Abstract
The ecological sustainability and function of urban landscapes is strongly influenced by the composition and structure of the local plant community. Taxonomic composition generally refers to the identity of the species comprising the community, while we define structure as the presence of multiple canopy layers, as well as stems of varying diameter and age. These aspects of urban vegetation significantly influence the ecology of cities, yet they are generally poorly quantified across the range of natural and constructed plant communities present in urban landscapes. We quantified vegetation composition and structure to i) simultaneously assess their variation across four green spaces types (golf courses, public parks, residential neighbourhoods and patches of remnant vegetation) in Melbourne, Australia, and ii) investigate the relationship between vegetation composition and structure within these green spaces. The four green space types supported distinctly different plant communities. Vegetation composition in the residential neighborhoods differed significantly from the others (p<0.05), largely due to the increased richness of shrubs and cultivated plants, and the reduced presence of large trees. Residential neighborhoods had the highest plant species richness, although a large proportion of these species occurred infrequently. The structural complexity of understorey vegetation (calculated as % volume occupied) below 0.5 m was highest in remnant patches followed by golf courses, public parks and residential neighborhoods. The structural complexity of understorey vegetation in remnant vegetation patches was very similar to that of golf courses even though some of the latter were dominated by exotic plant species. Variation in the composition and structure of urban vegetation might have great implications for the retention of faunal diversity within cities because different taxa have specific habitat requirements. Hence, further understanding of variations in the composition and structure of both natural and constructed plant communities in cities will greatly improve our ability to create urban landscapes that enhance both plant and animal biodiversity.
Highlights
The vegetation and soil in urban green spaces determine the capacity of the urban environment to support biodiversity
Golf courses and remnant vegetation (RE) contained the highest proportion of observed native Australian plant species, while residential neighborhood (RN) and urban parks (UP) contained the highest proportion of observed exotic species (Table 1)
This indicates that sampling was sufficient in UP, RE, and golf course (GC) green space types, further sampling in RN would have revealed greater species richness, as supported by the predicted species richness estimate of 1229 plant species, which is dominated by the contribution of exotic species (Table 1)
Summary
The vegetation and soil in urban green spaces determine the capacity of the urban environment to support biodiversity. Green space vegetation and soil are the components most manipulated by humans through disturbance and direct management actions (Byrne, 2007; Faeth et al, 2012; Ossola et al, 2016). Understanding the nature and variability of the vegetation within networks of green space can help inform our knowledge of the distribution of the ecosystem services it provides and the composition of faunal communities that depend on it. It can help prioritize strategic management of urban green space vegetation so that it provides the greatest benefit to humans and biodiversity (Fontana et al, 2011)
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