\r\n \t
  • A recent study indicates that community gardens benefit biodiversity and other processes in natural ecosystems. Community gardens are also proven to positively affect the people working in them.<\/li>\r\n \t
  • How can community gardens serve as hubs for community engagement?<\/li>\r\n \t
  • Read more about lessons<\/a> in community garden growth.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>","intro":null,"content":"Community gardens and urban farms positively affect biodiversity, local ecosystems, and the well-being of people that work in them, a new study shows.Traditionally, it has been assumed that cultivating food leads to a loss of biodiversity and negative impacts on an ecosystem.For the study, researchers looked at 28 urban community gardens across California over five years and quantified biodiversity in plant and animal life, as well as ecosystem functions such as pollination, carbon sequestration, food production, pest control, and\u00a0human well-being.\u201cWe wanted to determine if there were any tradeoffs in terms of biodiversity or impacts on ecosystem function,\u201d says Shalene Jha, an associate professor of integrative biology at the University of Texas at Austin, and lead author of the study in\u00a0Ecology Letters\u201cWhat we found is that these gardens, which are providing tremendous nutritional resources and increasing well-being for gardeners, are also supporting incredibly high levels of plant and animal biodiversity. It\u2019s a win-win.\u201dPrevious assumptions by scientists about the negative effect of food production on biodiversity have been almost entirely based on intensive rural agriculture enterprises that tend to grow only one or two types of crops, often at a massive scale.Urban community gardens, private gardens, and urban farms and orchards tend to grow more types of plants in smaller areas. The new study is the first to explore the effects of\u00a0urban gardens\u00a0across a wide range of biodiversity measures and ecological services.\u201cIt\u2019s estimated that by 2030, about 60% of the world\u2019s population will live in\u00a0cities,\u201d Jha says. \u201cAnd urban farms and gardens currently provide about 15%-20% of our food supply, so they are essential in addressing food inequality challenges. What we\u2019re seeing is that urban gardens present a critical opportunity to both support biodiversity and local food production.\u201d","html_content":"

    Community gardens and urban farms positively affect biodiversity, local ecosystems, and the well-being of people that work in them, a new study shows.<\/p>

    Traditionally, it has been assumed that cultivating food leads to a loss of biodiversity and negative impacts on an ecosystem.<\/p>

    For the study, researchers looked at 28 urban community gardens across California over five years and quantified biodiversity in plant and animal life, as well as ecosystem functions such as pollination, carbon sequestration, food production, pest control, and\u00a0human well-being<\/a>.<\/p>

    \u201cWe wanted to determine if there were any tradeoffs in terms of biodiversity or impacts on ecosystem function,\u201d says Shalene Jha, an associate professor of integrative biology at the University of Texas at Austin, and lead author of the study in\u00a0Ecology Letters<\/a><\/em><\/p>

    \u201cWhat we found is that these gardens, which are providing tremendous nutritional resources and increasing well-being for gardeners, are also supporting incredibly high levels of plant and animal biodiversity. It\u2019s a win-win.\u201d<\/p>

    Previous assumptions by scientists about the negative effect of food production on biodiversity have been almost entirely based on intensive rural agriculture enterprises that tend to grow only one or two types of crops, often at a massive scale.<\/p>

    Urban community gardens, private gardens, and urban farms and orchards tend to grow more types of plants in smaller areas. The new study is the first to explore the effects of\u00a0urban gardens<\/a>\u00a0across a wide range of biodiversity measures and ecological services.<\/p>

    \u201cIt\u2019s estimated that by 2030, about 60% of the world\u2019s population will live in\u00a0cities<\/a>,\u201d Jha says. \u201cAnd urban farms and gardens currently provide about 15%-20% of our food supply, so they are essential in addressing food inequality challenges. What we\u2019re seeing is that urban gardens present a critical opportunity to both support biodiversity and local food production.\u201d<\/p>","excerpt":"Community gardens and urban farms are good for biodiversity and ecosystems. They also benefit the well-being of people that work in them.","byline":"","author":"Josh Wojcik","author_bio":null,"author_img_url":null,"publisher":"Futurity","type":"post","image":null,"gc_medium_image":"https:\/\/cdn.www.hbhuluo.com\/images\/categories\/featured-category-human-services.jpg","has_featured_image":false,"img_alt":"","img_caption":"","gc_selection":false,"url":"\/\/www.hbhuluo.com\/article\/the-environmental-benefits-of-community-gardens","is_gc_original":false,"is_evergreen":false,"footnotes":null,"audio":false,"pdf":null,"video":false,"date_added":"Feb 9, 2023","date_modified":"Feb 9, 2023","categories":[{"id":54,"name":"Human Services","slug":"human-services"},{"id":55,"name":"Food and Nutrition","slug":"food-and-nutrition"},{"id":58,"name":"Environment","slug":"environment"},{"id":110,"name":"Region","slug":"region"},{"id":111,"name":"North America","slug":"north-america"},{"id":36779,"name":"Environment (Other)","slug":"environment-environment"}],"_date_added":1675900800,"_date_modified":1675900800,"_categories":["human-services","food-and-nutrition","environment","region","north-america","environment-environment"],"_tags":[]},{"id":214679,"title":"Lack of Diversity in Clinical Trials is Leaving Women and Patients of Color Behind and Harming the Future of Medicine","summary":"