Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

The Planner's Guide to Natural Resource Conservation: pp 59–84Cite as

Biodiversity and Residential Development Beyond the Urban Fringe

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

This chapter describes the impacts of rural exurban development on the abundance and variety of plants and animals in North American ecosystems. The principles of landscape ecology provide a framework for considering the ways that exurban development can impact biodiversity. We survey the literature and describe the responses of varying components of biodiversity to rural exurban development in North America. Results suggest that habitat loss and landscape fragmentation have relatively minor impacts on exurban biodiversity, except at the highest housing densities. In contrast, perforation edge effects and land-use changes are highly important in most cases. Positive perforation effects include the provision of resources such as water and shade that otherwise can be scarce in natural habitats. Negative perforation effects include competition, predation, and nest parasitism from household pets and other human commensal species and escapes of exotic vegetation from landscaped areas into adjacent natural ecosystems. The chapter concludes by suggesting ways in which planners and property owners can mitigate or avoid impacts on habitat and wildlife.

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

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Audsley, B. W., Bock, C. E., Jones, Z. F., Bock, J. H., and Smith, H. 2006. Lizard abundance in an exurban southwestern savanna, and the possible importance of roadrunner predation. American Midland Naturalist 155:395–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barton, A. M., Brewster, L. B., Cox, A. N., and Prentiss, N. K. 2004. Non-indigenous wood plant invasives in a rural New England town. Biological Invasions 6:205–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bock, C. E., and Bock, J. H. 2000. The View from Bald Hill. Thirty Years in an Arizona Grassland. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bock, C. E., and Bock, J. H. 2005. Sonoita Plain. Views from a Southwestern Grassland. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bock, C. E., Jones, Z. F., and Bock, J. H. 2006a. Rodent communities in an exurbanizing southwestern landscape (USA). Conservation Biology 20:1242–1250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bock, C. E., Jones, Z. F., and Bock, J. H. 2006b. Abundance of cottontails (Sylvilagus) in an exurbanizing southwestern savanna. Southwestern Naturalist 51:352–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bock, C. E., Jones, Z. F., and Bock, J. H. 2006c. Grasshopper abundance in an Arizona rangeland undergoing exurban development. Rangeland Ecology and Management 59:640–647.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bock, C. E., Bailowitz, R. A., Danforth, D. W., Jones, Z. F., and Bock, J. H. 2007a. Butterflies and exurban development in southeastern Arizona. Landscape and Urban Planning 80:34–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bock, C. E., Bock, J. H., Kennedy, L., and Jones, Z. F. 2007b. Spread of non-native grasses into grazed versus ungrazed desert grassland. Journal of Arid Environments 71:229–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bock, C. E., Jones, Z. F., and Bock, J. H. 2008. The oasis effect: response of birds to exurban development in a southwestern savanna. Ecological Applications 18:1093–1106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, D. G., Johnson, K. M., Loveland, T. R., and Theobald, D. M. 2005. Rural land-use trends in the conterminous United States. Ecological Applications 15:1851–1863.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brussard, P. F., Murphy, D. D., and Tracy, C. R. 1994. Cattle and conservation biology – another view. Conservation Biology 8:919–921.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, S. R., Benson, B. J., Biggs, R., and 18 others. 2007. Understanding regional change: a comparison of two lake districts. BioScience 57:323–335.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chace, J. F., and Walsh, J. J. 2006. Urban effects on native avifauna: a review. Landscape and Urban Planning 74:46–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collinge, S. K., and Forman, R. T. T. 1998. A conceptual model of land conversion processes: predictions and evidence from a microlandscape experiment with grassland insects. Oikos 82:66–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coppedge, B. R., Engle, D. M., Fuhlendorf, S. D., Masters, R. E., and Gregory, M. S. 2001. Urban sprawl and juniper encroachment effects on abundance of wintering passerines in Oklahoma. In Avian Ecology and Conservation in an Urbanizing World, eds. J. M. Marzluff, R. Bowman and R. Donnelly, pp. 225–242. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Craig, D. P. 1997. An experimental analysis of nest predation in western coniferous forests: a focus on the role of corvids. Boulder, CO: Dissertation, University of Colorado.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eigenbrod, F., Hecnar, S. J., and Fahrig, L. 2008. The relative effects of road traffic and forest cover on anuran populations. Biological Conservation 141:35–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enge, K. M., and Wood, K. N. 2002. A pedestrian road survey of an upland snake community in Florida. Southeastern Naturalist 1:365–380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fahrig, L. 2003. Effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 34:487–515.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleishner, T. L. 1994. Ecological costs of livestock grazing in western North America. Conservation Biology 8:629–644.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher, R. J., Ries, L., Battin, J, and Chalfoun, A. D. 2007. The role of habitat area and edge in fragmented landscapes: definitively distinct or inevitably intertwined? Canadian Journal of Zoology 85:1017–1030.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foley, J. A., DeFries, R., Asner G. P., and 16 others. 2005. Global consequences of land use. Science 309:570–574.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forman, R. T. T., and Alexander, L. E. 1998. Roads and their major ecological effects. Annual Review of Ecological Systems 29:207–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraterrigo, J. M., and Wiens, J. A. 2005. Bird communities of the Colorado Rocky Mountains along a gradient of exurban development. Landscape and Urban Planning 71:263–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friesen, L. E., Eagles, P. F. J., and Mackay, R. J. 1995. Effects of residential development on forest-dwelling Neotropical migrant shorebirds. Conservation Biology 9:1408–1414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gehrt, S. D., and Chelsvig, J. E. 2004. Species-specific patterns of bat activity in an urban landscape. Ecological Applications 14:625–635.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glennon, M. J., and Porter, W. F. 2005. Effects of land use management on biotic integrity: an investigation of bird communities. Biological Conservation 126:499–511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glennon, M. J., and Porter, W. F. 2007. Impacts of land-use management on small mammals in the Adirondack Park, New York. Northeastern Naturalist 14:323–342.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groffman, P. M., Baron J. S., Blett, T., et al. 2006. Ecological thresholds: the key to successful environmental management or an important concept with no practical application? Ecosystems 9:1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, A. J., Knight R. L., Marzluff J. M., Powell, S., Brown, K., Gude, P. H., and Jones, K. 2005. Effects of exurban development on biodiversity: patterns, mechanisms, and research needs. Ecological Applications 15:1893–1905.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, A. J., and Brown, D. G. 2005. Land-use change in rural America: rates, drivers, and consequences. Ecological Applications 15:1849–1850.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, R. L. 1997. A comparison of gray fox ecology between residential and undeveloped rural landscapes. Journal of Wildlife Management 61:112–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haskell, D. G., Evans, J. P., and Pelkey, N. W. 2006. Depauperate avifauna in plantations compared to forests and exurban areas. PLoS One 1(1): e63:1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keeley, J. E. 2002. Fire management of California shrubland landscapes. Environmental Management 29:395–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keys, E., Wentz, E. A., and Redman, C. L. 2007. The spatial structure of land use from 1970–2000 in the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area. Professional Geographer 59:131–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kluza, D. A., Griffin, C. R., and DeGraaf, R. M. 2000. Housing developments in rural New England: effects on forest birds. Animal Conservation 3:15–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, R. L., Wallace, G. N., and Riebsame, W. E. 1995. Ranching the view: subdivisions versus agriculture. Conservation Biology 9:459–461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, R. L., Gilgert, W. C., and Marston, E. 2002. Ranching West of the 100th Meridian: Culture, Ecology, and Economics. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenth, B. A., Knight, R. L., and Gilgert, W. C. 2006. Conservation value of clustered housing developments. Conservation Biology 20:1445–1456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leopold, A. 1949. A Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindenmayer, D., Hobbs, R. J., Montague-Drake, R., et al. 2008. A checklist for ecological management of landscapes for conservation. Ecology Letters 11:78–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mace, R. D., and Waller, J. S. 1998. Demography and population trend of grizzly bears in the Swan Mountains, Montana. Conservation Biology 12:1005–1016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mack, R. N., and Thompson, J. N. 1982. Evolution in steppe with few large hooved mammals. American Naturalist 119:757–773.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maestas, J. D., Knight, R. L., and Gilgert, W. C. 2002. Cows, condos, or neither: what’s best for rangeland ecosystems? Rangelands 24:36–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maestas, J. D., Knight, R. L., and Gilgert, W. C. 2003. Biodiversity across a rural land-use gradient. Conservation Biology 17:1425–1434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marzluff, J. M. 2005. Island biogeography for an urbanizing world: how extinction and colonization may determine biological diversity in human-dominated landscapes. Urban Ecosystems 8:157–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDonnell, M. J., and Pickett, S. T. A. 1990. Ecosystem structure and function along urban-rural gradients: an unexploited opportunity for ecology. Ecology 71:1232–1237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milchunas, D. G. 2006. Responses of plant communities to grazing in the southwestern United States. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-169. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. R., Wiens, J. A., Hobbs, N. T., and Theobald, D. M. 2003. Effects of human settlement on bird communities in lowland riparian areas of Colorado (USA). Ecological Applications 13:1041–1059.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niell, R. S., Brussard, P. F., and Murphy, D. D. 2007. Butterfly community composition and oak woodland vegetation response to rural residential development. Landscape and Urban Planning 81:235–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilon, C. H., Long, C. N., and Zipperer, W. C. 1995. Effects of wildland development on forest bird communities. Landscape and Urban Planning 32:81–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Odell, E. A., and Knight, R. L. 2001. Songbird and medium-sized mammal communities associated with exurban development in Pitkin County, Colorado. Conservation Biology 15:1143–1150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Odell, E. A., Theobald, D. M., and Knight, R. L. 2003. Incorporating ecology into land use planning: the songbirds’ case for clustered developments. Journal of the American Planning Association 69:72–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, J., Nol, E., Burke, D., and Dunford, W. 2005. Impacts of housing developments on wood thrush nesting success in hardwood forest fragments. Condor 107:97–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickett, S. T. A., and Cadenasso, M. L. 2006. Advancing urban ecological studies: frameworks, concepts, and results from the Baltimore ecosystem study. Austral Ecology 31:114–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pidgeon, A. M., Radeloff, V. C., Flather, C. H., Lepczyk, C. A., Clayton, M. K., Hawbaker, T. J., and Hammer, R. B. 2007. Associations of forest bird species richness with housing and landscape patterns across the USA. Ecological Applications 17:1989–2010.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Platt, R. V. 2006. A model of exurban land-use change and wildfire mitigation. Environment and Planning B 33:749–765.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pulliam, H. R. 1988. Sources, sinks, and population regulation. American Naturalist 132:652–661.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Purvis, A., and Hector, A. 2000. Getting the measure of biodiversity. Nature 405:212–219.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pyne, S., Andrews, S. P., and Laven, R. 1996. Introduction to Wildland Fire (second edition). New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ries, L., Fletcher, R. J., Battin, J., and Sisk, T. D. 2004. Ecological responses to habitat edges: mechanisms, models, and variability. Annual Review of Ecological Systems 35:491–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riley, S. P. D. 2006. Spatial ecology of bobcats and gray foxes in urban and rural zones of a National Park. Journal of Wildlife Management 70:1425–1435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubbo, M. J., and Kiesecker, J. M. 2005. Amphibian breeding distribution in an urbanized landscape. Conservation Biology 19:504–511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saab, V. A., and Powell, H. D. 2005. Fire and Avian Ecology in North America. Studies in Avian Biology No. 30. Camarillo, CA: Cooper Ornithological Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sayre, N. F. 2002. Ranching, Endangered Species, and Urbanization of the Southwest: Species of Capital. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, M. C. 2006. Winners and losers among stream fishes in relation to land use legacies and urban development in the southeastern US. Biological Conservation 127:301–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sengupta, S., and Osgood, D. E. 2003. The value of remoteness: a hedonic estimation of ranchette prices. Ecological Economics 44:91–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siegel, J. J. 1996. “Subdivisions versus agriculture”: from false assumptions come false alternatives. Conservation Biology 10:1473–1474.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, R. F., and Lamp, W. O. 2008. Comparison of insect communities between adjacent headwater and main-stem streams in urban and rural watersheds. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 27:161–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spyratos, V., Bourgeron, P. S., and Ghil, M. 2007. Development at the wildland-urban interface and the mitigation of forest-fire risk. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 104:14272–14276.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Storm, D. J., Nielsen, C.K., Schauber, E. M., and Woolf, A. 2007. Space use and survival of white-tailed deer in an exurban landscape. Journal of Wildlife Management 71:1170–1176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Syphard, A. D., Radeloff, V. C., Keeley, J. E., Hawbaker, T. J., Clayton, M. K., Stewart, S. I., and Hammer, R. B. 2007. Human influence on California fire regimes. Ecological Applications 17:1388–1402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tewksbury, J. J., Garner, L., Garner, S., Lloyd, J. D., Saab, V., and Martin, T. E. 2006. Tests of landscape influence: nest predation and brood parasitism in fragmented ecosystems. Ecology 87:759–768.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Theobald, D. M. 2001. Land-use dynamics beyond the American urban fringe. Geographical Review 91:544–564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Theobald, D. M., Miller, J. R., and Hobbs, N. T. 1997. Estimating the cumulative effects of development on wildlife habitats. Landscape and Urban Planning 39:25–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Theobald, D. M., and Romme, W. H. 2007. Expansion of the US wildland-urban interface. Landscape and Urban Planning 83:340–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trombulak, S. C., and Frissell, C. A. 2000. Review of ecological effects of roads on terrestrial and aquatic communities. Conservation Biology 14:18–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Truett, J. 1996. Bison and elk in the American Southwest: in search of the pristine. Environmental Management 20:195–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tull, J. C., and Krausman, P. R. 2007. Habitat use of a fragmented landscape by females in a small population of mule deer. Southwestern Naturalist 52:104–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vogel, W. O. 1989. Response of deer to density and distribution of housing in Montana. Wildlife Society Bulletin 17:406–413.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, D. 1985. Studies on Plant Demography: a Festschrift for John L. Harper. London, UK: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiens, J., and Moss, M. 2005. Issues and Perspectives in Landscape Ecology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wilcove, D. S., Rothstein D., Dubow, J., Phillips, A., and Losos, E. 1998. Quantifying threats to imperiled species in the United States. BioScience 48:607–615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wuerthner, G. 1994. Subdivisions versus agriculture. Conservation Biology 8:905–908.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, 80309, CO, USA

    Carl E. Bock

  2. E.E. Biology Department, University of Colorado-Boulder, Box 334, Boulder, 80309, CO, USA

    Jane H. Bock

Authors
  1. Carl E. Bock
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jane H. Bock
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carl E. Bock .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Planning, University of Arizona, Tucson, 85721-0075, U.S.A.

    Adrian X. Esparza

  2. School of Natural Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, 85721, U.S.A.

    Guy McPherson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Bock, C.E., Bock, J.H. (2009). Biodiversity and Residential Development Beyond the Urban Fringe. In: Esparza, A., McPherson, G. (eds) The Planner's Guide to Natural Resource Conservation:. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-98167-3_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation