PATTERNS AND DRIVERS OF ANT BIODIVERSITY ALONG URBANIZATION GRADIENTS
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Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK
2020
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-case15918239399166492021-08-03T07:15:11Z PATTERNS AND DRIVERS OF ANT BIODIVERSITY ALONG URBANIZATION GRADIENTS Perez, Jaime Abraham Ecology Biology Formicidae urban ecology biodiversity land-use change global change Urbanization profoundly alters biological communities, often negatively impacting species diversity, abundance, and evenness. Yet, the universality of these impacts, the underlying factors driving these patterns, and the regional and global impacts, remain largely understudied. Using a fine-scale spatio-temporal observational study design replicated across multiple urbanization gradients, coupling functional trait data with field observations, and evaluating the effects of urbanization on biodiversity at a global scale, my doctoral research investigated the patterns and drivers of biodiversity in response to urbanization. I first investigated the repeatability of urban biodiversity change across multiple urbanization gradients and evaluated the support for two mechanisms underlying the maintenance of urban biodiversity, specifically via introduced species and systematic differential phenology across the urbanization gradient. I found that each city uniquely influenced patterns of ant biodiversity change, challenging the assumption of generalized biodiversity loss in cities. These patterns were partially explained by introduced species, such that their presence numerically bolstered overall species diversity. Notably however, the majority of our observed patterns were largely driven by responses of native ant species, suggesting that cities are capable of supporting diverse natural communities. I further examined drivers of urban biodiversity, by testing whether the observed urban-driven shifts in community composition were associated with species functional traits. Owing to the localized climate changes associated with urbanization, cities may uniformly favor species from warmer and drier environments, with heat and aridity-tolerant adaptations. Consistent with this expectation, highly urbanized sites were predominately composed of thermal tolerant species, with geographic ranges that extend into warm and dry environments. Due to the replicated nature of our study design, these patterns may generalize across cities, suggesting a repeatable response to urbanization. Finally, I expanded my research to evaluate the effects of urbanization on biodiversity at a global scale. Specifically, I investigated whether urbanization modified a latitude-diversity relationship, and whether the impact of urbanization varied across latitude. I found that the latitude diversity cline was still present across cities, however dampened relative to nonurban ant species richness change. Additionally, the urban effect was dependent on latitude, with overall losses in species richness occurring at lower latitude cites.Overall, these studies demonstrated two important aspects of biological responses to urbanization. First, while the impacts of urbanization vary as a function of latitude, broadly, patterns of biodiversity change were not repeatable among cities. Second, there are predictive associations with urban environmental conditions and the drivers underlying responses to urbanization, such that cities consistently shifted urban communities towards thermophilic species. 2020-09-07 English text Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1591823939916649 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1591823939916649 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
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NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
Ecology Biology Formicidae urban ecology biodiversity land-use change global change |
| spellingShingle |
Ecology Biology Formicidae urban ecology biodiversity land-use change global change Perez, Jaime Abraham PATTERNS AND DRIVERS OF ANT BIODIVERSITY ALONG URBANIZATION GRADIENTS |
| author |
Perez, Jaime Abraham |
| author_facet |
Perez, Jaime Abraham |
| author_sort |
Perez, Jaime Abraham |
| title |
PATTERNS AND DRIVERS OF ANT BIODIVERSITY ALONG URBANIZATION GRADIENTS |
| title_short |
PATTERNS AND DRIVERS OF ANT BIODIVERSITY ALONG URBANIZATION GRADIENTS |
| title_full |
PATTERNS AND DRIVERS OF ANT BIODIVERSITY ALONG URBANIZATION GRADIENTS |
| title_fullStr |
PATTERNS AND DRIVERS OF ANT BIODIVERSITY ALONG URBANIZATION GRADIENTS |
| title_full_unstemmed |
PATTERNS AND DRIVERS OF ANT BIODIVERSITY ALONG URBANIZATION GRADIENTS |
| title_sort |
patterns and drivers of ant biodiversity along urbanization gradients |
| publisher |
Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2020 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1591823939916649 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT perezjaimeabraham patternsanddriversofantbiodiversityalongurbanizationgradients |
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1719457375565381632 |