the larger a city, the more efficient it is in the use of its infrastructure, leading to a sublinear scaling on these variables. In this work, we addressed a simple explanation for those scaling laws in cities based on the interaction range between the citizens and on the fractal properties of the cities. To this purpose, we introduced a measure of social potential which captured the influence of social interaction on the economic performance and the benefits of amenities in the case of infrastructure offered by the city. We assumed that the population density depends on the fractal dimension and on the distance-dependent interactions between individuals. The model suggests that when the city interacts as a whole, and not just as a set of isolated parts, there is improvement of the socio-economic indicators. Moreover, the bigger the interaction range between citizens and amenities, the bigger the improvement of the socio-economic indicators and the lower the infrastructure costs of the city. We addressed how public policies could take advantage of these properties to improve cities development, minimizing negative effects. Furthermore, the model predicts that the sum of the scaling exponents of social-economic and infrastructure variables are 2, as observed in the literature. Simulations with an agent-based model are confronted with the theoretical approach and they are compatible with the empirical evidences.
Data from: Gene flow and genetic drift in urban environments
Evidence is growing that human modification of landscapes has dramatically altered evolutionary processes. In urban population genetic studies, urbanization is typically predicted to act as a barrier that isolates populations of species, leading to increased genetic drift within populations and reduced gene flow between populations. However, urbanization may also facilitate dispersal among populations, leading to higher genetic diversity within and lower differentiation between urban populations. We reviewed the literature on non-adaptive urban evolution to evaluate the support for each of these urbanse urban fragmentation and facilitation models. In a review of the literature with supporting quantitative analyses of 167 published urban population genetics studies, we found a weak signature of reduced within-population genetic diversity, and no evidence of consistently increased between-population genetic differentiation associated with urbanization. In addition, we found that urban landscape features act as barriers or conduits to gene flow, depending on the species and city in question. Thus, we speculate that dispersal ability of species and environmental heterogeneity between cities contribute to the variation exhibited in our results. However, greater than 90% of published studies reviewed here showed an association of urbanization with genetic drift or gene flow, highlighting the strong impact of urbanization on non-adaptive evolution. It is clear that organism biology and city heterogeneity obscure patterns of genetic drift and gene flow in a quantitative analysis. Thus, we suggest that future research makes comparisons of multiple cities and nonurban habitats, and takes into consideration species' natural history, environmental variation, spatial modelling, and marker selection.
Data from: Taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of vascular plants at Ma'anling volcano urban park in tropical Haikou, China: Reponses to soil properties
Anthropogenic processes and socio-economic factors play important roles in shaping plant diversity in urban parks. To investigate how plant diversity of Ma' anling urban volcano park in Hainan Province, China respond to these factors, we carried out a field investigation on the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of vascular plants and soil properties in this area. We found 284 species of vascular plants belonging to 88 families and 241 genera, which included 194 native species, 23 invasive species, 31 naturalized species, 40 cultivars, and 4 rare / endangered plant species. Tree composition and richness significantly varied between different vegetation formations (plantation, secondary forest, and abandoned land). Plant species richness and community composition were significantly affected by elevation (El), soil water content (WC), total soil nitrogen (TN) and soil organic matter (SOM). There were significant diversity differences between plantations and abandoned lands, but not between the plantations and secondary forests. The flora in the study site was tropical in nature, characterized by pantropic distributions. Compared to adjacent areas, floristic composition in the study site was most similar to that of Guangdong, followed by that of Vietnam. Our study revealed the diversity patterns of volcanic plants and provided the basis for future planning of plant conservation, such as preserving plant species, maintaining plant habitats, and coordinating plant management in this region.
Data from: The Urban Heat Island and its spatial scale dependent impact on survival and development in butterflies of different thermal sensitivity
Climate alteration is one of the most cited ecological consequences of urbanization. However, the magnitude of this impact is likely to vary with spatial scale. We investigated how this alteration affects the biological fitness of insects, which are especially sensitive to ambient conditions and well-suited organisms to study urbanization-related changes in phenotypic traits. We monitored temperature and relative air humidity in wooded sites characterized by different levels of urbanization in the surroundings. Using a split-brood design experiment, we investigated the effect of urbanization at the local (i.e., 200 × 200 m) and landscape (i.e., 3 × 3 km) scale on two key traits of biological fitness in two closely related butterfly species that differ in thermal sensitivity. In line with the Urban Heat Island concept, urbanization led to a 1°C increase in daytime temperature and an 8% decrease in daytime relative humidity at the local scale. The thermophilous species Lasiommata megera responded at the local scale: larval survival increased twofold in urban compared to rural sites. Urbanized sites tended to produce bigger adults, although this was the case for males only. In the woodland species Pararge aegeria, which has recently expanded its ecological niche, we did not observe such a response, neither at the local, nor at the landscape scale. These results demonstrate interspecific differences in urbanization-related phenotypic plasticity and larval survival. We discuss larval pre-adaptations in species of different ecological profiles to urban conditions. Our results also highlight the significance of considering fine-grained spatial scales in urban ecology.
ScienceDex guides
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These curated guides explain access requirements, typical timelines, costs, and reuse considerations for widely used research datasets.
Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.