Urbanization impacts on mammals across urban-forest edges and a predictive model of edge effects.

ABSTRACT: With accelerating rates of urbanization worldwide, a better understanding of ecological processes at the wildland-urban interface is critical to conserve biodiversity. We explored the effects of high and low-density housing developments on forest-dwelling mammals. Based on habitat characteristics, we expected a gradual decline in species abundance across forest-urban edges and an increased decline rate in higher contrast edges. We surveyed arboreal mammals in sites of high and low housing density along 600 m transects that spanned urban areas and areas turn on adjacent native forest. We also surveyed forest controls to test whether edge effects extended beyond our edge transects. We fitted models describing richness, total abundance and individual species abundance. Low-density housing dev

SUBMITTER: Villasenor NR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4014578 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature