Urban Plant Diversity: Understanding Informing Processes and Emerging Trends

Abstract

Plant diversity in cities is important for numerous social and ecological reasons. In this chapter we use Aronson et al.’s (Ecology 97:2952–2963, 2016) hierarchical filters to explore urban biodiversity trends and driving processes in cities of the Global South. Modelled expansion in the Global South shows a high degree of coincidence with biodiversity hotspots with sprawling, informal, settlement rapidly transforming landscapes. Alien plants are frequently introduced through human facilitation and this has been linked to aspirational aesthetics and livelihoods. The relative contribution of indigenous versus alien plant species varies and histories, in particular of colonisation, are important. Like cities in the Global North, invasive aliens are a threat to urban biodiversity in and beyond cities in the Global South. Cities here differ in having less resources to tackle these threats. Biodiversity in cities of the Global South further differs from the Global North in the role it plays in people’s lives where social and cultural practices make for diverse engagements. Emerging work suggests these are means through which to engage the public in biodiversity conservation. Individual garden management, combined with remnant vegetation, makes for diverse biodiversity outcomes and refutes the blanket application of ideas developed in the Global North such as the luxury effect. The role of urban agriculture and provisioning services plays an important role in garden biodiversity. The current amount of remnant biodiversity in cities in the Global South presents an opportunity to conserve these elements.