Changes in reptile and amphibian communities across urbanization gradients in eastern North America
Urbanization is expected to alter animal communities, but few studies have generalized beyond patterns in individual cities. We used community-science data on reptiles and amphibians from 17 cities in North America to determine: 1) how species richness differs between cities and surrounding areas, 2...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Global Ecology and Conservation |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989423003694 |
| _version_ | 1827636104287748096 |
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| author | David M. Marsh Thomas Finnegan Ian Kinney Sellers Smith Cecily R. Stern |
| author_facet | David M. Marsh Thomas Finnegan Ian Kinney Sellers Smith Cecily R. Stern |
| author_sort | David M. Marsh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urbanization is expected to alter animal communities, but few studies have generalized beyond patterns in individual cities. We used community-science data on reptiles and amphibians from 17 cities in North America to determine: 1) how species richness differs between cities and surrounding areas, 2) whether the degree of landcover change in cities vs. surroundings is related to the magnitude of change in species richness, 3) whether urban communities are more similar to each other or to their surrounding areas, and 4) what characteristics of reptile and amphibian species predict how sensitive they are to urbanization. We found that species richness tended to be somewhat lower (10–20%) in cities as compared to surrounding areas. For reptiles, the magnitude of decrease in richness appeared to be primarily related to the degree of change in impervious surface cover, whereas for amphibians these changes tracked differences in canopy cover. There was little evidence of urban homogenization– city communities tended to cluster with their surrounding areas rather than with other cities. For individual species, those that were less represented in observations from cities tended to be more dependent on canopy cover and on specialized breeding habitats such as streams or vernal pools. Our results suggest that cities are capable of supporting a relatively high richness of reptiles and amphibians. However, maintenance of this richness may require attention to habitat protection and restoration, particularly for less common aquatic habitats. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:36:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e5717e9494fe404395bdc8b4e7d5efbb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2351-9894 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:36:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Ecology and Conservation |
| spelling | doaj.art-e5717e9494fe404395bdc8b4e7d5efbb2023-11-26T05:12:54ZengElsevierGlobal Ecology and Conservation2351-98942023-12-0148e02734Changes in reptile and amphibian communities across urbanization gradients in eastern North AmericaDavid M. Marsh0Thomas Finnegan1Ian Kinney2Sellers Smith3Cecily R. Stern4Correspondence to: Department of Biology, 204 W. Washington St., Lexington, VA, USA.; Department of Biology, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA 24450, USADepartment of Biology, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA 24450, USADepartment of Biology, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA 24450, USADepartment of Biology, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA 24450, USADepartment of Biology, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA 24450, USAUrbanization is expected to alter animal communities, but few studies have generalized beyond patterns in individual cities. We used community-science data on reptiles and amphibians from 17 cities in North America to determine: 1) how species richness differs between cities and surrounding areas, 2) whether the degree of landcover change in cities vs. surroundings is related to the magnitude of change in species richness, 3) whether urban communities are more similar to each other or to their surrounding areas, and 4) what characteristics of reptile and amphibian species predict how sensitive they are to urbanization. We found that species richness tended to be somewhat lower (10–20%) in cities as compared to surrounding areas. For reptiles, the magnitude of decrease in richness appeared to be primarily related to the degree of change in impervious surface cover, whereas for amphibians these changes tracked differences in canopy cover. There was little evidence of urban homogenization– city communities tended to cluster with their surrounding areas rather than with other cities. For individual species, those that were less represented in observations from cities tended to be more dependent on canopy cover and on specialized breeding habitats such as streams or vernal pools. Our results suggest that cities are capable of supporting a relatively high richness of reptiles and amphibians. However, maintenance of this richness may require attention to habitat protection and restoration, particularly for less common aquatic habitats.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989423003694AmphibianReptileUrbanizationCitiesHomogenizationSpecies Richness |
| spellingShingle | David M. Marsh Thomas Finnegan Ian Kinney Sellers Smith Cecily R. Stern Changes in reptile and amphibian communities across urbanization gradients in eastern North America Global Ecology and Conservation Amphibian Reptile Urbanization Cities Homogenization Species Richness |
| title | Changes in reptile and amphibian communities across urbanization gradients in eastern North America |
| title_full | Changes in reptile and amphibian communities across urbanization gradients in eastern North America |
| title_fullStr | Changes in reptile and amphibian communities across urbanization gradients in eastern North America |
| title_full_unstemmed | Changes in reptile and amphibian communities across urbanization gradients in eastern North America |
| title_short | Changes in reptile and amphibian communities across urbanization gradients in eastern North America |
| title_sort | changes in reptile and amphibian communities across urbanization gradients in eastern north america |
| topic | Amphibian Reptile Urbanization Cities Homogenization Species Richness |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989423003694 |
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