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The road to higher permanence and biodiversity in exurban wetlands

  • Conservation ecology – original research
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Abstract

Exurban areas are expanding throughout the world, yet their effects on local biodiversity remain poorly understood. Wetlands, in particular, face ongoing and substantial threats from exurban development. We predicted that exurbanization would reduce the diversity of wetland amphibian and invertebrate communities and that more spatially aggregated residential development would leave more undisturbed natural land, thereby promoting greater local diversity. Using structural equation models, we tested a series of predictions about the direct and indirect pathways by which exurbanization extent, spatial pattern, and wetland characteristics might affect diversity patterns in 38 wetlands recorded during a growing season. We used redundancy, indicator species, and nested community analyses to evaluate how exurbanization affected species composition. In contrast to expectations, we found higher diversity in exurban wetlands. We also found that housing aggregation did not significantly affect diversity. Exurbanization affected biodiversity indirectly by increasing roads and development, which promoted permanent wetlands with less canopy cover and more aquatic vegetation. These pond characteristics supported greater diversity. However, exurbanization was associated with fewer temporary wetlands and fewer of the species that depend on these habitats. Moreover, the best indicator species for an exurban wetland was the ram’s head snail, a common disease vector in disturbed ponds. Overall, results suggest that exurbanization is homogenizing wetlands into more permanent water bodies. These more permanent, exurban ponds support higher overall animal diversity, but exclude temporary wetland specialists. Conserving the full assemblage of wetland species in expanding exurban regions throughout the world will require protecting and creating temporary wetlands.

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Acknowledgements

Dana Drake provided insightful comments, and Chelsey Gribbin helped sample ponds. We thank Joshua’s Land Trust and the many private landowners that provided access to their land. MCU was supported by National Science Foundation award DEB-1555876 and UConn’s Center of Biological Risk.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, 75 North Eagleville Rd, Unit 3043, Storrs, Mansfield, CT, 06269, USA

    Mark C. Urban & Robert Roehm

  2. Center of Biological Risk, University of Connecticut, 75 North Eagleville Rd, Unit 3043, Storrs, Mansfield, CT, 06269, USA

    Mark C. Urban

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  1. Mark C. Urban
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RR conceived of the project, conducted field sampling, and identified specimens. RR and MCU conducted statistical analyses and wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mark C. Urban.

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Communicated by Leon A. Barmuta.

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Urban, M.C., Roehm, R. The road to higher permanence and biodiversity in exurban wetlands. Oecologia 186, 291–302 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-017-3989-y

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