Evaluation and planning of wildlife habitat in urban landscape

Abstract

We compared the response of various taxonomic groups, birds, butterflies, ants, trees and ferns, in the large city of Osaka, Japan in order to examine relationships between the abundance and arrangement of the habitats, and life history trait of the species. We presented species specific responses to habitat fragmentation. Species richness decreased more rapidly in birds than ants from the urban to rural ends of the urban gradient, and butterflies were intermediate. Birds were influenced by the habitat area and distance to species source. In contrast, ants were less influenced by habitat area, but were susceptible to the history of the isolated habitats. In ants, trees and ferns, some rare species occurred even in small habitats and the small habitats contributed to species diversity in the urban areas. Simultaneously, variation of the life history affected the distribution of species. For example, Parus majorcould breed in urban area by using scattered trees in an urban matrix; their home range enlarged in the urban area to secure sufficient food. One of the major goals of urban landscape ecology is to use scientific information to restore and preserve biodiversity in urban ecosystems. Some examples of planning and adaptive management for wildlife habitats in urban landscapes were introduced © 2007 Springer Netherlands.