A trait‐based ecology of the Los Angeles urban forest

Pataki, Diane E.; McCarthy, Heather R.; Gillespie, Thomas W.; Jenerette, G. Darrel; Pincetl, Stéphanie

doi:10.1890/es13-00017.1

Cited by 62 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…We used an ecosystem‐service‐based trait classification (Pataki et al. , Avolio et al. ) that was developed to identify plant traits that provided desired services to urban residents (Avolio et al.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biodiverse cities: the nursery industry, homeowners, and neighborhood differences drive urban tree composition

Avolio

Pataki

Trammell

et al. 2018

Ecological Monographs

137

116

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Abstract. In arid and semiarid regions, where few if any trees are native, city trees are largely human planted. Societal factors such as resident preferences for tree traits, nursery offerings, and neighborhood characteristics are potentially key drivers of urban tree community composition and diversity, however, they remain critically understudied. We investigated patterns of urban tree structure in residential neighborhoods of the Salt Lake Valley, Utah, combining biological variables, such as neighborhood and plant nursery tree species and trait composition, and sociological data comprised of resident surveys and U.S. Census data. We sampled nine neighborhoods that varied in household income and age of homes. We found more tree species were offered in locally owned nurseries compared with mass merchandiser stores and yard trees at private residences were more diverse than public street trees in the same neighborhoods. There were significant differences among neighborhoods in street and yard tree composition. Newer neighborhoods differed from older neighborhoods in street tree species composition and trait diversity, while neighborhoods varying in affluence differed in yard tree composition. Species richness of yard trees was positively correlated with neighborhood household income, while species richness of street trees was negatively correlated with home age of neighborhood residences. Tree traits differed across neighborhoods of varying ages, suggesting different tree availability and preferences over time. Last, there was a positive correlation between resident preferences for tree attributes and the number of trees that had those attributes both in residential yards and in nursery offerings. Strong relationships between social variables and urban tree composition provides evidence that resident preferences and nursery offerings affect patterns of biodiversity in cities across Salt Lake Valley. These findings can be applied toward efforts to increase taxonomic and functional diversity of city trees in semiarid regions in ways that will also provide ecosystem services of most interest to residents.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, urban plant research has started to use ecosystem‐service‐based traits (Pataki et al. , Avolio et al. ) or ecological amenity traits (Zhang and Jim ) that are more directly relevant to the preferences of urban residents purchasing and managing plants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiverse cities: the nursery industry, homeowners, and neighborhood differences drive urban tree composition

Avolio

Pataki

Trammell

et al. 2018

Ecological Monographs

137

116

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“…A small but growing literature has explored residential tree planting choices (Avolio et al, in press;Kirkpatrick, Davison, & Daniels, 2012;Pataki, McCarthy, Gillespie, Jenerette, & Pincetl, 2013); changes in species available through retail nurseries (Pincetl, Prabhu, Gillespie, Jenerette, & Pataki, 2013); historic trends in trees planted in public parks (Loeb, 1989;Profous & Loeb, 1984;Stalter, 1981); and the type of information needed to help tree planters choose appropriate species (Sjöman & Nielsen, 2010). However, it remains unclear how key professionals and organizations involved in current tree planting and supply make species selection decisions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growing a diverse urban forest: Species selection decisions by practitioners planting and supplying trees

Conway¹,

Vecht²

2015

Landscape and Urban Planning

136

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“…We expected functional turnover differences to be weak, given regional‐scale constraints on traits compatible with the urban environment (Reichard & White ; Pataki et al. ; Calfapietra et al. ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential organization of taxonomic and functional diversity in an urban woody plant metacommunity

Swan

Johnson

Nowak

2016

Applied Vegetation Science

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Questions Urban ecosystems present an opportunity to study ecological communities in the context of unprecedented environmental change. In the face of urban land conversion, ecologists observe new patterns of species composition, dominance, behaviour and dispersal. We propose a hypothetical socioeconomic template that describes a gradient in human investment in community composition to aid in organizing the human role in shaping urban biodiversity. We asked: (1) what is the relative magnitude of taxonomic and functional turnover of urban woody plant communities across different land‐use types; and (2) do land uses exhibiting higher intensity of human management of biodiversity support higher turnover over those with less human influence? Location Baltimore, MD, USA (39°17′ N, 76°38′ W). Methods We examined patterns in woody plant biodiversity across 209 plots of different urban land uses. Six land‐use types were arranged along a gradient in the intensity through which humans are hypothesized to manage species composition at the plot scale. We calculated local, or α‐diversity, and compositional turnover, or β‐diversity, of taxonomic and functional diversity across plots within each land‐use type. We compared the magnitude of these biodiversity measures between land uses to test our conceptual template for how the intensity of human management can predict urban woody plant biodiversity. Results We observed high taxonomic turnover in residential and commercial plots compared with vacant or open space land‐use areas. This was associated with a weaker, but similar, pattern in functional diversity. This was associated with low total abundance in residential and commercial plots. Furthermore, the number of unique species was extremely high in the same land‐use types. Conclusions Our observations help explain why turnover can be high in heavily managed plots relative to vacant land. In patches without heavy human management, we found low levels of turnover. This highlights the importance of assessing diversity both locally and at the level of turnover between patches. Management and policy can benefit from the perspective embodied in the conceptual approach tested here.

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A trait‐based ecology of the Los Angeles urban forest

Cited by 62 publications

References 62 publications

Biodiverse cities: the nursery industry, homeowners, and neighborhood differences drive urban tree composition

Biodiverse cities: the nursery industry, homeowners, and neighborhood differences drive urban tree composition

Growing a diverse urban forest: Species selection decisions by practitioners planting and supplying trees

Differential organization of taxonomic and functional diversity in an urban woody plant metacommunity

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