TY - JOUR
T1 - Local and management variables outweigh landscape effects in enhancing the diversity of different taxa in a big metropolis
AU - Shwartz, Assaf
AU - Muratet, Audrey
AU - Simon, Laurent
AU - Julliard, Romain
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank the Paris municipality’s Green Areas and Environment Department (DEVE) for their help in conducting this research and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments of an earlier version of this manuscript. This study was supported by the Ile-de-France Sustainable Development Research Network (R2DS Ile-de-France).
PY - 2013/1
Y1 - 2013/1
N2 - As the pace of urbanization accelerates, the conservation of urban biodiversity emerges as a rising concern. Urban ecological research has revealed that some green areas in cities can harbor a rich diversity of species that can be enhanced by certain landscape- and local-scale structural planning variables. However, while most studies have been conducted in large greenspaces (e.g., parks, remnants), less effort was made to understand which variables influence biodiversity within small green patches and the efficiency of management practices has been seldom investigated. Here, we explore how management practices interplayed with landscape and structural variables to influence the diversity of plants, birds, butterflies and other pollinating insects in small public gardens (0.5-2.0. ha) in the center of a large metropolis (Paris, France).Small public gardens hosted significant common biodiversity and the ones that employed a conservation program (i.e., differential management) supported a higher diversity of all taxa and less urbanophile communities of birds and butterflies. Local-scale and management variables were more important in enhancing biodiversity than landscape-scale variables. Specifically, lawns rich in wild plants attracted many pollinators and bird richness increased with tree cover. Pesticides had a negative effect on bird richness, while a higher diversity of habitats and soils (i.e. mulching, peat) increased the diversity of all four taxa. We also found that bird richness could serve as a reasonable surrogate for butterflies and other pollinators. Our results highlight how planning and managing public gardens in the center of a large metropolis can benefit biodiversity, regardless of spatial context.
AB - As the pace of urbanization accelerates, the conservation of urban biodiversity emerges as a rising concern. Urban ecological research has revealed that some green areas in cities can harbor a rich diversity of species that can be enhanced by certain landscape- and local-scale structural planning variables. However, while most studies have been conducted in large greenspaces (e.g., parks, remnants), less effort was made to understand which variables influence biodiversity within small green patches and the efficiency of management practices has been seldom investigated. Here, we explore how management practices interplayed with landscape and structural variables to influence the diversity of plants, birds, butterflies and other pollinating insects in small public gardens (0.5-2.0. ha) in the center of a large metropolis (Paris, France).Small public gardens hosted significant common biodiversity and the ones that employed a conservation program (i.e., differential management) supported a higher diversity of all taxa and less urbanophile communities of birds and butterflies. Local-scale and management variables were more important in enhancing biodiversity than landscape-scale variables. Specifically, lawns rich in wild plants attracted many pollinators and bird richness increased with tree cover. Pesticides had a negative effect on bird richness, while a higher diversity of habitats and soils (i.e. mulching, peat) increased the diversity of all four taxa. We also found that bird richness could serve as a reasonable surrogate for butterflies and other pollinators. Our results highlight how planning and managing public gardens in the center of a large metropolis can benefit biodiversity, regardless of spatial context.
KW - Biodiversity conservation
KW - Differential management
KW - Diversity-indexes
KW - Landscape-scale
KW - Local-scale
KW - Mulch
KW - Peat
KW - Surrogate
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84870361143&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.biocon.2012.09.009
DO - 10.1016/j.biocon.2012.09.009
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AN - SCOPUS:84870361143
SN - 0006-3207
VL - 157
SP - 285
EP - 292
JO - Biological Conservation
JF - Biological Conservation
ER -