Estimating food production in an urban landscape

Journal article


Grafius, Darren R., Edmondson, Jill L., Norton, Briony A., Clark, Rachel, Mears, Meghann, Leake, Jonathan R., Corstanje, Ron, Harris, Jim A. and Warren, Philip H. 2020. Estimating food production in an urban landscape. Scientific Reports. 10 (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-62126-4
AuthorsGrafius, Darren R., Edmondson, Jill L., Norton, Briony A., Clark, Rachel, Mears, Meghann, Leake, Jonathan R., Corstanje, Ron, Harris, Jim A. and Warren, Philip H.
Abstract

There is increasing interest in urban food production for reasons of food security, environmental sustainability, social and health benefits. In developed nations urban food growing is largely informal and localised, in gardens, allotments and public spaces, but we know little about the magnitude of this production. Here we couple own-grown crop yield data with garden and allotment areal surveys and urban fruit tree occurrence to provide one of the first estimates for current and potential food production in a UK urban setting. Current production is estimated to be sufficient to supply the urban population with fruit and vegetables for about 30 days per year, while the most optimistic model results suggest that existing land cultivated for food could supply over half of the annual demand. Our findings provide a baseline for current production whilst highlighting the potential for change under the scaling up of cultivation on existing land.

KeywordsMultidisciplinary; urban food production, food security, environmental sustainability
Year2020
JournalScientific Reports
Journal citation10 (1)
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC
ISSN2045-2322
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-62126-4
Web address (URL)http://hdl.handle.net/10545/624658
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
hdl:10545/624658
Publication dates20 Mar 2020
Publication process dates
Deposited03 Apr 2020, 15:19
Accepted05 Mar 2020
Rights

Attribution 4.0 International

ContributorsUniversity of Sheffield and University of Derby
File
File Access Level
Open
File
File Access Level
Open
File
File Access Level
Open
Permalink -

https://repository.derby.ac.uk/item/9425y/estimating-food-production-in-an-urban-landscape

Download files

  • 63
    total views
  • 16
    total downloads
  • 2
    views this month
  • 1
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

Biodiversity and environmental stressors along urban walking routes
Norton, B., Mears, M., Warren, P. H., Siriwardena, G. M., Plummer, K. E., Turner, T., Hancock, S., Grafius, D. R. and Evans, K. L. 2023. Biodiversity and environmental stressors along urban walking routes. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening. 85, pp. 1-12. https://doi.org//10.1016/j.ufug.2023.127951
Definitions of biodiversity from urban gardeners
Norton, Briony, A., Shang, Bowen, Sheffield, David and Ramsey, Andrew 2021. Definitions of biodiversity from urban gardeners. Journal of Urban Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1093/jue/juab005
Effect of Nature Walks on Depression and Anxiety: A Systematic Review
Yasuhiro Kotera, Melinda Lyons, Katia Correa Vione and Briony Norton 2021. Effect of Nature Walks on Depression and Anxiety: A Systematic Review. Sustainability. 13 (7), pp. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13074015
Green roof and ground-level invertebrate communities are similar and are driven by building height and landscape context
Dromgold, Jacinda R, Threlfall, Caragh G, Norton, Briony, A. and Williams, Nicholas S G 2020. Green roof and ground-level invertebrate communities are similar and are driven by building height and landscape context. Journal of Urban Ecology. 6 (1). https://doi.org/10.1093/jue/juz024
Urban meadows as an alternative to short mown grassland: effects of composition and height on biodiversity
Norton, Briony, A., Bending, Gary, D., Clark, Rachel, Corstanje, Ron, Dunnett, Nigel, Evans, Karl, L., Grafius, Darren, R., Gravestock, Emily, Grice, Samuel, M., Harris, Jim, A., Hilton, Sally, Lim, Edward, Mercer, Theresa, G., Pawlett, Mark, Prescott, Oliver, L., Richards, J. Paul, Southon, Georgina, E. and Warren, Philip, H. 2019. Urban meadows as an alternative to short mown grassland: effects of composition and height on biodiversity. Ecological Applications. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1946
Using GIS-linked Bayesian Belief Networks as a tool for modelling urban biodiversity.
Corstanje, Ron, Warren, Philip H., Evans, Karl L., Siriwardena, Gavin M., Pescott, Oliver L., Plummer, Kate E., Mears, Meghann, Zawadzka, Joanna, Richards, J. Paul, Harris, Jim A., Norton, Briony, A. and Darren R., Grafius 2019. Using GIS-linked Bayesian Belief Networks as a tool for modelling urban biodiversity. Landscape and Urban Planning. 189, pp. 382-395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.05.012
The effect of urban ground covers on arthropods: An experiment.
Norton, Briony, A., Thomson, Linda J., Williams, Nicholas S. G. and McDonnell, Mark J. 2013. The effect of urban ground covers on arthropods: An experiment. Urban Ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-013-0297-0
Disturbance affects spatial patterning and stand structure of a tropical rainforest tree.
Webber, Bruce L., Norton, Briony, A. and Woodrow, Ian E. 2010. Disturbance affects spatial patterning and stand structure of a tropical rainforest tree. Austral Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.2009.02054.x
Web-building spiders attract prey by storing decaying matter.
Bjorkman-Chiswell, Bojun T., Kulinski, Melissa M., Muscat, Robert L., Nguyen, Kim A., Norton, Briony, A., Symonds, Matthew R. E., Westhorpe, Gina E. and Elgar, Mark A. 2004. Web-building spiders attract prey by storing decaying matter. Naturwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-004-0524-x
A global synthesis of plant extinction rates in urban areas.
Hahs, Amy K., McDonnell, Mark J., McCarthy, Michael A., Vesk, Peter A., Corlett, Richard T., Norton, Briony, A., Clemants, Steven E., Duncan, Richard P., Thompson, Ken, Schwartz, Mark W. and Williams, Nicholas S. G. 2009. A global synthesis of plant extinction rates in urban areas. Ecology Letters. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01372.x
Planning for cooler cities: A framework to prioritise green infrastructure to mitigate high temperatures in urban landscapes.
Norton, Briony, A., Coutts, Andrew M., Livesley, Stephen J., Harris, Richard J., Hunter, Annie M. and Williams, Nicholas S. G. 2014. Planning for cooler cities: A framework to prioritise green infrastructure to mitigate high temperatures in urban landscapes. Landscape and Urban Planning. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.10.018
A conceptual framework for predicting the effects of urban environments on floras.
Williams, Nicholas S. G., Schwartz, Mark W., Vesk, Peter A., McCarthy, Michael A., Hahs, Amy K., Clemants, Steven E., Corlett, Richard T., Duncan, Richard P., Norton, Briony, A., Thompson, Ken and McDonnell, Mark J. 2009. A conceptual framework for predicting the effects of urban environments on floras. Journal of Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2008.01460.x
Plant species or flower colour diversity? Identifying the drivers of public and invertebrate response to designed annual meadows.
Hoyle, Helen, Norton, Briony, A., Dunnett, Nigel, Richards, J. Paul, Russell, Jean M. and Warren, Philip H. 2018. Plant species or flower colour diversity? Identifying the drivers of public and invertebrate response to designed annual meadows. Landscape and Urban Planning. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.08.017
Ecological role of vertebrate scavengers in urban ecosystems in the UK
Inger, Richard, Cox, Daniel, T. C., Per, Esra, Norton, Briony, A. and Gaston, Kevin J. 2016. Ecological role of vertebrate scavengers in urban ecosystems in the UK. Ecology and Evolution.
Ophyiulus in Victoria: results of millipede surveys from south-eastern Australia
Norton, Briony, A., Thomson, Linda, J., Nash and Michael A. 2015. Ophyiulus in Victoria: results of millipede surveys from south-eastern Australia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria.
Urban biodiversity and landscape ecology: Patterns, processes and planning
Norton, Briony, A., Evans, Karl L. and Warren, Philip H. 2016. Urban biodiversity and landscape ecology: Patterns, processes and planning. Current Landscape Ecology Reports.