Biodiversity on the Urban Landscape

Szlávecz, Katalin; Warren, Paige S.; Pickett, Steward T. A.

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16707-2_6

Cited by 46 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 132 publications

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“…A greenspace's avifauna is inherently influenced by the potential regional species (Szlavecz et al. ), and our results are robust as we show the positive relationship between proportional species richness and greenspace area (Table ) in addition to species richness.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

The effects of local and landscape habitat attributes on bird diversity in urban greenspaces

et al. 2018

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Abstract. Contrasting trajectories of biodiversity loss and urban expansion make it imperative to understand biodiversity persistence in cities. Size-, local-, and landscape-level habitat factors of greenspaces in cities may be critical for future design and management of urban greenspaces in conserving bird biodiversity. Most current understanding of bird communities in cities has come from disparate analyses of single cities, over relatively short time periods, producing limited understanding of processes and characteristics of bird patterns for improved biodiversity management of the world's cities. We analyzed bird biodiversity in 112 urban greenspaces from 51 cities across eight countries, using eBird, a broadscale citizen science project. Species richness and Shannon diversity were used as response variables, while percent tree cover, percent water cover, and vegetation index were used as habitat predictor variables at both a landscape (5 and 25 km radius) and local-scale level (specific to an individual greenspace) in the modeling process, retrieved using Google Earth Engine. Area of a greenspace was the most important predictor of bird biodiversity, underlining the critical importance of habitat area as the most important factor for increasing bird biodiversity and mitigating loss from urbanization. Surprisingly, distance from the city center and distance from the coast were not significantly related to bird biodiversity. Landscape-scale habitat predictors were less related to bird biodiversity than local-scale habitat predictors. Ultimately, bird biodiversity loss could be mitigated by protecting and developing large greenspaces with varied habitat in the world's cities.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

The effects of local and landscape habitat attributes on bird diversity in urban greenspaces

et al. 2018

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“…These activities lead to serious environmental problems such as climate change, deforestation, loss of biological diversity and natural disasters [90]. The effect of human activities on natural resources and their services force us to think about how to face these challenges in a sustainable way.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Indicator-Based Sustainability Assessment in Policy and the Decision-Making Process: A Review and Outlook

Dizdaroğlu

2017

Sustainability

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Abstract:In order to regulate natural processes and control the scale of human activities, sustainability assessment needs to be integrated into urban planning. In this context, indicator-based sustainability assessment tools are fundamental instruments that provide information to support policy and decision-making. Indicators are necessary to monitor the implementation of the policies and provide feedback needed to accomplish the desirable state of sustainable urban development. This paper aims to explore the role of indicator-based sustainability assessment in policy and the decision-making process. Therefore, it reviews the identified sustainable development indicator initiatives and addresses the research gaps in the literature for future improvement of sustainability assessment frameworks. It concludes with a discussion that the major problem in sustainability assessment lies in the gathering of reliable and accessible data.

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“…Direct impacts primarily consist of habitat loss and transformation through physical expansion of urban areas. Indirect impacts include changes in water and nutrients, increased colonization by introduced species as urban areas expand (Pickett and Cadenasso 2009 ) and the auxiliary effects of land use and human behaviors within urban space (Clergeau et al 2006 ;Szlavecz et al 2011 ;Lepczyk and Warren 2012 ).…”

Section: Urbanization and Global Trends In Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%