What Shapes Plant and Animal Diversity on Urban Golf Courses?
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Urban Ecosystems https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-017-0728-4 What shapes plant and animal diversity on urban golf courses? Sabine S. Nooten1,2 & Patrick Schultheiss 1,3,4 & Jules Wright1 & Catriona Macdonald1 & Brajesh K. Singh1,5 & James M. Cook1 & Sally A. Power1 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018 Abstract Recent concern over increasing loss of biodiversity has prompted considerable interest in the role of urban green spaces as reservoirs of local biodiversity. This study assessed the diversity of three indicator taxa - plants, ants and birds - on golf courses spanning a wide range of environmental variation in terms of climate, elevation, course age, size and connectivity to native woodland. Species richness and community composition was further compared between contrasting on-course habitat types that reflect different management intensities. We identified a set of taxon-specific environmental correlates indicating an intricate interplay of landscape- and local-scale variables that affect local species diversity. Our results show that floristic diversity is positively associated with the amount of rainfall, whereas ant and bird diversity are related to local-scale factors, particularly the number of trees and the size of water features on a site. The amount of on-course native habitat was a strong predictor of plant and ant diversity and was also associated with the number of unique species at the site level; this reinforces the value of remnant habitat patches as local biodiversity reservoirs that represent minihot-spotsinanotherwisespecies-poorurban landscape. Community composition for all three taxa differed markedly between non-playing and playing areas, with boundary and remnant habitats generally having more diverse, species-rich communities. Our results suggest that local floral and faunal biodiversity on urban golf courses can be enhanced by creating woody non-playing areas and, especially, by preserving, restoring or expanding remnant habitats. Keywords Biodiversity .Communitycomposition .Climate .Environmentalfactors .Urbanenvironment .Golfcourses .Plants . Ants . Birds Introduction land use changes, with climate change, nitrogen deposition and elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations also playing Human modification of the global environment has led to major roles (Sala et al. 2000; Chapin et al. 2000). High the rapid decline of biological diversity, driven mainly by levels of biodiversity are considered important for a number of reasons, including the provision of ecosystem services Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article such as primary production and local climate regulation, (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-017-0728-4)containssupplementary for its intrinsic and aesthetic value and, in particular, for material, which is available to authorized users. providing ecosystem resistance and resilience in the face of disturbance (Chapin et al. 2000). A complex interplay of * Sabine S. Nooten environmental and biotic factors governs biodiversity at dif- [email protected] ferent spatial scales. At the landscape scale, the main drivers of biodiversity variation are environmental factors such as 1 Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney temperature, precipitation and soil type (Sala et al. 2000). At University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia the more local scale, biodiversity can be strongly influenced 2 Present address: Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical by air quality and adjacent land use (Bailey 2007;Gadsdon Biology, Biozentrum, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany et al. 2010;LeeandPower2013) as well as the type, rela- 3 Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, tive size and connectivity of native habitat fragments (Bailey Canberra, ACT, Australia 2007; Pardini et al. 2010; Hagen et al. 2012; Beninde et al. 4 Present address: Research Center on Animal Cognition, Center for 2015). Biotic factors such as vegetation structure and com- Integrative Biology, Toulouse University, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse, France plexity also play an important role in mediating species in- teractions and movement through the landscape (e.g. 5 Global Centre for Land Based Innovation, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia Beninde et al. 2015). Concern over the impact of land use Urban Ecosyst change, particularly rapid urbanisation (e.g. Grimm et al. many species of plants, birds and vertebrates as areas of adjacent 2008), has led to recent interest in assessing the contribution remnant native habitat outside of course boundaries (e.g. Yasuda of large recreational green spaces - i.e. parks, gardens and et al. 2008;HudsonandBird2009;Hodgkisonetal.2007b). golf courses - to urban and peri-urban biodiversity (Lin and Different habitat types within golf courses can harbour dis- Fuller 2013; Aronson et al. 2014). Whilst golf courses typ- tinctly different floral and faunal communities, with marked ically have relatively low biodiversity when compared to turnover in species composition and abundance (e.g. Yasuda native bush or forest areas (Terman 1997), they can compare and Koike 2006). In Australia, communities have generally well to other urban habitats (Colding and Folke 2009;Mata been investigated by comparing golf courses to other land use et al. 2017; Threlfall et al. 2016; Threlfall et al. 2017). types, such as patches of remnant forests (Hodgkison et al. The benefits of green space in urban landscapes are increas- 2007b)orurbanparksandgardens(Ossolaetal.2015; ingly being recognized, in terms of its importance for recreation Threlfall et al. 2015; Threlfall et al. 2016), but there has so and human health, including local climate regulation (Grimm far been very little attention paid to differences in community et al. 2008;VidrihandMedved2013;Doicketal.2014)and assemblages between habitats within golf courses. improved local air quality (Hartig et al. 2014;HartigandKahn To date, the separate effects of local-scale factors such as 2016). Urban green spaces enhance human well-being by, for habitat diversity and complexity, and landscape-scale factors example, providing daily access to nature and reducing noise such as climate on the biodiversity of urban golf courses have (Andersson et al. 2014;HartigandKahn2016), factors that have been studied in different parts of the world. However, it re- tangible value, as evidenced by the frequently higher house mains less clear how these affect biodiversity when acting prices where properties are close to green areas (Andersson together. Our study addresses this knowledge gap by asking: et al. 2014). Larger vegetated areas typically support greater Are local-scale factors more important for local biodiversity levels of biodiversity than smaller pockets of urban green space. than landscape-scale factors, or vice-versa? And, are the pat- Indeed, a recent study by Beninde et al. (2015)revealedpositive terns similar for different groups of organisms? Answers to relationships between the amount of green space and the these questions are of direct relevance for biodiversity man- diversity of a variety of taxonomic groups across 75 cities agement and conservation efforts in urban green spaces since worldwide, while, at the more regional scale, Turrini and Knop they can highlight the possibilities and limitations of such (2015)foundapositiveassociationbetweenthediversityof efforts and help inform golf course managers in their choice arthropods and the amount of vegetated area in several cities in of management strategies. Switzerland. Habitat connectivity also has an important influence In the present study, we focused on biodiversity surveys of on species movement and thus diversity in urban environments, three key taxa: plants, ants and birds. Plants, as structurally as exemplified by Shanahan et al. (2011)forbirdspeciesrichness diverse primary producers, are of key importance in terrestrial in Brisbane. The value of golf courses as important reservoirs of habitats. Ants are being increasingly used in biodiversity sur- biodiversity is often underestimated (Gange et al. 2003), despite veys, as they are abundant in the environment, contribute sig- the fact that they typically represent a considerable proportion of nificantly to ecological functioning within the landscape and green space within the urban landscape, providing varied habitats are sensitive to disturbance (Underwood and Fisher 2006; that support a diverse range of flora and fauna (Colding and Andersen et al. 2002; Andersen and Majer 2004). Birds are Folke 2009;Gangeetal.2003;Threlfalletal.2016;Threlfall a charismatic taxon and are commonly used as a vertebrate et al. 2017). Indeed, suburban golf courses have been shown to indicator group for biodiversity studies in urban environments enhance local biodiversity for a range of taxa, including bird, (e.g. Rottenborn 1999;Blair1999;Shanahanetal.2011)in- beetle and bumblebee species in the UK (Tanner and Gange cluding on golf courses (Sorace and Visentin 2007; 2005), and plants, vertebrates and invertebrates in Japan Hodgkison et al. 2007a, b). (Yasuda and Koike 2006). Within Australia, golf courses have The present study seeks to address the following key been identified as valuable refugia for threatened vertebrate spe- research questions: (1) Which landscape and local scale cies, including birds and mammals in suburban southeast environmental factors are associated with high levels of Queensland (Hodgkison et al. 2007a, b), as well as a diverse biodiversity