Department of Entomology, National Chung Hsing University, 145, Xingda Rd. South District, Taichung, 402, Taiwan, ROC.
Sci Rep. 2020 Sep 29;10(1):16043. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-73121-0.
The urbanization process systematically leads to the loss of biodiversity. Only certain arthropods are resilient to the urbanization process and can thrive in the novel conditions of urbanized landscapes. However, the degree to which arthropod communities survive in urban habitats depends on landscape and local effects and biological interactions (e.g., trophic interactions). In the present study, we examined the relative importance of various factors at landscape (isolation, edge density and area of surrounding greenery) and local (size of park, canopy cover, understory vegetation cover, defoliation depth, weight of dried leaves, soil temperature, soil moisture, and soil pH) spatial scales on the diversity of ants, beetles and spiders in urban parks. Our results indicated that park edge density was negatively correlated with diversity metrics in ants, beetles, and spiders in urban parks relative to the degree of proximity with the peri-urban forest. In other words, parks that located adjacent to the peri-urban forest may not necessarily have high biodiversity. The results suggested that man-made structures have been effective dispersal barriers that limit the spillover effects of ants and spiders but not the spillover of comparatively strong fliers, such as beetles. However, the area of surrounding greenery may have facilitated the colonization of forest-dependent taxa in distant parks. Large parks with reduced edge density supported a higher arthropod diversity because of the minimal edge effect and increased habitat heterogeneity. Vegetation structure consistently explained the variability of ants, beetles, and spiders, indicating that understory plant litter is crucial for providing shelters and hibernation, oviposition, and foraging sites for the major taxa in urban parks. Therefore, efforts should focus on the local management of ground features to maximize the conservation of biological control in urban landscapes.
城市化进程会系统性地导致生物多样性丧失。只有某些节肢动物能够适应城市化进程，并在城市景观的新条件下茁壮成长。然而，节肢动物群落在城市生境中的生存程度取决于景观和局部效应以及生物相互作用（例如，营养相互作用）。在本研究中，我们研究了在景观（隔离度、边缘密度和周围绿地面积）和局部（公园大小、冠层覆盖率、林下植被覆盖率、落叶深度、干叶重量、土壤温度、土壤湿度和土壤 pH）空间尺度上，各种因素对城市公园中蚂蚁、甲虫和蜘蛛多样性的相对重要性。我们的研究结果表明，相对于与城市森林的接近程度，公园边缘密度与城市公园中蚂蚁、甲虫和蜘蛛的多样性指标呈负相关。换句话说，与城市森林相邻的公园不一定具有高生物多样性。结果表明，人造结构已成为有效的扩散障碍，限制了蚂蚁和蜘蛛的溢出效应，但不会限制相对较强的飞虫（如甲虫）的溢出效应。然而，周围的绿地面积可能促进了依赖森林的类群在遥远公园的定殖。边缘密度较小的大型公园支持更高的节肢动物多样性，因为最小的边缘效应和增加的生境异质性。植被结构始终解释了蚂蚁、甲虫和蜘蛛的可变性，表明林下植物凋落物对于为城市公园中的主要类群提供庇护所、冬眠、产卵和觅食场所至关重要。因此，应集中精力对地面特征进行局部管理，以最大限度地保护城市景观中的生物防治。
