Abstract
Numerous studies have examined the effect of urbanization on species richness and most studies implicate urbanization as the major cause of biodiversity loss. However, no study has identified an explicit connection between urbanization and biodiversity loss as the impact of urbanization is typically inferred indirectly by comparing species diversity along urban-rural gradients at a single time point. A different approach is to focus on the temporal rather than the spatial aspect and perform “before and after” studies where species diversity is cataloged over time in the same sites. The current study examined changes in ant abundance and diversity associated with the conversion of natural habitats into urban habitats. Ant abundance and diversity were tracked in forested sites that became urbanized through construction and were examined at 3 time points - before, during, and after construction. On average, 4.3±1.2 unique species were detected in undisturbed plots prior to construction. Ant diversity decreased to 0.7±0.8 species in plots undergoing construction and 1.5±1.1 species in plots 1 year after construction was completed. With regard to species richness, urbanization resulted in the permanent loss of 17 of the 20 species initially present in the study plots. Recovery was slow and only 3 species were present right after construction was completed and 4 species were present 1 year after construction was completed. The second objective examined ant fauna recovery in developed residential lots based on time since construction, neighboring habitat quality, pesticide inputs, and the presence of invasive ants. Ant diversity was positively correlated with factors that promoted ecological recovery and negatively correlated with factors that promoted ecological degradation. Taken together, these results address a critical gap in our knowledge by characterizing the short- and long-term the effects of urbanization on the loss of ant biodiversity.
Highlights
Urbanization is a major threat to biodiversity [1,2,3,4,5] and is responsible for species extinctions and biotic homogenization
Urbanization provides excellent opportunities to test the effects of habitat alteration, degradation, and fragmentation on ecological communities, urbanizing landscapes have received relatively little attention with most research efforts being focused on more natural processes [12,13,14]
No statistical difference was detected in ant abundance or diversity between experimental plots during and after construction (Table 1)
Summary
Urbanization is a major threat to biodiversity [1,2,3,4,5] and is responsible for species extinctions and biotic homogenization. The disturbance created by urbanization destroys the habitat of a wide array of unique endemic species and often creates an attractive habitat for relatively few species able to adapt to urban conditions [6] This may lead to biotic homogenization whereby the genetic, taxonomic, or functional similarity of regional biota increases over time [7,8]. A recent review [19] of invertebrates from a variety of urbanized habitats reports that diversity decreased in 64% of studies, increased in 30% of studies, and remained unchanged in 6% of studies with the losses driven mostly by native species extinction and the gains by non-native species additions Such variability in findings likely reflects the wide range of taxa and functional groups represented by the invertebrates
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