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Computational Ecology and Software, 2012, 2(1): 26-41
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Article

System dynamic approach for management of urban parks: a case study

Lucia Tamburino¹, Valentina La Morgia², Ezio Venturino³
¹TeSAF Dept., Forest Ecology Section, Universita di Padova, Viale dell'Universita 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
²Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e dell'Uomo, via Accademia Albertina 13, Universita di Torino, 10123 Torino, Italy
³Dipartimento di Matematica Giuseppe Peano, via Carlo Alberto 10, Universita di Torino, 10123 Torino, Italy

Received 5 October 2011;Accepted 15 November 2011;Published online 1 March 2012
IAEES

Abstract
Public agencies tackling the issues of natural resource management need objective analysis to anticipate the ecosystem consequences of their actions. Mathematical models can be regarded as an effective tool to support decision makers in this context because of their predictive capacity and of their ability to describe complex natural systems. In particular, the aim of this paper is to show how mathematical modelling and simulation can be applied in the field of urban park management. As an example, we consider a case study where a domestic herbivore, the sheep, was introduced as a natural regulator of grass growth. The results show that the introduction of sheep is not currently sustainable and that it should be complemented by other measures in order to tackle both the issue of regulating grass growth and to prevent debarking of the newly planted trees.

Keywords debarking;dynamical systems;ecological models;grazing;green area management;public lawn maintenance.

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