Urban wildflower meadow planting for biodiversity, climate and society: An evaluation at King's College, Cambridge
Abstract The biodiversity and climate crises are critical challenges of this century. Wildflower meadows in urban areas could provide important nature‐based solutions, addressing the biodiversity and climate crises jointly and benefitting society in the process. King's College Cambridge (Englan...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Ecological Solutions and Evidence |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12243 |
| _version_ | 1797784030514511872 |
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| author | Cicely A. M. Marshall Matthew T. Wilkinson Peter M. Hadfield Stephen M. Rogers Jonathan D. Shanklin Brian C. Eversham Roberta Healey Olaf P. Kranse Chris D. Preston Steven J. Coghill Karris L. McGonigle Geoffrey D. Moggridge Peter G. Pilbeam Ana C. Marza Darinka Szigecsan Jill Mitchell Marcus A. Hicks Sky M. Wallis Zhifan Xu Francesca Toccaceli Calum M. McLennan Sebastian Eves‐van den Akker |
| author_facet | Cicely A. M. Marshall Matthew T. Wilkinson Peter M. Hadfield Stephen M. Rogers Jonathan D. Shanklin Brian C. Eversham Roberta Healey Olaf P. Kranse Chris D. Preston Steven J. Coghill Karris L. McGonigle Geoffrey D. Moggridge Peter G. Pilbeam Ana C. Marza Darinka Szigecsan Jill Mitchell Marcus A. Hicks Sky M. Wallis Zhifan Xu Francesca Toccaceli Calum M. McLennan Sebastian Eves‐van den Akker |
| author_sort | Cicely A. M. Marshall |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The biodiversity and climate crises are critical challenges of this century. Wildflower meadows in urban areas could provide important nature‐based solutions, addressing the biodiversity and climate crises jointly and benefitting society in the process. King's College Cambridge (England, UK) established a wildflower meadow over a portion of its iconic Back Lawn in 2019, replacing a fine lawn first laid in 1772. We used biodiversity surveys, Wilcoxon signed rank and ANOVA models to compare species richness, abundance and composition of plants, spiders, bugs, bats and nematodes supported by the meadow, and remaining lawn, over 3 years. We estimated the climate change impact of meadow vs lawn from maintenance emissions, soil carbon sequestration and reflectance effect. We surveyed members of the university to quantify the societal benefits of, and attitudes towards, increased meadow planting on the collegiate university estate. In spite of its small size (0.36 ha), the meadow supported approximately three times more plant species, three times more spider and bug species and individuals, and bats were recorded three times more often over the meadow than the remaining lawn. Terrestrial invertebrate biomass was 25 times higher in the meadow compared with the lawn. Fourteen species with conservation designations were recorded on the meadow (six for lawn), alongside meadow specialist species. Reduced maintenance and fertilising associated with meadow reduced emissions by an estimated 1.36 Mg CO2‐e per hectare per year compared with lawn. Relative reflectance increased by 25%–34% for meadow relative to lawn. Soil carbon stocks did not differ between meadow and lawn. Respondents thought meadows provided greater aesthetic, educational and mental wellbeing services than lawns. In open responses, lawns were associated with undesirable elitism and social exclusion (most colleges in Cambridge restrict lawn access to senior members of college), and respondents proved overwhelmingly in favour of meadow planting in place of lawn on the collegiate university estate. This study demonstrates the substantial benefits of small urban meadows for local biodiversity, cultural ecosystem services and climate change mitigation, supplied at lower cost than maintaining conventional lawn. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T00:34:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c145c52eda3c49928d04563935533112 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2688-8319 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T00:34:13Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecological Solutions and Evidence |
| spelling | doaj.art-c145c52eda3c49928d045639355331122023-07-10T07:36:35ZengWileyEcological Solutions and Evidence2688-83192023-04-0142n/an/a10.1002/2688-8319.12243Urban wildflower meadow planting for biodiversity, climate and society: An evaluation at King's College, CambridgeCicely A. M. Marshall0Matthew T. Wilkinson1Peter M. Hadfield2Stephen M. Rogers3Jonathan D. Shanklin4Brian C. Eversham5Roberta Healey6Olaf P. Kranse7Chris D. Preston8Steven J. Coghill9Karris L. McGonigle10Geoffrey D. Moggridge11Peter G. Pilbeam12Ana C. Marza13Darinka Szigecsan14Jill Mitchell15Marcus A. Hicks16Sky M. Wallis17Zhifan Xu18Francesca Toccaceli19Calum M. McLennan20Sebastian Eves‐van den Akker21Conservation Research Institute and Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge Cambridge UKDepartment of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge UKEcology Solutions, Cokenach Estate Royston UKDepartment of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge UKBotanical Society of Britain & Ireland Cambridge UKThe Wildlife Trust for Beds Cambs and Northants Cambridge UKThe Crop Science Centre, Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge Cambridge UKThe Crop Science Centre, Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge Cambridge UKIndependent Researcher Cambridge UKKing's College University of Cambridge Cambridge UKConservation Research Institute and Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge Cambridge UKKing's College University of Cambridge Cambridge UKCambridgeshire Mammal Group Cambridge UKDowning College University of Cambridge Cambridge UKDepartment of Zoology University of Cambridge Cambridge UKConservation Research Institute and Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge Cambridge UKConservation Research Institute and Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge Cambridge UKConservation Research Institute and Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge Cambridge UKConservation Research Institute and Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge Cambridge UKConservation Research Institute and Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge Cambridge UKKing's College University of Cambridge Cambridge UKKing's College University of Cambridge Cambridge UKAbstract The biodiversity and climate crises are critical challenges of this century. Wildflower meadows in urban areas could provide important nature‐based solutions, addressing the biodiversity and climate crises jointly and benefitting society in the process. King's College Cambridge (England, UK) established a wildflower meadow over a portion of its iconic Back Lawn in 2019, replacing a fine lawn first laid in 1772. We used biodiversity surveys, Wilcoxon signed rank and ANOVA models to compare species richness, abundance and composition of plants, spiders, bugs, bats and nematodes supported by the meadow, and remaining lawn, over 3 years. We estimated the climate change impact of meadow vs lawn from maintenance emissions, soil carbon sequestration and reflectance effect. We surveyed members of the university to quantify the societal benefits of, and attitudes towards, increased meadow planting on the collegiate university estate. In spite of its small size (0.36 ha), the meadow supported approximately three times more plant species, three times more spider and bug species and individuals, and bats were recorded three times more often over the meadow than the remaining lawn. Terrestrial invertebrate biomass was 25 times higher in the meadow compared with the lawn. Fourteen species with conservation designations were recorded on the meadow (six for lawn), alongside meadow specialist species. Reduced maintenance and fertilising associated with meadow reduced emissions by an estimated 1.36 Mg CO2‐e per hectare per year compared with lawn. Relative reflectance increased by 25%–34% for meadow relative to lawn. Soil carbon stocks did not differ between meadow and lawn. Respondents thought meadows provided greater aesthetic, educational and mental wellbeing services than lawns. In open responses, lawns were associated with undesirable elitism and social exclusion (most colleges in Cambridge restrict lawn access to senior members of college), and respondents proved overwhelmingly in favour of meadow planting in place of lawn on the collegiate university estate. This study demonstrates the substantial benefits of small urban meadows for local biodiversity, cultural ecosystem services and climate change mitigation, supplied at lower cost than maintaining conventional lawn.https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12243biodiversityclimate changelawnnature recoverynature‐based solutionsrestoration |
| spellingShingle | Cicely A. M. Marshall Matthew T. Wilkinson Peter M. Hadfield Stephen M. Rogers Jonathan D. Shanklin Brian C. Eversham Roberta Healey Olaf P. Kranse Chris D. Preston Steven J. Coghill Karris L. McGonigle Geoffrey D. Moggridge Peter G. Pilbeam Ana C. Marza Darinka Szigecsan Jill Mitchell Marcus A. Hicks Sky M. Wallis Zhifan Xu Francesca Toccaceli Calum M. McLennan Sebastian Eves‐van den Akker Urban wildflower meadow planting for biodiversity, climate and society: An evaluation at King's College, Cambridge Ecological Solutions and Evidence biodiversity climate change lawn nature recovery nature‐based solutions restoration |
| title | Urban wildflower meadow planting for biodiversity, climate and society: An evaluation at King's College, Cambridge |
| title_full | Urban wildflower meadow planting for biodiversity, climate and society: An evaluation at King's College, Cambridge |
| title_fullStr | Urban wildflower meadow planting for biodiversity, climate and society: An evaluation at King's College, Cambridge |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urban wildflower meadow planting for biodiversity, climate and society: An evaluation at King's College, Cambridge |
| title_short | Urban wildflower meadow planting for biodiversity, climate and society: An evaluation at King's College, Cambridge |
| title_sort | urban wildflower meadow planting for biodiversity climate and society an evaluation at king s college cambridge |
| topic | biodiversity climate change lawn nature recovery nature‐based solutions restoration |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12243 |
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