Dataset Information

Human interest meets biodiversity hotspots: A new systematic approach for urban ecosystem conservation.

ABSTRACT: Creating a win-win relationship between biodiversity and human well-being is one of the major current challenges for environmental policy. One way to approach this challenge is to identify sites with both high biodiversity and high human interest in urban areas. Here, we propose a new systematic approach to identify such sites by using land prices and biodiversity indexes for butterflies and birds from a nationwide perspective. As a result, we found sites that are valuable to humans and to other organisms, including national red-list species, and they are located in sites with cultural heritages and near seaside. By referencing the habitat features and landscape characteristics of these sites, we can establish high quality environments that provide a benefit to both humans and biodiversity in urban landscapes.

SUBMITTER: Kasada M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5325308 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Human interest meets biodiversity hotspots: A new systematic approach for urban ecosystem conservation.

Kasada Minoru M Matsuba Misako M Miyashita Tadashi T

PloS one 20170224 2

Creating a win-win relationship between biodiversity and human well-being is one of the major current challenges for environmental policy. One way to approach this challenge is to identify sites with both high biodiversity and high human interest in urban areas. Here, we propose a new systematic approach to identify such sites by using land prices and biodiversity indexes for butterflies and birds from a nationwide perspective. As a result, we found sites that are valuable to humans and to other ...[more]

PMID: 28235020

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Project description:Urbanization is driving the transformation of natural and rural ecosystems worldwide by affecting both the abiotic environment and the biota. This raises the question whether urban ecosystems are able to provide services in a comparable way to their non-urban counterparts. In urban grasslands, the effects of urbanization-driven ecological novelty and the role of plant diversity in modulating ecosystem functioning have received little attention. In this study, we assessed the influence of biodiversity, abiotic and biotic novelty on ecosystem functioning based on in situ measurements in non-manipulated grasslands along an urbanization gradient in Berlin (Germany). We focused on plant aboveground biomass (AGB), intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE) and 15N enrichment factor (??15N) as proxies for biomass production, water and N cycling, respectively, within grassland communities, and tested how they change with plant biogeographic status (native vs alien), functional group and species identity. Approximately one third of the forb species were alien to Berlin and they were responsible for 13.1% of community AGB. Community AGB was positively correlated with plant-species richness. In contrast, iWUE and ??15N were mostly determined by light availability (depicted by sky view factor) and urban parameters like the percentage of impervious surface or human population density. We found that abiotic novelty potentially favors aliens in Berlin, mainly by enhancing their dispersal and fitness under drought. Mainly urban parameters indicating abiotic novelty were significantly correlated to both alien and native ??15N, but to AGB and iWUE of alien plants only, pointing to a stronger impact of abiotic novelty on N cycling compared to C and water cycling. At the species level, sky view factor appeared to be the prevailing driver of photosynthetic performance and resource-use efficiency. Although we identified a significant impact of abiotic novelty on AGB, iWUE and ??15N at different levels, the relationship between species richness and community AGB found in the urban grasslands studied in Berlin was comparable to that described in non-urban experimental grasslands in Europe. Hence, our results indicate that conserving and enhancing biodiversity in urban ecosystems is essential to preserve ecosystem services related to AGB production. For ensuring the provision of ecosystem services associated to water and N use, however, changes in urban abiotic parameters seem necessary.

Dataset Information

Human interest meets biodiversity hotspots: A new systematic approach for urban ecosystem conservation.

Publications

Human interest meets biodiversity hotspots: A new systematic approach for urban ecosystem conservation.

Similar Datasets

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