What impact do cities have on biodiversity along urban watercourses?

A team of researchers, including MARE researchers Sónia Serra, Ana Raquel Calapez and Maria João Feio, recently published the article “The overlooked margins: how cities impact diversity of plants and terrestrial invertebrates along urban streams” in the scientific journal Springer.

For the article, the researchers studied the impact of urbanization on riparian zone flora and terrestrial invertebrates. To this end, nine urban streams covering a gradient of urbanization in the city of Coimbra were used as a case study. During the research, a large number of taxa were identified: around 163 plants and 80 terrestrial invertebrates, making up 80% of new records for the region, as well as a rare endemic plant.

With this study, the researchers observed that natural spaces built along watercourses, such as parks, support less biodiversity. In addition, plant richness was negatively correlated with the percentages of surrounding impermeable areas, and positively correlated with water quality. These observations show that urbanization has negative effects on riparian vegetation, and that water quality has an impact on aquatic and terrestrial communities.

The results of this research highlight the importance of riparian zones for the preservation of biodiversity, which is why the researchers recommend less intense intervention in these areas in order to increase biodiversity.

To access the article click HERE