Biodiversity and environmental stressors along urban walking routes

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2023.127951
• Publication Date: 2023-04-25T06:14:30Z
• Authors: Briony A. Norton; Meghann Mears; Philip H. Warren; Gavin M. Siriwardena; Kate E. Plummer; Tim Turner; Steven Hancock; Darren R. Grafius; Karl L. Evans
• Keywords: Urban ecology; Environmental Quality

There is increasing focus on designing liveable cities that promote walking. However, urban walking routes can expose people to adverse environmental conditions reduce health, well-being and biodiversity. Our primary objective assess how form associated with quality, including biodiversity, for moving through spaces. We a range of influence human health biodiversity (temperature, noise particulate pollution) three taxa (trees, butterflies birds) along 700 m public embedded in 500 x grid cells across UK towns. Cells are selected using random stratification an urbanisation intensity gradient. Walking more built-up areas were noisier hotter; levels further increased industrial land-use large roads. was no evidence vegetation mitigating or temperature, but there some cover mitigated small pollution. environments had lower butterfly, bird native tree species richness, reduced butterfly abundance. Large roads richness Most specific measures the surrounding matrix (median patch size, structural complexity at 1.5 resolution) not detectably routes, indicating minimal beneficial spill-over. Increased garden less abundant species-rich communities. results highlight considerable heterogeneity quality pedestrians' potential experience these driven by built cover. A greater needed effects features environment (roads, areas, noise) enhance co-benefits healthier pedestrians.