Ecosystem services of urban amenity greenspace and the impact of future climate and socio-economic change

Urban greenspaces make a positive contribution to climate change mitigation, sustainability, and the wellbeing of urban inhabitants. Global and National efforts are underway to communicate the value of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning within political and economic agendas. However, there is a lack of information regarding ecosystem services associated with urban environments. This research measures nine ecosystem services delivered by urban amenity greenspace and projects responses to future challenges. Botanical and environmental data relating to five regulating services and four cultural services were collected in Runcorn, the case study area. The impacts of human intervention were evaluated from interviews with three managers of open space in Runcorn, from 303 service requests received by the Local Authority, and a questionnaire sent to 1,751 residents. Regulating services were quantified by using the i-Tree Streets programme, hi consultation with Local Authority Officers, five future scenarios were designed and described: Business As Usual; Money Matters; The Good Life; Going Green; and I-Future. Changes to the regulating and cultural services assessed under each scenario were predicted for 2030 and 2060. The current annual value ascribed to the five regulating services by the i-Tree Streets programme was £11,000 per hectare: this value exceeds the costs in maintenance. Spiritual properties, noise buffering, and recreational opportunities were positively correlated with physical features of these greenspaces: allowing impacts of land use change to be predicted. The economy currently determines human intervention on Runcorn's amenity greenspaces. Two tree species in the amenity greenspaces are vulnerable to climate change and six are expected to experience increased productivity. The projections of Runcorn's amenity greenspaces for the future demonstrate that the degree of change to each ecosystem service differs within each scenario. These findings inform land owners with respect to future management strategies for urban amenity greenspaces and can ensure that the desired ecosystem services are delivered