Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The importance of urban backgardens on plant and invertebrate recruitment: a field microcosm experiment

  • Published:
Urban Ecosystems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Private backgardens in cities have the capacity to enhance ecological function and connectivity. The importance of increased habitat availability was tested experimentally using microcosms with soil or with soil and vegetation added into Toronto backgardens. Local attributes of the backgardens were recorded, and within the microcosms, recruitment of seeds, plants, and winged and wingless invertebrates were recorded. Natural recruitment by all organisms was significant into the microcosms in the 20 backgardens tested. Invertebrate abundance and diversity, incidental seed recruitment, and aboveground vegetation growth was enhanced regardless of whether only bare soil was added or soil with vegetation. The number of woody plants (non-herbaceous plants with hard lignified tissues or woody parts e.g., stems and are adapted to survive from one year to the next i.e., through winter) in the backgardens predicted seed recruitment and number of plant species predicted winged invertebrate abundance. Hence, simple augmentation of private backgardens—even at an ecologically small-scale—can enhance the capacity of urban systems to provide appropriate habitats for organisms within a difficult matrix for many species.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aizen MA, Feinsinger P (1994) Habitat fragmentation, native insect pollinators, and feral honey bees in Argentine “Chaco Serrano”. Ecol Appl 4:378–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anon (1995) Biodiversity: The UK Steering Group Report. Volume 2: Action Plans. HMSO, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Âs S (1999) Invasion of matrix species in small habitat patches. Conservation Ecology [online] 3(1):1. Available from the Internet. URL: http://www.consecol.org/vol3/iss1/art1/

  • Bowden J, Dean GJW (1977) The distribution of flying insects in and near a tall hedgerow. J Appl Ecol 14:343–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byrne LB (2007) Habitat structure: a fundamental concept and framework for urban soil ecology. Urban Ecosyst 10:255–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Byrne LB, Bruns MA (2004) The effects of lawn management on soil microarthropods. Journal Agric Urban Entomol 21:150–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrne LB, Bruns MA, Kim KC (2008) Ecosystem properties of urban land covers at the aboveground-belowground interface. Ecosystems 11:1065–1077

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chace JF, Walsh JJ (2006) Urban effects on native avifauna: a review. Landsc Urban Plan 74:46–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Churkina G (2008) Modeling the carbon cycle of urban systems. Ecol Model 216(2):107–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corbet SA, Bee J, Dasmahapatra K, Gale S, Gorringe E, La Ferla B, Moorhouse T, Trevail A, van Bergen Y, Vorontsova M (2001) Native or exotic? Double or single? Evaluating plants for pollinator-friendly gardens. Ann Bot 87:219–232

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Czech B, Krausman PR, Devers PK (2000) Economic associations among causes of species endangerment in the United States. Bioscience 50:593–601

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daniels GD, Kirkpatrick JB (2006) Does variation in garden characteristics influence the conservation of birds in suburbia? Biol Conserv 133:326–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidowitz G, Rosenzweig ML (1998) The latitudinal gradient of species diversity among North American grasshoppers within a single habitat: a test of the spatial heterogeneity hypothesis. J Biogeogr 25:553–560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Day TD (1995) Bird species composition and abundance in relation to native plants in urban gardens, Hamilton, New Zealand. Notornis 42:175–186

    Google Scholar 

  • Duelli P, Obrist MK, Schmatz DR (1999) Biodiversity evaluation in agricultural landscape: above-ground insects. Agric Ecosyst Environ 74:33–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dufour A, Gadallah F, Wagner HH, Guisan A, Buttler A (2006) Plant species richness and environmental heterogeneity in a mountain landscape: effects of variability and spatial configuration. Ecography 29:73–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fahrig L (2001) How much habitat is enough? Biol Conserv 100(1):65–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forman RTT, Baudry J (1984) Hedgerows and hedgerow networks in landscape ecology. Environ Manage 8(6):495–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frankie GW, Thorp RW, Schindler M, Hernandez J, Ertter B, Rizzardi M (2005) Ecological patterns of bees and their host ornamental flowers in two northern California cities. J Kans Entomol Soc 78:227–246

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghazoul J (2006) Floral diversity and the facilitation of pollination. J Ecol 94:295–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill SE, Handley JF, Ennos AR, Pauleit S, Theuray N, Lindley SJ (2008) Characterising the urban environment of UK cities and towns: a template for landscape planning. Landsc Urban Plan 87:210–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golden DM, Crist TO (1999) Experimental effects of habitat fragmentation on old-field canopy insects: community, guild and species responses. Oecologia 118:371–380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenstone MH (1984) Determinants of web spider species diversity: vegetation structural diversity versus prey availability. Oecologia 62:299–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gruebler MU, Morand M, Naef-Daenzer B (2008) A predictive model of the diversity of airborne insects in agricultural environments. Agric Ecosyst Environ 1–3:75–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halaj J, Ross DW, Moldenke AR (2000) Importance of habitat structure to the arthropod food-web in Douglas-fir canopies. Oikos 90:139–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch M, Pfaff S, Wolters V (2003) The influence of matrix type on flower visitors of Centaurea jacea L. Agric Ecosyst Environ 98:331–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodgkison S, Hero JM, Warnken J (2007) The efficacy of small-scale conservation efforts, as assessed on Australian golf courses. Biol Conserv 135(4):576–586

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huston MA (1999) Local processes and regional patterns: appropriate scales for understanding variation in the diversity of plants and animals. Oikos 86:393–401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jules ES, Shahani P (2003) A broader ecological context to habitat fragmentation: why matrix habitat is more important that we thought. J Veg Sci 14:459–464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karl TR, Diaz HF, Kukla G (1988) Urbanization: its detection and effect in the United States climate record. J Climate 1:1099–1123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kevan PG (1999) Pollinators as indicators of the state of the environment: species, activity and diversity. Agric Ecosyst Environ 1–3:373–393

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kremen C, Williams NM, Thorp RW (2002) Crop pollination from native bees at risk from agricultural intensification. Proc Natl Acad Sci 99:16812–16816

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kremen C, Williams NM, Aizen MA, Gemmill-Herren B, LeBuhn G, Minckley R, Packer L, Potts SG, Roulston T, Steffan-Dewenter I, Vazquez P, Winfree R, Adams L, Crone EE, Greenleaf SS, Keitt TH, Klein AM, Regetz J, Ricketts TH (2007) Pollination and other ecosystem services produced by mobile organisms: a conceptual framework for the effects of land-use change. Ecol Lett 10:299–314

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lawton JH (1983) Plant architecture and the diversity of phytophagous insects. Annu Rev Entomol 28:23–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis T (1969a) The distribution of flying insects near a low hedgerow. J Appl Ecol 6:443–452

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis T (1969b) The diversity of the insect fauna in a hedgerow and neighbouring fields. J Appl Ecol 6:453–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loram A, Tratalos J, Warren PH, Gaston KJ (2007) Urban domestic gardens (X): the extent and structure of the resource in five major cities. Landscape Ecol 22:601–615

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loureiro S, Newton A, Icely J (2005) Effects of nutrient enrichments on primary production in the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon (Southern Portugal). Hydrobiologia 550:29–45

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lundholm JT, Larson DW (2003) Relationships between spatial environmental heterogeneity and plant species diversity on a limestone pavement. Ecography 26:715–722

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Makino TT, Ohashi K, Sakai S (2007) How do floral display size and density of surrounding flowers influence the likelihood of bumble bee revisitation to a plant? Func Ecol 21:87–95

    Google Scholar 

  • Manyin T, Rowe CL (2006) Chronic exposure of Leptocheirus plumulosus to Baltimore Harbor sediment: Bioenergetic and population-level effects. Mar Environ Res 62(2):116–130

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maudsley MJ (2000) A review of the ecology and conservation of hedgerow invertebrates in Britain. J Environ Manag 60:65–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCoy ED, Bell SS (1991) Habitat structure: the evolution and diversification of a complex topic. In: Bell SS, McCoy ED, Muschinsky HR (eds) Habitat structure: the physical arrangement of objects in space. Chapman & Hall, London, pp 3–27

    Google Scholar 

  • McKinney ML (2002) Urbanization, biodiversity, and conservation. Bioscience 52:883–890

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKinney ML (2006) Urbanization as a major cause of biotic homogenization. Biol Conserv 127:247–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKinney ML (2008) Effects of urbanization on species richness: a review of plants and animals. Urban Ecosyst 11:161–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moran PAP (1948) The interpretation of statistical maps. J R Stat Soc B 10:243–251

    Google Scholar 

  • Moran PAP (1950) Notes on continuous stochastic phenomena. Biometrika 37:17–23

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moran MD (2003) Arguments for rejecting the sequential Bonferroni in ecological studies. Oikos 100:403–405

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murtaugh PA (2007) Simplicity and complexity in ecological data analysis. Ecology 88:56–62

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer MW (1992) The coexistence of species in fractal landscapes. Am Nat 139:375–397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pieper S, Weigmann G (2008) Interactions between isopods and collembolans modulate the mobilization and transport of nutrients from urban soils. Appl Soil Ecol 39(2):109–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Potts SG, Bulliamy B, Dafni A, Ne’Eman G, Willmer P (2003) Linking bees and flowers: how do floral communities structure pollinator communities. Ecology 84(10):2628–2642

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn GP, Keough MJ (2002) Experimental design and data analysis for biologists. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 537 pp

  • Ricketts TH (2001) The matrix matters: effective isolation in fragmented landscapes. Am Nat 158:87–99

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Romero-Alcaraz E, Avila JM (2000) Landscape heterogeneity in relation to variation in epigaeic beetle diversity of a Mediterranean ecosystem. Implications for conservation. Biodivers Conserv 9:985–1005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rudd H, Vala J, Schaefer VH (2002) The importance of backyard habitat in a comprehensive biodiversity conservation strategy: a connectivity analysis of urban green spaces. Restor Ecol 10(2):368–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith RM, Warren PH, Thompson K, Gaston KJ (2005) Urban domestic gardens (VI): environmental correlates of invertebrate species richness. Biodivers Conserv 15:2415–2438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith RM, Gaston KJ, Warren PH, Thompson K (2006) Urban domestic gardens (VIII): environmental correlates of invertebrate abundance. Biodivers Conserv 15:2515–2545

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snodgrass JW, Casey RE, Joseph D, Simon JA (2008) Microcosm investigations of stormwater pond sediment toxicity to embryonic and larval amphibians: variation in sensitivity among species. Environ Pollut 154(2):291–297

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Southwood TRE, Brown VK, Reader PM (1979) The relationships of plant and insect diversities in succession. Biol J Linn Soc 12:327–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Statzner B, Moss B (2004) Linking ecological function, biodiversity and habitat: a mini-review focusing on older ecological literature. Basic Appl Ecol 5:97–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg DA, Pouyat RV, Parmelee RW, Groffman PM (1997) Earthworm abundance and nitrogen mineralization rates along an urban-rural land use gradient. Soil Biol Biochem 29(3–4):427–430

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Steiner NC, Kohler W (2003) Effects of landscape patterns on species richness: a modelling approach. Agric Ecosyst Environ 98:353–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stone B Jr (2008) Urban sprawl and air quality in large US cities. J Environ Manag 86:688–698

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tews J, Brose U, Grimm V, Tielborger K, Wichmann MC, Shwager M, Jeltsch F (2004) Animal species diversity driven by habitat heterogeneity/diversity: the importance of keystone structures. J Biogeogr 31:79–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson K, Austin KC, Smith RM, Warren PH, Angold PG, Gaston KJ (2003) Urban domestic gardens (I): putting small-scale plant diversity in context. J Veg Sci 14:71–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson K, Hodgson JG, Smith RM, Warren PH, Gaston KJ (2004) Urban domestic gardens (III): composition and diversity of lawn floras. J Veg Sci 15:373–378

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tscharntke T, Gathmann A, Steffan-Dewenter I (1998) Bioindication using trapnesting bees and wasps and their natural enemies: community structure and interactions. J Appl Ecol 35:708–719

    Google Scholar 

  • Vandermeer J, Carvajal R (2001) Metapopulation dynamics and the quality of the matrix. Am Nat 158(3):211–220

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vandermeer J, Perfecto I (2002) Quality of agroecological matrix in a tropical montane landscape: ants in coffee plantations in southern Mexico. Conserv Biol 16(1):174–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verhoef HA (1996) The role of soil microcosms in the study of ecosystem processes: microcosms. Ecology 77(3):685–690

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vivian-Smith G (1997) Microtopographic heterogeneity and floristic diversity in experimental wetland communities. J Ecol 85:71–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walton BM, Tsatiris D, Rivera-Sostre M (2006) Salamanders in forest-floor food webs: invertebrate species composition influences top-down effects. Pedobiologia 50(4):313–321

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Webb NR (1989) Studies on the invertebrate fauna of fragmented heathland in Dortset, UK, and the implications for conservation. Biol Conserv 47:153–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westphal C, Steffan-Dewenter I, Tscharntke T (2003) Mass flowering crops enhance pollinator densities at a landscape scale. Ecol Lett 6:961–965

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

L. Packer, A. Malhotra, C. Sheffield, K. Faria, T. Remmel, York University Graduate Students Association, York University Faculty of Graduate Studies, Mountain Equipment Coop, RONA, Sheridan Nurseries, Evergreen, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, T. Haagsma, O. Grod, S. Malik, M. Sloan, R. Borsuk, and backgarden owners.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, York University, 4700 Keele Avenue, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada

    Corinne D. Sperling & Christopher J. Lortie

Authors
  1. Corinne D. Sperling
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christopher J. Lortie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Corinne D. Sperling.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sperling, C.D., Lortie, C.J. The importance of urban backgardens on plant and invertebrate recruitment: a field microcosm experiment. Urban Ecosyst 13, 223–235 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-009-0114-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-009-0114-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation