home    about    browse    search    latest    help 
Login | Create Account

Effects of garden management practices, by different types of gardeners, on human wellbeing and ecological and soil sustainability in Swiss cities

Home, Robert; Lewis, Olivia; Bauer, Nicole; Fliessbach, Andreas; Frey, David; Lichtsteiner, Stéphanie; Moretti, Marco; Tresch, Simon; Young, Christopher; Zanetta, Andrea and Stolze, Matthias (2019) Effects of garden management practices, by different types of gardeners, on human wellbeing and ecological and soil sustainability in Swiss cities. Urban Ecosystems, 22 (1), pp. 189-199.

[thumbnail of Pre-Print] PDF - English (Pre-Print)
1MB

Document available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-018-0806-2


Summary

This is a pre-print of an article published in Urban Ecosystems. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-018-0806-2.
The aim of this exploratory study is to address this research gap by identifying the characteristics of gardens and the management practices of gardeners that enhance the outcomes of gardening, which we separate into three dimensions: human wellbeing, biodiversity, and soil quality. Data were collected from 18 gardens in Zurich, Switzerland and a typology of gardeners was identified, which included ‘conservationist’, ‘functional’, ‘minimum effort’, ‘child-friendly’, and ‘aesthetic’ gardeners. The conservationist gardeners were found to have, on average, the highest species richness in their gardens, while the minimum effort gardeners had the lowest, which suggests that some degree of management can enhance species richness. The conservationist and minimum effort gardeners had, on average, the highest values for stable aggregates, while the minimum effort gardeners had the highest phosphorous content in their soil. The wellbeing of the minimum effort gardeners was lower than the other groups, which suggests it is the act of gardening, rather than merely having a garden, which leads to wellbeing outcomes. The results suggest that ecologically friendly gardening is compatible with desired social outcomes and furthermore that the beneficial effects of gardens are indeed related to the practices implemented by the gardeners, which are influenced by their attitudes towards gardening and the role of gardens in their lives.


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:urban areas, FiBL35116, gardening, human wellbeing, biodiversity, soil quality
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
gardens
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3196
English
biodiversity
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_33949
English
sustainability
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_33560
Subjects: Farming Systems
Environmental aspects
Research affiliation: Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Society > Rural sociology
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Sustainability > Biodiversity
Related Links:https://www.bettergardens.ch/en/home.html, https://www.fibl.org/en/projectdatabase/projectitem/project/955.html
Deposited By: Home, Dr Robert
ID Code:36461
Deposited On:02 Oct 2019 12:44
Last Modified:27 Oct 2021 13:46
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics