Wildlife as a Priority in Park Development: A Study of Illinois Park Professionals

The purpose of this thesis is to consider the factors that impact decision making in city park settings, with specific emphasis given to wildlife. Additionally, professional bias was considered as a possible response determinant. Studies connecting perceptions of wildlife and Illinois park managers have been rare or nonexistent, but offer the potential for the improvement of management strategies and recreational opportunities. Data was collected using mixed methods. City recreation practitioners statewide were invited to complete a self-administered questionnaire considering wildlife as a decision-making factor in land acquisition or restoration decisions. A small follow-up sample of park managers was interviewed via telephone for further explanation of their response. Analysis of responses from questionnaires and interviews suggested that wildlife habitat is a factor in land use decision making, but is not considered one of the highest importance. Respondents identified that nuisance wildlife, access to wildlife, and public value of wildlife were also factors in decision making. Factors associated with a high-ranking of the importance of wildlife were agencies with a high number of natural area acres, a high number of overall park acreage, personnel devoted to natural area management, the presence of hiking trails, and cities with a large population. Professional bias of recreation managers was suggested via anecdotal interview data, but could not be empirically connected with wildlife-related decision-making processes, as no managers identified themselves as having completed formal wildlife-related training. As a result, management implications include separate training for both practitioners and public. This study broadens the understanding of wildlife management in city park settings, and reaffirms that further understanding of public and pracitioner values of wildlife will lead to improved land use decisions and recreationally valuable experiences.

Red Imported Fire Ants: a threat to eastern Australian wildlife?

The discovery of the Red Imported Fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) in Brisbane on 22 February 2001 sent shock waves through urban and rural communities alike. This article is an attempt to address the often repeated question ‘What will become of Australia's unique fauna if they spread along Australia's eastern seaboard?

Ecology of an urban-adapted species over an urbanization gradient

The tawny frogmouth is a nocturnal bird species endemic to Australia. While many species of wildlife worldwide experience detrimental outcomes from urbanization, this thesis demonstrates the resilience and adaptability of this unique species to landscape change by human beings.

Endangerment and Likeability of Wildlife Species: How Important are they for Payments Proposed for Conservation?

This paper examines empirically the relative influence of the degree of endangerment of wildlife species and their stated likeability on individuals' allocation of funds for their conservation. To do this, it utilises data obtained from the IUCN Red List, and likeability and fund allocation data obtained from two serial surveys of a sample of the Australian public who were requested to assess 24 Australian wildlife species from three animal classes: mammals, birds and reptiles. Between the first and second survey, respondents were provided with extra information about the focal species. This information resulted in the dominance of endangerment as the major influence on the allocation of funding of respondents for the conservation of the focal wildlife species. Our results throw doubts on the proposition in the literature that the likeability of species is the dominant influence on willingness to pay for conservation of wildlife species. Furthermore, because the public's allocation of fund for conserving wildlife species seems to be more sensitive to information about the conservation status of species than to factors influencing their likeability, greater attention to providing accurate information about the former than the latter seems justified. Keywords: Conservation of wildlife species; Contingent valuation; Endangerment of species; Likeability of species; Willingness to pay

Air pollution levels measured at traffic hot spots : Brisbane urban corridor study

Air pollution levels were monitored continuously over a period of 4 weeks at four sampling sites along a busy urban corridor in Brisbane. The selected sites were representative of industrial and residential types of urban environment affected by vehicular traffic emissions. The concentration levels of submicrometer particle number, PM2.5, PM10, CO, and NOx were measured 5-10 meters from the road. Meteorological parameters and traffic flow rates were also monitored. The data were analysed in terms of the relationship between monitored pollutants and existing ambient air quality standards. The results indicate that the concentration levels of all pollutants exceeded the ambient air background levels, in certain cases by up to an order of magnitude. While the 24-hr average concentration levels did not exceed the standard, estimates for the annual averages were close to, or even higher than the annual standard levels.

How can land and urban development make houses healthier?

Traditionally, the main focus of the professional community involved with indoor air quality has been indoor pollution sources, preventing or reducing their emissions, as well as lowering the impact of the sources by replacing the polluted indoor air with "fresh" outdoor air. However, urban outdoor air cannot often be considered "fresh", as it contains high concentrations of pollutants emitted from motor vehicles - the main outdoor pollution sources in cities. Evidence from epidemiological studies conducted worldwide demonstrates that outdoor air quality has considerable effects on human health, despite the fact that people spend the majority of their time indoors. This is because pollution from outdoors penetrates indoors and becomes a major constituent of indoor pollution. Urban land and transport development has significant impact on the overall air quality of the urban airshed as well as the pollution concentration in the vicinity of high-density traffic areas. Therefore, an overall improvement in indoor air quality would be achieved by lowering urban airshed pollution, as well as by lowering the impact of the hot spots on indoor air. This paper explores the elements of urban land and vehicle transport developments, their impact on global and local air quality, and how the science of outdoor pollution generation and transport in the air could be utilized in urban development towards lowering indoor air pollution.