Direct and Indirect Impacts of Urbanization on Biodiversity Across the World’s Cities
Biodiversity has important implications for the sustainable development of cities. Given the paucity of ground-based experiments, the responses of biodiversity to urbanization and its associated controls on a global scale remain largely unexplored. We present a novel conceptual framework for quantif...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Remote Sensing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/6/956 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849340705494794240 |
|---|---|
| author | Naiyi Liu Zihan Liu Yunhe Wu |
| author_facet | Naiyi Liu Zihan Liu Yunhe Wu |
| author_sort | Naiyi Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Biodiversity has important implications for the sustainable development of cities. Given the paucity of ground-based experiments, the responses of biodiversity to urbanization and its associated controls on a global scale remain largely unexplored. We present a novel conceptual framework for quantifying the direct and indirect impacts of urbanization on biodiversity in 1523 cities worldwide using the global 100 m grid biodiversity intactness index data (2017–2020) as a proxy for biodiversity. The results show a pervasive positive impact of urbanization on biodiversity in global cities, with a global mean direct and indirect impact of 24.85 ± 9.97% and 16.18 ± 10.92%, respectively. The indirect impact is relatively large in highly urbanized cities in the eastern United States, Western Europe, and the Middle East. The indirect impact is predominantly influenced by urbanization intensity, population density, and background climate. The correlation between urbanization intensity and indirect impact is most pronounced across all climate zones, while the other driving variables influencing the indirect effect exhibited considerable variations. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the biodiversity responses to urbanization are influenced by the biodiversity and development conditions of cities. Our findings have important implications for understanding the impact of urbanization on biodiversity and for future sustainable urban biodiversity. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a1c1c81bce964934aaa2f9f3f1ca9740 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj-art-a1c1c81bce964934aaa2f9f3f1ca97402025-08-20T03:43:51ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-03-0117695610.3390/rs17060956Direct and Indirect Impacts of Urbanization on Biodiversity Across the World’s CitiesNaiyi Liu0Zihan Liu1Yunhe Wu2School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, ChinaSchool of Artificial Intelligence, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, ChinaJiangsu Key Laboratory for Biodiversity and Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, ChinaBiodiversity has important implications for the sustainable development of cities. Given the paucity of ground-based experiments, the responses of biodiversity to urbanization and its associated controls on a global scale remain largely unexplored. We present a novel conceptual framework for quantifying the direct and indirect impacts of urbanization on biodiversity in 1523 cities worldwide using the global 100 m grid biodiversity intactness index data (2017–2020) as a proxy for biodiversity. The results show a pervasive positive impact of urbanization on biodiversity in global cities, with a global mean direct and indirect impact of 24.85 ± 9.97% and 16.18 ± 10.92%, respectively. The indirect impact is relatively large in highly urbanized cities in the eastern United States, Western Europe, and the Middle East. The indirect impact is predominantly influenced by urbanization intensity, population density, and background climate. The correlation between urbanization intensity and indirect impact is most pronounced across all climate zones, while the other driving variables influencing the indirect effect exhibited considerable variations. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the biodiversity responses to urbanization are influenced by the biodiversity and development conditions of cities. Our findings have important implications for understanding the impact of urbanization on biodiversity and for future sustainable urban biodiversity.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/6/956biodiversity dynamicsurbanizationimpervious surface percentageindirect impacturban environmenthuman activity |
| spellingShingle | Naiyi Liu Zihan Liu Yunhe Wu Direct and Indirect Impacts of Urbanization on Biodiversity Across the World’s Cities Remote Sensing biodiversity dynamics urbanization impervious surface percentage indirect impact urban environment human activity |
| title | Direct and Indirect Impacts of Urbanization on Biodiversity Across the World’s Cities |
| title_full | Direct and Indirect Impacts of Urbanization on Biodiversity Across the World’s Cities |
| title_fullStr | Direct and Indirect Impacts of Urbanization on Biodiversity Across the World’s Cities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Direct and Indirect Impacts of Urbanization on Biodiversity Across the World’s Cities |
| title_short | Direct and Indirect Impacts of Urbanization on Biodiversity Across the World’s Cities |
| title_sort | direct and indirect impacts of urbanization on biodiversity across the world s cities |
| topic | biodiversity dynamics urbanization impervious surface percentage indirect impact urban environment human activity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/6/956 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT naiyiliu directandindirectimpactsofurbanizationonbiodiversityacrosstheworldscities AT zihanliu directandindirectimpactsofurbanizationonbiodiversityacrosstheworldscities AT yunhewu directandindirectimpactsofurbanizationonbiodiversityacrosstheworldscities |