Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 28, 2025
07:00
Microbiota of Attine Ants' Gardens: Visualizing a Microbial Landscape by Scanning Electron Microscopy
Published on: October 4, 2024
648
Avian diversity and function across the world's most populous cities
James Richardson1, Alexander C Lees1,2, Eliot T Miller2
1Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK.
Ecology Letters
|May 30, 2023
Summary
Urban areas host fewer bird species than expected, with habitat type influencing avian richness and function. Arid cities retain more regional bird species, highlighting global urban ecology patterns.
Area of Science:
- Urban Ecology
- Avian Biodiversity
- Conservation Science
Background:
- Understanding urban wildlife composition is vital for biodiversity and ecosystem services.
- Crowdsourced data from 5 million eBird checklists analyzed avian communities in 137 global cities.
- Examined the impact of urban characteristics on avian richness and function.
Discussion:
- Less than half of regional bird species inhabit cities, showing a phylogenetic signal for urban tolerance.
- Open forests, cultivation, and wetlands positively influenced avian richness.
- Wetlands significantly impacted avian functional diversity, which co-declined with richness.
Key Insights:
- Granivores and aquatic birds persist even in species-poor urban sites.
- Cities in arid regions exhibited a higher percentage of regional species richness.
- Global cities share common habitat influences on avian richness and function.
Outlook:
- Urban planning can enhance biodiversity by incorporating specific habitat features.
- Further research needed on niche availability and phylogenetic diversity in urban ecosystems.
- Conservation strategies must consider the unique ecological dynamics of urban environments.
Related Concept Videos
02:55The Evidence for Evolution
43.1K
Genetic variations accumulating within populations over generations give rise to biological evolution. Evolutionary changes can result in the formation of novel varieties and entire new species. These changes are responsible for the diverse forms of life inhabiting the planet. The evidence for evolution suggests that all living organisms descended from common ancestors.
43.1K
01:24Biodiversity and Human Values
13.2K
Human civilization relies on biodiversity in many ways. Sudden changes in species biodiversity result in environmental changes that can modify weather patterns and therefore human civilizations.
13.2K
01:19What is Biodiversity?
27.5K
Biodiversity describes the variety of living things at multiple organizational levels: genetic, species and ecosystem diversity. Species diversity includes all branches of the evolutionary tree from single-celled prokaryotic organisms, bacteria, and archaea, to the eukaryotic kingdoms: plants; animals; fungi; and protists. To date, there have been about 1.75 million species identified, and new species are discovered every week.
27.5K
01:50Threats to Biodiversity
22.5K
There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...
22.5K
01:24Diversity of Archaea II
40
Archaea, one of the three domains of life, exhibit remarkable diversity and adaptability, thriving in both extreme and moderate environments. Historically, most identified archaea have been classified into two major phyla: Euryarchaeota and Crenarchaeota. However, recent molecular studies have expanded this classification to include three additional phyla: Thaumarchaeota, Nanoarchaeota, and Korarchaeota, each exhibiting unique characteristics and ecological roles.Thaumarchaeota: Mesophiles...
40
01:13Cell Diversity
3.3K
The concept of a cell started with microscopic observations of dead cork tissue by Robert Hooke in 1665. Hooke coined the term "cell" based on the resemblance of the small subdivisions in the cork to the rooms that monks inhabited, called cells. About ten years later, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek became the first person to observe the living and moving cells under a microscope. In the century that followed, the theory that cells represented the basic unit of life developed.
Multicellular...
Multicellular...
3.3K