Ecological approaches to assess patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem services delivery in urban landscapes

• Grant number: 23/17971-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: August 31, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: João Carlos de Castro Pena
• Grantee: João Carlos de Castro Pena
• Host Institution: Centro de Estudos Ambientais (CEA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Felipe Martello Ribeiro ; Ian MacGregor Fors ; Pietro Kiyoshi Maruyama Mendonça ; Roy Paco Remme
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/02238-1 - Assessing the inequality in green cover distribution and ecosystem services delivery across Brazilian state capitals and the Federal District, BP.TT; 24/23887-5 - How do Nature-based Solutions influence urban biodiversity? Monitoring the bird community on a university campus and across a medium-sized city, BP.IC; 25/00004-3 - How do Nature-based Solutions influence urban biodiversity? Monitoring the bee and wasp community on a university campus and across a medium-sized tropical city, BP.IC; + associated scholarships 25/00227-2 - Assessing the direct and indirect potential impacts of urbanization on Atlantic Forest bird and mammal communities, BP.MS; 24/23888-1 - How do Nature-based Solutions influence urban ecosystem integrity? Monitoring and assessing urban ecosystem services delivery on a university campus and across a medium-sized tropical city, BP.IC; 24/15081-0 - Ecological approaches to assess patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem services delivery in urban landscapes, BP.JP - associated scholarships

Abstract

The world is currently facing the consequences of climate change, making urgent the need to mitigate the effects of extreme climatic events on the human population. Cities are one of the main sources of environmental impacts, releasing high levels of pollutants in the atmosphere and consuming large amounts of natural resources. Due to the altered climatic conditions of cities, urban dwellers are especially vulnerable to the consequences of global climate change, such as heat waves and droughts. Therefore, cities must become more sustainable, adopting strategies to reconcile urban development with the preservation of biodiversity and maintenance of urban ecosystem services essential for human quality of life. In this context, Nature-based Solutions are innovative and efficient alternatives to solve several challenges faced by modern society. By investing in green infrastructure, urban dwellers will be less exposed to air pollution, and warmer temperatures, and live healthier lives by adopting more sustainable mobility alternatives. However, historical, political, and financial biases may lead to unbalanced access to the benefits provided by nature in cities, a reality faced by all Latin American countries. Thus, this project aims to apply several ecological approaches to assess patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem service delivery across urban landscapes at different scales. We will map the urban landscape of the Brazilian state capitals and assess patterns of green cover distribution according to socioeconomic characteristics (e.g. wealth and density of vulnerable demographic groups). We will model the delivery of urban ecosystem services across these urban landscapes to assess the level of landscape health across some of the largest Brazilian cities. We will also assess the level of social inequality to access the benefits provided by nature across cities. Our geospatial approach will be validated in Sao Paulo, where we will measure ecosystem services delivery and survey urban biodiversity. We will estimate the impacts of urban expansion on bird and mammal communities of the Atlantic Forest, evaluating how the distance from and the size of urban landscapes modulate their functional, taxonomic, and phylogenetic compositions. We will assist in the application of Nature-based Solutions on a university campus, monitoring their effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services delivery - and on the well-being of the university community. Finally, we will trigger the monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystem services delivery across the urban landscape of a medium-sized city by defining a standardized sample design that can be used by this project and future research. We believe this project can produce high-quality knowledge about tropical urban landscapes using Brazilian cities as case studies. Not only we will be able to produce scientific knowledge to be published in high-impact journals, but also information to be used to manage and plan more sustainable urban landscapes, that will be more resilient to the consequences of global climate change. (AU)