Mahmuda Sharmin, Mark G Tjoelker, Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez, Alihan Katlav, Amy-Marie Gilpin, Paul D Rymer, Sally A Power
In urban areas, diverse and complex habitats for biodiversity are often lacking. This lack of diversity not only compromises essential ecological processes, such as pollination and nutrient cycling, but also diminishes the resilience of urban ecosystems to pests and diseases. To enhance urban biodiversity, a possible solution is to integrate shrubs alongside trees, thereby increasing the overall amount of vegetation, structural complexity and the associated resource diversity. Here, using a common garden experiment involving a variety of trees and shrubs planted alone and in combination, we evaluate how canopy-associated invertebrate assemblages are influenced by vegetation type...
April 16, 2024: Scientific Reports