Diversity and richness of the herbaceous plants on urbanized and non-urbanized dunes on the Brazilian Amazonian coast - Ingrid Fabiana Fonseca Amorim; Patrícia Barbosa Lima; Francisco Soares Santos-Filho; Eduardo Bezerra de Almeida (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Carabid specialists respond differently to nonnative plant invasion in urban forests - J. Christina Mitchell; Vincent D’Amico; Tara L. E. Trammell; Steven D. Frank (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Free-roaming dogs in Ushuaia City, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. How many and why - Emiliano Arona; Adrián Schiavini (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Urban ecology and biological studies in Brazilian cities: a systematic review - Richieri Antonio Sartori; Abraão Gomes; Amanda Narcizo; Stella Mata; Anna Thereza Cárcamo; Rayanne Moreira Andrade Matos; Ângelo Antônio Corrêa; Mariana Henriques Santana; Maura Andrade Vieira; Henrique Rajão (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Space–time analysis of the earth's surface temperature, surface urban heat island and urban hotspot: relationships with variation of the thermal field in Andalusia (Spain) - David Hidalgo García; Julián Arco Díaz (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)
Understanding just how the increase in the Earth's Surface Temperature (LST) is related to alterations of the urban climate —Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) or Urban Hotspots (UHS)— and with the deterioration of cities´ environmental quality has become a great challenge. Societies worldwide seek actions that might break these trends and improve the quality of life of local inhabitants in the face of climate change. In this research, and with the help of Sentinel 3 satellite images (day and night), the space–time variability of the LST and the SUHI over the metropolitan areas of the capitals of Andalusia (Spain) during the year 2021 was studied to evaluate how these variables, together with the Land Use/Land Cover (LULC), may have influenced the variability of the UHS and the level of thermal comfort according to the Thermal Field Variance Index (UTFVI). As results, an important spatial variability of the LST, SUHI, UHS, and the different classes of UTFVI is reported. The diurnal UHS are found mainly in rural areas without vegetation, whereas the night UHS are distributed in urban areas with impervious surfaces.

Snake life history traits and their association with urban habitat use in a tropical city - Damian Christopher Lettoof; Tom Parkin; Chris James Jolly; Alana de Laive; Brenton von Takach (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)
Urbanisation changes landscapes, often simplifying and homogenising natural ecosystems while introducing novel environments. Although this transformation often adversely impacts native wildlife, generalist species that exhibit broad dietary and habitat requirements can persist and take advantage of urban environments. To understand which life history traits most influence the occurrence of a diverse snake assemblage in an urban environment, we leveraged a dataset of 5102 detection records for 12 snake species in the tropical city of Darwin, Australia. By building ecological niche models, calculating urban niche hypervolume, and compiling life history data, we analysed the diversity of environments occupied by each species and determined which landscape components were most associated with occurrence data. In keeping with our hypothesis that generalist species would be more successful, we found that species with broader habitat and dietary preferences, as well as a penchant for arboreality, were associated with larger urban niche hypervolumes and more frequent human–snake interactions. Additionally, we found that colubrid snakes had significantly larger urban niche hypervolumes than elapid species. These findings contribute to understanding how life history traits aid wildlife persistence in, and adaptation to, urban ecosystems, and have implications for landscape design and conservation management.

Urbanization and plant diversity influence different aspects of floral phenology - Aaron N. Sexton; Sarah Benton; Sarah M. Emery (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Probabilistic modeling of sustainable urban drainage systems - A. Raimondi; M. G. Di Chiano; M. Marchioni; U. Sanfilippo; G. Becciu (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)
Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) include strategies and solutions for distributed stormwater management and control. They are strongly encouraged, especially in highly urbanized areas that suffer the combined effect of impervious surfaces and the increase in extreme rainfall events due to urbanization growth and climate change. Their integration into traditional urban drainage systems can mitigate flood risk and pollution of receiving water bodies. The main goal of SUDS is to restore the natural water balance by increasing infiltration and evapotranspiration processes and promoting rainwater harvesting and reuse. This paper proposes an analytical-probabilistic approach for SUDS modeling applicable to different systems. Developed equations allow estimating the runoff and residual storage probability for evaluating the efficiency of the storage volume both in terms of flood control and, depending on SUDS type, in terms of emptying time or water needs supply. The modeling considers the possibility of consecutive chained rainfalls; this feature is relevant for SUDS, often characterized by low outflow rates. Relating characteristic parameters to a probabilistic level (the Average Return Interval, ARI) makes the formulas interesting to be used in the design practice. An application to two case studies confirmed the goodness of the proposed method.

Reproductive differences between urban and forest birds across the years: importance of environmental and weather parameters - Agnès Saulnier; Josefa Bleu; Anne Boos; Maurice Millet; Sandrine Zahn; Pascale Ronot; Islah El Masoudi; Emilio R. Rojas; Pierre Uhlrich; Mirella Del Nero; Sylvie Massemin (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Ant species richness in the urban mosaic: size is more important than location - Jeremy Boeing; Kaya Cuper; Sean B. Menke (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Is urban stream restoration really a wicked problem? - Christopher S. Herrington; Kimberly Horndeski (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Effect of environmental and microhabitat variables on tardigrade communities in a medium-sized city in central Argentina - Belen Rocío Ostertag; Alejandra Mariana Rocha; Andrea Ximena González-Reyes; Carla Etel Suárez; Alfonsina Grabosky; Irene Luisa Doma; José Corronca (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Modeling the spatial distribution of multiple ecosystem services in Ilam dam watershed, Western Iran: identification of areas for spatial planning - Mohsen Tavakoli; Fatemeh Mohammadyari (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Soil properties that differentiate urban land use types with different surface geology in Southwest Nigeria - Ayodele O. Adelana; EmilOlorun A. Aiyelari; Gabriel A. Oluwatosin; Kayode S. Are (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Phenology of grassland plants responds to urbanization - Tina Christmann; Ingo Kowarik; Maud Bernard-Verdier; Sascha Buchholz; Anne Hiller; Birgit Seitz; Moritz von der Lippe (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)
Understanding phenological responses of plants to changing temperatures is important because of multiple associated ecological consequences. Cities with their urban heat island can be used as laboratories to study phenological adaptation to climate change. However, previous phenology studies focused on trees and did not disentangle the role of micro-climate and urban structures. We studied reproductive phenology of dry grassland species in response to micro-climate and urbanization in Berlin, Germany. Phenological stages were recorded weekly at the individual plant level for five native grassland species across 30 dry grassland sites along an urbanization and temperature gradient. We estimated 50% onset probabilities for flowering and seed maturation of populations, and analysed variation in onset dates using regression models. Early flowering species significantly advanced flowering phenology with increasing mean air temperature but were little influenced by urbanization. By contrast, late-flowering species showed significant phenological responses to both air temperature and urbanization, possibly because micro-climate was most affected by urbanization in late summer. Surprisingly, not all grassland species showed an advanced phenology with increasing intensity of urbanization. This contradicts observed patterns for urban trees, indicating that phenological shifts in urban areas cannot be generalized from the observation of one growth form or taxonomic group. Growth form appears as a possible determinant of phenological responses. Results suggest that the phenology of dry grassland species may directly respond to the urban heat island, albeit with variable direction and magnitude. This has implications for ecosystem services, shifted allergy seasons, changes of biogeochemical cycles and potential ecological mismatches.

Landscape -scale predictors of persistence of an urban stock dove Columba oenas population - James Richardson; Alexander C. Lees; Stuart Marsden (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)
While a few species may thrive in urban areas, urban expansion is a major driver of biodiversity loss. Columbids such as feral Rock Doves ( Columba livia domestica ) and Common Woodpigeon ( Columba palumbus ) have adapted extremely well to the urban environment in Europe and beyond, but the Stock Dove ( Columba oenas ), a bird of farmland and woodland edge in the UK and of national conservation concern, is encountered infrequently in urban areas. Here we explore the multi-scale landscape associations of the little-studied Stock Dove within the urban matrix of Greater Manchester, UK, in order to identify its habitat requirements. We built a pilot model from historical citizen science records to identify potentially occupied sites within the city, and then surveyed these sites for Stock Dove during Spring 2019. We combined the survey results with citizen science records from the same period and described the habitat and landscape characteristics of sites occupied by Stock Dove using four variables at different scales plus twelve unscaled variables. We used a three-stage random forest approach to identify a subset of these variables for interpretation and a subset for prediction for the presence of Stock Dove within these sites. Key variables for predicting Stock Dove presence were their relative abundance in the landscape immediately beyond the core urban area, the greenness (NDVI) of the environment around sites, and the canopy cover of individual trees over 20 m high within sites. Stock Doves tended to be associated with habitats with more surface water during the non-breeding season than the breeding season. Our results highlight the importance of large trees within urban greenspace for this cavity-nesting species, softer boundaries around urban sites for Stock Doves and stock dove presence in nearby areas. While Stock Dove share many traits with species that are successful in the urban environment, they remain relatively poor urban adapters.

Correction to: Detecting nestedness in city parks for urban biodiversity conservation - Rui-Qi Chen; Su-Ting Cheng (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Information needed for coastal management: perceptions of research and protection of shorebirds on a coastal beach are influenced by visitor type, age and gender - Joanna Burger; Larry Niles; Grace Dillingham; Amanda Dey; Stephanie Feigin; Kelly Ng (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

A systematic review of Rat Ecology in Urban Sewer Systems - Xiaocong Guo; Chelsea G. Himsworth; Michael J. Lee; Kaylee A. Byers (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Management is more important than urban landscape parameters in shaping orthopteran assemblages across green infrastructure in a metropole - Katharina Huchler; Bärbel Pachinger; Matthias Kropf (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)
Urbanisation significantly shapes species abundance, diversity, and community structure of invertebrate taxa but the impact on orthoptera remains widely understudied. We investigated the combined effects of spatial, urban landscape and management-related parameters. Additionally, we discussed different sampling strategies. We sampled orthopteran assemblages on green infrastructure associated with the public transport system of Vienna, Austria. Sampled areas include railroad embankments, recreational areas or fallows. Using LMs, (G)LMMs and nMDS, we compared quantitative sampling using transect counts and semi-quantitative sampling which also included observations made off-transects. We found that vegetation type was the most important parameter, whereby structure-rich fallows featured highest species diversities and, together with extensive meadows, highest abundances, while intensive lawns were less suitable habitats. The semi-quantitative data set revealed an underlying species-area-relationship (SAR). Other important but highly entangled parameters were the mowing intensity, vegetational heterogeneity and cover of built-up area in a 250 m radius. Most found species have high dispersal abilities. Urban assemblages are most significantly shaped by management-related parameters on the site itself, which highlights the potential of conservation efforts in urban areas through suitable management. Sites of different vegetation types differ greatly and need adjusted management measures. Urban landscape parameters, such as the degree of soil sealing, appeared less important, likely due to the high dispersal abilities of most observed orthoptera species. The indicated species-area-relationship could be used to prioritize sites for conservation measures.

Assessment of four urban forest as environmental indicator of air quality: a study in a brazilian megacity - Mauro Ramon; Andreza Portella Ribeiro; Carolina Yume Sawamura Theophilo; Edson Gonçalves Moreira; Plínio Barbosa de Camargo; Carlos Alberto de Bragança Pereira; Erlandson Ferreira Saraiva; Armando dos Reis Tavares; Antonio Guerner Dias; David Nowak; Maurício Lamano Ferreira (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

How urbanization and industrialization shape breeding bird species occurrence in coastal Mediterranean oasis system - Foued Hamza; Saâd Hanane; Mohammed Almalki; Mohamed-Ali Chokri (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Potential habitat and carrying capacity of endangered San Joaquin kit foxes in an urban environment: implications for conservation and recovery - Brian L. Cypher; Nicole A. Deatherage; Tory L. Westall; Erica C. Kelly; Scott E. Phillips (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Categorization of green and grey infrastructure complexity in the rural–urban interface of Bengaluru, India: an unsupervised volumetric approach with relevance for urban quality - Nils Nölke; Lutz Fehrmann; Tobias Plieninger; Christoph Kleinn (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)
Trees are key elements of urban green infrastructure and provide multiple ecosystem services that are essential for the quality of life of people in urban environments. Grey infrastructure is made up of buildings or built-up area, generally characterized by imperviousness of the surface. The complexity of urban green and grey infrastructure and their interactions co-define the quality of urban life and the ecological value of urban areas. Using conventional dichotomies by separation into “urban” and “rural” contexts does hardly allow to comprehensively assess the situation in rapidly urbanizing environments of the Global South. We present an unsupervised remote sensing-based approach that integrates 3D information to objectively categorize the complexity of green and grey infrastructure. Using the rural–urban interface of Bengaluru, India, as a case example, we distinguished five categories that describe the composition and configuration of green and grey infrastructure, where three variables served as indicators for categorization into five clusters. We argue that such integrated 3D assessment of green and grey infrastructure is particularly useful for understanding and classifying “rurban” environments, where a distinction between urban and rural is often no longer possible. Our final map allows to quantitatively characterize such rurban configurations.

An improved method for the identification and setting of ecological corridors in urbanized areas - Jiake Shen; Yuncai Wang (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Public perception of urban wildlife during a COVID-19 stay-at-home quarantine order in Chicago - Maureen H. Murray; Kaylee A. Byers; Jacqueline Buckley; Elizabeth W. Lehrer; Cria Kay; Mason Fidino; Seth B. Magle; Danielle German (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

How close can we get? Tolerance to human approximation of invasive doves vs. native doves - Monserrat Suárez-Rodríguez; Jorge E. Schondube; Morelia Camacho-Cervantes (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Differential response of migratory guilds of birds to park area and urbanization - Michael T. Murphy; David C. Bailey; Nathanael I. Lichti; Laura A. Roberts (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Detecting the tipping point between heat source and sink landscapes to mitigate urban heat island effects - Ting Liu; Shuai Ouyang; Mengmeng Gou; Hailiang Tang; Yue Liu; Liang Chen; Pifeng Lei; Zhonghui Zhao; Chuanhong Xu; Wenhua Xiang (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

College squirrels gone wild? Using Sciurus carolinensis behavior to assess the ecosystem value of urban green spaces - Adam D. Kay; Michael T. Hughes; Maddie G. Ammend; Mckenzie R. Granger; Jake J. Hodge; Jamaal Mohamud; Ellie A. Romfoe; Halima Said; Liam Selden; Alex L. Welter; Justa L. Heinen-Kay (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Effects of urban land-use types on avifauna assemblage in a rapidly developing urban settlement in Ghana - Joseph K. Afrifa; Kweku A. Monney; Justus P. Deikumah (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Spatiotemporal assessment of land surface temperature and vegetation in tropical urban areas - Carlos Magno Moreira de Oliveira; Alba Valéria Rezende; Edson Eyji Sano; Eraldo Aparecido Trondoli Matricardi; Rafael Coll Delgado (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Urbanization and a green corridor influence reproductive success and pollinators of common milkweed - Sophie Breitbart; Albert Tomchyshyn; Helene H. Wagner; Marc T.J. Johnson (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Estimating the pollination supply of urban green spaces to determine suitable areas for urban agriculture in the city of Tehran - Ehsan Rahimi; Shahindokht Barghjelveh; Pinliang Dong (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)

Foxes at your front door? Habitat selection and home range estimation of suburban red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) - Halina T. Kobryn; Edward J. Swinhoe; Philip W. Bateman; Peter J. Adams; Jill M. Shephard; Patricia A. Fleming (Urban Ecosystems, 2023)
The red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ) is one of the most adaptable carnivorans, thriving in cities across the globe. We used GPS-tracking of five suburban foxes across high-density residential suburbs of Perth, Western Australia to quantify (1) their habitat selection and (2) home range area. All five foxes showed statistically significant avoidance of residential locations (p < 0.001) and preference for parkland (p < 0.001), with native vegetation reserves, golf courses, and water reserves showing disproportionately greater use. Landuse category also influenced their movements, with foxes moving quickest (i.e., commuting) in proximity to roads and slowest (i.e., foraging) when they were further from roads. Three females had core home ranges (50% autocorrelated-corrected kernel density estimate; AKDE c ) averaging 37 ± 20 ha or 95% AKDE c averaging 208 ± 196 ha. One male had a 95 ha core home range and 349 ha 95% AKDE c but the other male covered an area ~ 20 times this: using a 371 ha core home range and 7,368 ha 95% AKDE c . The extensive movement patterns we describe are likely to be common for urban foxes, with half of published home range estimates for urban foxes (principally based on VHF data) excluding data for ‘lost’ individuals or animals that showed ‘excursions’. It is likely that the home range estimates for these urban exploiters have therefore been grossly underestimated to date. Further application of GPS trackers that allow remote download will vastly improve our understanding of habitat preference and exploitation of resources by urban foxes.

Attitudes and preferences of wildlife and their relationship with childhood nature experience amongst residents in a tropical urban city - Kang Min Ngo; Tetsuro Hosaka; Shinya Numata (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Patterns of white-tailed deer movements in suburban Maryland: implications for zoonotic disease mitigation - P. Roden-Reynolds; C. M. Kent; A. Y. Li; J. M. Mullinax (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Understanding the ecology of the often dense white-tailed deer populations in urban and suburban landscapes is important for mitigating a variety of conflicts that arise with dense human populations, such as issues surrounding zoonotic disease mitigation. We collared white-tailed deer in highly suburban areas of Howard County, Maryland with high-resolution GPS collars. Then, we created autocorrelated kernel density home ranges for broader land use analyses and concurrently used general additive models to characterize fine-scale hourly measures of speed, activity, and proximity to residential buildings. Suburban deer home ranges encompassed approximately 35% direct residential land, and an average of 71 and 129 residential properties were found within female and male core ranges, respectively. Sex, time of day, and day of year all influenced fine-scale speeds, activity levels, and proximity to residential property buildings. Deer moved into residential areas nightly, especially in winter, and exhibited bouts of increased speed and activity shortly after sunrise and sunset, with distinctive seasonal changes. We discuss how variation in home ranges and movements may influence population management success and explore year-round periods of increased risk of deer transporting ticks to residential areas. These findings focus our broad understanding of deer movements in suburban and urban landscapes to improve deer population management and to mitigate the spread of ticks into residential areas.

Plant–bee interactions and resource utilisation in an urban landscape - Muzafar Hussain Sirohi; Janet Jackson; Jeff Ollerton (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Urbanization and bird diversity: does the relationship change in deserts and subtropical forests? - Lucas M. Leveau; Anahi S. Vaccaro; M. Isabel Bellocq (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

The wintering ecology of the Rook Corvus frugilegus in Northern Kyushu, Japan - Minami Hattori; Tomoo Sobagaki; Hiroki Matsuda; Shoyo Nakamura; Makoto Tokuda (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Backyard buzz: human population density modifies the value of vegetation cover for insect pollinators in a subtropical city - Anna S. Persson; Amy Westman; Tobias J. Smith; Margaret M. Mayfield; Peter Olsson; Henrik G. Smith; Richard Fuller (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Urbanisation drives overall declines in insect pollinators. Although urban green spaces can provide suitable habitat for pollinators much remains to be learned about how urban landscapes either promote or negatively impact pollinators. We investigated how backyard design, local (100 m) and landscape (500 m) scale vegetation cover and human population density were associated with non-eusocial native bee species, eusocial bees ( Apis mellifera and Tetragonula spp .), and hoverflies, in residential green spaces of the subtropical city Brisbane, Australia. We found that associations between bee abundance and vegetation cover were moderated by human density, but the direction of this effect differed for non-eusocial and eusocial species. Non-eusocial bee abundance was positively associated with tree cover at local and landscape scales when human densities were low, but negatively so at high human population densities. We suggest this may be because the quality of vegetation for non-eusocial bees deteriorates as human density increases. In contrast, abundance of eusocial bees was negatively associated with increasing local cover of grass and shrubs at low levels of human density, but positively associated at high densities. This affinity to humans could partly be explained by domesticated “kept” hives. We found no effect of urban gradients on bee species richness. Hoverfly abundance was negatively related to human density and positively related to vegetation cover at local and landscape scales. At the backyard scale, both bee species richness and bee and hoverfly abundances were positively associated to flower abundance. Backyards with more vegetation cover had higher densities of non-eusocial bees. Our results thus support the idea that urban greening in densely populated areas at multiple spatial scales can benefit a range of insect pollinators.

Floristic changes of vascular flora in the city of Rome through grid-cell census over 23 years - Carlo Fratarcangeli; Giuliano Fanelli; Riccardo Testolin; Francesca Buffi; Alessandro Travaglini (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Soil microbial community changes in response to the environmental gradients of urbanization in Guangzhou City - Min Wang; Shiqin Yu; Xiaohua Chen; Xiaodong Liu; Huixian Zeng; Wenkun Wu; Mengyun Liu; Chenhui Su; Guoliang Xu (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Detecting nestedness in city parks for urban biodiversity conservation - Rui-Qi Chen; Su-Ting Cheng (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Urbanization has been a global phenomenon producing great environmental and ecological challenges including species composition shifts in urban areas. To evaluate the interaction networks of the inhabitant metacommunities in urban parks, we applied the nestedness analysis using ecological survey data of birds, reptiles, frogs, and butterflies among 16 parks in Taipei City of Taiwan and identified critical environmental factors for biodiversity conservation. Results found significant nestedness of the metacommunities among these parks, which indicated strong interaction networks and the importance of urban parks for sustaining these metacommunities. In addition, various types of land use had different effects on the species incidence of birds, reptiles, frogs, and butterflies. It demonstrates that landscape design should consider the taxonomic differences in the development of conservation guidelines. Results also showed that the area of parks and the area of woodlot in the park were critical elements for the nested structure. Nonetheless, abundant bird generalists were found to be highly related to the area of buildings within parks, distance to forests, rivers, and the neighbouring parks. Moreover, exotic species were found to affect the interaction networks of native species. However, based on the current information, we cannot confirm the actual effects of the exotic species on the native assemblages. Reptiles and frogs appeared to be more easily threatened by land development and habitat fragmentation due to their lower vagility. In this regard, we suggest that conservation action should focus on preserving green space with large areas and constructing green corridors, creating crucial elements, and increasing the vertical complexity in the parks for species with various vagilities. We believe these strategies can help reduce the impact of urbanization to retain healthy interactions and connections of metacommunities among habitats for effective biodiversity conservation in urban areas.

Correction to: Examining the paradox of urban disease ecology by linking the perspectives of Urban One Health and Ecology with Cities - Joel Henrique Ellwanger; Loren B. Byrne; José Artur Bogo Chies (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Fern spores: neglected airborne bioparticles threatening human health in urban environments - Jana Ščevková; Zuzana Vašková; Jozef Dušička; Michal Hrabovský (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Between vision and action: the predicted effects of co-designed green infrastructure solutions on environmental burdens - Mathias Schaefer (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Green Infrastructure (GI) is gaining wide recognition in cooperative research projects seeking to find solutions for climate adaptation in urbanized areas. However, the potential effects of co-produced GI plans and the underlying preparation process are rarely evaluated. To bridge this gap, the aim of this article is to examine what works in addressing environmental burdens in the urban neighborhood of Dortmund Marten, Germany. As part of a larger transdisciplinary process, selective GI measures were delineated in the case study area through a cooperative workshop between scientists and urban planners. Workshop ideas were incorporated into a mitigative scenario considering a hot summer day to quantify the effects of the derived GI measures on thermal comfort and particulate matter dispersion (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ). To evaluate the experiences of the science-practice collaboration, the viewpoints of researchers and urban planners on learning effects, knowledge integration, and GI planning were summarized and compared via an online survey. The results indicate that the proposed GI measures could reduce physiological equivalent temperature (PET) by 25 °C. At the same time, additional roadside trees could increase PM 10 concentrations by up to 36 µg/m 3 due to wind blocking effects. Reflections on the science-practice workshop show that learning effects were higher for the participating researchers than for planning practitioners, while the integration of individual expertise during the workshop was more difficult for academics. These findings point to the importance of continuous reflections on individual understandings in cooperating stakeholder groups and the value of the evaluation of outcomes in transdisciplinary GI planning.

Spatial ecology of crested porcupine in a metropolitan landscape - Emiliano Mori; Riccardo Molteni; Leonardo Ancillotto; Gentile Francesco Ficetola; Mattia Falaschi (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Valuation of ecosystem services of a nascent urban park in east Los Angeles, California - Kesterlyn Wilson; Demian Alexander Willette (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Use of Space by black-and-gold howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya) in an urban environment in Paraguay - Paraguay. Xander Duffy; Jake Wellian; Rebecca L. Smith (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
As urbanisation continues to reduce the available habitat for wildlife, some species, including the black-and-gold howler monkey ( Alouatta caraya ) in Pilar, southwest Paraguay, are making their homes in anthropogenic environments. Understanding an animal’s home range is an important step to understanding its ecological needs, and an essential requirement for the creation of robust conservation plans. In this study, we determined the home ranges and core areas of five groups of urban dwelling A. caraya using Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP) and Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) Analysis. We used a Spearman’s Correlation to explore the relationship between home range size and group size. All five groups had home ranges of less than 10 ha and used core areas of less than 1 ha. Group size had no significant relationship to home range size. We provide the first estimates of home range for A. caraya in an urban environment in Paraguay. Though the home ranges of the urban A. caraya in Pilar, Paraguay fall at the smaller end of the spectrum of range sizes in Alouatta , they are not abnormal for a species in this genus.

Venerable trees of tropical Chinese Wuzhishan city: Distribution patterns and drivers - Jian-Peng Cui; Salman Qureshi; AJ Harris; C. Y. Jim; Hua-Feng Wang (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Constructing ecological indices for urban environments using species distribution models - ARIEL LEVI SIMONS; STEVIE CALDWELL; MICHELLE FU; JOSE GALLEGOS; MICHAEL GATHERU; LAURA RICCARDELLI; NHI TRUONG; VALERIA VIERA (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
In an increasingly urbanized world, there is a need to study urban areas as their own class of ecosystems as well as assess the impacts of anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity. However, collecting a sufficient number of species observations to estimate patterns of biodiversity in a city can be costly. Here we investigated the use of community science-based data on species occurrences, combined with species distribution models (SDMs), built using MaxEnt and remotely-sensed measures of the environment, to predict the distribution of a number of species across the urban environment of Los Angeles. By selecting species with the most accurate SDMs, and then summarizing these by class, we were able to produce two species richness models (SRMs) to predict biodiversity patterns for species in the class Aves and Magnoliopsida and how they respond to a variety of natural and anthropogenic environmental gradients. We found that species considered native to Los Angeles tend to have significantly more accurate SDMs than their non-native counterparts. For all species considered in this study we found environmental variables describing anthropogenic activities, such as housing density and alterations to land cover, tend to be more influential than natural factors, such as terrain and proximity to freshwater, in shaping SDMs. Using a random forest model we found our SRMs could account for approximately 54% and 62% of the predicted variation in species richness for species in the classes Aves and Magnoliopsida respectively. Using community science-based species occurrences, SRMs can be used to model patterns of urban biodiversity and assess the roles of environmental factors in shaping them.

Examining the paradox of urban disease ecology by linking the perspectives of Urban One Health and Ecology with Cities - Joel Henrique Ellwanger; Loren B. Byrne; José Artur Bogo Chies (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Dog demography and husbandry practices facilitate dog-wildlife conflict in a suburban-forest interface - Libertad Orozco; Andrés M. López-Pérez; Heliot Zarza; Gerardo Suzán; Rurik List (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Differences in sex ratio, tail autotomy, body size and body condition between suburban and forest populations of the cuban endemic lizard Anolis homolechis - Annabelle Vidal; Manuel Iturriaga; Carlos A. Mancina; Frank Cézilly (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Characteristics of the urban sewer system and rat presence in Seattle - Xiaocong Guo; Michael J. Lee; Kaylee A. Byers; Leah Helms; Kate R. Weinberger; Chelsea G. Himsworth (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Urbanisation and land-cover change affect functional, but not compositional turnover of bird communities - Tanja K. Petersen; James D. M. Speed; Vidar Grøtan; Yngve K. Frøyen; Gunnar Austrheim (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Land-use and land-cover change strongly affect biodiversity patterns and are assumed to be growing threats in the future. Particularly increasing urbanisation may affect species turnover and functional composition of biological communities. This study aimed to assess the characteristics of land-cover change in a medium-sized urban municipality from 2011 to 2018, and the effects of urbanisation on avian species- and functional diversity. The study was performed in Trondheim (Norway), using local land-cover maps and GBIF bird species occurrence records. GLMMs were used to model species turnover as a function of urbanisation, and the probability of species appearance and disappearance based on urbanisation and species traits. The extent of bird species turnover within a municipality-wide 500 × 500m 2 grid was not predicted by a changes in developed area, but the probability of disappearance and appearance of bird species varied with urbanisation and bird functional traits. Species associated with urban- or open areas showed a decreasing probability of disappearing and an increasing probability of appearing with increasing amount of developed area within grid cells. Similarly, granivorous species showed a decreasing probability of disappearing. Species feeding above ground-level showed positive responses to changes in land-cover. The probability of both appearance and disappearance, thus species turnover, increased with increasing longevity. Most functional groups respond negatively to increasing urbanisation, indicating a potential impoverishment of local avifauna with future land-cover modifications. Considering planned future land-cover changes within the municipality, the local avian communities are in danger of homogenisation. The recommendations for local management are to minimise conversion of vulnerable habitats, such as wetlands and woodlands, in particular if these are converted to developed area.

Plant performance analysis of biofacades in a hot, arid Region of Qatar - Payam Bahrami; Fodil Fadli; Sara Mazen Zaina; Abdollah Baghaei Daemei; Amiraslan Darvish; Seyedeh Maryam Abbaszadegan (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Callout analysis in relation to wild birds in a tropical city: implications for urban species management - Danielle Louisa Hinchcliffe; Robert J. Young; Camila P. Teixeira (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Urbanisation is changing landscapes at an unprecedented rate, which consequently changes species compositions. We investigate problems faced by urban birds in a neotropical city by analysing the responses made to callouts by the environmental police of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil from 2002 to 2008. The environment police responded to two types of callouts: solicitation, where a person called to report an issue (n = 560); and reports of hurt or injured birds (n = 399). On average, three callouts per week were made relating to urban birds, with more than half concerning birds of prey. There were significantly more callouts in the wet season, coinciding with peak breeding times for most endemic Brazilian avifauna. We found no effect of caller gender, age or associated socioeconomic factors. Most callouts resulted in birds being forwarded on to Government-managed institute for processing wildlife (n = 584). Only a relatively small number of cases resulted in the birds being released into forested areas within the city (n = 152). Sick birds were sent to veterinary clinics (n = 136) and be released if successfully treated. We suggest how this information could be used to improve urban bird species management in neotropical cities. Our data evidences different guilds to have different relationships with people and birds of prey are less well-understood. The rise in callouts during breeding supports the need for better informed species management, and avoidance of a “one size fits all” approach.

Human-wildlife interactions: presence of the ground-nesting Spotted Thick-knee across a South African mosaic urban landscape - Kyrone K. Josiah; Colleen T. Downs (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Aquatic biodiversity loss in Andean urban streams - Blanca Ríos-Touma; Christian Villamarín; Gabriela Jijón; Jackie Checa; Genoveva Granda-Albuja; Edison Bonifaz; Laura Guerrero-Latorre (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Morphological stability of rural populations supports their use as controls in urban ecology studies - Tania Regacho; Javier delBarco-Trillo (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Urban forest invertebrates: how they shape and respond to the urban environment - D. Johan Kotze; Elizabeth C. Lowe; J. Scott MacIvor; Alessandro Ossola; Briony A. Norton; Dieter F. Hochuli; Luis Mata; Marco Moretti; Sara A. Gagné; I. Tanya Handa; Therésa M. Jones; Caragh G. Threlfall; et al. (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Invertebrates comprise the most diversified animal group on Earth. Due to their long evolutionary history and small size, invertebrates occupy a remarkable range of ecological niches, and play an important role as “ecosystem engineers” by structuring networks of mutualistic and antagonistic ecological interactions in almost all terrestrial ecosystems. Urban forests provide critical ecosystem services to humans, and, as in other systems, invertebrates are central to structuring and maintaining the functioning of urban forests. Identifying the role of invertebrates in urban forests can help elucidate their importance to practitioners and the public, not only to preserve biodiversity in urban environments, but also to make the public aware of their functional importance in maintaining healthy greenspaces. In this review, we examine the multiple functional roles that invertebrates play in urban forests that contribute to ecosystem service provisioning, including pollination, predation, herbivory, seed and microorganism dispersal and organic matter decomposition, but also those that lead to disservices, primarily from a public health perspective, e.g., transmission of invertebrate-borne diseases. We then identify a number of ecological filters that structure urban forest invertebrate communities, such as changes in habitat structure, increased landscape imperviousness, microclimatic changes and pollution. We also discuss the complexity of ways that forest invertebrates respond to urbanisation, including acclimation, local extinction and evolution. Finally, we present management recommendations to support and conserve viable and diverse urban forest invertebrate populations into the future.

Urbanites’ perception of vegetation in landscape-based stormwater management elements (LSM) - Emilia Danuta Lausen; Antje Backhaus; Marina Bergen Jensen; Emilia Danuta Lausen (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Effect of urbanization on the dynamics of ecosystem services: An analysis for decision making in Kolkata urban agglomeration - Subhasis Das; Pravat Kumar Shit; Biswajit Bera; Partha Pratim Adhikary (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Using crushed waste bricks for urban greening with contrasting grassland mixtures: no negative effects of brick-augmented substrates varying in soil type, moisture and acid pre-treatment - Markus Bauer; Martin Krause; Valentin Heizinger; Johannes Kollmann (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Ecological restoration aims at supporting biodiversity and ecosystem services, and urban greening is a great opportunity to achieve this goal. This is facilitated by species-rich seed mixtures based on local provenances, which are designed for certain nutrient and moisture regimes based on functional plant traits. Such grassland mixtures might be cultivated on crushed waste bricks, which would be a new component of water-holding urban substrates. Thus, we studied the effects of brick quantity and quality, acid pre-treatment of bricks, soil type and moisture on biomass of designed seed mixtures. Three greenhouse experiments were conducted, with substrates consisting of different brick ratios (5% vs. 30%), brick types (clean production waste vs. demolition material), and brick treatments (acid vs. control) tested on three trait-based mixtures and a non-regional commercial standard mixture. The trait-based mixtures included information on specific leaf area, seed mass and grass-to-legume ratio. There were no negative effects of demolition bricks, soil texture and moisture on grassland biomass. Acid-treated clean porous bricks improved biomass production of the standard and intermediate mixtures, while the effect was minimal with demolition bricks. Designed seed mixtures had a biomass similar to the standard mixture under dry conditions but did not benefit from high moisture like the standard mixture. In conclusion, waste bricks are a useful additive for urban restoration substrates to save raw material, and specifically designed regional mixtures can replace commercial grassland types on these substrates.

Predictors of tree cover in residential open space: a multi-scale analysis of suburban Philadelphia - Amy J. Lynch (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Short-term impacts of urban landscape conversion on surface runoff quality - Baoxin Chang; Benjamin Wherley; Jacqueline Aitkenhead-Peterson; Kevin McInnes; Philip Dwyer (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Seasonal activity patterns of sympatric eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) and fox squirrels (Sciurus niger) in a Midwestern metropolitan region - Rachel N. Larson; Heather A. Sander (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Hurricane driven changes in vegetation structure and ecosystem services in tropical urban yards: a study case in San Juan, Puerto Rico - Sofía Olivero-Lora; Julissa Rojas-Sandoval; Elvia J. Meléndez-Ackerman; Juan L. Orengo-Rolón (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Population models reveal synergistic fitness effects of climate change and urbanization on poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) via disruption of seed dispersal interactions - Istvan Karsai; Aiden M Stanley; Gerardo Arceo Gomez (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Non-native plant species integrate well into plant-pollinator networks in a diverse man-made flowering plant community - Anikó Kovács-Hostyánszki; Imre Sándor Piross; Mohamed A. Shebl (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Urban green areas offer diverse flower resources for pollinators. Yet, the role of non-native plant species in local plant-pollinator networks is understudied. We explored the effects of plant origin, nationwide distribution, flower color and type on flower visitation by wild bees and honey bees as well as the structure of a plant-pollinator network in a botanical garden in Hungary. Honey bee preferred North American plants over Europeans; it had the highest degree and topological centrality value. The network had similar compactness with its simulated removal from the network model. The species richness and abundance of flower-visiting wild bees did not differ among the plants of different origins and flower color and type. Plant species of different origin, nationwide distribution, and flower color and type had the highest number of direct and indirect links. Our results suggest that non-native plant species can integrate well in diverse botanical gardens and wild bees can adopt these new foraging resources.

Bacterial communities in peat swamps reflect changes associated with catchment urbanisation - Nicole A. Christiansen; Timothy J. Green; Kirstie A. Fryirs; Grant C. Hose (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Like many peat wetlands around the world, Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone (THPSS), located in the Sydney Basin, Australia, have been impacted by urban development. In this paper, we used Illumina 16S rRNA DNA amplicon sequencing to characterise and compare the bacterial communities of surface (top 0–2 cm) and deep (50 cm) sediments in peat swamps that occur in both urbanised and non-urbanised catchments. Proteobacteria (32.2% of reads), Acidobacteria (23.6%) and Chloroflexi (10.7%) were the most common phyla of the dataset. There were significant differences in the bacterial community structure between catchment types and depths apparent at the phyla level. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria and Verrucomicrobia made up a greater proportion of the reads in the surface sediments than the deeper sediments, while Chloroflexi and Nitrospirae were relatively more common in the deeper than the surface sediment. By catchment type, Acidobacteria were more common in swamps occurring in non-urbanised catchments, while Nitrospirae, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria were more common in those in urbanised catchments. Microbial community structure was significantly correlated with sediment pH, as was the relative abundance of several phyla, including Acidobacteria (negative correlation) and Bacteroidetes (positive correlation) . As an indicator of trophic shift from oligotrophic to copiotrophic conditions associated with urbanised catchment, we found significant differences ratios of β-Proteobacteria to Acidobacteria and Bacteriodetes to Acidobacteria between the catchment types. Based on SIMPER results we suggest the relative abundance of Nitrosomonadaceae family as a potential indicator of urban degradation. As the first study to analyse the bacterial community structure of THPSS using sequencing of 16S rDNA, we reveal the utility of such analyses and show that urbanisation in the Blue Mountains is impacting the microbial ecology of these important peatland ecosystems.

Urban growth and heat islands: A case study in micro-territories for urban sustainability - Nidia Isabel Molina-Gómez; Laura Marcela Varon-Bravo; Ronal Sierra-Parada; P. Amparo López-Jiménez (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Sustainable landscaping programs in the United States and their potential to encourage conservation and support ecosystem services - Michelle A. Pham; Sarah B. Scott; Lydia R. Fyie; Mary M. Gardiner (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Species-specific facilitation shapes primary successional communities under nurse trees in an abandoned slag dump - Marion A. Holmes; Sara E. Kuebbing (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Quantifying potential contributions of green facades to environmental justice: a case study of a quarter in Berlin - Esther S. Felgentreff; David Cochius; Thomas Nehls; Jan-Hinrich W. Quandt; Emil J. Roesch (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
The potential of green facades (GFs) to enhance environmental justice (EJ) has not been quantified so far. EJ in Berlin, Germany is assessed by the core indicators (1) noise pollution, (2) air pollution, (3) bioclimatic stress, (4) provision of green space and (5) social status. Most of the inner city is rated “poorly” in one or multiple indicators. Based on literature and spatial data, status quo and target values are determined for indicators (1)-(4) for an exemplary, highly burdened quarter in Berlin. It is assessed if and how much GFs could potentially improve current EJ levels. The improvements due to GFs to reach target values are assessed in % for day/night and indoor/outdoor settings. It can be shown that installing GFs would improve statuses of the four indicators to different extents, with the biggest enhancement found regarding indicator (3) for indoors at daytime: 52%. Determining factors for the EJ improvement potential of GFs need to be further assessed. This feasible method for increasing the amount of urban green can be helpful for improving life in highly burdened quarters. Therefore, from the point of view of EJ, large-scale implementation of GFs in urban areas is recommended.

Soil microbial community of urban green infrastructures in a polar city - M. V. Korneykova; V. I. Vasenev; D. A. Nikitin; A. V. Dolgikh; A. S. Soshina; V. A. Myazin; M. R. Nakhaev (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Multiscale drivers of amphibian community occupancy in urban ponds - Erin L. Sauer; Jennyffer Cruz; Erin Crone; Catherine Lewis; Ethan Plumier; Blake Cwynar; David Drake; Bradley M. Herrick; Daniel L. Preston (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Correction: Sustainable landscaping programs in the United States and their potential to encourage conservation and support ecosystem services - Michelle A. Pham; Sarah B. Scott; Lydia R. Fyie; Mary M. Gardiner (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Author Correction: Molluscs community as a keystone group for assessing the impact of urban sprawl at intertidal ecosystems - E. Ortega-Jiménez; F. Sedano; F. Espinosa (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

An unexpected presence in urban environment: factors governing occurrence of the vulnerable European turtle-dove (Streptopelia turtur) in the city of Rabat, Morocco - A. Eddajjani; S. Hanane; A. El Kandry; A. Qninba (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

An investigation into residents' willingness to pay for vertical greening in China - Yang Tan; Hiroatsu Fukuda; Li Zhang; Shuai Wang; Weijun Gao; Zhonghui Liu (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Drivers of predation by pet cats: environment overcomes predator’s intrinsic characteristics - Marion Cordonnier; Nicolas Ferry; Estelle Renaud; Anne-Claire Maurice; Elsa Bonnaud; Emmanuelle Baudry (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Wastewater treatment plant effluent inputs influence the temporal variability of nutrient uptake in an intermittent stream - Sara Castelar; Susana Bernal; Miquel Ribot; Stephanie N. Merbt; Marta Tobella; Francesc Sabater; José L. J. Ledesma; Helena Guasch; Anna Lupon; Esperança Gacia; Jennifer D. Drummond; Eugènia Martí (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents alter water chemistry and in-stream nutrient uptake rates of receiving freshwaters, thus changing the magnitude and fate of the nutrients exported. In Mediterranean regions, the dilution capacity of receiving streams can vary strongly over time due to the seasonal occurrence of floods and droughts, causing temporal variability of nutrient uptake. We assessed the temporal patterns and the controlling factors of net nutrient uptake in an intermittent Mediterranean stream receiving WWTP effluent inputs. We compiled the longitudinal concentration profiles of ambient dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) along a 800 m reach on 47 sampling dates between 2001 and 2017, encompassing a wide range of hydrological conditions. We estimated net nutrient uptake in the receiving stream. In 72% of the dates, high rates of net ammonium uptake co-occurred with net releases of either nitrate or nitrite. This pattern suggests that the receiving stream has a high nitrification capacity. Conversely, 75% of the dates did not show any longitudinal pattern in SRP concentration, suggesting that uptake and release processes for this element were either counterbalanced or both occurred at very low rates. Finally, net ammonium uptake was low when the stream had a low dilution capacity (< 40%) and ammonium concentration was high. Overall, we demonstrate that consideration of the receiving stream’s dilution capacity is imperative to the management of freshwaters to guarantee an adequate dilution of WWTP effluent inputs and avoid saturation of in-stream nutrient uptake capacity under low flow conditions in urban landscapes.

Confluences and land cover as agents of change: habitat change modifies the movement and assemblage stability of headwater fishes - Joshua P. Hubbell; Jacob F. Schaefer (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Correlation does not imply causation: decline of house sparrow overshadowed by electromagnetic radiation - Anukul Nath; Hilloljyoti Singha; Bibhuti Prasad Lahkar (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Passive restoration of vegetation on gravel/sand bars in the city: a case study in Prague, Czech Republic - Jiří Dostálek; Tomáš Frantík; Lenka Pavlů (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Restoring geomorphic integrity in urban streams via mechanistically-based storm water management: minimizing excess sediment transport capacity - Robert J. Hawley; Kathryn Russell; Kristine Taniguchi-Quan (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Stream channel erosion, enlargement, and habitat degradation are ubiquitous in urban watersheds with conventional stormwater management that increase channel-eroding flows relative to undeveloped watersheds. Hydrologic-based restoration aims to discharge a more natural flow regime via stormwater management interventions. Whether such interventions facilitate geomorphic recovery depends, in part, on the degree to which they restrict discharges that would otherwise contribute to channel erosion. Erosion potential (E), the ratio of post-developed to predeveloped sediment transport capacity, provides a simplified, mechanistic framework to quantify the relative influence of stormwater interventions on the geomorphic effectiveness of the flow regime. This paper compiles ca. five years of data following stormwater-based interventions in three distinct settings in the United States and Australia to demonstrate how the E framework can elucidate the role of hydrologic restoration interventions in facilitating trajectories of geomorphic recovery (or lack thereof). In a previously developed watershed with unstable streams, substantial reductions in E in one stream coincided with a trajectory of geomorphic recovery, whereas the control stream without E-reducing interventions exhibited continued instability. Furthermore, a stream downstream of a greenfield development that optimized their stormwater control measures to match the sediment transport capacity of the predeveloped regime (E = 1) was able to maintain a recovery trajectory in a legacy-impacted setting that is otherwise highly susceptible to hydromodification. Streambed material size, channel evolution stage, and the hydrogeomorphic setting also likely affect the level of E reduction necessary to promote geomorphic recovery, with coarser-grained and over-widened streams potentially needing less reduction than finer-grained and more entrenched channels. Although available space and funding will limit the ability to fully reduce E in previously developed watersheds, these case studies underscore the value of using stormwater control measures to maximize reductions in E if geomorphic stability is a goal of stormwater interventions.

Mesopredator occupancy patterns in a small city in an intensively agricultural region - Brandon MacDougall; Heather Sander (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

What can a midsized, semi-arid city teach us about human-made forests? - Shaundra Mae Rasmussen; Wade Travis Tinkham; Melissa Renee McHale (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Research has shown that urban tree canopy (UTC) provides a multitude of ecosystem services to people in cities, yet the benefits and costs of trees are not always equitably distributed among residents and households. To support urban forest managers and sustainability planning, many studies have analyzed the relationships between UTC and various morphological and social variables. Most of these studies, however, focus on large cities like Baltimore, MD, Los Angeles, CA, and New York, NY. Yet, small and midsized cities are experiencing the most growth globally, often having more opportunity to alter management strategies and policies to conserve and/or increase canopy cover and other green infrastructure. Using both a linear and spatial regression approach, we analyzed the main drivers of UTC across census block groups in Fort Collins, CO, a midsize, semi-arid city projected to undergo significant population growth in the next 20-30 years. Results from Fort Collins indicated that block groups with older buildings and greater housing density contained more UTC, with 2.2% more canopy cover for every 10 years of building age and 4.1% more for every 10 houses per hectare. We also found that distributional inequities may already be developing within this midsized city, as block groups with more minority communities were associated with lower UTC. We compared the drivers of UTC in Fort Collins to other cities located in different climate regions, or biomes, and in various stages of urban development. Based on these results, we suggested future urban forest management strategies for semi-arid cities like Fort Collins.

Exploring the connection between transdisciplinary co-production and urban sustainability solutions: a case study at an urban stream management symposium - R. Patrick Bixler; J. Amy Belaire; Kasey M. Faust; Mateo Scoggins; Ana González (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Rescue data as an alternative for assessing trends and phenological changes in two invasive parakeet species - Eleonora Ciprari; Leonardo Ancillotto; Emiliano Mori; Valentina Studer; Chiara Chessa (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Monitoring population trends of alien species is pivotal to design effective management plans to preserve native biodiversity, particularly urban areas, where most populations of alien birds are established. Urban wildlife rescue centers, with personnel trained to record species, age and sex of each individual brought by the public, may represent a reliable citizen-science based method to estimate both local changes in alien species phenology and population trends. In this work, we analysed records of monk and ring-necked parakeets by comparing rescue records in the urban area of Rome from the last 15 years. We also tested whether breeding phenology of alien parakeets showed any changes since the start of the invasion processes. We recorded a strong correlation between the number of rescued parakeets and their population trends, thus confirming the importance of wildlife rescue centers in monitoring populations of alien species in urban areas. We also observed a shift in the breeding phenology of these parakeet species. The hatching peak for ring-necked parakeet occurred in early spring, in line with previous studies on the reproduction of this species, but with a slight increase in the number of months with evidence of breeding in the last years. As to the monk parakeet, our findings support the expansion of its reproductive season between 2006 and 2020 in Rome, with chicks currently being observed for seven months a year. Therefore, data collected through wildlife rescue centers may help improving models of population growth of alien species established in urban areas.

How to plan urban green space in cold regions of China to achieve the best cooling efficiency - Bo Pang; Jingyuan Zhao; Jianxin Zhang; Li Yang (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Parasitism of urban bumble bees influenced by pollinator taxonomic richness, local garden management, and surrounding impervious cover - Nicholas A. Ivers; Zacchariah Jordan; Hamutahl Cohen; Amber Tripodi; Mark J. F. Brown; Heidi Liere; Brenda B. Lin; Stacy Philpott; Shalene Jha (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Are stormwater detention ponds protecting urban aquatic ecosystems? a case study using depressional wetlands - Kayla M. Hess; James S. Sinclair; Alexander J. Reisinger; Eban Z. Bean; Basil V Iannone III (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Assessment of ecological environment quality in Kolkata urban agglomeration, India - Sukamal Maity; Subhasis Das; Jhumarani Maity Pattanayak; Biswajit Bera; Pravat Kumar Shit (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Linking activity of common pipistrelles, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, in an urbanised area with a nearby mass swarming site - Marcel Uhrin; Gréta Nusová; Peter Kaňuch (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Urban space awakening – identification and potential uses of urban pockets - Tijana Narandžić; Mirjana Ljubojević (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Looking beyond leaves: variation in nutrient leaching potential of seasonal litterfall among different species within an urban forest - Sophie K. Hill; Rebecca L. Hale; Joshua B. Grinath; Brittany T. Folk; Ryan Nielson; Keith Reinhardt (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Urban biodiversity: State of the science and future directions - Christine C. Rega-Brodsky; Myla F. J. Aronson; Max R. Piana; Ela-Sita Carpenter; Amy K. Hahs; Adriana Herrera-Montes; Sonja Knapp; D. Johan Kotze; Christopher A. Lepczyk; Marco Moretti; Allyson B. Salisbury; Nicholas S. G. Williams; et al. (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

How many sparrows are there in a city of million people? Understanding the population of sympatric sparrows in the urban gradient of a tropical city in Southeast Asia - Anukul Nath; Hilloljyoti Singha; Minarul Haque; Bibhuti P. Lahkar (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Insect “Bee&Bees” and pollinator penthouses: teaching students about pollinators and their services in an urban environment - Elizabeth N. Hane; Karl F. Korfmacher (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Pollination services are a frequently overlooked component of urban ecosystems. As cities look to become more sustainable and incorporate more urban green spaces, these pollinator services are coming to the forefront, and educating the public about the habitat and foraging needs of urban pollinators is becoming more important. Increasingly popular features in urban gardens are “bug hotels”, which are artificial structures that humans can install to create habitat or shelter for urban insect pollinators. In a college-level Urban Ecology class, we use a structured classroom activity to teach students about pollinator needs, but also place the activity in a larger context of a discussion about the value of urban landscapes, as well as the importance of evaluating sources of information. Here we describe the steps of a research activity that students undertake to design a “bug hotel”, as well as suggestions for how to extend the activity beyond the classroom.

Propagation of inflowing urban stormwater pulses through reservoir embayments - Megan L. Fork; Ryan A. McManamay; James B. Heffernan (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Responses of photosynthesis and long-term water use efficiency to ambient air pollution in urban roadside trees - Mayu Matsumoto; Takashi Kiyomizu; Saya Yamagishi; Tomomitsu Kinoshita; Luisa Kumpitsch; Atsushi Kume; Yuko T. Hanba (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Lizard community structure and spatial resource use along a forest-savannah-urban habitat gradient in the Dahomey Gap (West Africa) - Luca Luiselli; Daniele Dendi; Fabio Petrozzi; Gabriel Hoinsoudé Segniagbeto (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Spread of the invasive Javan myna along an urban–suburban gradient in Peninsular Malaysia - Fatihah Najihah Arazmi; Nor Adibah Ismail; Ummi Nur Syafiqah Daud; Kamaruddin Zainul Abidin; Shukor Md Nor; Mohammad Saiful Mansor (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

The urban myth: A lack of agreement between definitions of urban environments used in wildlife health research may contribute to inconsistent epidemiological findings - Shannon K. French; Jolene A. Giacinti; Sarah J. Robinson; David L. Pearl; Claire M. Jardine (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Exposure to urban heavy metal contamination diminishes bumble bee colony growth - Sarah B. Scott; Frances S. Sivakoff; Mary M. Gardiner (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Living in a tropical concrete jungle: diversity and abundance variation in a parrot assemblage (Aves, Psittacidae) of a major Amazonian city - Marcia de Matos Fragata; Fabricio Baccaro; André Luís Sousa Gonçalves; Sérgio Henrique Borges (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Tree canopy macrostructure controls heating of asphalt pavement in a moist-temperate urban forest - Glenn R. Matlack; Issam Khoury; Bhaven Naik (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Urban–rural gradients in soil nutrients beneath Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis Carr.) are affected by land-use - Yuebo Su; Bowen Cui; Zhiyun Ouyang; Xiaoke Wang (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Green in times of COVID-19: urban green space relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Buenos Aires City - Patricia Laura Marconi; Patricia Eleonora Perelman; Vanina G. Salgado (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Land sharing between cultivated and wild plants: urban gardens as hotspots for plant diversity in cities - Birgit Seitz; Sascha Buchholz; Ingo Kowarik; Johann Herrmann; Leonie Neuerburg; Julian Wendler; Leonie Winker; Monika Egerer (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Plant communities in urban gardens consist of cultivated species, including ornamentals and food crops, and wild growing species. Yet it remains unclear what significance urban gardens have for the plant diversity in cities and how the diversity of cultivated and wild plants depends on the level of urbanization. We sampled plants growing within 18 community gardens in Berlin, Germany to investigate the species diversity of cultivated and wild plants. We tested species diversity in relation to local and landscape-scale imperviousness as a measure of urbanity, and we investigated the relationship between cultivated and wild plant species within the gardens. We found that numbers of wild and cultivated plant species in gardens are high – especially of wild plant species – independent of landscape-scale imperviousness. This suggests that all community gardens, regardless of their urban contexts, can be important habitats for plant diversity along with their role in urban food provision. However, the number of all species was negatively predicted by local garden scale imperviousness, suggesting an opportunity to reduce imperviousness and create more habitats for plants at the garden scale. Finally, we found a positive relationship between the number of cultivated and wild growing species, which emphasizes that community gardens present a unique urban ecosystem where land sharing between cultivated and wild flora can transpire. As the urban agriculture movement is flourishing worldwide with gardens continuously and spontaneously arising and dissipating due to urban densification, such botanical investigations can support the argument that gardens are places for the reconciliation of plant conservation and food production.

The University of West Florida Campus Ecosystem Study: age-diameter and growth relationships of longleaf pine using hurricane-induced windthrows - Frank S. Gilliam; Heather N. Patten; Sarah K. Rabinowitz (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Ecology with Cities - Loren B. Byrne (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Noise attenuation varies by interactions of land cover and season in an urban/peri-urban landscape - Justin M. Gaudon; Michael J. McTavish; Jonas Hamberg; Heather A. Cray; Stephen D. Murphy (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

A method of linking functional and structural connectivity analysis in urban green infrastructure network construction - Yang Liu; Ting-Ting Huang; Xi Zheng (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Accelerated urbanization and population growth lead to the fragmentation of urban green space and loss of biodiversity. There are few studies on the integration of structural and functional connectivity to solve this problem. Our study aims to draw up a methodology to synthesize two methods of connectivity evaluation, accordingly, to construct an urban green infrastructure (UGI) network which is of great significance to maintain the stability of the urban ecosystem. Taking Beijing as a study area, we first used Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA) to identify the source patches, then combined with the graph theory-based landscape metrics to discuss the effect of different diffusion distances on the regional landscape connectivity and classify the importance level of the source patches. Finally, we used both least-cost path (LCP) and circuit theory to construct network and identify pinch areas in corridors for network optimization. The results show that (1) the landscape connectivity of the study area is obviously polarized. Source patches in mountain and hilly areas have good ecological bases and large areas, and the density of corridors is relatively high, which makes a large contribution to the overall landscape connectivity; Source patches in plain areas are severely fragmented, and there are only a small number of potential corridors connecting urban areas and suburban areas. (2) The UGI network is composed of 70 source patches and 148 potential corridors. The diffusion distance that is most beneficial to improve landscape connectivity is 20–25 km. (3) 6 pinch areas that are of great significance for improving the connectivity of the landscape present the coexistence of high migration resistance and large optimization potential, and urgently need to be restored first. This study provides a method to combine the structural and the functional analysis to construct a UGI network and formulate more scientifical protection strategies for planning departments.

Cultivar blends: A strategy for creating more resilient warm season turfgrass lawns - Brianna Whitman; Basil V. Iannone; Jason K. Kruse; J. Bryan Unruh; Adam G. Dale (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Tree trade-offs in stream restoration: impacts on riparian groundwater quality - Kelsey L. Wood; Sujay S. Kaushal; Philippe G. Vidon; Paul M. Mayer; Joseph G. Galella (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Molluscs community as a keystone group for assessing the impact of urban sprawl at intertidal ecosystems - E. Ortega-Jiménez; F. Sedano; F. Espinosa (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Long-term assessment of floodplain reconnection as a stream restoration approach for managing nitrogen in ground and surface waters - Paul M. Mayer; Michael J. Pennino; Tammy A. Newcomer-Johnson; Sujay S. Kaushal (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Stream restoration is a popular approach for managing nitrogen (N) in degraded, flashy urban streams. Here, we investigated the long-term effects of stream restoration involving floodplain reconnection on riparian and in-stream N transport and transformation in an urban stream in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. We examined relationships between hydrology, chemistry, and biology using a Before/After-Control/Impact (BACI) study design to determine how hydrologic flashiness, nitrate (NO 3 − ) concentrations (mg/L), and N flux, both NO 3 − and total N (kg/yr), changed after the restoration and floodplain hydrologic reconnection to its stream channel. We examined two independent surface water and groundwater data sets (EPA and USGS) collected from 2002–2012 at our study sites in the Minebank Run watershed. Restoration was completed during 2004 and 2005. Afterward, the monthly hydrologic flashiness index, based on mean monthly discharge, decreased over time from 2002 and 2008. However, from 2008–2012 hydrologic flashiness returned to pre-restoration levels. Based on the EPA data set, NO 3 − concentration in groundwater and surface water was significantly less after restoration while the control site showed no change. DOC and NO 3 − were negatively related before and after restoration suggesting C limitation of N transformations. Long-term trends in surface water NO 3 − concentrations based on USGS surface water data showed downward trends after restoration at both the restored and control sites, whereas specific conductance showed no trend. Comparisons of NO 3 − concentrations with Cl − concentrations and specific conductance in both ground and surface waters suggested that NO 3 − reduction after restoration was not due to dilution or load reductions from the watershed. Modeled NO 3 − flux decreased post restoration over time but the rate of decrease was reduced likely due to failure of restoration features that facilitated N transformations. Groundwater NO 3 − concentrations varied among stream features suggesting that some engineered features may be functionally better at creating optimal conditions for N retention. However, some engineered features eroded and failed post restoration thereby reducing efficacy of the stream restoration to reduce flashiness and NO 3 − flux. N management via stream restoration will be most effective where flashiness can be reduced and DOC made available for denitrifiers. Stream restoration may be an important component of holistic watershed management including stormwater management and nutrient source control if stream restoration and floodplain reconnection can be done in a manner to resist the erosive effects of large storm events that can degrade streams to pre-restoration conditions. Long-term evolution of water quality functions in response to degradation of restored stream channels and floodplains from urban stressors and storms over time warrants further study, however.

Investigating potential hydrological ecosystem services in urban gardens through soil amendment experiments and hydrologic models - Eric J. Chapman; Gaston E. Small; Paliza Shrestha (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Among the ecosystem services provided by urban greenspace are the retention and infiltration of stormwater, which decreases urban flooding, and enhanced evapotranspiration, which helps mitigate urban heat island effects. Some types of urban greenspace, such as rain gardens and green roofs, are intentionally designed to enhance these hydrologic functions. Urban gardens, while primarily designed for food production and aesthetic benefits, may have similar hydrologic function, due to high levels of soil organic matter that promote infiltration and water holding capacity. We quantified leachate and soil moisture from experimental urban garden plots receiving various soil amendments (high and low levels of manure and municipal compost, synthetic fertilizer, and no inputs) over three years. Soil moisture varied across treatments, with highest mean levels observed in plots receiving manure compost, and lowest in plots receiving synthetic fertilizer. Soil amendment treatments explained little of the variation in weekly leachate volume, but among treatments, high municipal compost and synthetic fertilizer had lowest leachate volumes, and high and low manure compost had slightly higher mean leachate volumes. We used these data to parameterize a simple mass balance hydrologic model, focusing on high input municipal compost and no compost garden plots, as well as reference turfgrass plots. We ran the model for three growing seasons under ambient precipitation and three elevated precipitation scenarios. Garden plots received 12–16% greater total water inputs compared to turfgrass plots because of irrigation, but leachate totals were 20–30% lower for garden plots across climate scenarios, due to elevated evapotranspiration, which was 50–60% higher in garden plots. Within each climate scenario, difference between garden plots which received high levels of municipal compost and garden plots which received no additional compost were small relative to differences between garden plots and turfgrass. Taken together, these results indicate that garden soil amendments can influence water retention, and the high-water retention, infiltration, and evapotranspiration potential of garden soils relative to turfgrass indicates that hydrologic ecosystem services may be an underappreciated benefit of urban gardens.

Using the dendro-climatological signal of urban trees as a measure of urbanization and urban heat island - Christoph Schneider; Burkhard Neuwirth; Sebastian Schneider; Daniel Balanzategui; Stefanie Elsholz; Daniel Fenner; Fred Meier; Ingo Heinrich (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Using dendroclimatological techniques this study investigates whether inner city tree-ring width (TRW) chronologies from eight tree species (ash, beech, fir, larch, lime, sessile and pedunculate oak, and pine) are suitable to examine the urban heat island of Berlin, Germany. Climate-growth relationships were analyzed for 18 sites along a gradient of increasing urbanization covering Berlin and surrounding rural areas. As a proxy for defining urban heat island intensities at each site, we applied urbanization parameters such as building fraction, impervious surfaces, and green areas. The response of TRW to monthly and seasonal air temperature, precipitation, aridity, and daily air-temperature ranges were used to identify climate-growth relationships. Trees from urban sites were found to be more sensitive to climate compared to trees in the surrounding hinterland. Ring width of the deciduous species, especially ash, beech, and oak, showed a high sensitivity to summer heat and drought at urban locations (summer signal), whereas conifer species were found suitable for the analysis of the urban heat island in late winter and early spring (winter signal). The summer and winter signals were strongest in tree-ring chronologies when the urban heat island intensities were based on an area of about 200 m to 3000 m centered over the tree locations, and thus reflect the urban climate at the scale of city quarters. For the summer signal, the sensitivity of deciduous tree species to climate increased with urbanity. These results indicate that urban trees can be used for climate response analyses and open new pathways to trace the evolution of urban climate change and more specifically the urban heat island, both in time and space.

Author Correction: Estimating carbon storage in urban forests of New York City - Clara C. Pregitzer; Chloe Hanna; Sarah Charlop‑Powers; Mark A. Bradford (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Coproduction of place and knowledge for ecology with the city - Steward T. A. Pickett; Mary L. Cadenasso; Anne M. Rademacher (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Ecology with the city is a transdisciplinary pursuit, combining the work of researchers, policy makers, managers, and residents to advance equity and sustainability. This undertaking may be facilitated by understanding the parallels in two kinds of coproduction. First, is how urban systems themselves are places that are jointly constituted or coproduced by biophysical and social processes. Second, is how sustainable planning and policies also join human concerns with biophysical structures and processes. Seeking connections between coproduction of place and the coproduction of knowledge may help improve how urban ecology engages with diverse communities and urban interests in service of sustainability.

Urbanization affects the richness of invasive alien trees but has limited influence on species composition - Gustavo Heringer; Lucas Del Bianco Faria; Pedro Manuel Villa; Amanda Urbano Araújo; Ana Luiza Moreira Botan; Rafael Dudeque Zenni (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Citizen science in cities: an overview of projects focused on urban Australia - Erin Roger; Alice Motion (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Citizen science offers a unique opportunity to connect urban-dwellers with the often hidden natural world upon their doorsteps and to contribute to authentic research that increases knowledge of urban ecology and biodiversity. With the majority of Australia’s population residing in large cities, this diverse potential pool of participants in science creates a significant opportunity to increase the spatial and temporal scale of research. Herein, we provide an overview of Australian urban citizen science projects based on an analysis of the projects listed in the Australian Citizen Science Association’s Citizen Science Project Finder. We draw out key features (such as those with research questions specific to cities such as reintroduction and persistence of species in urban environments) from urban citizen science projects that make them suitable for the urban environment and use these features to suggest recommendations for further expansion and development of this important subset of projects. We conclude that the number and diversity of urban citizen science projects is relatively low in Australia, and advocate for an increase in initiatives that can tap into a large pool of potential participants for the benefit of science and society.

Designing and managing biodiverse streetscapes: key lessons from the City of Melbourne - Hui-Anne Tan; Lee Harrison; Jeff Nelson; Maggie Lokic; John P. Rayner; Caragh G. Threlfall; Jessica Baumann; Adrian Marshall; Mark Callow; Jessica Peeler; Rebecca Korossy-Horwood; Chris Nicholson; et al. (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Engaging students in redesigning a local urban space to improve ecosystem services - Elizabeth N. Hane; Karl F. Korfmacher (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Ecosystem services are an important, but often invisible component of the urban landscape. Humans have altered the environment in cities, leading to degraded or missing ecosystem services in many cases. To enhance or replace these services, many urban municipalities are integrating green spaces and infrastructure into urban planning. We have designed an activity to help undergraduate students: 1) recognize the importance of urban ecosystem services, 2) identify when they are degraded or missing, and 3) integrate “green” ideas from multiple sources to propose improvements to them. To help students achieve these goals, we asked them to evaluate an underutilized space on their own campus, and propose a redesign of that space to support ecosystem services. While many students struggled initially to link urban ecosystem services with specific proposed improvements, we found that having students work together in groups for a second redesign often improved understanding and also resulted in more creative and interdisciplinary designs. The exercise also helped students to better identify ecosystem services and allowed them to practice integrating multiple viewpoints while proposing solutions to local environmental problems.

The spatial variation of air purification benefit provided by street tree assemblages in Shenyang, China - Jing Yao; Miao Liu; Nina Chen; Wei Chen; Chunping Miao; Xiaobo Wang; Xingyuan He (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Dietary flexibility of Wood Storks in response to human-induced rapid environmental change - Betsy A. Evans; Jessica A. Klassen; Dale E. Gawlik (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Environmental factors associated with Baylisascaris procyonis infection from a population of raccoons in Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Shannon K. French; David L. Pearl; William B. Sutton; Andrew S. Peregrine; Claire M. Jardine (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

City biodiversity index and the cities-biodiversity relationship: a case study for Sorocaba, SP, Brazil - Julia Fernanda de Camargo; Fábio Leandro da Silva; Welber Senteio Smith (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Phase II MS4 challenges: moving toward effective stormwater management for small municipalities - Leslie Rieck; Craig Carson; Robert J. Hawley; Madison Heller; Mike Paul; Mateo Scoggins; Mel Zimmerman; Robert F. Smith (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Federal regulations for municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) in the United States have been in place since 1990 as part of the Nation Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), aiming to reduce sediment and pollutant loads originating from urban areas. However, small-municipality (Phase II) MS4s frequently grapple with several challenges, resulting in a lack of stakeholder buy-in and actionable stormwater management plans. We identify five common challenges concerning MS4 requirements based on literature review, professional experience, and feedback solicited from stakeholders, municipal managers, and fellow professionals and offer real-world examples of efficient, effective MS4 frameworks and/or solutions. The five challenges are summarized as beliefs that: (1) agricultural land use is the largest pollutant contributor and the root cause of pollution problems; (2) stormwater management only benefits downstream communities; (3) large, expensive projects are required to comply with regulations; (4) maintenance, monitoring, and inspection of best management practices (BMPs) is overwhelmingly complex and expensive; and (5) a lack of direct funding makes complying with regulations an impossible task. These challenges are universal in nature for Phase II MS4 permittees and can create real barriers for effective stormwater management. However, we found many examples of methods or techniques to effectively address these five specific challenges, making them well-suited and important for discussion. BMPs can create tangible improvements for surrounding communities (e.g., reduced streambank erosion and flooding), and improved understanding of the structure and options within the MS4 program will help small municipalities make informed choices about management plans.

The abundance of yellow-legged gulls Larus michahellis breeding in the historic centre of Venice, Italy and the initial effects of the new waste collection policy on the population - Francesca Coccon; Lorenzo Vanni; Caterina Dabalà; Dimitri Giunchi (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
The yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis has undergone widespread colonization of the urban environment in the recent past. The first urban breeding gulls were recorded in the historical centre of Venice, Italy, in 2000, and by 2005 there were already 24 roof-nesting pairs, with this number increasing significantly over the last decade. In 2016, a new door-to-door garbage collection system was introduced in Venice to prevent the accumulation of rubbish in the streets and limit the trophic resources available for the species. This study provides an up-to-date estimate of the Venice yellow-legged gull urban population using distance sampling method. We also studied the effect of the new waste collection system on the species by comparing the population estimate before (2017) and after (2018) the full implementation of this change and by analysing the trend of individuals collected in the old town by the wildlife recovery service during 2010–2018. Results estimated ca. 430 breeding pairs in June 2018 showing a 36% decrease with respect to 2017. We also found a decrease in the number of 1-year-old birds and pulli collected by the wildlife recovery service starting from 2016, when the policy implementation began. Our data did not show a significant decrease in the overall number of individuals, suggesting that the new policy has a stronger effect on the breeding success of the species than on adult survival. This study emphasizes the importance of preventing rubbish accumulation in the streets as factor for reducing the abundance of urban yellow-legged gulls.

High species turnover shapes anuran community composition in ponds along an urban-rural gradient - Carolina Cunha Ganci; Diogo B. Provete; Thomas Püttker; David Lindenmayer; Mauricio Almeida-Gomes (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Estimating carbon storage in urban forests of New York City - Clara C. Pregitzer; Chloe Hanna; Sarah Charlop-Powers; Mark A. Bradford (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Avian species richness in cities: A review of the Spanish-language literature from the Southern Cone of South America - Catalina B. Muñoz-Pacheco; Nélida R. Villaseñor (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

A core on the Atlantic margin of Europe: an urban bird assemblage in Cork City, Ireland - Jason D. Luscier (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Study on the ecosystem services of urban forests: implications for climate change mitigation in the case of Adama City of Oromiya Regional Sate, Ethiopia - Hingabu Hordofa Koricho; Ararsa Derese Seboka; Fekadu Fufa; Tikabo Gebreyesus; Shaoxian Song (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

The effect of artificial light on bat richness and nocturnal soundscapes along an urbanization gradient in an arid landscape of central Peru - José Luis Mena; Jorge Rivero; Emilio Bonifaz; Pamela Pastor; Jaime Pacheco; T. Mitchell Aide (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Response to commentary on “cues to care: future directions for ecological landscapes” - Mark Hostetler (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Assessment of dispersal and population structure of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) in a seaport setting - Fernanda Gatto-Almeida; Amanda de Araújo Soares; Tiago Marafiga Degrandi; Liliani Marilia Tiepolo; Florian Pichlmueller; Iris Hass (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Seaports are introduction hotspots for invasive alien species (IAS). This is especially true for rodents, which have accompanied humans around the globe since the earliest days of ocean-going voyages. The rapid spread of IAS soon after arrival in a new environment is facilitated by further human-mediated transport or landscape features, like roads. By measuring genetic diversity and structure to investigate dispersal pathways, we gained insight into the transport, spread and establishment stages of a biological invasion, leveraging the most common rodent species ( R. norvegicus ) in this setting. We characterized the genetic structure of three Norway rat populations along a busy industrial road used by trucks to access the Port area in Paranaguá city (Brazil). A total of 71 rats were genotyped using 11 microsatellite markers. The results revealed a pattern of gene flow contrary to the expected stepping-stone model along the linear transect, with the two furthest apart populations being clustered together. We hypothesize that the observed outcome is explained by natural dispersal along the corridor being lower than human-mediated transport. The sampled area furthest from the port is a gas station frequented by trucks which are considered the most likely mode of transportation. In terms of management strategies, we suggest more emphasis should be put on cargo surveillance to lower the risk of Norway rat dispersal, not only for biosecurity, but also for sanitary reasons, as this port is a major grain trading point.

Influence of habitat type and distance from source area on bird taxonomic and functional diversity in a Neotropical megacity - Marcos Antônio Melo; Patrícia Mara Sanches; Demóstenes F. Silva Filho; Augusto João Piratelli (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

The use of geotechnologies for the identification of the urban flora in the city of Teresina, Brazil - Marcelo Ribeiro Mesquita; Shivani Agarwal; Leonardo Henrique Guedes de Morais Lima; Maria Regiane Araujo Soares; Diogo Brunno e Silva Barbosa; Vladimir Costa Silva; Guilherme Loureiro Werneck; Carlos Henrique Nery Costa (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Predicting burrowing owl flight trajectories in urban environments - Eduardo Guimarães Santos; Helga Correa Wiederhecker; Ricardo Bomfim Machado (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Response of urban tree DBH to fast urbanization: Case of coastal Zhanjiang in south China - Xia-Lan Cheng; Mir Muhammad Nizamani; Chi-Yung Jim; Salman Qureshi; Shuang Liu; Zhi-Xin Zhu; Si-Si Wu; Kelly Balfour; Hua-Feng Wang (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Greenhouse gases and green roofs: carbon dioxide and methane fluxes in relation to substrate characteristics - Md Abdul Halim; Juliana Vantellingen; Adam S. Gorgolewski; William K. Rose; Jennifer A. P. Drake; Liat Margolis; Sean C. Thomas (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Morphological differences along a chronological gradient of urbanisation in an endemic insectivorous bird of New Zealand - Christophe Amiot; Clément Harmange; Weihong Ji (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Influences of landscape structure on butterfly diversity in urban private gardens using a citizen science approach - Manfred Pendl; Raja Imran Hussain; Dietmar Moser; Thomas Frank; Thomas Drapela (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Although urbanization is increasing worldwide, private gardens may help mitigate the impact of urbanization on butterfly diversity. We investigated how local and landscape factors correspond with the observed butterfly species diversity and species composition in Viennese private gardens. The goal is to determine the importance of private gardens for butterfly conservation. Butterfly species were observed by skilled volunteers by applying a citizen science approach. We related butterfly species numbers in private gardens with local parameters and landscape composition in a radius of 1 km around each garden. Data were analyzed using a regression approach based on generalized linear models. The butterfly species richness in private gardens was positively correlated with butterfly species richness in the surrounding landscapes. Butterfly species richness in private gardens increased with higher proportions of area relevant for butterflies in the surrounding landscape and with increasing numbers of host and nectar plant species in the private gardens. A higher proportion of wooded areas in the surrounding landscape was related with a smaller proportion of the landscape butterfly species pool being observed in the private gardens. Overall, our results could be useful in land use planning, and for future studies of how to integrate citizen science and make urban gardens more beneficial for butterfly conservation.

Develop a public response model of soundscape for urban landscape garden parks - Guoqing Di; Junli Xiang; Yao Yao; Cong Chen; Qinhao Lin (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Response of plant diversity of urban remnant mountains to surrounding urban spatial morphology: a case study in Guiyang of Guizhou Province, China - Ning Kong; Zhitai Wang (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

The importance of paleodunes as nesting habitat for Northern Pine Snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus melanoleucus): risk from off-road vehicles in the New Jersey Pine Barrens - Joanna Burger; Robert. T. Zappalorti; Michael Gochfeld; Emile DeVito (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Habitat patch size and tree species richness shape the bird community in urban green spaces of rapidly urbanizing Himalayan foothill region of India - Monica Kaushik; Samakshi Tiwari; Kumari Manisha (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

A multi-scale, multi-species approach highlights the importance of urban greenspace and pond design for amphibian communities - Andrew J. Hamer (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Tick infestation of birds across a gradient of urbanization intensity in the United States Great Plains - Megan A. Roselli; Bruce H. Noden; Scott R. Loss (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Forest structure and anthropogenic disturbances regulate plant invasion in urban forests - Prakash Chandra Aryal; Chandramani Aryal; Kiran Bhusal; Devendra Chapagain; Man Kumar Dhamala; Sanu Raja Maharjan; Parveen K. Chhetri (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

The impact of different tree planting strategies on ecosystem services and disservices in the piazzas of a northern Italian city - A. F. Speak; L. Montagnani; H. Solly; C. Wellstein; S. Zerbe (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Achieving urban sustainability goals, and improving the quality of life in cities, are aided by the careful selection of tree species for public green spaces. Numerous trade-offs and synergies are necessary to consider when selecting tree species for successful public green spaces and there is little data on effective species mixes. In this transdisciplinary research we consider the relative impacts of nine different tree planting scenarios, as modelled with i-Tree, in three piazzas of Bolzano, North Italy. The scenarios consider the opinions of the general public gathered from focused workshops and data collected via a purposefully created smartphone application in addition to data from local urban tree inventories. Shade provision and aesthetics were the primary factors that influenced citizen tree preferences. Scenarios which included larger tree species generally performed the best due to the greater provision of ecosystem services that arises with larger tree dimensions. Ecosystem disservices also increase with larger trees but can be minimised by careful species selection. Public participation in the planning of urban green spaces can be a beneficial activity which ensures new planning outputs will be well-received whilst providing opportunities for education of citizens about the multiple ecosystem services and disservices in urban contexts. Model outputs revealed that different tree species choices can have greatly different impacts in terms of ecosystem service and disservice provision.

Ecological performance evaluation of urban agriculture in Beijing based on temperature and fractional vegetation cover - Ran Wo; Tianyu Dong; Qidi Pan; Ziyi Liu; Zhaoyang Li; Miaomiao Xie (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Ecology of the synanthropic mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) at their northern invasion front - Jason W. Dallas; Allison Harris; Jacob Reinbolt; Robin W. Warne (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Trade-offs and synergies of ecosystem services in the Yangtze River Delta, China: response to urbanizing variation - Sha Chen; Guan Li; Yuefei Zhuo; Zhongguo Xu; Yanmei Ye; Jessica P. R. Thorn; Robert Marchant (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Siblicide in the city: the urban heat island accelerates sibling cannibalism in the black widow spider (Latrodectus hesperus) - Christopher de Tranaltes; Jessie Dunn; Jake M. Martin; J. Chadwick Johnson (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Correction to: The effect of urban green roof design on beetle biodiversity - Sydney Gonsalves; Olyssa Starry; Alexander Szallies; Stephan Brenneisen (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

More than noise: light, moon phase, and singing behavior in a passerine - Marco Tetsuya Nakamura-Garcia; Alejandro Ariel Ríos-Chelén (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

The queen of the island: On the density and distribution of the Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) in Cozumel - Michelle García-Arroyo; Miguel A. Gómez-Martínez; Ian MacGregor-Fors (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
The Eurasian Collared-Dove ( Streptopelia decaocto ) is one of the most successful invasive bird species across the world. Worryingly, the invasive dove is a known reservoir of many diseases, some of which can potentially infect mammals (including human beings). Additionally, aggressive behaviors have been recorded toward other bird species resulting in territory and nest usurpation. Thus, the presence of this species poses an important risk for native species with similar habits, particularly in insular systems. Based on this, we carried out this study to assess the density and distribution of the Eurasian Collared-Dove in the island of Cozumel, as well as to evaluate the relationship between their abundance and the environmental characteristics of the places they inhabit. We estimated their distance-corrected densities in the island's largest town and performed an inverse distance weighting (IDW) interpolation to visualize their distribution. We performed a generalized linear model (GLM) to assess relationships between the environmental variables and the abundance of doves using a reduced model procedure. We obtained 137 records of doves present in 94% of all survey sites and an estimated density of 6.8 ind/ha, for a total of 6,670 doves in San Miguel de Cozumel. We did not find a spatial pattern of the dove's distribution on the urban setting, but we found an interaction between their abundances with tree cover and building height. Our findings, together with previous evidence of infection risk and aggressive behavior, make this species a threat to the native species communities of fragile ecosystems such as the island of Cozumel.

Areas of ecological importance are exposed to risk from urban sky glow: Auckland, Aotearoa-New Zealand as a case study - Ellery J. McNaughton; Kevin J. Gaston; Jacqueline R. Beggs; Darryl N. Jones; Margaret C. Stanley (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Prioritization and thresholds for managing biological invasions in urban ecosystems - L. J. Potgieter; M. F. J. Aronson; A. J. Brandt; C. N. Cook; M. Gaertner; N. E. Mandrak; D. M. Richardson; N. Shrestha; M. W. Cadotte (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Effects of landscape attribute towards bird assemblages in urban areas of Peninsular Malaysia - Farah Shafawati Mohd-Taib; Wardah Mohd-Saleh; Siti Noor Radiah Ismail (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Seasonal patterns of native plant cover and leaf trait variation on New York City green roofs - Eric G. Yee; Hilary S. Callahan; Kevin L. Griffin; Matthew I. Palmer; Sojin Lee (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Researchers working with city administrations: Reflecting on transdisciplinary collaboration under conditions of shared goals but different constraints - Robert Home; Nicole Bauer (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Academics and city administrations generally agree that environmental management decisions should be science based, which suggests the value of collaboration between city officials and researchers. Such collaboration, termed “ecology with cities”, is an example of translational ecology that should integrate ecological and social sciences to inform decision-makers. However, there has been insufficient reflection on whether ecology with cities achieves the expected development of practical social-ecological knowledge for the common good. We addressed this gap by asking city officials and researchers, in Switzerland and with whom we have collaborated in the past, about their motivations for, and experiences with, transdisciplinary collaboration. The respondents reported largely overlapping goals and an awareness of the mutual benefits of accessing the skills and resources of the other group. However, the reflections also unearthed latent tensions related to insufficient mutual awareness of institutional boundaries and limitations. We conclude that researchers should try to include collaboration partners who have experience in translational ecology practice and should establish learning processes early in a collaboration. Building good working relationships with city administrations and establishing such processes would facilitate the creation of realistic mutual expectations in which institutional limitations are considered so that common goals of maintaining or improving the ecological quality of cities can be amicably reached.

The effect of urban green roof design on beetle biodiversity - Sydney Gonsalves; Olyssa Starry; Alexander Szallies; Stephan Brenneisen (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Temporal variation in ant community assemblages along a rural–urban gradient in the Yaoundé metropolis, Cameroon - Paul Serge Mbenoun Masse; Maurice Tindo; Champlain Djiéto-Lordon; Ruth Mony; Martin Kenne (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

To the rescue—Evaluating the social-ecological patterns for bird intakes - R. Andrade; H. L. Bateman; K. L. Larson; C. Herzog; J. A. Brown (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Data synthesis and dynamic visualization converge into a comprehensive biotic interaction network: a case study of the urban and rural areas of Bogotá D.C. - Andrés A. Del Risco; Ángela M. Montoya; Viviana García; Susana Currea; Yissel A. Rivera; Diego Moreno; Ángela T. Rodríguez (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Assessing the conservation status, biodiversity potentials and economic contribution of urban tree Ecosystems in Nigerian Cities - Aladesanmi Daniel Agbelade; Jonathan Chukwujekwu Onyekwelu; Adebayo Adeleke John; Johnson Adedayo; Tunrayo Alabi (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Correction to: Can road stormwater ponds be successfully exploited by the European green frog (Pelophylax sp.)? - Antonin Conan; Jonathan Jumeau; Nathan Dehaut; Manfred Enstipp; Jean-Yves Georges; Yves Handrich (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Urban structure and environment impact plant species richness and floristic composition in a Central European city - Nejc Jogan; Filip Küzmič; Urban Šilc (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Effect of replacing surface with underground rubbish containers on urban House Sparrows Passer domesticus - Edgar Bernat-Ponce; David Ferrer; José A. Gil-Delgado; Germán M. López-Iborra (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Urbanisation processes are increasing worldwide at surprising rates affecting wildlife in many ways: changing habitat structure, reducing resources, and modifying the distribution, composition and abundance of local biota. In different countries, urban waste collection techniques are evolving and surface rubbish containers (neighbourhood receptacles for temporarily storing anthropogenic household waste located above-ground on the streets) are being replaced with underground ones (metal boxes with steel chutes that fed into large underground containers) to improve sanitation measures, to avoid bad smells and waste scattering by animals. We aimed to detect if House Sparrows were more abundant close to surface rubbish containers than close to the underground ones. We recorded an abundance index of House Sparrows during two visits in winter 2018–2019 to point counts located in groups of both container types (80 and 85 groups of underground and surface containers, respectively) in eight towns of Eastern Spain. We modelled the abundance index according to rubbish container type, and 14 other environmental variables at four scales: container, nearest buildings, near urban features, and general locality features using GLMMs. House Sparrows were more abundant close to surface than to underground rubbish containers, which may be linked with higher food debris availability. The presence of other urban features (bar terraces, private gardens, mature trees) interacting with the rubbish containers also influenced the abundance of House Sparrows. The replacement of above-ground rubbish containers with underground ones may deprive House Sparrows resources, which could lead to the decline of this species, especially in urban areas with little green cover.

Expanding catchment-scale hydrologic restoration in suburban watersheds via stream mitigation crediting—A Northern Kentucky (USA) case study - Robert J. Hawley (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
The need for hydrologic restoration is well established in stream ecosystems across the world; however, available funding for catchment-scale restoration typically falls far short of what is required to produce in-stream results. Hydrologic restoration can be particularly important for improving stream integrity in urban watersheds, but implementation can be challenging due to high property values and limited space for retroactive stormwater control measures. This Northern Kentucky (USA) case study summarizes how stormwater mitigation interventions could be, and have already been, used to credit stream mitigation projects via conventional US Army Corps of Engineers crediting protocols. Hydrologic restoration can generate stream mitigation credits by directly improving the flow class and/or by indirectly improving the habitat quality. For example, a stormwater intervention could create a shift from an ephemeral to intermittent flow class, while at the same time facilitating greater substrate stability, lower embeddedness, and other geomorphic improvements, that subsequently improve the categorical habitat rating. The ecological lift of such hydrologic interventions could be further expanded via concurrent in-stream mitigation measures such as re-establishing a jurisdictional stream in place of a drainage ditch or installing habitat structures such as toe wood and log steps, among other activities. Such process-based hydrologic restoration is consistent with the goals of the Clean Water Act and has the potential to be more beneficial to greater portions of stream networks and greater numbers of stakeholders than conventional habitat restoration alone.

Trees as a solar control measure for southern-oriented street frontages. Analysis of a selected street model for a humid continental climate - Katarzyna Zielonko-Jung; Justyna Janiak (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
The present study is aimed at the analysis of possibilities for shading southern frontage of street oriented along the E-W axis by the single row of trees, parallel to the southern elevations. The effectiveness of solar control shading was tested depending on the geometric relationships between trees and buildings. Numerical simulation analyses were conducted in Rhinoceros® program for the street located in humid continental climate in city Płock, Poland (52°32′50 “N 19°42’00 “E), for the day of the highest degree of total solar radiation in the year i.e. June 7th, during hours: 8.00a.m - 5.00 p.m. The analysis has proved that a row of 20–25 year old Sycamore Maple ‘Rotterdam’ in the street 30 m wide and 18 m high (H/W = 0.6), can provide solar protection for the southern frontage, especially when trees are located no more than 4 m away. Location of greenery within the range of 4 to 5 m from the buildings leads to a radical reduction in the possibility of shading the wall surfaces (at 5 m to 0%). Over 90% of the shading area of the ground floor façade walls was found when trees were within the distance 2 and 3 m away from the building.

Density of marmosets in highly urbanised areas and the positive effect of arboreous vegetation - Antonio C. de Andrade (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

American Oystercatcher benefits from a heterogeneous landscape to breed in an urbanized area in southern Brazil - Bruno de Andrade Linhares; Guilherme Tavares Nunes; Fernando Azevedo Faria; Fernando da Motta Rosso; Leandro Bugoni; Paulo Henrique Ott (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Urbanisation differently affects decomposition rates of recalcitrant woody material and labile leaf litter - DJ Kotze; H Setälä (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Litter decomposition is a fundamental ecosystem process and service that supplies nutrients to the soil. Although decomposition rate is influenced by litter quality, climatic conditions, the decomposer community and vegetation type in non-urban ecosystems, little is known about the degradation of different organic matter types in urban settings. We investigated the decomposition rates of recalcitrant (wood sticks for 4 years) and labile litter (green tea leaves in pyramid-shaped teabags for 3 years) in urban habitats that differed in level of management and disturbance. We found that recalcitrant woody material decomposed slower in urban habitat types (ca. 60–75% mass loss after 4 years in remnant spruce forests, park lawns, ruderal habitats) than in natural to semi-natural spruce forest soils (84% mass loss) outside the city. Labile tea litter, however, decomposed faster in typical open urban habitats (70% mass loss after 3 years in park lawns, ruderal habitats) than in forested habitats (60% mass loss in semi-natural and remnant spruce forests), with a remarkable dichotomy in decomposition rate between open and forested habitats. We suggest that the slower rate of wood decomposition in the city relates to its depauperate saprotrophic fungal community. The faster rate of labile litter decomposition in open habitats is difficult to explain, but is potentially a consequence of environmental factors that support the activity of bacteria over fungi in open habitats. We propose that the reintroduction of decaying woody material into the urban greenspace milieu could increase biodiversity and also improve the ability of urban soils to decompose an array of organic material entering the system. This reintroduction of decaying woody material could either occur by leaving cut logs – due to management – in urban remnant forests, which has been shown to be accepted as natural features by residents in Fennoscandian cities, and by placing logs in urban parks in ways that communicate their intentional use as part of urban landscape design and management.

Temporal persistence of taxonomic and functional composition in bird communities of urban areas: an evaluation after a 6-year gap in data collection - Lucas M. Leveau (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Azadirachta indica A. Juss. a multi-purpose tree as a leading species in carbon stocking in two Sahelian cities of Niger - Moussa Soulé; Boateng Kyereh; Shem Kuyah; Abasse Tougiani; Mahamane Saadou (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Litter decomposition and infiltration capacities in soils of different tropical urban land covers - Tze Kwan Fung; Daniel R. Richards; Rachel A. T. Leong; Subhadip Ghosh; Christabel W. J. Tan; Zuzana Drillet; Kit Ling Leong; Peter J. Edwards (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Say what? On the transmission of acoustic signals in a Neotropical green city - Carlos M. Trujillo-Torres; Fernando González-García; Ian MacGregor-Fors (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)
Cities do not only represent noisy systems, but also limit acoustic communication given the complex array of artificial structures through which signals can be trapped or obscured. In this study we performed a field experiment to evaluate the loss of energy of a standardized acoustic emission (generated with notes and a call of the Clay-colored Thrush – Turdus grayi ). For this, we emitted the acoustic signal and recovered it at increasing radial distances from 26 fixed emission points (i.e., 10 m, 20 m, 40 m, 80 m, 120 m, 160 m) located across the city of Xalapa (Mexico). Our results show that the emitted signal was not recorded beyond 80 m from the emission point. The number and height of the assessed physical obstacles between the emitted signal and the receiving equipment showed to drive our main result, with built elements representing a major barrier than vegetation ones in terms of the recovered energy of the emitted signal. Interestingly, we found that, for both types of physical obstacles, a height of ~7 m was a common threshold influencing the recovered energy of the emitted signal.

Can road stormwater ponds be successfully exploited by the European green frog (Pelophylax sp.)? - Antonin Conan; Jonathan Jumeau; Nathan Dehaut; Manfred Enstipp; Jean-Yves Georges; Yves Handrich (Urban Ecosystems, 2022)

Conservation monitoring of a polluted urban river: an occupancy modeling study of birds in the Yamuna of Delhi - Sana Rehman; Nawin Kumar Tiwary; Abdul Jamil Urfi (Urban Ecosystems, 2021)

Morphological divergence, tail loss, and predation risk in urban lizards - Shashank Balakrishna; Madhura Sham Amdekar; Maria Thaker (Urban Ecosystems, 2021)

Bacterial community composition and functional potential associated with a variety of urban stormwater sources - Andrea Naimah Fraser; Sarah Pacocha Preheim (Urban Ecosystems, 2021)

Street-level green spaces support a key urban population of the threatened Hispaniolan parakeet Psittacara chloropterus - Matthew Geary; Celia J. Brailsford; Laura I. Hough; Fraser Baker; Simon Guerrero; Yolanda M. Leon; Nigel J. Collar; Stuart J. Marsden (Urban Ecosystems, 2021)
While urbanisation remains a major threat to biodiversity, urban areas can sometimes play an important role in protecting threatened species, especially exploited taxa such as parrots. The Hispaniolan Parakeet Psittacara chloropterus has been extirpated across much of Hispaniola, including from most protected areas, yet Santo Domingo (capital city of the Dominican Republic) has recently been found to support the island’s densest remaining population. In 2019, we used repeated transects and point-counts across 60 1 km 2 squares of Santo Domingo to examine the distribution of parakeets, identify factors that might drive local presence and abundance, and investigate breeding ecology. Occupancy models indicate that parakeet presence was positively related to tree species richness across the city. N-Mixture models show parakeet encounter rates were correlated positively with species richness of trees and number of discrete ‘green’ patches (> 100 m 2 ) within the survey squares. Hispaniolan Woodpecker Melanerpes striatus , the main tree-cavity-producing species on Hispaniola, occurs throughout the city, but few parakeet nests are known to involve the secondary use of its or other cavities in trees/palms. Most parakeet breeding (perhaps 50–100 pairs) appears to occur at two colonies in old buildings, and possibly only a small proportion of the city’s 1500+ parakeets that occupy a single roost in street trees breed in any year. Our models emphasise the importance of parks and gardens in providing feeding resources for this IUCN Vulnerable species. Hispaniola’s urban centres may be strongholds for populations of parakeets and may even represent sources for birds to recolonise formerly occupied areas on the island.

Exploring the ability of urban householders to correctly identify nocturnal mammals - Rochelle Steven; Bronte E. Van Helden; Ayesha I. Tulloch; Megan Barnes; Paul G. Close; Richard A. Fuller (Urban Ecosystems, 2021)

Urban ecosystem services in strategic planning in Swedish municipalities - Åsa Ode Sang; Frederik Aagaard Hagemann; Nils Ekelund; Jessica Svännel (Urban Ecosystems, 2021)
Research to date on urban ecosystem services has mainly been conducted in large cities, particularly in China, the USA and some European countries. This study examined the provision of urban ecosystem services in a Swedish municipality context, based on interviews with municipal stakeholders in strategic management and planning from six municipalities and a review of existing publications readily available to practitioners. The analysis focused on (1) the ecosystem services explicitly covered, (2) whether multifunctionality was covered and specific synergies and trade-offs identified and, (3) the spatial scale and context used for ecosystem services (valuation/mapping, planning, design or maintenance) in practical application. The results showed that regulatory services are very much the focus in municipal operations as well as in publications available to practitioners. This is reflected in the implementation of the concept through problem solving often related to regulatory services, using multifunctionality and win-win situations in ecosystem service supply. These findings contribute to the growing body of work exploring how the concept of ecosystem services is adapted and utilised in practice.

The phenology of the endangered Nogal (Juglans neotropica Diels) in Bogota and its conservation implications in the urban forest - Fernando Ramírez; Jose Kallarackal (Urban Ecosystems, 2021)

Abundance and distribution of invasive woody shrub, Mahonia bealei, in the urban forest fragments of the southern Piedmont, USA - Adam Greim; Lawrence Kiage (Urban Ecosystems, 2021)

Wooded areas promote species richness in urban parks - Ana Ješovnik; Jelena Bujan (Urban Ecosystems, 2021)

32 years of essential management to retain value of an urban dragonfly awareness pond - Gabriella J. Kietzka; James S. Pryke; René Gaigher; Michael J. Samways (Urban Ecosystems, 2021)

Grasslands provide diverse opportunities for bird species along an urban-rural gradient - Josephine A. Pithon; Rémi Duflot; Véronique Beaujouan; M. Jagaille; Guillaume Pain; Hervé Daniel (Urban Ecosystems, 2021)