Abstract
Understanding how environmental changes driven by urbanization impact the biodiversity in urban riparian areas has great importance for landscape planning and river ecosystem conservation. There have been many studies on the response of bird communities to different environmental variables in urban parks; however, although supporting some of the highest bird diversities, case studies in urban riparian areas remain limited. In existing research, few studies have considered the impact of both local waterfront characteristics and surrounding environmental variables at a larger scale. In this study, we selected birds as the indicator to clarify their response to both local- and landscape-scale environmental variables in riparian areas of Tsing river, Beijing, in terms of (a) vegetation composition, (b) human disturbance, (c) land cover, and (d) landscape connectivity. We hypothesized that birds with different biological characteristics may respond differently to environmental variables. Birds were then further grouped according to the habitat type, residential type, and feeding type. It turned out that the coverage of grass and the disturbance of pedestrians are the most influential variables. Besides, compared with the land cover and landscape connectivity, the total contribution of vegetation characteristics and human disturbance accounts for the main proportion of explained variance. Information pertaining to these environmental variables can provide evidence to support bird conservation efforts in urban areas, and the identified distance threshold provides a basis for future landscape connectivity assessments.
Highlights
Understanding the ecological mechanisms supporting biodiversity is essential for understanding ecosystem functioning [1]
This study assessed the responses of bird species to the local- and landscape-scale variables in riparian areas of Tsing River, which flows through urban and suburban areas of Beijing
We found that the coverage of grass has the most positive effect on biodiversity of birds, while the number of bicycles and pedestrians have the most negative effect on biodiversity of birds
Summary
Understanding the ecological mechanisms supporting biodiversity is essential for understanding ecosystem functioning [1]. Urbanization, especially regarding megacities, has been regarded as a primary cause of habitat destruction and biodiversity loss [2,3]. The influx of population and the deforestation of trees in the process of urban construction leads to the destruction of natural habitats. Land cover changes and landscape fragmentation indirectly affect biodiversity in these habitats. Urban green spaces, which include urban parks, croplands, and water bodies, provide important habitats for wildlife [4]. Birds are often selected as indicators because their autecology is well studied, and they are relatively easy to observe and identify [5]. Birds are relatively environment-sensitive, and they are responsive to environmental changes at different scales [6,7,8]
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