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Despite growing interest in urban resilience, remarkably little is known about vegetation dynamics in the aftermath of disasters. In this study, we examined the composition and structure of plant communities across New Orleans (Louisiana, USA) following catastrophic flooding triggered by levee failures during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Focusing on eight neighborhoods that span a range of demographic and topographical conditions, we assessed whether plant communities in post-Katrina New Orleans reflect flooding disturbance and post-disaster landscape management policies. We then contextualized vegetation patterns and associated ecosystem services and disservices with census-based demographic trends and indepth interviews to draw inferences about the drivers and outcomes of urban land abandonment in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. We found that areas subject to the greatest flooding disturbance exhibit the highest rates of vegetation response. Disturbance intensity and elevation, however, are relatively weak drivers of vegetation differences among the studied neighborhoods. Rather, we found that household income, racial demographics, and land abandonment are important drivers of vegetation community composition and structure across the city. Our findings indicate that resettlement and landscape management policies can mediate post-flooding ecological outcomes and demonstrate that unmanaged, emergent vegetation on abandoned lands can be an environmental justice concern in underserved and historically marginalized communities., QC 20171009

Despite growing interest in urban resilience, remarkably little is known about vegetation dynamics in the aftermath of disasters. In this study, we examined the composition and structure of plant communities across New Orleans (Louisiana, USA) following catastrophic flooding triggered by levee failures during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Focusing on eight neighborhoods that span a range of demographic and topographical conditions, we assessed whether plant communities in post-Katrina New Orleans reflect flooding disturbance and post-disaster landscape management policies. We then contextualized vegetation patterns and associated ecosystem services and disservices with census-based demographic trends and indepth interviews to draw inferences about the drivers and outcomes of urban land abandonment in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. We found that areas subject to the greatest flooding disturbance exhibit the highest rates of vegetation response. Disturbance intensity and elevation, however, are relatively weak drivers of vegetation differences among the studied neighborhoods. Rather, we found that household income, racial demographics, and land abandonment are important drivers of vegetation community composition and structure across the city. Our findings indicate that resettlement and landscape management policies can mediate post-flooding ecological outcomes and demonstrate that unmanaged, emergent vegetation on abandoned lands can be an environmental justice concern in underserved and historically marginalized communities.

The field of biomedical informatics experienced a productive 2015 in terms of research. In order to highlight the accomplishments of that research, elicit trends, and identify shortcomings at a macro level, a 19-person team conducted an extensive review of the literature in clinical and consumer informatics. The result of this process included a year-in-review presentation at the American Medical Informatics Association Annual Symposium and a written report (see supplemental data). Key findings are detailed in the report and summarized here. This article organizes the clinical and consumer health informatics research from 2015 under 3 themes: the electronic health record (EHR), the learning health system (LHS), and consumer engagement. Key findings include the following: (1) There are significant advances in establishing policies for EHR feature implementation, but increased interoperability is necessary for these to gain traction. (2) Decision support systems improve practice behaviors, but evidence of their impact on clinical outcomes is still lacking. (3) Progress in natural language processing (NLP) suggests that we are approaching but have not yet achieved truly interactive NLP systems. (4) Prediction models are becoming more robust but remain hampered by the lack of interoperable clinical data records. (5) Consumers can and will use mobile applications for improved engagement, yet EHR integration remains elusive.