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When it comes to the conservation and preservation of biodiversity, green spaces play a fundamental role, especially in urban areas, as they are essential habitats for biodiversity. The overall diversity that a city harbors depends on the size, quantity, and quality of its urban green spaces (UGSs), which not only provide ecological services and well being to humans but contain flora and fauna richness that contributes significantly to biodiversity.
The variety of urban green spaces contain different taxa, and this include but is not limited to plantings, green roofs, bioswales, community gardens, city parks, home gardens, unmanaged vacant lots and brownfields, as well as remnant natural areas. However, not all green spaces represent the same value in terms of biodiversity. For instance, the increase of green roofs in cities has contributed to urban biodiversity conservation, as numerous species have been identified on site following studies. Though, one of the drawbacks of green roofs is the increasing height of buildings, which represents a limitation for certain flying species.
Some species might require different types of habitats within the same area, for example mobile species such as birds move across larger areas for food storage or nesting, or due to environmental and anthropogenic conditions. Urban green spaces help provide connectivity between habitats, which helps reduce fragmentation and conserve biodiversity, while spatial configuration and distribution of habitats determine the species distribution and migration. Connectivity between different green spaces and, therefore, different taxa, is the result of the development of urban green space networks that aim to protect and restore existing green spaces and create new ones.
Due to urbanization and agricultural expansion, UGSs are responsible for maintaining biodiversity while facing the rapidly increase of land degradation, habitat loss, fragmentation, and biodiversity extinction in natural ecosystems. Hence, it is crucial to develop and protect green spaces in human-dominated urban areas, as they are vital for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation, as well as for improving human well-being in cities.
Sources:
Lepczyk, C. A. et al. Biodiversity in the city: Fundamental questions for understanding the ecology of urban green spaces for biodiversity conservation. BioScience 67, 799–807 (2017).
Kong, F., Yin, H., Nakagoshi, N. & Zong, Y. Urban Green Space Network Development for Biodiversity Conservation: Identification based on graph theory and gravity modeling. Landscape and Urban Planning 95, 16–27 (2010).
Muluneh, M. G. & Worku, B. B. Contributions of urban green spaces for climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation in Dessie City, northeastern Ethiopia. Urban Climate 46, 101294 (2022).