Structure and composition of field margin vegetation in the rural-urban interface of Bengaluru, India: a case study on an unexplored dimension of agroecosystems

Nautiyal, Sunil; Goswami, Mrinalini; Nidamanuri, ‪Rama Rao; Hoffmann, E.; Buerkert, Andreas

doi:10.1007/s10661-020-08428-6

Cited by 11 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…However, the focus of our study was on agricultural systems and as such, the most essential service upon which smallholder farmers depends, is pest removal by insectivorous birds (Garcia et al, 2020; Maas et al, 2015; Olimpi et al, 2020). The stronger losses of those insectivorous birds is thus particularly worrying in the context of the rapid urban expansion of Bangalore (i.e., built‐up area increases of 176% between 1991 and 2018 in our north transect; see Nautiyal et al, 2020), which is swallowing the surrounding agricultural landscapes. Additionally, this rapid urban development, compared to cities in temperate areas, is recent and still in progress.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…The stronger losses of those insectivorous birds is thus particularly worrying in the context of the rapid urban expansion of Bangalore (i.e., built-up area increases of 176% between 1991 and 2018 in our north transect; see Nautiyal et al, 2020), which is swallowing the surrounding agricultural landscapes. Additionally, this rapid urban development, compared to cities in temperate areas, is recent and still in progress.…”

Section: Potential Implications For Ecosystem Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Taxonomic and functional homogenization of farmland birds along an urbanization gradient in a tropical megacity

Marcacci

Westphal

Wenzel

et al. 2021

Global Change Biology

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Urbanization has been identified as one of the main drivers of biodiversity decline and biotic homogenization worldwide (Faeth et al., 2011;McKinney, 2006). The accelerating expansion of urban areas leads to severe land-use changes and can affect biodiversity and ecosystem functions in persistent ways through habitat degradation or destruction, urban warming and pollution (Grimm et al., 2008;McKinney, 2008). Moreover, cities are growing at an exponential rate with already half of the world population considered as urban dwellers (United Nations, 2018). On top of that, current projections estimate that this number will further increase to reach 68% by 2050

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Potential Implications For Ecosystem Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taxonomic and functional homogenization of farmland birds along an urbanization gradient in a tropical megacity

Marcacci

Westphal

Wenzel

et al. 2021

Global Change Biology

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show abstract

“…), form large colonies (compared to bumblebees, which are characterized by much smaller colonies in temperate regions) and are essential for crop pollination (Mukherjee et al, 2019). The rapid urban expansion of Bengaluru (e.g., built-up area increases of 176% between 1991 and 2018 in our north transect; Nautiyal et al, 2020) poses a major threat to crop pollination in urban agricultural systems because it is swallowing up the surrounding agricultural landscapes, with negative consequences on bee abundance. The promotion of beneficial seminatural habitats that provide nesting opportunities for social bee species (e.g., A. florea), such as structurally rich hedges around cropping fields, should be fostered to conserve pollinator communities and safeguard crop pollination in urban farms at the landscape scale (Beyer et al, 2020;Ganser et al, 2021;Klein et al, 2012).…”

Section: Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

Functional diversity of farmland bees across rural–urban landscapes in a tropical megacity

Marcacci

Graß

Rao

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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Urbanization poses a major threat to biodiversity and food security, as expanding cities, especially in the Global South, increasingly compete with natural and agricultural lands. However, the impact of urban expansion on agricultural biodiversity in tropical regions is overlooked. Here we assess how urbanization affects the functional response of farmland bees, the most important pollinators for crop production. We sampled bees across three seasons in 36 conventional vegetable‐producing farms spread along an urbanization gradient in Bengaluru, an Indian megacity. We investigated how landscape and local environmental drivers affected different functional traits (sociality, nesting behavior, body size, and specialization) and functional diversity (functional dispersion) of bee communities. We found that the functional responses to urbanization were trait specific with more positive than negative effects of gray area (sealed surfaces and buildings) on species richness, functional diversity, and abundance of most functional groups. As expected, larger, solitary, cavity‐nesting, and, surprisingly, specialist bees benefited from urbanization. In contrast to temperate cities, the abundance of ground nesters increased in urban areas, presumably because larger patches of bare soil were still available beside roads and buildings. However, overall bee abundance and the abundance of social bees (85% of all bees) decreased with urbanization, threatening crop pollination. Crop diversity promotes taxonomic and functional diversity of bee communities. Locally, flower resources promote the abundance of all functional groups, and natural vegetation can maintain diverse pollinator communities throughout the year, especially during the noncropping season. However, exotic plants decrease functional diversity and bee specialization. To safeguard bees and their pollination services in urban farms, we recommend (1) preserving seminatural vegetation (hedges) around cropping fields to provide nesting opportunities for aboveground nesters, (2) promoting farm‐level crop diversification of beneficial crops (e.g., pulses, vegetables, and spices), (3) maintaining native natural vegetation along field margins, and (4) controlling and removing invasive exotic plants that disrupt native plant–pollinator interactions. Overall, our results suggest that urban agriculture can maintain functionally diverse bee communities and, if managed in a sustainable manner, be used to develop win–win solutions for biodiversity conservation of pollinators and food security in and around cities.

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Introduction to Field Margin Vegetation (FMV)

Nautiyal

Goswami

Shivakumar

2021

Environmental Science and Engineering

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Structure and composition of field margin vegetation in the rural-urban interface of Bengaluru, India: a case study on an unexplored dimension of agroecosystems

Cited by 11 publications

References 30 publications

Taxonomic and functional homogenization of farmland birds along an urbanization gradient in a tropical megacity

Taxonomic and functional homogenization of farmland birds along an urbanization gradient in a tropical megacity

Functional diversity of farmland bees across rural–urban landscapes in a tropical megacity

Introduction to Field Margin Vegetation (FMV)

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