Taxonomic diversity,functional diversity and evolutionary uniqueness in bird communities of Beijing's urban parks: Effects of land use and vegetation structure

The importance of biodiversity conservation is well recognized, and the loss of biodiversity is particularly evident in highly urbanized areas. On the other hand, green spaces inside cities, as parks, can provide a resource for maintaining and increasing biodiversity, especially for bird species. However, only a few studies have addressed the effects of vegetation structure and land use composition on different components of biodiversity.Here, we explored the response of bird community composition to environmental differences related to land use composition and vegetation structure in green spaces in the city of Beijing, China. We compared the values of taxonomic diversity, functional diversity and community evolutionary distinctiveness in breeding bird communities, among ten urban parks of the world's third most populous city. Variation partitioning analysis and generalized linear mixed models were used to explore the unique and shared effects of land use composition and vegetation structure on each biodiversity metric.Park size was not associated with the diversity of bird communities in Beijing. Land use composition was the best predictor of change in bird community composition, followed by vegetation structure at ground level and the intersection between land use and vegetation structure at tree level. Water coverage increased bird species richness, while the presence of large trees increased both taxonomic diversity and bird functional richness in urban parks. Finally, the presence of patches of deciduous trees showed a positive effect on the average score of evolutionary distinctiveness of bird communities. In conclusion, we highlight that different elements of the environment are supporting different components of bird community diversity.     

Understanding spontaneous biodiversity in informal urban green spaces: A local-landscape filtering framework with a test on wall plants

In densely urbanized areas, small pockets of vegetated areas such as street verges, vacant lots, and walls can be rich in biodiversity. In spite of their small size, these ‘informal urban greenspaces’ can provide critical ecosystem services to urban residents. Maintaining and enhancing the provisioning of ecosystem services requires a systematic understanding of biodiversity patterns and drivers in informal urban green spaces. The ‘environmental filtering’ (a process of certain species selected by specific environmental conditions) concept in community ecology theory may serve as a useful tool for this goal. We tested a multi-scale filtering framework by examining the spontaneous plant diversity patterns (from 83 surveyed sites) on the vertical surfaces of the ancient city wall of Nanjing, China. We found that the variables representing local-habitat filtering (e.g., wall substrates and aspect) and landscape filtering (including spatial configuration of urban land cover, and nighttime light intensity surrounding the local habitats) can jointly explain substantial fractions of variations in taxonomic diversity (up to ca. 60%) and functional diversity (up to ca. 40%). The explanatory power was stronger in the repaired wall habitats than in the unrepaired counterparts, in line with the prediction that environmental filtering is more pronounced during the early stages of community assembly. While the strength of landscape filtering showed clear scale-dependency, its relative importance consistently outweighs local-habitat filtering across all study scales of 200–1600 m, suggesting that configuration of neighboring landscape context can play an important role in shaping local-scale biodiversity of informal urban green spaces. Our results have useful implications for the study, design, and management of informal urban green spaces. Well-tailored multi-scale filtering frameworks may contribute to understanding urban biodiversity patterns in a systematic way.     

Understanding how built urban form influences biodiversity

This study seeks to contribute to a more complete understanding of how urban form influences biodiversity by investigating the effects of green area distribution and that of built form. We investigated breeding bird diversity in three types of housing development with approximately the same amount of tree cover. No significant differences in terms of bird communities were found between housing types in any of the survey periods. However, detached housing, especially with interspersed trees, had more neotropical insectivores and higher overall diversity of insectivores. Based on our results and theory we suggest a complementary approach to managing biodiversity in urban landscapes – instead of maximising the value and quality of individual patches efforts could go into enhancing over-all landscape quality at the neighbourhood scale by splitting up part of the green infrastructure. The relatively small differences in bird communities also suggest that different stakeholder groups may be engaged in management.     

Multi-scale responses of bird species to tree cover and development in an urbanizing landscape

Landscape change is an ongoing process for even the most established landscapes, especially in context to urban intensification and growth. As urbanization increases over the next century, supporting bird species’ populations within urbanizing areas remains an important conservation challenge. Fundamental elements of the biophysical structure of urban environments in which bird species likely respond include tree cover and human infrastructure. We broadly examine how tree cover and urban development structure bird species distributions along the urban-rural gradient across multiple spatial scales. We established a regional sampling design within the Oak Openings Region of northwestern, Ohio, USA, to survey bird species distributions across an extensive urbanization gradient. Through occupancy modeling, we obtained standardized effects of bird species response to local and landscape-scale predictors and found that landscape tree cover influenced the most species, followed by landscape impervious surface, local building density, and local tree cover. We found that responses varied according to habitat affiliation and migratory distance of individual bird species. Distributions of short-distance, edge habitat species located towards the rural end of the gradient were explained primarily by low levels of urbanization and potential vegetative and supplemental resources associated with these areas, while forest species distributions were primarily related to increasing landscape tree cover. Our findings accentuate the importance of scale relative to urbanization and help target where potential actions may arise to benefit bird diversity. Management will likely need to be implemented by municipal governments and agencies to promote tree cover at landscape scale, followed by residential land management education for private landowners. These approaches will be vital in sustaining biodiversity in urbanizing landscapes as urban growth expands over the next century.     

Comparison of bird diversity between temperate floodplain forests and urban parks

Biodiversity in urban green areas has been widely explored in several bird studies because birds are known to be important bio-indicators. Many studies have investigated the different responses of bird communities to urbanization and land use changes in urban environments. However, there are still important knowledge gaps related to the impacts of the heterogeneity, spatial structure, and connectivity of green areas on avian diversity. Such information is needed for sustainable urban planning. In this study, we focused on the comparison of bird communities between urban parks in the heritage city of Olomouc and hardwood floodplain forests in the vicinity of the city. The results of the study indicate the high importance of urban parks for the maintenance of bird diversity even though urban parks are man-made habitats. The results highlight the importance of some native vegetation structures in urban parks (old trees, bush ecotones) for maintaining urban bird biodiversity. Some implications of the results can be widely used as a decision support tool for the management of urban green areas and for the planning of ecological networks in urban landscapes.     

Cemeteries support avian diversity likewise urban parks in European cities: Assessing taxonomic,evolutionary and functional diversity

The aim of this study was to explore different components of avian diversity in two types of urban green areas, parks and cemeteries, in four European countries in relation to environmental characteristics. We studied bird species richness, functional diversity and evolutionary distinctiveness in 79 parks and 90 cemeteries located in four European countries: the Czech Republic, France, Italy and Poland.First, we found no significant differences between cemeteries and parks in bird diversity. However, in both parks and cemeteries, only: two community metrics were affected by different environmental characteristics, including local vegetation structure and presence of human-related structures. Species richness was positively correlated with tree coverage and site size, functional diversity was unrelated to any of the measured variables, while the mean evolutionary distinctiveness score was positively correlated with tree coverage and negatively associated with the coverage of flowerbeds and number of street lamps.Our findings can be useful for urban planning: by increasing tree coverage and site size it is possible to increase both taxonomic richness and evolutionary uniqueness of bird communities. In both parks and cemeteries, the potential association between light pollution and bird species richness was negligible. We also identified some thresholds where bird diversity was higher. Bird species richness was maximized in parks/cemeteries larger than 1.4 ha, with grass coverage lower than 65%. The evolutionary uniqueness of bird communities was higher in areas with tree coverage higher than 45%. In conclusion, the findings of this study provide evidence that cemeteries work similarly than urban parks supporting avian diversity.     

The designation of a historical site to maintain plant diversity in the Tokyo metropolitan region

Although urban habitats contribute to the conservation of species diversity, urbanization has significantly reduced biodiversity by causing environmental changes such as habitat loss and fragmentation. Therefore, research on urban biodiversity studies has become increasingly important. Historical heritage sites are recognized as important habitats in remnant green spaces in urban areas. We aimed to evaluate the role of historical sites in conserving biodiversity in urban areas. As the land in these historical sites is not modified, they have the potential to conserve biodiversity through continued maintenance activities such as mowing and tree cutting. In Japan, Tamagawa-josui, a waterway that runs from west to east through the Tokyo megacity (35° 40′ N, 139° 25′ E), has been recognized as a civil engineering heritage landmark that preserves water utilization technology from the early modern period (1600s, Edo-era). The present study examined the relationships between plant diversity and green space in a historic site of a megacity (i.e., Tamagawa-josui) and determined the factors that influence plant diversity. Specifically, we examined the relationships between plant species indices (species richness and species compositions) and environmental factors (management, environmental conditions, and landscape factors). The present study analyzed spatial changes in the plant species composition in Tamagawa-josui. We demonstrated that tree canopy openness was positively correlated with plant species richness, and the increased disturbance associated with developing historical sites as urban parks was negatively correlated with native plant species richness. In addition, there was significant species turnover in the plant community from upstream to downstream in Tamagawa-josui, which could largely be explained by spatial factors. We demonstrated that historical sites can provide potential habitats for the conservation of the plant species diversity, which is based on the effectiveness of the management of their vegetation.     

Bird song diversity influences young people's appreciation of urban landscapes

Increased losses of green areas in cities reduce people's experience of flora and fauna. Earlier studies have shown that biodiversity has benefits for urban inhabitants but the influence of animal sounds on people's experience of green space is poorly known. A sample of young urban people (N = 227) rated their reactions – positive or negative – to three bird song combinations: House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus), 7 spp. i.e. Willow Warbler, Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), Great Tit (Parus major), European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), Common Blackbird (Turdus merula), Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), three urban settings (residential areas with varying amount of greenery) and nine combinations of song and setting. Bird song was generally considered positive and singing by several species was more highly rated than singing by a single species. On average, urban settings combined with bird song were more highly appreciated than the settings alone and even more so where there was singing by several species rather than just one. We conclude that our data support the idea that bird song contributes to positive values associated with urban green space. Urban planners should consider preserving a variety of habitats in cities for hosting a diversity of birds and thereby boost conservation of songbird diversity and recreational experiences for urban people.     

Interrelationship of birds and habitat features in urban greenspaces in Delhi, India

Biodiversity conservation in urban areas has become significant not only because of increasing human population in urban centers but also because it is one of the innovative ways to conserve biodiversity as suggested by various global environmental conventions. The present study was conducted with the purpose of assessing diversity and density of bird and woody species in some greenspaces of Delhi, the rapidly urbanizing capital of India. The landscape of Delhi consists of a broad spectrum of environments ranging from the city forests to highly modified artificial landscapes in certain parks. We assessed bird and woody vegetation in 20 m×50 m belt transects in each of the 19 randomly selected greenspaces of varying size. Results exhibit a negative relationship between the density of exotic woody species and bird diversity. Specifically, Prosopis juliflora – an exotic, which was the most abundant tree in our samples – exhibited a negative relationship with bird diversity. Principal component analysis (PCA) reveals that forest-preferring bird species increase with increasing greenspaces size, shrub diversity and shrub density. We conclude that maintaining larger greenspaces with high structural diversity may be effective in maintaining plant and bird diversity in the study area.     

Plant and animal diversity in a region of the Southern Alps: the role of environmental and spatial processes

Different organisms respond to landscape configuration and spatial structure in different terms and across different spatial scales. Here, regression models with variation partitioning were applied to determine relative influence of the three groups of variables (climate, land use and environmental heterogeneity) and spatial structure variables on plant, bird, orthopteran and butterfly species richness in a region of the Southern Alps, ranging in elevation from the sea level to 2,780 m. Grassland and forest cover were positively correlated with species richness in both taxonomic groups, whilst species richness decreased with increasing urban elements and arable land. The variation was mainly explained by the shared component between the three groups in plants and between landscape and environmental heterogeneity in birds. The variation was related to independent land use effect in insects. The distribution in species richness was spatially structured for plants, birds and orthopterans, whilst in butterflies, no spatial structure was detected. Plant richness was associated with linear trend variation and broad-scale spatial structure in the northern part of the region, whilst bird richness with broad-scale variation which occurs on the external Alpine ridge. Orthopteran diversity was strongly related to fine-scale spatial structure, generated by dynamic processes or by unmeasured spatially structured abiotic factors. Although the study was carried out in relatively small area, the four taxonomic groups seem to respond to biodiversity drivers in a surprisingly different way. This has considerable implications for conservation planning as it restricts the usefulness of simple indicators in prioritizing areas for conservation purposes.     

Comparison of avian diversity between urban parks adjacent to mountain and river in the largest megacity Guangzhou,South China

Urban parks can provide a resource for maintaining and increasing bird biodiversity. However, little research has been conducted to show the differences in bird community diversity between parks adjacent to mountains and rivers in the city center of highly urbanized areas. This study analysed whether the bird composition and species diversity differed between parks adjacent to Baiyun Mountain (hillside parks) and Pearl River (riverside parks) in Guangzhou, South China. From January 2018 to December 2020, 137927 birds representing 206 species were recorded. The results indicated that the number of species and individuals of birds were higher in hillside parks than in riverside parks in each season. The number of species and individuals was also higher in hillside parks than in riverside parks in different functional groups according to bird food type, residential type, and ecological type. The number of species shared by the two types of parks was 120. The unique birds' species number in hillside and riverside parks were 67 and 19, respectively. Bird diversity in terms of richness and Shannon index was higher significantly in hillside parks than in riverside parks in summer. Principal component analysis of environmental traits of 18 parks showed that plant traits in parks have relatively high and positive contribution. Correlation analysis indicated that bird diversity was positively affected by water area, the highest altitude, habitats diversity and tree evenness in park, while negatively regulated by building coverage around each park. The top 20 most abundant bird species accounted for 87.5% of the total birds in the study period. Nycticorax nycticorax, Urocissa erythroryncha and Podiceps ruficollis were observed more frequently in hillside parks, while Pycnonotus aurigaster, Passer montanus, Acridotheres cristatellus were observed more frequently in riverside parks. Principal coordinates analysis also indicated that bird communities significantly differed between hillside parks and riverside parks. In conclusion, our findings highlight the importance of conserving mountains and rivers as buffer zones for serious anthropogenic disturbance in the city center. We propose that the conservation of hillside parks is a priority strategy for enhancing urban birds biodiversity.     

Weak relationships between landscape characteristics and multiple facets of stream macroinvertebrate biodiversity in a boreal drainage basin

Variability in biodiversity is often assessed based on species richness, and this adherence to a single index has been typical in studies of ecology, biogeography, and conservation in the past two decades. More recent studies have suggested that species richness alone is insufficient as a measure of biodiversity, mainly because it is not necessarily correlated with other measures of biodiversity. We examined (1) if nine indices embracing species diversity, functional diversity, and taxonomic distinctness of stream macroinvertebrate assemblages show congruent patterns, and (2) if these indices show similar relationships to landscape characteristics. Not all indices varied similarly and were thus not significantly correlated. There were three principal components that effectively described variation in the correlation structure of the nine indices. These three components were: (1) diversity and evenness indices, (2) two indices of taxonomic distinctness, and (3) species richness and functional richness. Four of the nine biodiversity indices examined showed no significant relationships to landscape-catchment characteristics, and even the significant correlations between the remaining five indices and explanatory variables were rather weak. However, species richness showed a rather strong quadratic relationship to catchment area. Our study provided a number of suggestions for future biodiversity studies at the landscape scale. First, given that different indices describe different components of biodiversity and are not strongly correlated, multiple indices should be considered in any study describing stream biodiversity. Second, despite the study was restricted to near-pristine streams, all indices showed considerable variation. Thus, this natural variability should be accounted for prior to the examination of anthropogenic effects on stream biodiversity. Third, landscape-catchment variables may have only limited value in explaining variability in biodiversity indices, at least in regions with no strong anthropogenic gradients in land-use.     

The impact of habitat characteristics on bird presence and the implications for wildlife management in the environs of Ottawa,Canada

Urban forestry is increasingly vital for both wildlife conservation and human use, despite frequent conflicts between these functions. A fundamental task in urban habitat and recreation forestry is the identification of those habitat characteristics important for animal species and the evaluation of these within the geographies of human presence, urban proximity and land cover variation and change. This paper examines the habitat characteristics for birds in urban built, green and greenbelt areas of Ottawa, Canada, and an area of continuous Ontario forest, to determine the effects of vegetation density and patch size, and human presence on bird presence. Bird presence was measured by point counts, and land cover was mapped using field observation and aerial photographs (1955 and 1999). At the species level, the pre-dominantly forest birds were affected by human presence and were primarily associated with tree stands in the greenbelt and continuous forest. In dense urban areas there were larger numbers of a few ‘generalist’ species. Both forested and urban (residential/commercial) environments increased in area between 1955 and 1999, creating the two types of land cover favouring the largest number of birds, while the less habituated grass/farmed areas declined in area. More informed bird conservation and recreation management will depend on paying greater attention to vegetation cover combinations with urban development.     

Changes in land-use/land-cover patterns in Italy and their implications for biodiversity conservation

Land-use/land-cover change is the most important factor in causing biodiversity loss. The Mediterranean region has been affected by antropic disturbance for thousands of years, and is, nowadays, one of the most significantly altered hotspots in the world. However, in the last years a significant increase in forest cover has been measured. These new patterns are independent from planned conservation strategies and appear to have a substantial impact on landscapes and biodiversity. We used three land-use/land-cover maps (from 1960 to 2000) covering the Italian peninsula to analyze the pattern of land-use/land-cover change. We measured an increase in forests, especially in mountains, an increase in artificial areas, especially in coastal zones, and a decrease in pastures. Intensively cultivated areas showed a limited decrease while extensively cultivated ones showed a marked decrease. In the same period mammal and bird species followed a similar pattern, with forest birds, ungulates and carnivores increasing, and typically Mediterranean species decreasing. We suggest that our results may provide important information, which could be useful for conservation planning in the entire Mediterranean hotspot. We suggest that an increasing conservation effort should be made to protect the Mediterranean-type forests and scrublands, as well as traditional agricultural practices. Moreover, future conservation efforts should consider the broad socio-political and ecological processes that are most likely to occur across the whole hotspot, especially along coastal areas, and the network of protected areas should be functionally integrated in a conservation strategy that includes the human-dominated landscape.     

Enhancing plant diversity and mitigating BVOC emissions of urban green spaces through the introduction of ornamental tree species

Promoting the plant diversity of urban green spaces is crucial to increase ecosystem services in urban areas. While introducing ornamental plants can enhance the biodiversity of green spaces it risks environmental impacts such as increasing emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) that are harmful to air quality and human health. The present study, taking Qingdao City as a case study, evaluated the plant diversity and BVOC emissions of urban green spaces and tried to find out a solution to increase biodiversity while reducing BVOC emissions. Results showed that: (1) the species diversity and phylogenetic diversity of trees in urban green spaces were 22% and 16% lower than rural forest of this region; (2) urban areas had higher BVOC emission intensity (2.6 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹) than their rural surroundings (2.1 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹); (3) introducing the selected 11 tree species will increase 15% and 11% of species diversity and phylogenetic diversity, respectively; and (4) the BVOC emissions from green spaces will more than triple by 2050, but a moderate introduction of the selected low-emitting trees species could reduce 34% of these emissions. The scheme of introducing low-emitting ornamental species leads to a win–win situation and also has implications for the sustainable green space management of other cities.     

Primary productivity in cities and their influence over subtropical bird assemblages

Changes in ecosystem structure caused by urbanization produce a reduction in photosynthetic productivity, which can lead to reductions in resource availability for birds. Here, we analyzed the relation between photosynthetic productivity and bird assemblages in a subtropical urban ecosystem, in North-Western Argentina. We used Generalized Linear Models to assess the responses of bird abundance, richness and diversity to photosynthetic productivity, vegetation cover and distance to main natural forest. We found higher bird richness and diversity with increasing photosynthetic productivity and vegetation cover, and with decreasing distance to forests; while total bird abundance was positively related to vegetation cover. When we classified bird species in different groups, based on their use of the environment, we found that species adapted to urban environments were more dependent on photosynthetic productivity, while species related to native forests were more dependent on the distance to source forests. Understanding the factors that affect bird assemblages in cities is important for the development of strategies for urban planning and conservation.     

URban Biotopes of Aotearoa New Zealand (URBANZ) II: Floristics, biodiversity and conservation values of urban residential and public woodlands, Christchurch

Urban forests are increasingly valued for multiple benefits such as amenity, cultural values, native biodiversity, ecosystem services, and carbon sequestration. Urban biodiversity in particular, is the new focus although global homogenisation is undermining regional differentiation. In the northern hemisphere (e.g., Canada and USA) and in the southern hemisphere, particularly in countries like South Africa, Australia, South America and New Zealand, local biodiversity is further impacted by historical colonisation from Europe. After several centuries, urban forests are now composed of synthetic and spontaneous mixtures of native species, and exotic species from around the temperate world (e.g., Europe, North and South America, South Africa, Asia). As far as we are aware no-one has carried out in-depth study of these synthetic forests in any Southern Hemisphere city. Here we describe the composition, structure, and biodiversity conservation imperatives of urban temperate forests at 90 random locations in Christchurch city, New Zealand.We document considerable plant diversity; the total number of species encountered in the 253 sampled urban forest patches was 486. Despite this incredibly variable data set, our ability to explain variation in species richness was surprisingly good and clearly indicates that total species richness was higher in larger patches with greater litter and vegetation cover, and taller canopy height. Species richness was also higher in patches surrounded by higher population densities and closer to very large native forest patches. Native species richness was higher in patches with higher soil pH, lower canopy height, and greater litter cover and in patches closer to very large native forest patches indicating dispersal out of native areas and into gardens. Eight distinct forest communities were identified by Two-Way INdicator SPecies ANalysis (TWINSPAN) using the occurrence of 241 species that occurred in more than two out of all 253 forest patches.Christchurch urban forest canopies were dominated by exotic tree species in parklands and in street tree plantings (linear parkland). Native tree and shrub species were not as common in public spaces but their overall density high in residential gardens. There was some explanatory power in our data, since less deprivation resulted in greater diversity and density, and more native species, which in turn is associated with private ownership. We hypothesise that a number of other factors, which were not well reflected in our measured environmental variables, are responsible for much of the remaining variation in the plant community structure, e.g., advertising, peoples choice. For a more sustainable asset base of native trees in New Zealand cities we need more, longer-lived native species, in large public spaces, including a greater proportion of species that bear fruit and nectar suitable for native wildlife. We may then achieve cities with ecological integrity that present multiple historical dimensions, and sequester carbon in legible landscapes.     

Long-term afforestation efforts increase bird species diversity in Beijing,China

Bird communities are important components of biodiversity and provide terrestrial ecosystems with multiple functions. The impact of long-term afforestation and rapid urbanization on bird species diversity (BSD) is of interest and has attracted increasing attention from biologists, government officials and the public. This study focused on patterns of BSD and changes in forest coverage in an Asian mega-city (Beijing). Forest coverage in Beijing increased moderately from 1.3% (in 1949) to 21.26% (in 2003), and rapidly from 21.26% (in 2003) to 41% (in 2014). Natural types of land cover (i.e., woodland, grassland and water) increased from 55.25% (9070.29 km²) in 1985–63.41% (10411.16 km²) in 2013, while anthropogenic types (i.e., cultivated land, construction land and unutilized land) decreased from 44.75% to 36.59% based on remote sensing data. Three sets of BSD records were obtained from the published literature, revealing a species diversity of 344 in 1987, 375 in 1994, and 430 in 2014. Approximately 15% of bird species were endemic and 80% were migratory. From 1987–2014, Beijing gained 81 bird species (37 species disappeared while 118 species appeared), which could be a result of the progressive increase in forest coverage. The changes in BSD may be affected by long-term afforestation efforts and rapid urbanization, along with meteorological factors. This study sheds some light on the effects of afforestation and urbanization on biodiversity.     

Bird diversity in urban green space: A large-scale analysis of differences between parks and cemeteries in Central Europe

Urbanization is a permanent and still continuing expansion of human settlements and is responsible for dramatic changes of natural areas to urban areas. In traditional view, urbanization is often blamed for the loss of biodiversity and biotic homogenization of natural communities. However, for some species, urban areas, can represent suitable environment for life and even enable them to maintain stable and abundant populations. Urban ecosystems are not homogenous; within human settlements we can find several different habitats which can be occupied by species with different tolerance to certain aspects of urban life. This diversity can be exhibited by interhabitat changes in species richness, diversity and abundances of local communities. Here, we investigated biodiversity patterns in bird communities of two urban habitats, parks and cemeteries, in three Central European countries. Data on species richness, diversity and abundances of birds were collected from published papers as well as unpublished sources. Our analyses revealed that bird species richness was positively correlated with area and age of trees in both habitat types. There was however no significant relationship between species diversity and area in both habitat types. Moreover, species composition of bird communities significantly varied between cemeteries and parks with strong preference for one of habitat types in several species. Predominant occupancy of habitat type by certain species could be linked to interhabitat differences in vegetation structure, human behaviour and management. Interestingly, several bird species often recognised as urban avoiders were detected in surveyed cemeteries and parks.     

One size does not fit all: The complex relationship between biodiversity and psychological well-being

Conserving urban biodiversity is often promoted as a ‘win-win’ nature-based solution that can help align public health and biodiversity conservation agendas. Yet, research on the relationship between biodiversity and psychological well-being reveals inconsistent and complex results. This body of research is also restricted to a few socio-cultural and environmental contexts and tends to ignore differences in individual characteristics, such as nature relatedness (i.e., emotional affinity to nature) and ecological knowledge, that can influence people’s experience of biodiversity. The aim of this interdisciplinary research is to explore the relationships between biodiversity and psychological well-being, and test the moderating effect of nature relatedness and ecological knowledge on these relationships. An ecological survey was conducted in 24 small urban gardens in Israel to measure the richness and abundance of birds, butterflies and plants, as well as land cover characteristics. In parallel, a social survey (close-ended questionnaires) was conducted in-situ to measure psychological well-being, nature relatedness, ecological knowledge, perceived species richness and socio-demographic variables. Psychological well-being measures were mostly associated with the cover of woody species, perceived species richness, and to a lesser extent, with actual species richness and abundance, for all taxa. Nature relatedness moderated these relationships. Respondents with high nature relatedness demonstrated positive well-being-richness relationships, while those with intermediate, or low nature relatedness showed no, or even negative relationships, respectively. Opposite relationships were recorded for bird abundance. Overall, individuals demonstrated poor ecological knowledge and this variable moderated only few relations between well-being measures, perceived butterfly richness and bird abundance. Our results demonstrate that one-size-does-not-fit-all when considering the relationship between psychological well-being and biodiversity, and that affinity to nature is a key moderator for this relationship. Designing urban green spaces that provide inclusive and meaningful nature experiences and foster emotional affinity to nature, is therefore key to aligning ecological and social objectives for sustainable urban planning.