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McIntyre, Nancy E.; Knowles-Yánez, K.; Hope, Diane

doi:10.1023/a:1009540018553

Cited by 265 publications

(38 citation statements)

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“…At the same time, the presence of wildlife in urban areas improves people's quality of life (van Kamp et al 2003). Since towns and cities are inhabited by more than half the human population (UNFPA 2014), the preservation of the greatest possible biodiversity is of crucial significance to their inhabitants and is taken into account in town planning policies (Mcintyre et al 2000;Sushinsky et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat type, food resources, noise and light pollution explain the species composition, abundance and stability of a winter bird assemblage in an urban environment

2016

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At present, urban areas cover almost 3% of the Earth's terrestrial area, and this proportion is constantly increasing. Although urbanization leads to a decline in biodiversity, at the same time it creates extensive habitats that are exploited by an assemblage of organisms, including birds. The species composition and density of birds nesting in towns and cities are determined by the types of buildings, the structure and maturity of urban greenery, and habitat diversity. In contrast, the habitat traits shaping the community of birds wintering in urban areas are not known. The aim of this work was to assess the influence of habitat structure, food resources and the urban effects (pollution, noise, artificial light) on an assemblage of birds overwintering in an urban area. It was carried out in 2014 and 2015 in the city of Kraków (southern Poland), on 56 randomly chosen sample plots, in which the composition, density and interseasonal similarity of bird assemblage were assessed with line transect method. A total of 64 bird species (mean = 17.7 ± 4.9 SD species/plot) was recorded. The mean density was 89.6 ind./km ±63.3 SD. The most numerous species were Great Tit Parus major, Magpie Pica pica, Blackbird Turdus merula, Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus, Rook Corvus frugilegus, Fieldfare Turdus pilaris and House Sparrow Passer domesticus. Noise adversely affected species numbers and density, but artificial light acted positively on the density of birds and their interseasonal stability. The species richness and density of birds were also determined by the number of food sources available (e.g. bird-feeders). In addition, the greater the proportion of open areas, the fewer species were recorded. In contrast, the more urban greenery there was, the greater the density of the entire bird assemblage. Urban infrastructure (buildings, roads, refuse tips) had a positive effect on the interseasonal stabilization of the species composition of wintering birds. The results of this work indicate that the urban effect, i.e. noise and light pollution, apart from purely habitat factors, provide a good explanation for the species richness, density and stability of bird assemblage wintering in urban areas.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat type, food resources, noise and light pollution explain the species composition, abundance and stability of a winter bird assemblage in an urban environment

2016

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“…Another method used to investigate the effect of urbanization on ecological patterns and processes is the urban-rural gradient approach [30]. Urban gradient studies have utilized several sampling methods to represent urban intensity gradients and to differentiate urban from non-urban areas [9,31].Yet, we know of few studies that quantitatively analyze causal factors, as opposed to correlations, of carbon storage in urban and peri-urban forests using more progressive quantitative techniques; for instance, PA and urban-rural gradients. In order to address this dearth of information, our objective was to analyze the differences in aboveground carbon storage between urban and peri-urban forests and quantify the influence of specific drivers such as percent tree and shrub cover, tree and shrub species diversity, number of tree and shrub individuals per hectare (i.e., density), and tree and shrub species composition.…”

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confidence: 99%

What Causal Drivers Influence Carbon Storage in Shanghai, China’s Urban and Peri-Urban Forests?

2017

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Studies have documented many biophysical factors that are correlated with urban forest carbon storage. This urban forest function is also increasingly being promoted as a nature-based solution for cities. While urbanization affects both the structure and function of urban forest ecosystems, quantitative analyses of specific casual drivers of carbon storage in urban versus peri-urban forests are scarce. To address this lack of information, we used field data of random plots located along an urban to rural gradient in Shanghai, China, region-specific biomass equations, and path analysis of commonly studied urban forest socioeconomic and ecological drivers to analyze their effects on above ground tree carbon storage. An urbanization index was also developed to quantitatively differentiate urban from peri-urban sites along the transect. Results show that in both urban and peri-urban forests, percent tree and shrub cover had a significant and positive effect on tree and shrub carbon, but tree and shrub density had an even greater effect. Further, tree and shrub species diversity had no effects on carbon storage, while the effects of species composition on tree and shrub carbon in urban forests was different from those in peri-urban areas. Peri-urban forests also exhibited a significant effect of percent tree and shrub cover on tree and shrub species diversity. This approach, using a path analysis of field and plot data and site-specific dendrometric and urbanization information, can be used to quantitatively identify little explored causal dependences between drivers and ecosystem services without relying exclusively on spatial land cover data often not available in developing countries.Keywords: urban to rural gradient; climate change; nature-based solutions; path analysis IntroductionUrban forests are the sum of all trees, shrubs, and palms present in a city and are a key nature-based solution for mitigating climate change effects and providing other ecosystem services [1][2][3]. Forests and plant communities in peri-urban contexts are also increasingly experiencing disturbance through urbanizations and alteration of their composition, soils, and biogeochemical cycles [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Indeed, the structure, function and subsequent ecosystem services from urban forests are highly influenced by land use change and human decisions [11,12]. Urban forests and their ecosystem functions across the forested biomes of the world play an important role in the local urban and global carbon cycles; yet they can be directly and indirectly influenced by multiple factors including tree composition, urban forest structure, and related growth, mortality, and carbon emissions from decomposition and maintenance activities [2,3,[13][14][15][16]. However, given the heterogeneity of urban Sustainability 2017, 9, 577; doi:10.3390/su9040577www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Sustainability 2017, 9, 577 2 of 17 forests, quantitative causal analyses or identification of key indicators and drivers influencing carbon storage i...

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“…From this point of view, can they be considered as social-ecological systems, also called social-environmental systems, or still coupled human-environment systems [92]? Many authors consider that cities should be treated as such [93,94]. Marina Alberti showed that it is impossible to explain how human societies can be integrated in the ecological systems of a city, except by considering the city as a social-ecological system [95].…”

Section: Cities Are Social-ecological Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges in Sustainability Volume 5 (2017) | Issue 1 | Earth System Governance - Task Force Initiative on Sustainability Science

Monteiro¹

2017

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Cited by 265 publications

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Habitat type, food resources, noise and light pollution explain the species composition, abundance and stability of a winter bird assemblage in an urban environment

Habitat type, food resources, noise and light pollution explain the species composition, abundance and stability of a winter bird assemblage in an urban environment

What Causal Drivers Influence Carbon Storage in Shanghai, China’s Urban and Peri-Urban Forests?

Challenges in Sustainability Volume 5 (2017) | Issue 1 | Earth System Governance - Task Force Initiative on Sustainability Science

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