Urban tree diversity fosters bird insectivory despite a loss in bird diversity with urbanization

Urbanization is one of the main drivers of biotic homogenization in bird communities worldwide. Yet, only a few studies have addressed its functional consequences on the top-down control birds exert on insect herbivores. We hypothesized that their inconsistent results reflect the overlooked heterogeneity of the urban habitat for birds, and in particular the distribution and diversity of urban trees.

We monitored tree diversity, bird diversity, avian predation attempts on artificial prey, and the effect of bird exclusion on insect herbivory in 97 trees distributed among 24 urban experimental plots in the city of Montreal, Canada. We characterized urbanization levels through a combination of variables related to tree density, impervious surfaces, anthropic noise, and human population density.

Bird diversity decreased with increasing urbanization, whereas the frequency of generalist synurbic species increased. We found no significant relationship between predation and urbanization or between predation and bird diversity. However, tree diversity was positively correlated with predation attempts on artificial prey, irrespective of bird diversity.

We revealed a mismatch between the effects of urbanization on bird diversity and on the regulation service and unraveled the functional importance of tree diversity in shaping the avian predation function in urban ecosystems. Our study advocates for the consideration of intra-urban heterogeneity in the investigation of trophic cascades within cities.