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Management of Urban Nature and Its Impact on Bird Ecosystem Services

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Ecology and Conservation of Birds in Urban Environments

Abstract

Managing urban nature to produce public benefit and environmental quality through ecosystem services is a significant objective of urban nature managers. Ecosystem services provided by birds are highly valued and appreciated as birds provide pest control, seed dispersal, nutrient cycling as well as cultural ecosystem services. The aims of this chapter are to (1) provide a review of published experimental studies relating to the management of green areas and bird ecosystem services, (2) describe the findings of our own field experiments in suburban woodlands in southern Sweden, (3) investigate the status of management plans in Swedish cities and (4) discuss how our findings could be implemented in sustainable management planning of urban nature. The main results are:

  1. (1)

    Forest management interventions gave responses that were highly species dependent. Interventions with the object to create or improve bird habitat gave almost entirely positive effects on bird communities.

  2. (2)

    Clearance of bushes and small trees may have a negative impact on the biological control of forest arthropods. The study of bird abundance and understory management showed that clearance of understory can also have negative effects on bird densities if carried out as “complete” clearance (90 % removal of understory). A landscape characterised by high openness in the understory is often favoured by people but may not be an optimal habitat for birds.

  3. (3)

    The management of urban forests and parks can be improved by including informal green space in management plans, putting emphasis on availability of favourable habitats and resources and initiating monitoring programmes for city birds.

  4. (4)

    Urban woodlands would benefit from being managed with an adaptive approach, where management practices are constantly tested and evaluated.

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Acknowledgements

We thank T. Vowles and the editors for valuable comments on this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. COWI AB, Box 12076, SE 402 41, Göteborg, Sweden

    Erik Heyman

  2. Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 461, SE 405 30, Göteborg, Sweden

    Bengt Gunnarsson

  3. Kurkliust 21, 14259, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Lukas Dovydavicius

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  1. Erik Heyman
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  2. Bengt Gunnarsson
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Correspondence to Erik Heyman .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. G.V. Marqués del Turia, Grupo para el Estudio de las Aves, Valencia, Valencia, Spain

    Enrique Murgui

  2. Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden

    Marcus Hedblom

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Heyman, E., Gunnarsson, B., Dovydavicius, L. (2017). Management of Urban Nature and Its Impact on Bird Ecosystem Services. In: Murgui, E., Hedblom, M. (eds) Ecology and Conservation of Birds in Urban Environments. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43314-1_23

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