Designing nature networks for cities: combining multi-species modelling approaches.

Area of Science:

• Urban ecology and conservation biology
• Biodiversity assessment and habitat connectivity

Background:

• Urban habitats are fragmented and often of poor quality, limiting biodiversity, especially for small species like insect pollinators.
• Enhancing habitat connectivity is critical for urban biodiversity and is a growing priority in urban planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare two distinct approaches for assessing urban ecological corridors: a species-specific resistance modeling method and a landscape-level planning approach.
• To identify discrepancies between the two methods and pinpoint priority areas for habitat creation or management to improve urban biodiversity.

Main Methods:

• Mapped pollinator habitat suitability using biological records and applied circuit theory (resistance modeling) to assess connectivity and identify movement bottlenecks ('pinch points').
• Compared species-specific connectivity analysis with a landscape-level approach developed by urban planners, which uses core habitat patches and least-cost paths.

Main Results:

• Both approaches identified 39 km² of overlapping corridors.
• The species-specific modeling identified 31 'pinch points' for pollinator movement that were not included in the corridors defined by urban planners.

Conclusions:

• A species-specific modeling approach reveals critical movement constraints missed by current urban planning frameworks.
• Integrating diverse modeling approaches and fostering collaboration among planners, researchers, and citizen scientists is recommended for effective urban corridor design.