The value of green belts in urban sprawl: A case study OD Taichung City, Taiwan

Abstract

The role of green belts is not only to provide the recreation for human activities but also to improve environmental quality and to provide refuges for wildlife under intensified urban development. After the new demarcation of administrative areas, the influx and construction of industrial zones and commercial buildings has caused a major change of the original landscape in the Dadu hill area in Taichung City, Taiwan. The aims of this study are to provide recommendations pertaining the design of ecological corridors to improve the connectivity of the remaining green places, and the assessment of the health of habitat for the developed urban area. We compared the biodiversity (birds, mammals, plantation) and carbon flux in three different suburban areas including a campus, a metropolitan park and an undeveloped woodland in regular disturbance by human and fire. According to the results of habitat similarity, the metropolitan park and campus were grouped with the higher diversity of birds, but the woodland had the higher diversity of plantation and mammals. Seasonal change is the main factor which affects the carbon flux and vegetation growth situation, and the disturbance by human activities and canopy and coverage by plantation are the causes of fluctuations. The habitat assessment which integrated the biodiversity and carbon flux provided another angle to evaluate the greenbelt design comprehensively. However, the quantification of the whole ecosystem service value is a further direction of environment management, especially in green place conserving under the urban sprawl.