A framework for understanding how biodiversity patterns unfold across multiple spatial scales in urban ecosystems

Swan, Christopher M.; Brown, Bryan L.; Borowy, Dorothy; Cavender‐Bares, Jeannine; Jeliazkov, Aliénor; Knapp, Sonja; Lososová, Zdeňka; Cubino, Josep Padullés; Pavoine, Sandrine; Ricotta, Carlo; Sol, Daniel

doi:10.1002/ecs2.3650

Cited by 28 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 94 publications

(182 reference statements)

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“…In cities, humans alter heterogeneity and connectivity both at the local and regional scales through land development, infrastructure, species introductions and management actions. Coupled together their interaction may shift the relative role of local and regional processes governing community assembly (Swan et al, 2021;Voelker & Swan, 2021). An interesting highlight of our study is the observed increase in beta diversity despite increase in dispersal, which is plausibly explained by the interactions of heterogeneity, connectivity and contingency.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because cities are mosaics of different patches, each with different levels of land use and management, stressors are not evenly distributed across the urban landscape, nor do they co-occur on a linear characterization of the urban-to-rural gradient. Rather than attempting generalisations, Swan et al (2021) offer a number of hypotheses for exploring how complex arrangements of urban patches may shape biodiversity outcomes. Along the same lines, Andrade et al (2021) propose a set of predictions for how urban biodiversity will vary between sites that differ in social, environmental and spatial factors under the assumptions of species sorting, mass effects, patch dynamics and neutral theory metacommunity models.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Urban landscapes are mosaics of multiple stressors that act upon a diversity of organisms through different processes, leading to a large number of possible scenarios (Faeth et al, 2011;Swan et al, 2021). As Swan et al (2021) point out, in urban ecosystems different drivers and mechanisms are at play, depending on the type of patch composition of the urban mosaic, and the patches' spatial and temporal patterns. Social factors governing land management decisions add a further level of complexity (Andrade et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Detecting patterns of vertebrate biodiversity across the multidimensional urban landscape

Alberti

Wang

2022

Ecology Letters

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Explicit characterisation of the complexity of urban landscapes is critical for understanding patterns of biodiversity and for detecting the underlying social and ecological processes that shape them. Urban environments exhibit variable heterogeneity and connectivity, influenced by different historical contingencies, that affect community assembly across scales. The multidimensional nature of urban disturbance and co‐occurrence of multiple stressors can cause synergistic effects leading to nonlinear responses in populations and communities. Yet, current research design of urban ecology and evolutionary studies typically relies on simple representation of the parameter space that can be observed. Sampling approaches apply simple urban gradients such as linear transects in space or comparisons of urban sites across the urban mosaic accounting for a few variables. This rarely considers multiple dimensions and scales of biodiversity, and proves to be inadequate to explain observed patterns. We apply a multidimensional approach that integrates distinctive social, ecological and built characteristics of urban landscapes, representing variations along dimensions of heterogeneity, connectivity and historical contingency. Measuring species richness and beta diversity across 100 US metropolitan areas at the city and 1‐km scales, we show that distinctive signatures of urban biodiversity can result from interactions between socioecological heterogeneity and connectivity, mediated by historical contingency.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Detecting patterns of vertebrate biodiversity across the multidimensional urban landscape

Alberti

Wang

2022

Ecology Letters

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“…The composition of plant populations in cities is influenced by multiple urban drivers including human management, climate, pollution, land use change and biological invasions (Pyšek et al 2010;Kowarik 2011;Lososová et al 2012;Aronson et al 2016;Piana et al 2019;Swan et al 2021). In contrast to rural regions, cities are characterized by high habitat heterogeneity including novel urban habitats with great potential for biodiversity (Kowarik 2011;Swan et al 2021), encompassing parks (Fischer et al 2016;Vojík et al 2020), cemeteries (Kowarik et al 2016;Löki et al 2019), urban woodlands (Trentanovi et al 2013;Kowarik et al 2019), wastelands (Bonthoux et al 2014), railways (Westermann et al 2011) and gardens (Thompson et al 2003;Loram et al 2008;Pergl et al 2016;Frey and Moretti 2019). As a consequence, plant species richness in urban ecosystems can be higher than in non-urban ecosystems (Kühn et al 2004;Knapp et al 2009;Pyšek et al 2010;Faeth et al 2011;Kowarik 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A high proportion of nonnative species and anthropogenic processes that drive plant dispersal, foster plant diversity in cities (Swan et al 2021). Trade, traffic and horticulture seem to be the most prominent dispersal pathways (von der Lippe and Kowarik 2009;Kleunen et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land sharing between cultivated and wild plants: urban gardens as hotspots for plant diversity in cities

et al. 2022

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Plant communities in urban gardens consist of cultivated species, including ornamentals and food crops, and wild growing species. Yet it remains unclear what significance urban gardens have for the plant diversity in cities and how the diversity of cultivated and wild plants depends on the level of urbanization. We sampled plants growing within 18 community gardens in Berlin, Germany to investigate the species diversity of cultivated and wild plants. We tested species diversity in relation to local and landscape-scale imperviousness as a measure of urbanity, and we investigated the relationship between cultivated and wild plant species within the gardens. We found that numbers of wild and cultivated plant species in gardens are high – especially of wild plant species – independent of landscape-scale imperviousness. This suggests that all community gardens, regardless of their urban contexts, can be important habitats for plant diversity along with their role in urban food provision. However, the number of all species was negatively predicted by local garden scale imperviousness, suggesting an opportunity to reduce imperviousness and create more habitats for plants at the garden scale. Finally, we found a positive relationship between the number of cultivated and wild growing species, which emphasizes that community gardens present a unique urban ecosystem where land sharing between cultivated and wild flora can transpire. As the urban agriculture movement is flourishing worldwide with gardens continuously and spontaneously arising and dissipating due to urban densification, such botanical investigations can support the argument that gardens are places for the reconciliation of plant conservation and food production.

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Vegetation complexity and nesting resource availability predict bee diversity and functional traits in community gardens

Felderhoff

Gathof

Buchholz

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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Urban gardens can support diverse bee communities through resource provision in resource poor environments. Yet the effects of local habitat and landscape factors on wild bee communities in cities is still insufficiently understood, nor is how this information could be applied to urban wildlife conservation. Here we investigate how taxonomic and functional diversity of wild bees and their traits in urban community gardens are related to garden factors and surrounding landscape factors (e.g., plant diversity, amount of bare ground, amount of nesting resources, amount of landscape imperviousness). Using active and passive methods in 18 community gardens in Berlin, Germany, we documented 26 genera and 102 species of bees. We found that higher plant species richness and plant diversity as well as higher amounts of deadwood in gardens leads to higher numbers of wild bee species and bee (functional) diversity. Furthermore, higher landscape imperviousness surrounding gardens correlates with more cavity nesting bees, whereas a higher amount of bare ground correlates with more ground‐nesting bees. Pollen specialization was positively associated with plant diversity, but no factors strongly predicted the proportion of endangered bees. Our results suggest that, aside from foraging resources, nesting resources should be implemented in management for more pollinator‐friendly gardens. If designed and managed using such evidence‐based strategies, urban gardens can create valuable foraging and nesting habitats for taxonomically and functionally diverse bee communities in cities.

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A framework for understanding how biodiversity patterns unfold across multiple spatial scales in urban ecosystems

Abstract: A framework for understanding how biodiversity patterns unfold across multiple spatial scales in urban ecosystems.

Cited by 28 publications

References 94 publications

Detecting patterns of vertebrate biodiversity across the multidimensional urban landscape

Detecting patterns of vertebrate biodiversity across the multidimensional urban landscape

Land sharing between cultivated and wild plants: urban gardens as hotspots for plant diversity in cities

Vegetation complexity and nesting resource availability predict bee diversity and functional traits in community gardens

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