Muller Jonathon N, Loh Susan, Braggion Ligia, Cameron Stephen, Firn Jennifer L
School of Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences, Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Creative Industries, School of Design, Queensland University of Technology Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Front Plant Sci. 2014 Oct 30;5:517. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2014.00517. eCollection 2014.
Buildings structures and surfaces are explicitly being used to grow plants, and these "urban plantings" are generally designed for aesthetic value. Urban plantings also have the potential to contribute significant "ecological values" by increasing urban habitat for animals such as arthropods and by increasing plant productivity. In this study, we evaluated how the provision of these additional ecological values is affected by plant species richness; the availability of essential resources for plants, such as water, light, space; and soil characteristics. We sampled 33 plantings located on the exterior of three buildings in the urban center of Brisbane, Australia (subtropical climatic region) over 2, 6 week sampling periods characterized by different temperature and rainfall conditions. Plant cover was estimated as a surrogate for productivity as destructive sampling of biomass was not possible. We measured weekly light levels (photosynthetically active radiation), plant CO2 assimilation, soil CO2 efflux, and arthropod diversity. Differences in plant cover were best explained by a three-way interaction of plant species richness, management water regime and sampling period. As the richness of plant species increased in a planter, productivity and total arthropod richness also increased significantly-likely due to greater habitat heterogeneity and quality. Overall we found urban plantings can provide additional ecological values if essential resources are maintained within a planter such as water, light and soil temperature. Diverse urban plantings that are managed with these principles in mind can contribute to the attraction of diverse arthropod communities, and lead to increased plant productivity within a dense urban context.
建筑物结构和表面正被明确用于种植植物，这些“城市种植”通常是出于美学价值而设计的。城市种植还有潜力通过增加节肢动物等动物的城市栖息地以及提高植物生产力来贡献重要的“生态价值”。在本研究中，我们评估了这些额外生态价值的提供如何受到植物物种丰富度、植物必需资源（如水、光、空间）的可利用性以及土壤特性的影响。我们在澳大利亚布里斯班市中心（亚热带气候区）的三栋建筑物外部的33个种植区进行了采样，采样期为2个为期6周的时间段，其特点是温度和降雨条件不同。由于无法对生物量进行破坏性采样，因此将植物覆盖度作为生产力的替代指标进行估算。我们每周测量光照水平（光合有效辐射）、植物二氧化碳同化量、土壤二氧化碳通量和节肢动物多样性。植物覆盖度的差异最好由植物物种丰富度、管理水情和采样期的三向相互作用来解释。随着种植盆中植物物种丰富度的增加，生产力和节肢动物总丰富度也显著增加，这可能是由于栖息地的异质性和质量更高。总体而言，我们发现，如果种植盆内保持水、光和土壤温度等必需资源，城市种植可以提供额外的生态价值。考虑到这些原则进行管理的多样化城市种植有助于吸引多样化的节肢动物群落，并在密集的城市环境中提高植物生产力。
