Abstract
Cities are human dominated ecosystems providing novel conditions for organisms. Research on urban biodiversity is rapidly increasing, yet it is still hampered by the partial spatial coverage of cities and because of existing taxonomic biases. Predictive models have proved to be a key tool to solve this shortfall. However, predictive models have rarely been used in urban ecosystems due to either the lack of sufficient species records or high-quality predictors (e.g. meaningful ecological maps). Here, we assemble a large cross-taxa inventory of 1446 species from 12 taxonomic groups, including several understudied invertebrate groups, sampled in 251 sites in Zürich, Switzerland. We investigate the species diversity distributions and the structure of species assemblages along artificial urban ecological gradients by applying predictive models. We find that the general species diversity distribution law, where assemblages are dominated by a few very abundant and frequent species, applied consistently across all taxonomic groups (3% of the species accounting for approximately 50% of abundance). Furthermore, only species of intermediate abundance and frequency are spatially structured along urban intensity gradients, with rare species numbers keeping constant even in the most urbanised parts of the city. In addition, we show that green areas with low mowing regimes are associated with higher species diversity in the majority of taxonomic groups. Hence, this suggests management relaxation as a low-cost solution to promote species richness. Our study demonstrates the potential of predictive modelling for addressing ecological questions in urban environments and to inform management and planning.
Highlights
Urbanization is increasing worldwide, creating novel ecological conditions for biodiversity
We find that the general species diversity distribution law, where assemblages are dominated by a few very abundant and frequent species, applied consistently across all taxonomic groups (3% of the species accounting for approximately 50% of abundance)
We examine biodiversity patterns based on modelled and predicted citywide distributions and ask the following questions: (i) Do urban ecosystems exhibit ecological organisation equivalent to those found in other ecosystems? In partic ular, are urban communities composed of a large number of rare and local species and few very abundant and widespread ones? (ii) Does biodiversity change along ecological gradients and, if so, what factors generate the gradients?; and (iii) what management and planning rec ommendations can be derived from the observed biodiversity patterns and predicted citywide distribution of urban biodiversity? We discuss the potential of predictive models for ecology, urban planning and society
Summary
Urbanization is increasing worldwide, creating novel ecological conditions for biodiversity. Multi-taxa datasets (Hortal et al, 2015) with high-resolution spatial predictor variables describing abiotic and biotic urban gradients are beginning to be available and will likely prove valuable in this regard Integrating such resources with algorithms commonly used for Species Distribution Models (SDMs) might open interesting prospects in predicting and highlighting biodiversity patterns associated with fine-grained ecolog ical gradients of urban ecosystems impossible to obtain using data from only explicit sampling points. Such analyses across multi ple taxonomic groups are expected to provide essential information to better characterise the ecological properties of urban biodiversity at the citywide level, which can in turn enhance biodiversity management and urban planning. We examine biodiversity patterns based on modelled and predicted citywide distributions and ask the following questions: (i) Do urban ecosystems exhibit ecological organisation equivalent to those found in other ecosystems? In partic ular, are urban communities composed of a large number of rare and local species and few very abundant and widespread ones? (ii) Does biodiversity change along ecological gradients and, if so, what factors generate the gradients?; and (iii) what management and planning rec ommendations can be derived from the observed biodiversity patterns and predicted citywide distribution of urban biodiversity? We discuss the potential of predictive models for ecology, urban planning and society
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
