UDTR Global Rights of Nature Radar

Designing urban green-space heterogeneity across urbanisation gradients to maintain avian richness

Identification

Public canonical key

radar:r-57185c0d76c8e99bdd9ec5553313e4eb

Authors

Jie Hu · Danique van Os · Joeri Morpurgo · Michiel P. Veldhuis · Roy Paco Remme · G.R. de Snoo · Yali Si

Reported year

2026

Reported language

en

Source type

preprint

First detected

2026-11-14T02:13:07.687523+00:00

Last metadata observation

2026-11-14T02:13:07.687523+00:00

Last HTTP verification

Not checked

Institutions reported by the source

Leiden University · Naturalis Biodiversity Center · HAS green academy · Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences

Reported affiliation countries

NL

Documentary abstract — original language

Abstract Urban expansion drives land cover change and habitat simplification, contributing to biodiversity loss. Urban green spaces can mitigate these impacts, but their effectiveness depends on its configuration and implementation. Here, we examine how three complementary dimensions of environmental heterogeneity—plant species richness, habitat heterogeneity, and foliage-layer richness—shape bird richness along an urbanisation gradient in the Netherlands. Using bird and plant occurrence data, LiDAR-derived vegetation structure, and land-use data, we fitted generalized additive models at three spatial scales (100, 200, and 300 m) to assess how these relationships vary across the urbanisation gradient. Plant species richness showed the strongest and consistent positive effect on bird richness, disregarding urbanization intensities. Habitat heterogeneity showed most pronounced positive effects at intermediate levels of urbanisation. In contrast, foliage-layer richness had weak associations with bird richness across urbanization intensities. Together, these results demonstrate that sustaining urban bird diversity requires urbanisation-intensity–dependent design of green-space heterogeneity. Increasing plant richness is generally recommended across urbanization intensities. Increasing habitat heterogeneity is more effective at intermediate levels of urbanisation and appears less suitable in highly urbanised contexts. Beyond simply expanding green space area or their spatial complexity alone, urban planning should focus on the thoughtful design of different types of environmental heterogeneity. This includes city-wide species-rich planting and structurally diverse habitat mosaics in mid-density areas to sustain urban bird diversity.

Identifiers

OPENALEX

https://openalex.org/W7128915572

DOI

10.64898/2026.02.12.705555

Documentary context

Documentary family

preprint

Source-reported types

preprint

Entity mentions are not evidence of legal recognition. Jurisdiction studied is separate from author affiliation country.

Sources

OpenAlex · Record 1

• Document · https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.02.12.705555

Documentary status

Relevance pending

Library

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