Urban Environmental Stewardship in Practice: using the Green Seattle Partnership to examine relationships between ecosystem health, site conditions, and restoration efforts

Abstract

Ecological restoration of urban natural areas can enhance ecological function and ecosystem services within cities and has become a common focus of civic environmental stewardship. This study examines the effectiveness of civic environmental stewardship in urban restoration ecology by examining preliminary data from the Green Seattle Partnership (GSP), a collaborative forest management program in Seattle. Particularly, it asks how invasive cover, native or non-invasive cover, and species richness have changed and responded to restoration efforts and how restoration can fit into and contribute to self-reinforcing functions of ecological systems.. For ecological data, 424 management units were surveyed both before and during restoration activities and compared against work logs that recorded restoration activity. The results indicate a relationship between restoration activities and invasive species cover in the sampled management areas. However, non-invasive vegetative cover and species richness have not yet been as responsive to intervention. While there is evidence that the reduction in invasive species will contribute toward self-reinforcing function, the results also point to a continued need for management and intervention to achieve and sustain restoration goals.