Original articleHow urban green management is influencing passerine birds’ nesting in the Mediterranean: A case study in a Catalan city
Graphical abstract
Introduction
The richness and diversity of bird communities in cities depends on the richness and diversity of the urban green spaces. The bioclimatic area and the type and degree of urbanisation (Clergeau et al., 2006) determine bird communities distribution in urban green spaces. However, the maximum richness and diversity of such bird communities is not necessarily achieved in less urbanised areas (Jokimäki and Suhonen, 1993; Carbó-Ramírez and Zuria, 2011). Bird communities select habitats of different degree of urbanisation accordingly to their habits. For instance, in high urbanised areas there are anthropophilic species, which take profit from the human activities, whereas in low urbanised areas bird species living in agroforestry vegetation turn up (Boada and Capdevila, 2000; Burger et al., 2004; Marzluff and Rodewald, 2008; Parker and Nilon, 2012).
Therefore, birds can find suitable habitats under optimal conditions for their living in urban green spaces, such as appropriate microclimate and refuge, large quantities of food resources, less competition between species and less predation in the nesting areas (Ortega-Álvarez and MacGregor-Fors, 2009; Camprodon and Guixé, 2012). The design and management of urban green spaces will thus affect the diversity and richness of these bird communities. Two factors play a key role in this regard: the composition and the structure of the vegetation of these urban green spaces (MacGregor-Fors and Schondube, 2011). On the one hand, the composition of plant communities is intimately related to the diversity of birds (James and Wamer, 1982; Huang et al., 2015). For instance, in the city of Vinnytsia (Ukraine), researchers found significant correlations between the heterogeneity and abundance of trees with the richness and density of birds. This study also showed a positive correlation between bird diversity and plant flowering richness (Blinkova and Shupova, 2017). On the other hand, the volume and density of plants in the urban green are positively related to birds’ richness and diversity (Savard et al., 2000; Mella and Loutit, 2007), so the thinning of trees and shrubs is counterproductive (Camprodon and Brotons, 2006; Yang et al., 2015). Similarly, inappropriate structure of the vegetation in green urban spaces could cause a further reduction in the diversity of birds (Ge et al., 2005; Xu et al., 2007; Yang et al., 2015).
Particularly, trees are considered as one of the most important elements to increase bird richness and diversity in urban green spaces (Palomino and Carrascal, 2006; Yang et al., 2015; Weaving et al., 2016). Tree canopies provide sheltering, nesting sites and feeding opportunities (Munyenyembe et al., 1989; Steele and Koprowski, 2001). Specially, birds use dense tree canopies, tree trunk with holes and branches that produce fruits or seeds. It is also important to consider that the presence of these resources for birds’ refuge, nesting and breeding promotes the access of adjacent flora and fauna into the urban green spaces (Briz, 1999, 2004; Boada and Sànchez, 2012). To sum up, the promotion of urban green management actions leading to a suitable composition and structure of the vegetation in cities can potentially entail an improvement in the diversity and richness of birds living in there (Camprodon and Brotons, 2006; Shanahan et al., 2011).
The vast majority of studies about richness and diversity of birds in urban environments focus on the breeding success, e.g. by analysing nests’ depredation rates and showing that it is higher when associated with specific mammals and predatory birds (Miller et al., 1998; Matthews et al., 1999; Jokimäki and Huhta, 2000; Reale and Blair, 2005; Phillips et al., 2005; Bakermans and Rodewald, 2006; Burhans and Thompson, 2006; Smith-Castro, 2008). In the case of mediterrenean cities, nest depredation is caused mainly by the presence of cats (Stracey, 2011) and magpies (Bonnington et al., 2015), though the only magpie species present in the city (Pica pica) prefers the nearby rural areas instead of the urban ones (Andrén, 1992). Similarly, other works performed in peri-urban areas show that the rate of depredation of nests at low height may be higher due to the high influx of domestic animals (Miller et al., 1998) whereas those located at higher height remain better conserved (Smith-Castro, 2008). However, only few research has addressed the effects of the vegetation patterns on bird nesting in urban green spaces.
The main goal of this article is to study the effect of different socio-ecological factors related to public urban green management on the richness and diversity of nests of the passerine bird order in the Catalan Mediterranean city of Valls. First, we made inventories of the ornamental vegetation in public urban green spaces of the city of Valls and characterised its biodiversity; second, passerine nests were collected, identified and characterized in the study area; and third, the relationship between both concepts was analysed. The relationship between socio-ecological factors and the bird nesting may become a tool for urban green managers and technicians that positively consider urban biodiversity.
Section snippets
Study area: the urban area of the city of Valls
The city of Valls is located at the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, at an altitude of 215 m a.s.l.. The total urban area of the municipality is 2.06 km2 (though the municipality contains up to 53.2 km2 of non-urban spaces) and the city has a population of 22,537 inhabitants in 2018 (Ajuntament de Valls, 2018). The city has a typical Mediterranean climate characterised by soft winters and dry and warm summers. The annual precipitation is 524 mm and the average temperature is 16 °C (on
Characterization of ornamental vegetation biodiversity in Valls’ urban green
Our inventory show that the city of Valls presents 81 different plant families, 152 genera and 239 different species (species richness, S). For the sake of a better understanding, the biodiversity of Valls is compared to Barcelona’s. Though remarkable, Barcelona reaches a higher number of vegetation species, up to 1172. All species living in the city of Valls can be found as well in the city of Barcelona. Some of the most common species from both cities coincide in the ranking of most populated
Conclusions
In this article we investigated the relationship between several socio-ecological factors linked with public urban green management and their effects on the nesting of the passerine bird order in the Mediterranean city of Valls. Findings show that urban green biodiversity indices (Shannon-Weaver and Simpson) of the city of Valls fall within common range for a standard Mediterranean city. While the biodiversity results for trees and bushes were above the average, herbs and lianas were below.
Conflict of interest
None.
Acknowledgements
To Salvador Filella for nest identification, without him this paper wouldn’t have been possible. To Albert Cama for birds inventory and Esperança Carrió for helping on paper design. ICTA team, Valls Council and its gardeners and at the company Ferrovial Servicios. Adrià Costa for the design of the maps. The study got a grant from Barcelona Council (project “Biodiversitat urbana i benestar”) and from Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiviness (project “Estrategias territoriales y bases para
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