Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
A global analysis of the impacts of urbanization on bird and plant diversity reveals key anthropogenic drivers
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Volume 281, No. 1780, Article 20140038, Year 2014
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
Urbanization contributes to the loss of the world's biodiversity and the homogenization of its biota. However, comparative studies of urban biodiversity leading to robust generalities of the status and drivers of biodiversity in cities at the global scale are lacking. Here, we compiled the largest global dataset to date of two diverse taxa in cities: birds (54 cities) and plants (110 cities). We found that the majority of urban bird and plant species are native in the world's cities. Few plants and birds are cosmopolitan, the most common being Columba livia and Poa annua. The density of bird and plant species (the number of species per km2) has declined substantially: only 8% of native bird and 25% of native plant species are currently present compared with estimates of non-urban density of species. The current density of species in cities and the loss in density of species was best explained by anthropogenic features (landcover, city age) rather than by non-anthropogenic factors (geography, climate, topography). As urbanization continues to expand, efforts directed towards the conservation of intact vegetation within urban landscapes could support higher concentrations of both bird and plant species. Despite declines in the density of species, cities still retain endemic native species, thus providing opportunities for regional and global biodiversity conservation, restoration and education. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
Available Materials
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC4027400/bin/rspb20133330supp1.pdf
Authors & Co-Authors
Aronson, Myla F.J.
United States, New Brunswick
Rutgers University–new Brunswick
la Sorte, Frank A.
United States, Ithaca
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Nilon, Charles H.
United States, Columbia
University of Missouri
Katti, Madhusudan
United States, Fresno
California State University, Fresno
Goddard, Mark A.
United Kingdom, Leeds
University of Leeds
Lepczyk, Christopher A.
United States, Honolulu
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Warren, Paige S.
United States, Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Williams, Nicholas S.G.
Australia, Melbourne
University of Melbourne
Cilliers, Sarel S.
South Africa, Potchefstroom
North-west University
Clarkson, Bruce D.
New Zealand, Hamilton
The University of Waikato
Dobbs, Cynnamon
Australia, Melbourne
University of Melbourne
Dolan, Rebecca W.
United States, Indianapolis
Butler University
Hedblom, Marcus
Sweden, Uppsala
Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet
Klotz, Stefan
Germany, Leipzig
Helmholtz Zentrum Für Umweltforschung
Kooijmans, Jip Louwe
Netherlands, Zeist
Vogelbescherming Nederland
Kühn, Ingolf
Germany, Leipzig
Helmholtz Zentrum Für Umweltforschung
MacGregor-Fors, Ian
Mexico, Xalapa
Instituto de Ecología, A.c.
McDonnell, Mark J.
Australia, Melbourne
University of Melbourne
Mörtberg, Ulla M.
Sweden, Stockholm
The Royal Institute of Technology Kth
Pyšek, Petr
Czech Republic, Pruhonice
Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic, Prague
Charles University
South Africa, Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch University
Siebert, Stefan John
South Africa, Potchefstroom
North-west University
Sushinsky, Jessica R.
Australia, Brisbane
The University of Queensland
Werner, Peter
Germany, Darmstadt
Institute for Housing and Environment
Winter, Marten
Germany, Leipzig
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Idiv Halle-jena-leipzig
Statistics
Citations: 1,202
Authors: 24
Affiliations: 22
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1098/rspb.2013.3330
ISSN:
09628452
e-ISSN:
14712954