Biodiversity-productivity relationship in urban vascular flora: a comparison between wild edible and non-edible plants

Background: Wild edible plants are species that are not cultivated but can be consumed as food. These plants may exhibit the highest taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity within urban floras, since they have a longer history of use associated with humans than non-edible plants. Also, because biodiversity is strongly associated with biomass, edible plants plant might show higher productivity (biomass per site) than non-edible plants. Questions: Is taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of wild edible plants higher than non-edibles within urban areas? Is the alpha-biodiversity of wild edible plants positively related to biomass productivity in urban areas? Study sites and years of study: Cities of the coastal Mediterranean-type ecosystem, central Chile, 2015 and 2016. Methods: We characterized the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of urban flora differentiating wild edible and non-edible plants. Then, we assessed whether alpha-diversity of assemblages is related to their biomass productivity. Results: Both taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity were higher for edibles than non-edible plants. For edible plants, biomass was positively related to species richness and negatively with the mean phylogenetic diversity (MPD, a measure of evolutionary relationship among plants within an assemblage). Conclusions: Species richness is a suitable proxy to estimate wild edible plant diversity and their biomass in cities surpassing other proxies, such as phylogenetic diversity. Negative effect of MPD on biomass suggests that only a subgroup of related plants, possibly highly adapted to urban conditions, contribute to edible plant production. The distinction between wild edible and non-edible plants offers a better understanding of the assembly rules and biodiversity-biomass relationship within urban floras.

Phylogenetic Diversity of Urban Floras in the Central Urals

Modern cities harbor a high diversity of plants, and urban floras are significantly different from non-urban floras especially when considering the proportion of alien species found in cities. However, it is not clear whether urban areas disproportionately select for species from relatively few evolutionary lineages or provide opportunities for species across the full spectrum of plant lineages. Here, we examined the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of the floras in four cities (Yekaterinburg, Kamensk-Uralsky, Krasnoufimsk, and Turinsk) in the understudied region of Central Urals (Russian Federation). We classified native species into indigenous and apophytic species, namely, those that are sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance and those that have expanded their range with human activity, respectively. Alien species were classified into archaeophytes and neophytes according to when they were introduced (i.e., before or after than 1800). Phylogenetic diversity was quantified using Faith’s index to reflect total evolutionary history in urban areas and mean phylogenetic distance (MPD) to reflect species dissimilarity. Phylogenetic diversity of native species was higher than that for alien species, and the standardized effect size (SES) of MPD for natives was positive, reflecting their general dissimilarity from one another, while it was very negative for aliens, showing that they were phylogenetically clustered. However, among natives, apophytes were significantly clustered, while indigenous species were overdispersed. For the aliens, MPD was higher for archaeophytes compared to neophytes, though both groups were significantly clustered. These results show that urbanization leads to a non-random selection of plants. Apophytes and alien plants were composed of closely related species, reflecting similar ecological traits and are likely to be pre-adapted to the environmentally altered and highly disturbed urban environment.

To the analysis of the flora of water bodies and watercourses of the city of Tobolsk (Tyumen region) and cities of the Vyatka-Kama Cis-Urals

The flora of water bodies and watercourses of the city of Tobolsk is composed of 266 species of macrophytes, including both higher plants and macroalgae. This indicator is higher than the number of macrophyte species in the previously studied cities of the Vyatka-Kama Cis-Urals, while the ratio of ecological groups remains the same. The taxonomic richness and ecological diversity of the hydrophilic component of urban floras depends on a number of factors: 1) the presence and diversity within the urban landscape of habitats inhabited by aquatic and semi-aquatic plants; 2) the position of the city’s territory in the system of regional land subdivisions within the physical-geographical country; 3) the age of the city. The composition of macrophytes is not affected by the size of the urban area and the geographical position of the city within a region.

Composition of the Synanthropic Fraction of Spontaneous Flora of the Gardens and Parks in the Middle Pobuzhzhia Region of Ukraine

The aim of our work was to analyse synanthropic fraction of spontaneous flora of gardens and parks in the Middle Pobuzhzhia Region of Ukraine and to reveal the features of synanthropisation. The landscapes of gardens and parks in the Region include botanical gardens, arboretums and monuments of landscape art. A total of 15 objects were studied. The floras of parks were estimated by proportion of different groups (origin, naturalisation degree, time and ways of introduction) of synanthropic species. The synanthropic fraction of spontaneous flora was calculated using the indices of synanthropisation, apophytisation, anthropophytisation, archeophytisation, kenophytisation and modernisation. These indices were specified for each park and for the Middle Pobuzhzhia Region in general. The obtained data were compared to each other and to the analogous urban floras from different zones of Ukraine. It was revealed that the apophytisation processes were dominated by the processes of adventisation in most of the parks. The proportion of the synanthropic fraction of spontaneous flora of the Middle Pobuzhzhia Region was significantly lower compared to urban floras of some cities of Ukraine, and despite a considerable anthropogenic pressure retained some features of natural flora.

Characteristics of taxonomic structure of flora in the Middle Urals urban areas (Sverdlovsk Region)

Research in urban floras is a major field of botanical science. By now, flora of many Russian cities has been studied. At the same time the Urals flora of urbanized areas has not practically been the subject of special investigation. This paper is the first to provide a detailed description of the features of the taxonomic structure of the flora of urbanized areas of the Middle Urals within the Sverdlovsk region and to compare it with the parameters of the regional flora of the Sverdlovsk region. Urban floras of 3 cities in the southern part of the Sverdlovsk region have been studied - Yekaterinburg, Krasnoufimsk and Kamensk-Ural, which form a latitudinal catena, covering the Urals region, the mountainous part of the Middle Urals and Trans-Urals. It is shown that the flora of the urbanized areas is characterized by a high level of species richness which increases relative to the area of the city. The taxonomic structure of urban floras, compared with the regional flora, is characterized by a reduced participation of spore plants, due to the extremely poor representation of lycopsids. In the flowering plants the proportion of monocots is reduced and, on the contrary, the proportion of bipartite species is increased. The composition of the leading families of urban floras is typical of the boreal floras of the Holarctic floral kingdom, it is distinguished by the lower rank of the Cyperaceae family and by the rise of the Fabaceae family. Generic spectrum of urban floras is marked by the greater participation of thermophilic genera Atriplex and Chenopodium and very limited representation of boreal genera Hieracium and Taraxacum. Species richness of families and genera in urban floras is markedly lower than in regional boreal flora.