Local and landscape drivers of arthropod abundance, richness, and trophic composition in urban habitats

Abstract

Urban green spaces, such as forest fragments, vacant lots, and community gardens, are increasingly highlighted as biodiversity refuges and are of growing interest to conservation. At the same time, the burgeoning urban garden movement partially seeks to ameliorate problems of food security. Arthropods link these two issues (conservation and food security) given their abundance, diversity, and role as providers of ecosystem services like pollination and pest control. Many previous studies of urban arthropods focused on a Author's personal copy single taxon (e.g. order or family), and examined either local habitat drivers or effects of landscape characteristics. In contrast, we examined both local and landscape drivers of community patterns, and examined differences in abundance, richness, and trophic structure of arthropod communities in urban forest fragments, vacant lots, and community gardens. We sampled ground-foraging arthropods, collected data on 24 local habitat features (e.g., vegetation, ground cover, concrete), and examined land-cover types within 2 km of 12 study sites in Toledo, Ohio. We found that abundance and richness of urban arthropods differed by habitat type and that richness of ants and spiders, in particular, varied among lots, gardens, and forests. Several local and landscape factors correlated with changes in abundance, richness, and trophic composition of arthropods, and different factors were important for specific arthropod groups. Overwhelmingly, local factors were the predominant (80 % of interactions) driver of arthropods in this urban environment. These results indicate that park managers and gardeners alike may be able to manage forests and gardens to promote biodiversity of desired organisms and potentially improve ecosystem services within the urban landscape.

Initial conditions during Technosol implementation shape earthworms and ants diversity

“…Similar to Philpott et al (2014), we observed a negative effect of the amount of surrounding vegetation in a 100m-radius on ant abundance failing to our last hypothesis (H3). Some ants could have the ability to use impervious surface as habitats more than vegetated patches.…”

Local and Landscape Correlates of Spider Activity Density and Species Richness in Urban Gardens

“…Our family richness and morphospecies richness are similar to other spider studies that were performed in central California, or that had similar methods. In past non-California urban habitat studies that used pitfall traps, family richness averaged at 18 spider families and 64 morphospecies (Moorhead and Philpott 2013, Gardiner et al 2014, Philpott et al 2014). Fraser and Frankie (1986) compared spider communities in urban and natural habitats in Berkeley, CA, and found a total of 20 families and 75 morphospecies, with Gnaphosidae and Lycosidae dominant in pitfall traps for both habitat types.…”

Local food: benefits and failings due to modern agriculture

“…If local agriculture and food is to be truly beneficial, it is important that local agriculture conserves the biodiversity of the agro-ecosystem. Thus, it is the role of sustainable agriculture to contribute to the conservation of organisms that play important activities such as pollination and pest control (Philpott et al, 2014).…”