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Impact of urban structure on avian diversity along the Truckee River, USA

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Abstract

Urban riparian habitats are potentially important resources for native birds in arid ecosystems. Most studies have assessed the value of urban riparian habitat in terms of vegetation and natural resources; however, the surrounding land use and infrastructure may determine the viability of urban habitat. We studied the impact of urban structure, the combination of land use, infrastructure and vegetation variables that work together to shape the urban environment, on avian riparian habitat in the Truckee Meadows, Nevada, USA. Land use and infrastructure explained avian species richness and abundance better than local vegetation alone, but community resemblance was more strongly correlated to vegetation. Avian species guilds responded differentially to surrounding land use, suggesting there may be a functional difference between land use types. The best models for bird diversity used urban structure (both land use and vegetation) to describe potential habitat. Urban structure describes urban habitat in ways that vegetation variables alone cannot. Studies that ignore land use and infrastructure and other socioeconomic variables are likely missing key functional differences within urban ecosystems, and may miss the potential for compatible development that encourages both biodiversity and urban growth.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank P. Weisberg for his guidance throughout this study. We also wish to thank J. Stefka, A. Robbins, A. Murdukhayeva and P. Marin for assistance in the field, and C. Mortin for python programming assistance.

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  1. Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Program, Department of Geography, University of Nevada, Reno, Mail Stop 0154, Reno, NV, 89557, USA

    E. Jamie Trammell

  2. Department of Geography, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

    E. Jamie Trammell & Scott Bassett

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  1. E. Jamie Trammell
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Correspondence to E. Jamie Trammell.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

Individual variable correlations to avian community resemblance along the urbanized portion of the Truckee River, Nevada, USA. Variables are ordered in terms of their p-value (lowest to highest) and Mantel’s r statistic (highest to lowest), and organized by variable type (vegetation vs. land use and infrastructure). NDVI had the highest single variable correlation to community resemblance, though several land use planning variables had significant correlations as well. The variables in bold were used to create a vegetation and land use and infrastructure dissimilarity matrix to compare as a whole to avian community resemblance.

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Trammell, E.J., Bassett, S. Impact of urban structure on avian diversity along the Truckee River, USA. Urban Ecosyst 15, 993–1013 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-012-0251-6

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