256 McWilliam et al.: Degradation Effects of Local Residents on Urban Forests Table 2. Number of encroachment traces recorded within all study sites by type and behavior. Waste disposal # Organic debris Consumer waste Construction waste Granular Material Grass clippings Ash/Charcoal Compost bin Compost Christmas tree Pool pipe Dog feces Visible chemicals Total Yard extension 1176 Lawn extensions 716 216 192 Human-placed Rock 141 Leaf piles Junk 65 61 36 15 11 8 7 7 4 2 Swimming pool Sport facilities Garden extensions Firewood Building (including fences) Balls # Forest recreation 852 Illegal paths 304 Forts 12 12 11 6 2 Furniture (in forest) Fire pit # Forest encroachment Hacked tree # Yard plant invasions 263 Forest floor removal 137 142 10 5 1 8 2657 Total 1199 Total 279 Total 145 Figure 3. Other organic debris type of waste disposal encroach- ment. Photograph location: Winston Blvd. Woodlot, Cambridge. and occurred in 99% of sites. Types of waste disposal referred to as ‘other organic debris’ (e.g., branches, discarded plants), ‘mis- cellaneous consumer waste’ (e.g., packaging materials), ‘con- struction waste,’ and ‘granular material’ (soil, gravel, etc.) ac- counted for approximately 86% of all waste disposal traces. Waste disposal behavior traces covered a mean of 26% to 50% of quadrats in which waste disposal was recorded. Figure 3 is a pho- tograph of typical yard-related waste sampled in forest edges. Yard extension encroachment accounted for 27% of all encroachment occurrences, and was recorded in 44% of study sites. Lawn exten- sions (areas of mown grass) and garden extensions (e.g., flower beds, patios), together, accounted for approximately 96% of these traces. Structure encroachments (including fences) were sampled infrequent- ly; however, they may have been under-sampled. Only 38% of the study sites had a municipal fence, post, or survey stake indicating the legal property line. The study authors used adjacent boundary mark- ers to locate the boundaries of those sites missing boundary markers; however, sites with ambiguous boundaries were not sampled. Although yard extensions occurred less frequently than waste disposal encroachments, they covered a greater pro- portion of their quadrats, occupying a mean of 76% to 100%. Figure 4 is an example of a typical yard extension. While forest recreation-related encroachment accounted for only 6% of encroachment, it was also highly prevalent, occurring ©2010 International Society of Arboriculture Figure 4. A garden-extension type of yard extension encroach- ment behavior. Photo location: Monarch Woods, Kitchener. in 44% of study sites. Almost 95% of traces were unauthorized pathways emanating from resident yards (Figure 5). Although this category had a relatively low frequency of encroachment per site (making up only 6% of all encroachment traces), unauthorized path- ways covered a large percentage (76% to 100%) of their quadrats. Encroachment related to invasive yard plants accounted for only 3% of encroachment traces, but occurred in 24% of study sites. They covered a mean of 26% to 50% of their quadrats. Observations of their patterns, and conversations with residents, indicated that some residents planted garden plants in the forest edge (removing native vegetation) to improve the forest’s aesthet- ic appearance, to increase privacy, or for safety (Figure 6). Ob- servations of growing patterns also indicated invasive yard plants sometimes arrived inadvertently through vegetative growth across residential boundaries, and through waste disposal encroachment. Forest encroachment accounted for 3% of traces, and oc- curred in 12% of study sites. The removal of forest vegetation constituted 95% of this encroachment behavior. The mean per- centage cover of traces was high, 51% to 75% of their quadrats. Figure 7 illustrates resident removal of forest border vegetation. What was the distribution pattern of encroachment for each and all behaviors of encroachment with distance from forest borders? The distribution of encroachment impacts, as a group, is determined by the distance from the forest border (P < 0.05).
November 2010
| Title Name |
Pages |
Delete |
Url |
| Empty |
Search Text Block
Page #page_num
#doc_title
Hi $receivername|$receiveremail,
$sendername|$senderemail wrote these comments for you:
$message
$sendername|$senderemail would like for you to view the following digital edition.
Please click on the page below to be directed to the digital edition:
$thumbnail$pagenum
$link$pagenum
Your form submission was a success. You will be contacted by Washington Gas with follow-up information regarding your request.
This process might take longer please wait
