The influence of landscape structure on the diversity of avifauna species in tropical urban areas of Northeastern Zimbabwe

Variations in avifauna species diversity are subject to environmental factors as well as interactions with other species. We evaluated how landscape structure can influence the composition and distribution of avifauna species groups in a tropical urban landscape from the understudied region of the H...

Celý popis

Uložené v:
Podrobná bibliografia
Vydané v:Biodiversity (Nepean) Ročník 21; číslo 4; s. 182 - 197
Hlavní autori: Muderere, Trymore, Murwira, Amon, Kativu, Shakkie, Tagwireyi, Paradzayi, Chiweshe, Ngoni
Médium: Journal Article
Jazyk:English
Vydavateľské údaje: Nepean Taylor & Francis 01.10.2020
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Predmet:
Avifauna
Biodiversity
Composition
Empirical analysis
Environmental factors
Geographical distribution
Habitats
issues and policy
Land cover
Land use
Landscape
landscape fragmentation
landscapes
Metropolitan areas
Multivariate analysis
Remote sensing
Savannahs
savannas
Species diversity
SPOT 5
Urban areas
Urban development
Urban environments
urban landscape ecology
Urban planning
Urbanization
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
ISSN:1488-8386, 2160-0651, 2160-0651
On-line prístup:Získať plný text
Tagy: Pridať tag
Žiadne tagy, Buďte prvý, kto otaguje tento záznam!
Popis
Shrnutí:Variations in avifauna species diversity are subject to environmental factors as well as interactions with other species. We evaluated how landscape structure can influence the composition and distribution of avifauna species groups in a tropical urban landscape from the understudied region of the Harare metropolitan area in Northeastern Zimbabwe. We sampled avifauna species groups and computed patch metrics (size, shape and isolation distance) using remotely sensed data from 35 census plots representing five land use/land cover classes. Using multivariate analysis techniques, we found three habitat patch characteristics distinguishing avifauna species diversity and distribution, namely patch shape complexity (R 2  = 0.47-0.64), patch size (R 2  = 0.55-0.62) and isolation distance (R 2  = 0.73-0.78). In this study, we discuss the implications of these findings with a view to better understanding the effects of urban landscape structure on avifauna species diversity in this understudied region. In particular, contextual landscape features such as native savanna vegetation accompanied by dispersed urban development patterns could mitigate the negative impacts of urbanization on biodiversity. This study may be useful in helping to understand landscape structure-biodiversity linkages in ecosystems outside tropical savannas, as well as in other urban areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Key policy insights provide empirical information for review of town planning by-laws and align zoning proposals to habitat requirements of avifauna species, inform preparation of environmental action plans to restore degraded landscapes and ecosystems and, inform development of subdivision layout design guidelines by managing the size, shape, isolation distance and LULC composition of habitat fragments.
Bibliografia:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
content type line 23
ISSN:1488-8386
2160-0651
2160-0651
DOI:10.1080/14888386.2020.1842244