title: Evaluating green infrastructure in urban environments using a multi-taxa and functional diversity approach.
abstract: Forested areas within cities host a large number of species, responsible for many ecosystem services in urban areas. The biodiversity in these areas is influenced by human disturbances such as atmospheric pollution and urban heat island effect. To ameliorate the effects of these factors, an increase in urban green areas is often considered sufficient. However, this approach assumes that all types of green cover have the same importance for species. Our aim was to show that not all forested green areas are equal in importance for species, but that based on a multi-taxa and functional diversity approach it is possible to value green infrastructure in urban environments. After evaluating the diversity of lichens, butterflies and other-arthropods, birds and mammals in 31 Mediterranean urban forests in south-west Europe (Almada, Portugal), bird and lichen functional groups responsive to urbanization were found. A community shift (tolerant species replacing sensitive ones) along the urbanization gradient was found, and this must be considered when using these groups as indicators of the effect of urbanization. Bird and lichen functional groups were then analyzed together with the characteristics of the forests and their surroundings. Our results showed that, contrary to previous assumptions, vegetation density and more importantly the amount of urban areas around the forest (matrix), are more important for biodiversity than forest quantity alone. This indicated that not all types of forested green areas have the same importance for biodiversity. An index of forest functional diversity was then calculated for all sampled forests of the area. This could help decision-makers to improve the management of urban green infrastructures with the goal of increasing functionality and ultimately ecosystem services in urban areas.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal; Centro de Recursos Naturais e Ambiente, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal. Electronic address: ppinho@fc.ul.pt.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pinho
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Otília
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Correia
authors.affiliation: ISPA - Instituto Universitário, Unidade de Investigação em Eco-Etologia, Portugal.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lecoq
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Silvana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Munzi
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal; Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, Portugal.
authors.forename: Sasha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vasconcelos
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rebelo
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal; PPG-Ecologia, Instituto Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil, Portugal.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Antunes
authors.affiliation: Department for Environment, Climate, Energy and Mobility, City Council of Almada, Portugal.
authors.forename: Patrícia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Department for Environment, Climate, Energy and Mobility, City Council of Almada, Portugal.
authors.forename: Catarina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.affiliation: Department for Environment, Climate, Energy and Mobility, City Council of Almada, Portugal.
authors.forename: Nuno
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Margarida
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santos-Reis
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Branquinho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D001717:Birds; D002080:Butterflies; D002947:Cities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D065928:Forests; D008011:Lichens; D008322:Mammals; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D014507:Urbanization
keywords: Environmental management; Functional groups; Functional traits; Peri-urban forests; Urban ecology