Date
Abstract
Residential yards are perhaps the most under-appreciated and under-studied ecosystem in the world. Although the area they cover is relatively small, their impact on humans on a global scale is disproportionately large. In cities, where the majority of people live, residential yards can comprise 25%–35% of the total landscape. The composition and configuration of yards across a city influences patterns of biodiversity as well as ecosystem service provision and quality of life for urban residents.
Although lawns comprise a dominant vegetation type around many homes, people's preferences for garden plants are very diverse. In Chicago, ~500 plant species were recorded in just a sample of front yards. This plant biodiversity can trickle up to higher trophic levels. In this talk, Dr. Emily Minor discusses several different research projects in residential yards. In particular, she will examine socioeconomic drivers and spatial patterns in yard vegetation and will discuss how this relates to larger-scale patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem service provision.
Presenters
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Emily Minor
Scientific Review Committee Member
Dr. Emily Minor is a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago. Emily has a wide range of interests related to how humans alter landscapes and ecological communities within them. Emily uses a combination of field studies, social surveys, GIS, and computer modeling in her research. Recent projects include examining the provision of ecosystem services to urban residents and studying plant, bird, and bee communities in residential neighborhoods. Emily has a growing interest in the socio-ecological dynamics of residential and community gardens, as well as applying...
Image
Emily Minor
Scientific Review Committee Member
Dr. Emily Minor is a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago. Emily has a wide range of interests related to how humans alter landscapes and ecological communities within them. Emily uses a combination of field studies, social surveys, GIS, and computer modeling in her research. Recent projects include examining the provision of ecosystem services to urban residents and studying plant, bird, and bee communities in residential neighborhoods. Emily has a growing interest in the socio-ecological dynamics of residential and community gardens, as well as applying graph theory (or network analysis) to a number of different socio-ecological problems, including landscape connectivity, mutualistic (e.g., plant-pollinator) networks, and social networks. Emily focuses most of her research efforts with her students on the Chicago metropolitan area as they are particularly interested in finding ways to make cities good habitats for both humans and wildlife. Emily completed her PhD in Ecology at Duke University in 2006 and did her postdoctoral work at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Appalachian Laboratory. Emily Minor served on SESYNC’s Scientific Review Committee.
External Links:
https://minorlab.weebly.com/
Time
11:00 a.m. ET
Location
SESYNC – 1 Park Place, Suite 300 Annapolis, MD 21401
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