Recreational use of urban and suburban forests affects plant diversity in a Western Siberian city

Vakhlamova, Tatyana; Rusterholz, Hans‐Peter; Kamkin, Victor; Baur, Bruno

doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2016.03.009

Cited by 25 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…According to McDonell [34], the species richness along the rural-urban gradient depended on the species concerned, but trees often increase towards the city center. Studies by Mutlu [35], Roy and Mukherjee [36], Vakhlamova [37], Nagendra and Gopal [6,12] also showed similar results of the dominance of exotic species over native species in the urban regions. Our results were found in contrast with the study by McKinney [32], which stated that compared to rural areas, the urban region has lower species diversity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Tree Diversity and Tree Community Composition in Northern Part of Megacity Bengaluru, India

et al. 2022

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Trees are natural capital assets, especially for cities, as they provide immense environmental benefits and improve urban biodiversity and ecology. However, urbanization has largely destroyed the original native ecosystems and has caused a homogenization where frequently native species are replaced by non-native species. When attempting to understand the role of trees in urban settings, it is important to generate science-based data on the spatial distribution of trees, their species composition and tree species diversity as a function of the degree of urbanization. Such information may specifically inform the planning of effective long-term management of trees across urban and rural gradients. A total of 23 of 1 ha each were surveyed along a Northern research transect laid out along the urban–rural gradient of the metropolitan area of Bengaluru, India. Plots were randomly selected from the stratum “settlement areas”, where WorldView-3 imagery supported both stratification and plot selection. The plots were fully mapped for trees, where a total of eleven variables had been observed for each tree. In addition, the basal area and wood volume was calculated to understand the biomass potential of the trees in the plots. The diversity indices such as the Shannon index, Simpson index, Pielou’s evenness and Margalef’s richness were considered for comparing the species diversity, composition and distribution along the gradient of Bengaluru. A total of 1128 individuals of 93 tree species were recorded. Among 92 species identified along the northern gradient, 53 are exotic, and 39 are native species. The Shannon–Wiener index varied from 1.33 to 2.72; Simpson’s index varied from 0.65 to 0.90; Pielou’s index varied from 0.66 to 0.90, and Margalef’s index ranged from 1.41 to 5.20 along the gradient. The basal area increased from 96.39 m2 to 102.76 m2 from 2017 to 2019 along the transect, with a net gain of 6.37 m2. Similarly, the wood volume increased from 1819.57 m3 to 1926.23 m3 with a net gain of 106.66 m3. The present study reports on tree distribution, species composition and tree species diversity along a gradient from the city center to the rural surroundings of northern parts of Bengaluru city. The information generated may support the city planners/administrators by providing a holistic understanding of the species composition and abundance for a further selection of adaptive species and appropriate tree and vegetation management practices to conserve the existing green spaces and contribute towards sustainable urban planning. The sample plots laid out may also serve as permanent observation plots for monitoring the dynamics of tree cover in the city.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Tree Diversity and Tree Community Composition in Northern Part of Megacity Bengaluru, India

et al. 2022

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“…The sites examined in this study were partially artificially created by river regulation and further developed due to natural processes (accumulation, succession). Increased penetration intensity by invasive species and degradation of indigenous plant communities is expected to be intensified by increasing pressure from recreational activities [79], and the future may be bleak for the remnants of natural forest in urban environments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

You Can’t See the Woods for the Trees: Invasive Acer negundo L. in Urban Riparian Forests Harms Biodiversity and Limits Recreation Activity

et al. 2019

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Public access to high quality green environments has become a key issue for city managers and a matter of environmental justice. Urban pressures on ecosystem remnants may act to favor the expansion of some invasive species in cities. Whilst the negative impacts of invasive species on ecosystem function is well documented, little is known about how invasive species influence the use of green space by people. Here, we examined one of the few remnants of urban riparian forests in Europe, the Vistula river valley in Warsaw, which has recently become an attractive recreation site. Despite their high ecological value, the poplar and willow forests have been increasingly taken over by the invasive tree species Acer negundo. We examined the status of the invasion process and the relationship between recreational ecosystem services and the characteristics of the tree stands—tree species, tree density, and age and NDVI values. We found the willow forest to be more susceptible to invasion by A. negundo than the poplar forest, which was revealed in significantly higher share of the maple individuals and their greater volume per unit area. Ash-leaved maples also prevailed in numbers in younger stands (<10 years) than in older ones. The presence of A. negundo affected biodiversity, resulting in decreased undergrowth density and biodiversity expressed in number of species. The use intensity by the public, assessed on the basis of soil compaction of existing informal tracks, as revealed by GLM analysis, was related to volume of invasive maple and distance from the main track. This study highlights the need to integrate invasive species management into green infrastructure planning and management.

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“…High population density proximity to urban forests poses strong recreational pressures that contribute to the loss of biodiversity (Vakhlamova et al 2016). When the forests are exposed to a high level of disturbances, native species are removed creating space for invasion by the alien species (Bonanomi et al 2018).…”

Section: Disturbance and Invasionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest structure and anthropogenic disturbances regulate plant invasion in urban forests

Aryal

Bhusal

et al. 2021

Urban Ecosyst

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Urban forest ecosystems, the structure and functions therein, are subjected to anthropogenic disturbances. Native and sensitive species from those forests might be lost due to such disturbances. At the same time, supplemented anthropogenic resources might create opportunities for exotic and invasive species. Although, invasive species are considered as one of the major threats to the urban biodiversity and ecosystems, the researches on invasion dynamics in the Himalayas have mostly focused on the impacts of invasion on forest structure and productivity. This study aims to understand the in uence of forest structure and anthropogenic factors in invasion success that are poorly covered in the existing literature. We selected 11 urban forest patches for the study considering the presence-absence of selected invasive species and structural attributes. We used Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to reduce colinearity in the covariates and generalized linear mixed effects model (GLMM) to identify the factors affecting the invasion success. We found that the structural attributes of the forests and anthropogenic disturbances regulated invasion success in urban forests. This implies that maintaining urban forest structural attributes, especially maintaining the stands with large-sized trees, are essential to regulate and control invasion in the context of urbanization.

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Recreational use of urban and suburban forests affects plant diversity in a Western Siberian city

Cited by 25 publications

References 36 publications

Tree Diversity and Tree Community Composition in Northern Part of Megacity Bengaluru, India

Tree Diversity and Tree Community Composition in Northern Part of Megacity Bengaluru, India

You Can’t See the Woods for the Trees: Invasive Acer negundo L. in Urban Riparian Forests Harms Biodiversity and Limits Recreation Activity

Forest structure and anthropogenic disturbances regulate plant invasion in urban forests

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