Abstract
Abstract With accelerating urbanization, the urban contribution to biodiversity conservation becomes increasingly important. Previous research shows that cities can host many endangered plant species. However, fundamental questions for urban nature conservation remain open: to what extent and where can endangered plant species persist in the long term and which mechanisms underlie population survival? We evaluate the survival of 858 precisely monitored populations of 179 endangered plant species in Berlin, Germany, by assessing population survival throughout different urban ecosystems over a period of 7.6 years on average. By linking population survival to various landscape variables and plant traits, we unravel the underlying drivers. More than one–third of populations went extinct during the observation period. Population survival was inversely correlated to the increase in impervious surfaces in the vicinity following the first 11 years after the fall of the Berlin wall. Additionally, populations in semi‐natural habitats like forests and bogs were surprisingly more prone to local extinction than populations in anthropogenic habitats. Survival was highest for competitive species with a preference for drier soils (Ellenberg indicator for soil humidity). Synthesis and applications. Considerable levels of local population extinction demonstrate that the presence of endangered plants cannot be directly linked with their long‐term survival in cities. However, the survival of remaining populations indicates opportunities for urban biodiversity conservation both within and outside conservation areas. The elucidated links between population survival, urbanization dynamics, biotope class and species traits support urban conservation strategies that reduce the proportion of impervious surface, prioritize conservation management in forests and grasslands and explore the opportunities of green spaces and built‐up areas.
Highlights
As urbanization accelerates globally, the question of the urban contribution to biodiversity conservation is becoming increasingly important (Kowarik & von der Lippe, 2018; McKinney, 2002; Nilon et al, 2017; Parris et al, 2018)
The elucidated links between population survival, urbanization dynamics, biotope class and species traits support urban conservation strategies that reduce the proportion of impervious surface, prioritize conservation management in forests and grasslands and explore the opportunities of green spaces and built-up areas
A key finding is that populations of endangered plant species in urban settings can be highly dynamic and that there is a considerable risk of local extinction within a period of
Summary
The question of the urban contribution to biodiversity conservation is becoming increasingly important (Kowarik & von der Lippe, 2018; McKinney, 2002; Nilon et al, 2017; Parris et al, 2018). | Journal of Applied Ecolo gy 1583 rates of urbanization measures (e.g. impervious surface, population size) can determine urban biodiversity patterns (Fischer, Rodorff, von der Lippe, & Kowarik, 2016) Such measures are rarely incorporated into analyses of the long-term survival of endangered species, dynamic changes of urban environments can potentially threaten population survival, for example, by loss of open spaces, or indirect urbanization effects. Related to (a) features of the respective habitats (e.g. type of biotope, patch size, legal conservation status); (b) the degree and dynamics of urbanization of the surrounding urban matrix (e.g. current share and change in impervious surface area, human population density); (c) to the vicinity of (near)natural ecosystems (e.g. distance to natural remnants, proportion of forests in buffer around the sites) and (d) plant functional traits of the respective endangered plant species (e.g. Ellenberg indicators, CSR strategy). We addressed the following research questions: How is the survival rate of populations of endangered plant species in Berlin
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