Planting Resilient Cities
Investigating Effects of Racism and Wealth Disparities on Ecological Outcomes in Baltimore
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Cities and the nature within them have been shaped by unequal wealth distributions and racist practices, like segregation. Plant cover in cities improves the health and well-being of urban residents. However, these benefits are usually less available to Black, low-income, and other minority communities. The link between race and wealth makes it necessary to separate the effects that each has on aspects of urban nature such as plants, soil, and insects.
This project will tease apart these effects by looking at how yard preferences and management styles change across Baltimore neighborhoods with different wealth and racial compositions. We will study the effects that race and wealth have on the plants, insects, and soil in Baltimore and determine whether race or wealth has a stronger effect on them. Knowing the distribution of plant and insect species and soil properties will help us build resilient communities that can adapt and persist in the face of natural disasters and climate change. However, resilience may not be achieved without resolving the injustice prevalent in our society. The insights obtained from this study could be used to directly address the inequities that stand in the way of achieving resiliency in cities. Yard Measurements
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Team Members: Meghan Avolio, Kelsey Coates, Amy Vasquez
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Relevant Publications
- Avolio, M, Blanchette, A, Sonti, N, and Locke, D. 2020. Time Is Not Money: Income Is More Important Than Lifestage for Explaining Patterns of Residential Yard Plant Community Structure and Diversity in Baltimore. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 8: 85.
- Cubino, JP, Avolio, ML, Wheeler, MM, Larson, KL, Hobbie, SE, Cavender-Bares, J, Hall, SJ, Nelson, KC, Trammell, TLE, Neill, C, Patakih, DE, Grove, JM, Groffman, PM. 2020. Linking yard plant diversity to homeowners’ landscaping priorities across the U.S. Landscape and Urban Planning 196: 103730.
