Environmental Research Letters (Jan 2023)
Climatic effects on landscape multifunctionality in urban parks: a view for integrating ecological supply and human benefits
Abstract
The rapid and relentless development of urban areas highlights the importance of landscape multifunctionality. However, there is limited research on the temporal dynamics and climatic effects of urban landscape multifunctionality. This study aimed to address this gap by analyzing the features of multiple landscape functions triggered by seasonal climate change in different urban park types. In this study, we investigated five typical urban landscape functions (alleviating urban heat islands, vegetation growth, biodiversity promotion, alleviation of waterlogging, and provision of recreational activities) by establishing a set of indices: ecological supply capability ( S _P ), proportion of ecological supply ( SP _P ), capability of human benefits ( B _P ), and human benefits efficiency ( BE _P ) of urban parks. The average S _P of the landscape functions was 58% in summer and 46% in winter. During the transition from summer to winter, urban parks witnessed a significant decrease in SP _P for alleviating the urban heat island, dropping from 34% to 5%. The primary landscape functions shifted from alleviating the urban heat island (34%) and providing recreation (29%) to providing recreation (38%) and biodiversity promotion (29%). Concerning park types, nature parks provided the highest S _P , whereas community parks provided the highest BE _P . This study has useful implications for landscape management in urban parks, particularly regarding timely adjustments across seasonal climates. It is possible to promote sustainable and effective human well-being by maximizing landscape functions.
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