Find research datasets worth reusing

opencc-zeroFeb 2020View details →

Worldwide bird assemblages across urban-wildland gradients

We gathered presence/absence and abundance data from published studies and reports for 319 well-characterized assemblages spanning 50 cities from Africa, Australia, Europe, North America and South America. We focused on cities with comparable survey data within urban habitats and in nearby natural habitat. The final dataset contains almost 10,000 records for 1507bird species, 66 of which are introduced (non-native) in at least one study region. Species abundance per unit area or unit time were available for 269 assemblages from 42 cities, comprising 1353 species. Following Newbold et al. (2015), we used published habitat descriptions to classify the intensity of human use in urban habitats for each assemblage: (1) highly urbanised environments mainly contain densely packed buildings with vegetation scarce or absent; (2) moderately urbanised environments are residential areas with single-family houses and associated gardens; and (3) little-urbanised environments have few buildings and abundant vegetation (e.g. urban parks). The habitats outside the city were assigned to either natural vegetation or rural habitat based on the description of the habitat given in the source paper. Standardised survey methods were used across habitats within each region.

opencc-by-nc-sa-3.0Oct 2021View details →

The State of the Urban Forest in New York City - Supplemental Datasets

Summary: The files available here contain summary data for the urban forest of New York City, associated with the report, The State of the Urban Forest in New York City, developed by The Nature Conservancy and released in 2021. Methods and data used in development of these files are described in Appendix 1 of the report. and additional details and supplemental code are available at <a href="https://github.com/tnc-ny-science/NYC_StateOfUrbanForest_Docs">https://github.com/tnc-ny-science/NYC_StateOfUrbanForest_Docs</a>. If you do not find what you are looking for here, you may contact Michael Treglia at michael.treglia@tnc.org.   Terms of Use © The Nature Conservancy. This material is provided as-is, without warranty under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License as set forth in our Conservation Gateway Terms of Use (available at: <a href="http://conservationgateway.org/Pages/Terms-of-Use.aspx">http://conservationgateway.org/Pages/Terms-of-Use.aspx</a>) If using these data, please cite the both the report and the data, based on the following recommended citations. Recommended citation for the report: Treglia, M.L., Acosta-Morel, M., Crabtree, D., Galbo, K., Lin-Moges, T., Van Slooten, A., Maxwell, E.N. 2021. The State of the Urban Forest in New York City. The Nature Conservancy. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.5532876 Recommended citation for the data is: Treglia, M.L., Acosta-Morel, M., Crabtree, D., Galbo, K., Lin-Moges, T., Van Slooten, A., Maxwell, E.N. 2021. The State of the Urban Forest in New York City - Supplemental Datasets. The Nature Conservancy. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.5210261   Contents canopy_jurisdiction_landuse_borough.zip - Zipped folder with comma separated values (.csv) file of land and canopy area summaries by approximated general ownership type, land use categories, and natural/developed breakdown, with Data Dictionary files in .docx and .html formats. canopy_streettree_summaries.zip - Zipped folder containing GeoPackage, Esri File Geodatabase, and comma separated values (.csv) files with canopy and street tree summary data at the scales of Neighborhood Tabulation Area, Community District, City Council District, and Borough, with Data Dictionary files in .docx and .html formats. equity_data.zip - Zipped folder containing GeoPackage, Esri File Geodatabase, and comma separated values (.csv) files with data used for equity analyses at the scale of Neighborhood Tabulation Area, with Data Dictionary files in .docx and .html formats. naturalareas_canopy_jurisdiction_borough.zip - Zipped folder with comma separated values (.csv) file of summaries of natural area canopy data by approximated general ownership type and by borough, with Data Dictionary files in .docx and .html formats.   *Note for the contents of equity_data.zip: For data in this .zip folder, the column named "relativecanopychange_percent" represents relative canopy change from 2010 to 2017 as proportions, not percentages. To convert these numbers to percentages, values can be multiplied by 100. The data are accurately depicted in the report, and column names are otherwise accurate in this repository.

opencc-by-4.0Oct 2021View details →

Photorealistic and classified urban point cloud dataset (Helsinki)

The dataset contains a photorealistic and classified urban point cloud from Kalasatama region in Helsinki, Finland. Data was created using both terrestrial laser scanning (Leica RTC360) and UAV-based (DJI P4 Pro+) photogrammetry. 3D reconstruction was completed with RealityCapture and point cloud classification with TerraScan. The dataset is georeferenced in ETRS-TM35FIN (EPSG 3067) coordinate system. Work was done in Aalto University (The Research Institute of Measuring and Modeling for the Built Environment) with support from the City of Helsinki.

opencc-zeroNov 2022View details →

Data for: Innate immune function and antioxidant capacity of nestlings of an African raptor co-vary with the level of urbanization around breeding territories

Urban areas provide breeding habitats for many species. However, animals raised in urban environments face challenges such as altered food availability and quality, pollution, and pathogens assemblages. These challenges can affect physiological processes like immune function and antioxidant defences which are important for fitness. Here, we explore how levels of urbanisation influence innate immune function, immune response to a mimicked bacterial infection and antioxidant capacity of nestling Black Sparrowhawks Accipiter melanoleucus in South Africa. We also explore the effect of timing of breeding and rainfall on physiology since both can influence the environmental condition under which nestlings are raised. Finally, because urbanisation can influence immune function indirectly, we use path analyses to explore direct and indirect associations between urbanisation, immune function, and oxidative stress. We obtained measures of innate immunity (haptoglobin, lysis, agglutination and bactericidal capacity), indices of antioxidant capacity (total non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity (tAOX), and total glutathione from nestlings from 2015 - 2019. In addition, in 2018 and 2019, we mimicked a bacterial infection by injecting nestlings with lipopolysaccharide and quantified their immune response. Increased urban cover was associated with an increase in lysis and a decrease in tAOX, but not with any of the other physiological parameters. Furthermore, except for agglutination, no physiological parameters were associated with the timing of breeding. Lysis and bactericidal capacity, however, varied consistently with the annual rainfall pattern. Immune response to a mimicked a bacterial infection decreased with urban cover but not with the timing of breeding nor rainfall. Our path analyses suggested indirect associations between urban cover and some immune indices via tAOX but not via the timing of breeding. Our results show that early-life development in an urban environment is associated with variation in immune and antioxidant functions. The direct association between urbanisation and antioxidant capacity and their impact on immune function is likely an important factor mediating the impact of urbanisation on urban-dwelling animals. Future studies should explore how these results are linked to fitness and whether the responses are adaptive for urban-dwelling species.

opencc-zeroDec 2021View details →

Data for: Coexistence or conflict: black bear habitat use along an urban-wildland gradient

The urban-wildland interface is expanding and increasing the risk of human-wildlife conflict. Some wildlife species adapt to or avoid living near people, while others select for anthropogenic resources and are thus more prone to conflict. To promote human-wildlife coexistence, wildlife and land managers need to understand how conflict relates to habitat and resource use in the urban-wildland interface. We investigated black bear (Ursus americanus) habitat use across a gradient of human disturbance in a North American hotspot of human-black bear conflict. We used camera traps to monitor bear activity from July 2018 to July 2019, and compared bear habitat use to environmental and anthropogenic variables and spatiotemporal probabilities of conflict. Bears predominantly used areas of high vegetation productivity, avoided higher human densities, and increased their nocturnality near people. Still, bears used more high-conflict areas in summer and autumn, specifically rural lands with ripe crops. Our results suggest that bears are generally modifying their behaviours in the urban-wildland interface through spatial and temporal avoidance of humans, which may facilitate coexistence. However, conflict still occurs, especially in autumn when hyperphagia and peak crop availability attract bears to abundant rural food resources. To improve conflict mitigation practices, we recommend targeting seasonal rural attractants such as with pre-emptive fruit picking, bear-proof compost containment, and other forms of behavioural deterrence. By combining camera-trap monitoring of a large carnivore along an anthropogenic gradient with conflict mapping, we provide a framework for evidence-based improvements in human-wildlife coexistence.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2022View details →

Urbanization decreases species richness, and increases abundance in dry climates whereas decreases in wet climates: A global meta-analysis

Soil invertebrates have an essential role in decomposition, nutrient turnover and soil structure formation, all of which are strongly threatened by urbanization. Sealing, compaction by trampling and pollution destroy and degrade city soils and potentially damage soil-living invertebrates. The existing literature on how urbanization affects soil invertebrates is inconsistent, presenting both negative and positive effects. Therefore, here we aimed to synthesize the effects of urbanization on soil invertebrates considering their taxonomic (Acari, Annelida, Carabidae, Collembola, Gastropoda, Isopoda, Myriapoda, Nematoda) and functional (soil living vs. soil-related; mobility) identities, as well as to examine how the overall effect is modulated by climatic conditions (total annual precipitation, annual mean ambient temperature), urban heat island effect (based on ambient temperature differences between urban and rural areas) and city population. In a systematic review using hierarchical and categorical meta-analyses, we extracted 158 effect sizes from 75 studies on abundance and 125 effect sizes from 84 studies on species richness. Invertebrate abundance showed an increase, whereas species richness significantly decreased with increasing urbanization. The reason behind this could be that a few generalist species can adapt well to the urban environment and achieve strongly elevated densities. The species richness of annelids, springtails, and snails decreased with advancing urbanization, most probably because these animals are sensitive to soil compaction and pollution, both of which are common consequences of urbanization. The temperature did not modify the effects of urbanization, but precipitation modified the effects on abundance. Abundance increased with advancing urbanization in drier climates, probably because irrigation increased soil moisture, whereas it decreased in wet climates, as urban areas were drier than their surroundings. Making future cities more climate-neutral could better sustain soil biodiversity.

opencc-zeroNov 2022View details →

A STP-HSI index method for urban built-up area extraction based on multi-source remote sensing data

The changes of urban built-up areas can reflect the process of urbanization, and it can reflect the population, economy, and cultural development of the city. Therefore, accurate and timely extraction of urban built-up areas plays an important role in the dynamic management of the city. In the existing research, single-source remote sensing data is used to extract urban built-up areas, and there is a problem that the spectrum of urban areas and non-urban areas is easily confused. Multi-source remote sensing data, including luojia-1 remote sensing data, Landsat 8 OLI remote sensing data, etc., can make up for the spectrum confusing issues. We fuse the time series information of night light remote sensing data, neighborhood information and point of interest (POI) data in spatial dimension, and propose a built-up area extraction method that integrates night light time and space information and POI information.

opencc-zeroNov 2022View details →

Complex urban environments provide Apis mellifera with a richer plant forage than suburban and more rural landscapes

Growth in the global development of cities, and increasing public interest in beekeeping, has led to rises in the numbers of urban apiaries. Towns and cities can provide an excellent diet for managed bees, with a diverse range of nectar and pollen available throughout a long flowering season and are often more ecologically diverse than the surrounding rural environments. Accessible urban honeybee hives are a valuable research resource to gain insights into the diet and ecology of wild pollinators in urban settings. We used DNA metabarcoding of the rbcL and ITS2 gene regions to characterise the pollen community in Apis mellifera honey, inferring the floral diet, from 14 hives across an urban gradient around Greater Manchester, UK. We found that the proportion of urban land around a hive is significantly associated with an increase in the diversity of plants foraged, and that invasive and non-native plants appear to play a critical role in the sustenance of urban bees, alongside native plant species. The proportion of improved grassland, typical of suburban lawns and livestock farms, is significantly associated with decreases in the diversity of plant pollen found in honey samples. These findings are relevant to urban landscape developers motivated to encourage biodiversity and bee persistence, in line with global bio-food security agendas.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2022View details →

Benchmarks for the Urban-PLUMBER model evaluation project Phase 1 (AU-Preston)

AU-Preston benchmarks for the Urban-PLUMBER projectThese timeseries data are associated with the study:<blockquote>Evaluation of 30 urban land surface models in the Urban-PLUMBER project: Phase 1 results</blockquote>doi: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.4589">https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.4589</a>These are empirical models of various complexity used as benchmarks to evaluate land surface models in the project. The benchmarking process follows the methods in the PLUMBER project (Best et al., 2015).BenchmarksPhysically based<ol><li>Manabe_1T: A simple 'slab and bucket' model (Fig. 1a) based on physical principles (i.e. conservation of energy, mass and momentum). The impervious (built) fraction is simulated using a one-tile slab scheme (Best, 2005). For the pervious fraction a simple representation allows precipitation to fill a store which overflows when full, and otherwise freely evaporate (Manabe, 1969). At each timestep, the impervious and pervious tile outputs are calculated and aggregated with a weighted mean.</li></ol>Empirical (out-of-sample)<ol><li>REG1-SWdown: Linear regression with one variable (SWdown, e.g. Fig. 1b) is used separately to predict SWup, LWup, Qh, Qle, and Qtau. At night predicted values are constant where SWdown = 0.</li><li>REG2-SWdown-Tair: Two-variable (SWdown and Tair) linear regression (e.g. Fig. 5c) provides some information at night and more generally for variables closely dependent on temperature (e.g. Lwup and Qh).</li><li>KM3-SWdown-Tair-RH: Following PLUMBER's conceptual arguments, three predictor variables (SWdown, Tair and RH data) are split into three (low, medium and high) to create 3^3=27 groups, for which independent regressions are trained. K-means clustering is used to determine the training data groups (e.g. Fig. 1d). To use this piecewise regression benchmark, at each time step the input data's proximity to one of the 27 cluster centroids is determined to select the regression to apply. This benchmark equates to PLUMBER's EMP3KM27 (Best et al., 2015), which based on common metrics outperformed all their participating land surface models when predicting sensible and latent heat fluxes across 20 sites.</li></ol>Empirical (in-sample)<ol><li>KM3-IS-SWdown-Tair-RH: This follows the KM3-SWdown-Tair-RH method, but trained with in-sample data only (i.e. AU-Preston). This should outperform an out-of-sample model because of the reuse of the forcing data, but performance is expected to degrade if applied to dissimilar conditions (i.e. another site).</li><li>KM4-IS-SWdown-Tair-RH-Wind: The k-means approach is applied again, but with an additional variable (wind speed), which increases the clusters to 81 (3^4) given the above rationale. Wind speed provides information that helps to predict turbulent heat and momentum fluxes.</li></ol>AuthorsEmperical benchmarks were developed by Mathew Lipson: <a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5322-1796">https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5322-1796</a>The physical benchmark was developed by Martin Best: <a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4468-876X">https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4468-876X</a>Co-authors for the associated manuscript are:Mathew Lipson, Sue Grimmond, Martin Best, Gab Abramowitz, Andrew Coutts, Nigel Tapper, Jong-Jin Baik, Meiring Beyers, Lewis Blunn, Souhail Boussetta, Elie Bou-Zeid, Martin G. De Kauwe, Cécile de Munck, Matthias Demuzere, Simone Fatichi, Krzysztof Fortuniak, Beom-Soon Han, Maggie Hendry, Yukihiro Kikegawa, Hiroaki Kondo, Doo-Il Lee, Sang-Hyun Lee, Aude Lemonsu, Tiago Machado, Gabriele Manoli, Alberto Martilli, Valéry Masson, Joe McNorton, Naika Meili, David Meyer, Kerry A. Nice, Keith W. Oleson, Seung-Bu Park, Michael Roth, Robert Schoetter, Andres Simon, Gert-Jan Steeneveld, Ting Sun, Yuya Takane, Marcus Thatcher, Aristofanis Tsiringakis, Mikhail Varentsov, Chenghao Wang, Zhi-Hua WangReferencesObservational dataLipson, M., Grimmond, S., Best, M., Chow, W., Christen, A., Chrysoulakis, N., Coutts, A., Crawford, B., Earl, S., Evans, J., Fortuniak, K., Heusinkveld, B. G., Hong, J.-W., Hong, J., Järvi, L., Jo, S., Kim, Y.-H., Kotthaus, S., Lee, K., Masson, V., McFadden, J. P., Michels, O., Pawlak, W., Roth, M., Sugawara, H., Tapper, N., Velasco, E., and Ward, H. C.: Data for "Harmonized gap-filled dataset from 20 urban flux tower sites" for the Urban-PLUMBER project, <a href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7104984">https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7104984</a>, 2022.Benchmark referencesBest, M. J., Abramowitz, G., Johnson, H. R., Pitman, A. J., Balsamo, G., Boone, A., Cuntz, M., Decharme, B., Dirmeyer, P. A., Dong, J., Ek, M., Guo, Z., Haverd, V., Hurk, B. J. J. van den, Nearing, G. S., Pak, B., Peters-Lidard, C., Santanello, J. A., Stevens, L., and Vuichard, N.: The Plumbing of Land Surface Models: Benchmarking Model Performance, Journal of Hydrometeorology, 16, 1425–1442, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-14-0158.1">https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-14-0158.1</a>, 2015.Best, M. J.: Representing urban areas within operational numerical weather prediction models, Boundary-Layer Meteorol, 114, 91–109, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-004-4834-5">https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-004-4834-5</a>, 2005.Manabe, S.: CLIMATE AND THE OCEAN CIRCULATION: I. THE ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION AND THE HYDROLOGY OF THE EARTH'S SURFACE, Monthly Weather Review, 97, 739–774, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1969)097">https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1969)097</a><0739:CATOC>2.3.CO;2, 1969.

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2022View details →

SCore - Prototyp 3 - Erprobung des Forschungsszenarios "Urbane Grünflächen" - UGF-3_Fall-10

Dieses Datenset enthält Materialien (Videos, Protokolle und Fallbeschreibungen) aus der dritten prototypischen Durchführung des Forschungsszenarios "Urbane Grünflächen" im Teilprojekt <a href="http://www.360total.de/score/">SCoRe-VideoLearning</a>  des <a href="https://scoreforschung.com/ueber/">Score-Projektes</a>. Aufgrund der hohen Datenmengen, bezieht sich dieses Set lediglich auf einen Fall, in welche sich Studierende videografisch forschend mit urbanen Grünflächen auseinandersetzten und dabei die Merkmale der Grünfläche hinsichtlich urbanen Nutzungsmöglichkeiten und der biologischen Vielfalt untersuchten. Dazu wurden die Grünflächen zunächst ausgewählt und in Bezug auf verschiedene vorgegebene Ordnungskriterien beschrieben und bewertet (Fallbeschreibung). Zur Produktion der Videoforschungsdaten - als Basismaterial der empirischen Untersuchung - waren die Studierenden angehalten ein Produktionsprotokoll während aller drei Produktionsphasen der Videografie (Vorproduktion, Produktion im Feld sowie Nachproduktion) auszufüllen und somit für sich sowie andere analysierende Studierende die Entscheidungsprozesse zur Gestaltung der Videoforschungsdaten zu explizieren und zu dokumentieren.. Diese Protokolle bilden entsprechend die Grundlagen für Gütekriterien qualitativer Forschungsdaten: Transparenz und intersubjektive Nachvollziehbarkeit (vgl. <a href="https://scoreforschung.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/score-vl-wirkungsbericht-3-zur-summativen-evaluation-des-prototypen-3_mhh-2.pdf">Wirkungsbericht 3</a>).

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2022View details →

SCore - Prototyp 3 - Erprobung des Forschungsszenarios "Urbane Grünflächen" - UGF-3_'Fall_13

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2022View details →

Green Space Management - Urban Green as perceived by citizens

This dataset contains the results, as csv file, of the monitoring surveys of green space management as perceived by citizens. The resources will be 1) results from first survey (summer 2021) and 2) results from the 2nd survey (TBD). Some of the most interesting columns in the results Column 9 ("Quartiere") is the residential area of the citizen. Column 10 ("Indirizzo"), when available, is the street where the citizen lives Column 11, ("Freq_parco"), when available, is the frequency with which the citizen visit a green area/park in the town Column 18, ("Distanza_parco"), when available, is the distance in minutes to reach a park

Can behavior and physiology mitigate effects of warming on ectotherms? A test in urban ants

1. Global climate change is expected to have pervasive effects on the diversity and distribution of species, particularly ectotherms whose body temperatures depend on environmental temperatures. However, these impacts remain difficult to predict, in part because ectotherms may adapt or acclimate to novel conditions or may use behavioral thermoregulation to reduce their exposure to stressful microclimates. 2. Here we examine the potential for physiological and behavioral changes to mitigate effects of environmental warming on five species of ants in a temperate forest habitat subject to urban warming. 3. We worked in eight urban and eight non-urban forest sites in North Carolina, USA; sites experienced a 1.1°C range of mean summer air temperatures. At each site, we documented species-specific microclimates (ant operative temperatures, Te) and ant activity on a transect of 14 bait stations at three times of day. In the laboratory, we measured upper thermal tolerance (CTmax) and thermal preference (Tpref) for each focal species. We then asked whether thermal traits shifted at hotter sites, and whether ants avoided non-preferred microclimates in the field. 4. CTmax and Tpref did not increase at warmer sites, indicating that these populations did not adapt or acclimate to urban warming. Consistent with behavioral thermoregulation, four of the five species were less likely to occupy baits where Te departed from Tpref. Apparent thermoregulation resulted from fixed diel activity patterns that helped ants avoid the most inappropriate temperatures but did not compensate for daily or spatial temperature variation: Hotter sites had hotter ants. 5. This study uses a novel approach to detect behavioral thermoregulation and sublethal warming in foraging insects. The results suggest that adaptation and behavior may not protect common temperate forest ants from a warming climate, and highlight the need to evaluate effects of chronic, sublethal warming on small ectotherms.

Uncovering bacterial hosts of class 1 integrons in an urban coastal aquatic environment with a single-cell fusion-polymerase chain reaction technology

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a key driver of bacterial evolution via transmission of genetic materials across taxa. Class 1 integrons are genetic elements that correlate strongly with anthropogenic pollution and contribute to the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes via HGT. Despite their significance to human health, there is a shortage of robust, culture-free surveillance technologies for identifying uncultivated environmental taxa that harbour class 1 integrons. We developed a modified version of epicPCR (emulsion, paired isolation and concatenation PCR) that links class 1 integrons amplified from single bacterial cells to taxonomic markers from the same cells in emulsified aqueous droplets. Using this single-cell genomic approach and Nanopore sequencing, we successfully assigned class 1 integron gene cassette arrays containing mostly AMR genes to their hosts in coastal water samples that were affected by pollution. Our work presents the first application of epicPCR for targeting variable, multi-gene loci of interest. We also identified the Rhizobacter genus as novel hosts of class 1 integrons. These findings establish epicPCR as a powerful tool for linking taxa to class 1 integrons in environmental bacterial communities and offer the potential to direct mitigation efforts towards hotspots of class 1 integron-mediated dissemination of AMR.

openDec 2022View details →

Pilot building dataset - "Portal for heritage buildings integration into the contemporary built environment" (URBAN PERISCOPE)

LIM_411 Address: Agkiras 147 The building, located in the heart of the Turkish Cypriot quarter and very close to the Cami Cedit Mosque, was originally a school for Turkish Cypriot girls. It is unclear when it was built. The buildings surrounding it provided accommodation for the students. At some point it was used as a police station. Today, it functions as the Bi-communal Multi-functional Centre of the Municipality of Limassol. The building’s typology is very simple. It is a single-storey building, consisting of two large rooms and a smaller one between them. All three rooms have entrances on both the front and the back of the building. A covered exterior area is created on both sides. The appearance of the building is dominated by visible stone which is used in structural elements and decorative details. The main south entrance is surrounded by a carved stone arc and columns with engraved details. Visible stone can also be found on the frame of the small room’s south door, the frames of the windows, the niches, the corners and the base of the building and on its top part under the roof. The walls of the building are made of stone. The floor consists of painted tiles in the covered exterior areas, tiles in the two big rooms and newer wooden parquet in the small room. All the doors and windows are made of wood while the ceilings are made of wooden planks. The roof structure is composed of timber beams and tiles. Newer additions include the plasterboard walls that partly separate the space in the big rooms and the structure at the back of the west room that is used as a sanitary space. The building was included in the catalogue of listed buildings in 2000 for its significance as a Turkish school building with traditional and neo-classical characteristics. "Portal for heritage buildings integration into the contemporary built environment" (URBAN PERISCOPE), is funded by the Cyprus Research & Innovation Foundation Restart Programs 2016-2020 "Integrated Projects". Project Coordinator: The Cyprus Institute; Partners: Cyprus University of Technology (Cyprus), Frederic Research Center (Cyprus), Fondazione Bruno Kessler (Italy), University of Catania (Italy), Department of Urban Planning and Housing, Municipality of Strovolos, Municipality of Limassol, HIT- Hypertech Innovations, NetU Consultations and Talos RTD. The project [Grant number: INTEGRATED/0918/0034] is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the Republic of Cyprus through the Research Innovation Foundation.

Data for: DRD4 allele frequencies in greylag geese vary between urban and rural sites

With the increasing urbanisation of the last decades, more and more bird species occur in urban habitats. Birds which thrive in urban habitats often have a higher tolerance towards human disturbance and show behaviours which differ from their rural counterparts. There is increasing evidence that many behaviours have a genetic basis. One candidate gene is the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4), which has been associated with fear and thus, flight initiation distance (FID). In this study, we analysed a segment of DRD4 in greylag geese Anser anser, describing the variability of this gene across several geographically distant populations, and comparing its variability between an urban and a rural site in south-west Germany. We additionally measured FIDs of urban and rural geese to test for a possible correlation with DRD4 genotypes. We found a high variation of DRD4, with 10 variable sites leading to 11 alleles and 35 genotypes. Two genotypes occurred in 60% of all geese and were thus defined as common genotypes versus 33 rare genotypes. Population differentiation was very low between the urban and rural sites in Germany but common genotypes occurred more often in the urban area and rare genotypes more often in the rural area. FID was significantly higher at the rural site, but no significant correlation between FID and DRD4 genotypes could be detected. Nevertheless, our results suggest that local site selection may be related to DRD4 genotypes.

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2022View details →

Satellite Analysis (2013-2020) dataset - "Portal for heritage buildings integration into the contemporary built environment" (URBAN PERISCOPE)

For the needs of the “Portal for heritage buildings integration into the contemporary built environment”, in short, PERIsCOPE project, satellite observations were applied. This repository includes the results from the macro-scale analysis, for which thermal data, optical satellite images, and ready satellite products were exploited to provide multi-temporal information. Satellite-based products estimate the temperature variations in a broader area for the selected urban testbeds (Limassol and Strovolos municipalities, Cyprus). Landsat 7 and 8 archives were downloaded through the EarthExplorer platform (“Landsat Collection 1 Level-1” for both “Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) Level-1” and “Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS C1 Level-1”). The Level-1 data downloaded from the platform were rescaled to the top of atmosphere (TOA) reflectance and radiance using radiometric rescaling coefficients provided in the metadata file delivered with the Level-1 product (metadata—MTL file). More than 140 satellite images were selected (a cloud coverage filter was applied), downloaded, and processed, covering the period between 2013 and 2020. Specifically, 16 images during the Winter season, 30 images over Spring, 57 images for Summer, and 38 during Autumn were finally gathered for both case studies. The Google Earth Engine cloud platform infrastructure was used to extract optical products, namely the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Normalised Difference Built-up Index (NDBI), which characterise vegetated and built-up areas, respectively. This repository concerns: (1) the mean Land Surface Temperature (LST) for both test sites (from 2013-2020), their standard deviation, and the maximum and minimum values. In addition, the (2) NDVI and (3) NDBI products per year (2013-2020) are provided. Lastly, (4) the seasonal variations are included. The data are structured in both forms of ArcGIS Pro Geodatabase (.gdb), while individual .tiff formats are provided in each folder. Further details can be found in the following references: 1. Agapiou, A.; Lysandrou, V. Observing Thermal Conditions of Historic Buildings through Earth Observation Data and Big Data Engine. Sensors 2021, 21, 4557. <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/s21134557">https://doi.org/10.3390/s21134557</a> 2. Agapiou A., Lysandrou V., Cuca B., Copernicus earth observations for cultural heritage, Proceedings of the joint international event, 9th ARQUEOLÓGICA 2.0 & 3rd GEORES, Valencia (Spain). 26–28 April 2021, DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.4995/Arqueologica9.2021.12512">https://doi.org/10.4995/Arqueologica9.2021.12512</a>

opencc-by-4.0Dec 2022View details →

Dataset supporting publication: "Data collected by coupling fix and wearable sensors for addressing urban microclimate variability in an historical Italian city"

Dataset supporting publication: “Data collected by coupling fix and wearable sensors for addressing urban microclimate variability in an historical Italian city” (publication available for download: <a href="https://zenodo.org/record/3901556">GEOFIT Zenodo</a>) Datasets resulting from monitoring activities of Sant'Apollinare systems and climatic parameters inside and outside the building (post-intervention monitoring). The article presents the data collected through an extensive research work conducted in a historic hilly town in central Italy during the period 2016-2017. Data concern two different datasets: long-term hygrothermal histories collected in two specific positions of the town object of the research, and three environmental transects collected following on foot the same designed path at three different time of the same day, i.e. during a heat wave event in summer. The short-term monitoring campaign is carried out by means of an innovative wearable weather station specifically developed by the authors and settled upon a bike helmet. Data provided within the short-term monitoring campaign are analysed by computing the apparent temperature, a direct indicator of human thermal comfort in the outdoors. All provided environmental data are geo-referenced. These data are used in order to examine the intra-urban microclimate variability. Outcomes from both long- and short-term monitoring campaigns allow to confirm the existing correlation between the urban forms and functionalities and the corresponding local microclimate conditions, also generated by anthropogenic actions. In detail, higher fractions of built surfaces are associated to generally higher temperatures as emerges by comparing the two long-term air temperature data series, i.e. temperature collected at point 1 is higher than temperature collated at point 2 for the 75% of the monitored period with an average of þ2.8 [1]C. Furthermore, gathered environmental transects demonstrate the high variability of the main environmental parameters below the Urban Canopy. Diversification of the urban thermal behaviour leads to a computed apparent temperature range in between 33.2 [1]C and 46.7 [1]C at 2 p.m. along the monitoring path. Reuse of these data may be helpful for further investigating interesting correlations among urban configuration, anthropogenic actions and microclimate variables affecting outdoor comfort. Additionally, the proposed dataset may be compared to other similar datasets collected in other urban contexts around the world. Finally, it can be compared to other monitoring methodologies such as weather stations and satellite measurements available in the location at the same time.

Multiple ecosystem service synergies and landscape-mediation of biodiversity within urban agroecosystems

Ecosystem services are essential for human well-being, especially in urban areas where 60% of the global population will live by 2030. While urban habitats have the potential to support biodiversity and ecosystem services, few studies have quantified the impact of local and landscape management across a diverse suite of services. We leverage five years of data (>5,000 observations) across a network of urban gardens to determine the drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies. We found multiple synergies and few trade-offs, contrasting previous assumptions that food production is at odds with biodiversity. Furthermore, we show that landscape-level natural habitat cover interacts with local management to mediate services provided by mobile animals, specifically pest control and pollination. By quantifying the factors that support a diverse suite of ecosystem services, we highlight the critical role of garden management and urban planning for optimizing biodiversity and human benefit.

Urbanization drives geographically heterogeneous freshwater salinization in the northeastern United States

Rising trends in freshwater salinity, collectively termed the Freshwater Salinization Syndrome (FSS), constitute a global environmental concern. Given that the FSS has been observed in diverse settings, key questions regarding the causes, trend magnitudes, and consequences remain. Prior work hypothesized that FSS is driven by state factors, such as human-centered land use change, geology, and climate. Here, we identify the fundamental overriding factors driving FSS within the northeastern United States and quantify the diversity of FSS severity within the region. Specifically, we analyzed decadal-scale trends in specific conductance (a salinity proxy) for 333 lotic sites over four decades. Next, we quantified potential variables driving the rising or falling trends, including impervious surface cover (ISC), winter temperature and precipitation, watershed size, and ambient conductance. Temperature and ISC were considered the most likely candidates for predicting FSS severity because road salts have previously emerged as the fundamental regional driver.Most (62.5%) sites exhibited patterns of significantly increasing conductance; thus, the overall regional state reflects advancing FSS. However, others exhibited an absence of change (28.8%) or decreasing values (8.7%), and slope magnitude did change with latitude. Linear modeling demonstrated that two variables—ISC and watershed size—constitute the best predictors of long-termconductance trends and that an intercept not significantly different than zero suggests that the FSS does not reign in the absence of urbanization. We also detected areas with consistently decreasing trends despite moderate ISC. Therefore, within the region, advancing urbanization causes the typical condition of advancing FSS, but heterogeneity also exists.