Urban Ecosystems最新文献

{"title":"Ant-plant networks exhibit distinct species diversity but similar organization in urban and wild areas of neotropical savannas","authors":"Samira Rosa de Oliveira Lima, Edvânia Costa de Oliveira Sá, Poliane Neres Morais, Tatianne Gizelle Marques Silva, Wesley Dáttilo, Walter Santos de Araújo","doi":"10.1007/s11252-024-01556-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01556-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Interactions between ants and plants can form complex ecological networks, which may have their structure affected by human-induced habitat modification, such as urbanization. In this study, we investigated if the species diversity and the network topology of ant-plant co-occurrence networks (facultative associations between plants and ants) differs between remnants of Neotropical savannas. We sampled 12 savanna fragments (cerrado <i>sensu stricto</i>) in wild, rural and urban areas of Minas Gerais, Brazil. In total, the 12 ant-plant interaction networks were composed by 65 ant species, 83 plant species and 432 distinct interactions. We observed that in addition to variations in species composition, wild areas exhibited higher richness and abundance of ants compared to urban areas. However, our results show no variation in the specialization, modularity, and nestedness of ant-plant co-occurrence networks among urban, rural, and wild areas. Despite changes in species diversity, ant-plant interactions maintain consistent organization across studied environments, showcasing resilience to anthropogenic disturbances similar to that observed in wild remanants.</p>","PeriodicalId":48869,"journal":{"name":"Urban Ecosystems","volume":"193 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141058950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Species richness and ecological connectivity of the mammal communities in urban and peri-urban areas at Mexico City","authors":"Pablo César Hernández Romero, Juan J. Von Thaden Ugalde, Carlos E. Muench, Diego Magaña Rodríguez, María del Coro Arizmendi, Francisco Botello, David A. Prieto-Torres","doi":"10.1007/s11252-024-01553-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01553-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Urban expansion has emerged as a pervasive driver of biodiversity loss in Mexican cities due to shifts in landscape composition and configuration. Hence, the preservation of forest cover, green spaces and isolated trees assume a critical role in conserving the biodiversity within urban areas. We compared mammal assemblages across 520 sites in Mexico City examining the impact of local vegetation and site characteristics (e.g., patch size, isolation distance) on diversity patterns. Then, we used a generalized linear model to evaluate the relationship between mammal assemblages (including both alpha and beta diversities) and the level of structural and functional connectivity across the landscape. We collected 5,063 records of 38 species from the sampled sites. Mammalian richness ranged from 1 to 9 spp./site, and the mean of taxonomic and functional (Functional Distance [MFD]) alpha diversities were 1.9 ± 1.3 spp./site and 0.41 ± 0.60 MFD/site, respectively. The average size of habitat fragments was 0.41 hectares, and the percent forest cover per site ranged from 0.5 to 100%. Both species and functional alpha diversities were different among the land-use and vegetation types (including protected <i>vs</i>. non-protected areas). There was a clear distinction (β value &gt; 0.40) in species composition across the landscape, which was positively related to geographical distance and negatively related to connectivity between sites. We identified four main patches especially important to connectivity across the city and argue that conserving them is critical for restoring key components of biodiversity and ecosystem services in urban and peri-urban areas of Mexico City.</p>","PeriodicalId":48869,"journal":{"name":"Urban Ecosystems","volume":"107 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140882082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Urban biodiversity and design in time of (post)pandemics: research perspectives from URBIO international network","authors":"Diana Dushkova, Maria Ignatieva, Anastasia Konstantinova, Charles Nilon, Norbert Müller","doi":"10.1007/s11252-024-01547-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01547-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Reflecting on the insights from research development within Urban Biodiversity and Design Network (URBIO), this paper attempts to link the consequences of current global changes (ongoing urbanization, biodiversity loss, land-use changes, globalization, etc.) to the emergence and outbreaks of the COVID-19 pandemic. It analyses the main outcomes of the URBIO webinar (December 2021) and the URBIO conference (November 2022) and the results of the questionnaire survey among the URBIO experts on the impact of COVID-19 on the biodiversity, design and society in their local contexts as well as on the ongoing and future URBIO research directions. The survey also enabled to explore and assess a wide diversity of human-nature interactions as well as the novel actions and adaptation strategies established to have positive outcomes for both humans and nature. The results revealed the following aspects associated with the COVID-19 pandemic: silence, social distancing, isolation, conflict ideologies, and declined recreational and other human activities. Experts noticed the increase of urban green space visitation and interest in nature. The majority of the experts confirmed the impact (both positive and negative) of the COVID-19 on biodiversity and environment. General positive aspects refer to the value/significance of nature and biodiversity/wildlife and especially the contact with nature (“time outdoor”, “time spent with family”, “inspiration from nature” and “enjoying nature”). The positive consequence of the COVID-19 measures was also the improvement of wildlife habitats and the increase of spontaneous flora as well as fauna species. Experts confirmed the lower/decreased level of pollution, noise, traffic, light, anthropogenic pressure/impact, number of tourists, vehicles as well as less garbage. The analysis of leading research themes among the URBIO conference participants confirmed that the biggest number of presenters and participants were on the topic of biodiversity integration in urban planning, green infrastructure, and landscape design projects. Another popular theme was ecological restoration and urban wildlife and plant biodiversity. One particular research direction that emerged recently and clearly pronounced at URBIO 2022 was urban biodiversity in times of climate change and post-pandemics.</p>","PeriodicalId":48869,"journal":{"name":"Urban Ecosystems","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140802120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The overlooked margins: how cities impact diversity of plants and terrestrial invertebrates along urban streams","authors":"Carolina Oliveira Campos, Salomé F. P. Almeida, Sónia R. Q. Serra, Ana Raquel Calapez, Paulo Silveira, Maria João Feio","doi":"10.1007/s11252-024-01551-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01551-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The effect of different urbanization levels on terrestrial biodiversity associated with riparian zones remains poorly studied, despite the important ecosystem services it provides in cities. Studies focused on aquatic ecosystems in urban streams reported decreases in ecological quality and species richness, and lack of sensitive taxa. Thus, we investigated the impact of urbanization on riparian zone flora and terrestrial invertebrates using as case studies nine urban streams spanning an urbanization gradient in the Portuguese city of Coimbra. An unexpectedly high number of taxa were identified (163 plants, 80 terrestrial invertebrates), 80% new registrations for the region and one endemic-rare plant. Yet, diversity varied across streams, β-diversity reaching 39% Bray-Curtis similarity and averaging 25%, due to many underrepresented terrestrial taxa (<i>N</i> = 62 observed only in one site). Variation across the urbanization gradient reached 59% in plants and 82% in terrestrial invertebrates. High numbers of non-native taxa (13%; <i>N</i> = 32), mostly plants, suggested urbanization factors, e.g. human interference and discharge variation, may have favored invasions. Indeed, constructed natural spaces along streams, like parks, supported less biodiversity. Moreover, plant richness, especially of riparian plants, was correlated negatively with percentages of surrounding impervious areas and positively with water quality. This shows urbanization has negative effects on riparian vegetation, and water quality impacts both aquatic and terrestrial communities. Our results stress urban streams as novel ecosystems constituted by high numbers of non-native taxa, and the significance of riparian zones for biodiversity preservation. Less intense intervention on riparian vegetation is recommended to increase biodiversity.</p>","PeriodicalId":48869,"journal":{"name":"Urban Ecosystems","volume":"111 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140802118","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Policy-making for peri-urban landscapes as arenas of human-wildlife interactions","authors":"Annemarie Tabea Roth, Janina Kleemann, Marcin Spyra","doi":"10.1007/s11252-024-01548-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01548-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Peri-urban landscapes are transitional areas between urban and rural areas that are constantly changing. They are characterised by land use mixes and land cover changes, leading to significant changes in wildlife habitats. These changes, combined with an increasing anthropogenic presence, turn peri-urban landscapes into arenas of intensified human-wildlife interactions. In many scientifically documented cases, scientists are focusing on negative interactions. Furthermore, research about appropriate policy instruments for managing human-wildlife interactions is rare. This study focused on case studies and their characteristics from around the world on positive, neutral, or negative interactions between humans and wildlife at local level. In addition, influencing factors of human-wildlife interactions and policy instruments for managing human-wildlife interactions in peri-urban landscapes were addressed. A survey was conducted with an international group of scientists and practitioners working in this field. The results showed that various species were involved in human-wildlife interactions in peri-urban landscapes worldwide, with mammals as being the most common taxon. Contemporary changes in land use and land cover could be identified as a significant factor for increasing human-wildlife interactions in peri-urban landscapes. It can be highlighted that a policy mix consisting mainly of social and cultural instruments in combination with legal and regulatory instruments could be most suitable to address this situation.</p>","PeriodicalId":48869,"journal":{"name":"Urban Ecosystems","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140629077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating biocultural diversity into urban school grounds through transdisciplinary curriculum design","authors":"Shari L. Wilson","doi":"10.1007/s11252-024-01541-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01541-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In these times of decreasing connection with nature, we are experiencing the loss of both biodiversity and cultural traditions. A sense of place, often developed over a period of time, grounds us and is the foundation of our caring about nature and the environment. To regain this sense of place, particularly in urban areas, empowerment and creation of civic engagement skills are necessary. Schoobio, a middle and high school curriculum, guides students through a transdisciplinary progression of activities that develop the competencies needed for making transformative sustainability change. The curriculum is designed to provide youth with the skills to live sustainably and value biodiversity and multiculturalism. The activities culminate in the students’ design and presentation of a plan for more ecologically and bioculturally diverse school grounds. Biodiversity and culture are not usually taught together, even though the loss of biodiverse areas can also result in the loss of cultural knowledge and traditions critical to the management of those areas. Schoobio’s foundation rests on bringing together these two facets of our being with the goals of supporting students in their actions as change agents to increase wildlife habitat and the cultural relevance of their school grounds, and to prepare them to live sustainably. This article describes the benefits of teaching biodiversity and culture together. It was developed using pragmatic constructivism as a foundation, and uses quantitative sampling to show how a transdisciplinary curriculum such as Schoobio that is place-based and informed throughout its creation by a community of practice can fulfill these benefits.</p>","PeriodicalId":48869,"journal":{"name":"Urban Ecosystems","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140617085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"You are what you eat: urban soil lead predicts American robin (Turdus migratorius) blood lead in Flint, MI","authors":"Dorothy L. Zahor, Kenneth J. Glynn, Brian Majestic, Jamie M. Cornelius","doi":"10.1007/s11252-024-01546-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01546-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p>High levels of pollutants can occur in urban environments and pose a threat to human residents as well as local wildlife. Many urban centers suffer from lead-contaminated drinking water due to the corrosion of pipe infrastructure. Irrigation with this water may contribute to soil lead levels. The American robin (<i>Turdus migratorius)</i> is a widespread songbird in North America, well-known for hunting earthworms in urban lawns. This earthworm specialization results in the ingestion of large amounts of soil. This study investigates the impact of the Flint, Michigan (MI) water crisis, during which the city water supply was contaminated with lead, on American robins during their breeding season in southeast MI. We compared soil lead levels (SLL) and blood lead levels (BLL) of birds captured at irrigated sites of Flint to those captured at non-irrigated sites of Flint during April - August from 2018 to 2020. Control sites included irrigated sites in a nearby city without a known history of lead pollution (Ypsilanti, MI: irrigated urban control) and non-irrigated rural sites. BLL were elevated in irrigated sites of Flint relative to the irrigated urban control and non-irrigated rural sites. Further, robin BLL were positively and strongly correlated with lawn SLL across our seven study sites suggesting that high BLL in American robins may predict elevated soil lead levels. Further research should address how lead might be impacting urban wildlife and if robins can serve as a bioindicator of lead exposure for other neighborhood inhabitants, including human children whose main route of lead exposure is through soil contact.</p>","PeriodicalId":48869,"journal":{"name":"Urban Ecosystems","volume":"92 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140569029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rapid urbanization declined mammals and mammal-mediated seed dispersal in a megacity, central China","authors":"Hengyue Zhao, Zhiwen Chen, Min Zhang, Hongyu Niu, Hongmao Zhang","doi":"10.1007/s11252-024-01544-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01544-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Rapid urbanization has caused a series of environmental problems, but its influences on animal-related ecological functions (e.g., seed dispersal) have not been fully studied. Mammals are ideal models for studying the functional consequences of urbanization because they are sensitive to environmental changes. It is well known that large- and medium-sized mammals are vulnerable in fragmentation ecosystem. However, little is known about the functional responses of small mammals (e.g., rodents) to the rapid urbanization. Using infrared cameras and tagged seeds, here, we quantified mammals and mammal-mediated seed dispersal (i.e., <i>Quercus variabilis</i>) in 11 forest patches along city-suburb-exurban gradient in a rapidly urbanizing megacity, central China. We wanted to determine the effects of defaunation on seed dispersal in the isolated urban forests. The results showed that abundance of seed dispersers was higher in the natural exurban forests than in the city forests, while abundance of seed predators did not vary significantly along the city-suburb-exurban gradient. The percentage of seed dispersal was positively associated with the abundance seed dispersers, while the percentage of seed predation increased with the abundance of seed predators. Seed dispersers loss (e.g., small rodents) disrupted the mammal-mediated seed dispersal, possibly contributing to the degradation of urbanized forests. These results suggest that defaunation effects are obvious in the rapidly urbanizing cities, in that abundance of seed dispersers, and mammal-mediated seed dispersal are undergoing decline in the urbanized forests. In order to maintain seed dispersal and natural regeneration of urban forests, diversity of small mammals (e.g., rodents) and their ecological services should be considered in ecological-based urban planning and management.</p>","PeriodicalId":48869,"journal":{"name":"Urban Ecosystems","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140569152","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatiotemporal use of urban rivers by local bat populations in a large city (Cracow, Southern Poland)","authors":"Joanna Kohyt, Justyna Karczmarz, Andrea Pereswiet-Soltan, Ewa Pierzchała","doi":"10.1007/s11252-024-01545-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01545-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Urban watercourses are an essential part of blue-green infrastructure (BGI) that can mitigate the negative impact of habitat loss resulting from urbanization. Many studies on temperate urban bats activity did not concern its seasonal variations. Our work evaluated the bats’ activity and occurrence in different urban riverside environments throughout the vegetation period. Our results showed that long-range echolocators were represented mainly by <i>Nyctalus noctula</i>. Their activity peak occurred in late summer in open habitats of high anthropogenic pressure levels, and at least part of the population was present year-round in the city. Recently reported from Cracow: <i>Hypsugo savii</i> and <i>Pipistrellus kuhlii</i> were confirmed in the medium-range echolocators. The high occurrence of <i>P. pygmeus</i> with a relatively low <i>P. pipistrellus</i> was noteworthy and is probably a result of the low competitiveness of the latter in the presence of <i>P. kuhlii</i>. Two spring and late summer activity peaks on different rivers suggest different migration corridors from and to hibernacula. However, the autumn activity in the city center may also indicate partial hibernation in the old town. The activity peak of short-range echolocators occurred in spring, as expected - mainly in a narrow riverbed and low anthropogenic pressure environments. However, ambiguous spring and late summer activity in the open with the highest anthropogenic pressure environment may result from the rapidly progressing synurbization of <i>M. daubentonii.</i> Our results indicate the need to monitor the bat adaptation process to the cities in the context of dynamic climatic and environmental changes.</p>","PeriodicalId":48869,"journal":{"name":"Urban Ecosystems","volume":"82 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140569037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Common camas (Camassia quamash) response across an urban–rural gradient in coastal oak meadows in Greater Victoria, Canada","authors":"Erin Rolleman, Trevor Lantz, Darcy Mathews, Nancy Shackelford","doi":"10.1007/s11252-024-01533-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-024-01533-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Coastal oak meadows are fragmented across an increasingly urbanized landscape in Greater Victoria with implications for common camas (qʷɫəɫ/KȽO,EL/<i>Camassia quamash</i>) fitness. Common camas, frequently present in coastal oak meadows, is an ecologically important cultural keystone species that forms the foundation of one of the most important Indigenous food systems in the region. Previous research has examined how the pressures associated with urbanization shape plant community composition and structure, but how these pressures influence individual plant fitness remains unclear. To improve our understanding, we assessed environmental conditions and common camas growth and reproductive traits across an urban-rural gradient in Greater Victoria. We found that urbanization on this landscape alters several key environmental variables (namely increased trampling and soil compaction, and decreased soil depth, canopy cover, and soil phosphorus) and that common camas appears to be responding to these altered conditions with a reduction in growth and reproductive trait values. By targeting the identified pressures, management can work towards supporting more successful urban camas populations into the future.</p>","PeriodicalId":48869,"journal":{"name":"Urban Ecosystems","volume":"54 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140569346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}