Assessing four methods for establishing native plants on urban vacant land |
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Authors: | Elsa C. Anderson Emily S. Minor |
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Affiliation: | 1.Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 W. Taylor (MC O66), Chicago, IL 60607 USA ;2.Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies, 2801 Sharon Turnpike, Millbrook, NY 12545 USA ;3.Institute for Environmental Science and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1088 SPHPI (MC 673), 1603 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612 USA |
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Abstract: | Urban greening increases vegetation and can restore ecological functions to urban systems. It has ties to restoration ecology, which aims to return degraded land to diverse, functional ecosystems. Both practices can be applied to maximizing ecosystem services and habitat in vacant lots, which are abundant in post-industrial cities, including Chicago, Illinois (USA), where our study took place. We tested four methods for increasing native plant diversity in vacant lots, ranging from low input to resource-intensive: seed bombing, broadcast seeding, planting plugs, and gardening. After three growing seasons, we assessed the growth of eight target native species and all non-target species. We expected that intensive treatments would have more target species stems and flowers and fewer non-target species, but we found that less-intensive options often produce equal or better results. From this, we recommend broadcast seeding as a viable, low-cost method for improving habitat and biodiversity in vacant lots.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01383-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. |
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Keywords: | Broadcast seeding Chicago Greening Native plantings Seed bombs Vacant lots |
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