A global analysis of the impacts of urbanization on bird and plant diversity reveals key anthropogenic drivers (original) (raw)

Urbanization contributes to the loss of the world’s biodiversity and the homogenization of its biota. However, comparative studies of urban biodiversity leading to robust generalities of the status and drivers of biodiversity in cities at the global scale are lacking. Here, we compiled the largest global dataset to date of two diverse taxa in cities: birds (54 cities) and plants (110 cities). We found that the majority of urban bird and plant species are native in the world’s cities. Few plants and birds are cosmopolitan, the most common being Columba livia and Poa annua. The density of bird and plant species (the number of species per km2) has declined substantially: only 8% of native bird and 25% of native plant species are currently present compared with estimates of non-urban density of species. The current density of species in cities and the loss in density of species was best explained by anthropogenic features (landcover, city age) rather than by non-anthropogenic factors (geography, climate, topography). As urbanization continues to expand, efforts directed towards the conservation of intact vegetation within urban landscapes could support higher concentrations of both bird and plant species. Despite declines in the density of species, cities still retain endemic native species, thus providing opportunities for regional and global biodiversity conservation, restoration and education.

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2007

Increasingly, landscape architects, planners and other land-use practitioners have the task of creating functional landscapes that maintain biodiversity. They need to be familiar with a range of evolving concepts and techniques that have been identified as crucial in the conservation of biodiversity. We discuss key concepts, eg. island biogeography, minimum viable populations, metapopulations, homogenization, extinction debt, and patch dynamics, which link species richness to biodiversity at the regional scale. We use birds as a scaling example to demonstrate the range of research necessary to assess biodiversity across multiple scales in an urban environment. Introduction Urbanization is an extreme form of land use. Urban land cover is positively correlated with species richness and endemism (Myers et al. 2000). Urban areas threaten ecosystems: directly, through habitat conversion, and indirectly, through habitat fragmentation. Fragmentation occurs when once continuous habitats are...

Conserving biodiversity in urbanizing areas: nontraditional views from a bird’s perspective

2008

Abstract We review common population and community-level responses of wildlife to urbanization, and discuss how:(1) the amount and configuration of land cover and land use, and (2) the alteration of resources (eg, type of vegetation, presence of food and water) and processes (eg, natural disturbance regimes, species interactions, intensity of human recreation) within built environments influence animals, with special emphasis on birds.

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