Could Purposefully Engineered Native Grassland Gardens Enhance Urban Insect Biodiversity?

Christina A. Breed, Agata Morelli, Christian W. W. Pirk, Catherine L. Sole, Marié J. Du Toit and Sarel S. Cilliers
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Christina A. Breed: Department of Architecture, School of the Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, Hatfield Campus, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0028, South Africa
Agata Morelli: Department of Zoology and Entomology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0028, South Africa
Christian W. W. Pirk: Department of Zoology and Entomology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0028, South Africa
Catherine L. Sole: Department of Zoology and Entomology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0028, South Africa
Marié J. Du Toit: Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, School of Biological Sciences: Botany, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Potchefstroom Campus, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2531, South Africa
Sarel S. Cilliers: Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, School of Biological Sciences: Botany, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Potchefstroom Campus, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2531, South Africa

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-25

Abstract: Progress is required in response to how cities can support greater biodiversity. This calls for more research on how landscape designers can actively shape urban ecologies to deliver context-specific empirical bases for green space intervention decisions. Design experiments offer opportunities for implemented projects within real-world settings to serve as learning sites. This paper explores preliminary ecological outcomes from a multidisciplinary team on whether purposefully engineered native grassland gardens provide more habitat functions for insects than mainstream gardens in the City of Tshwane, South Africa. Six different sites were sampled: two recently installed native grassland garden interventions (young native), two contemporary non-native control gardens (young non-native) on the same premises and of the same ages as the interventions, one remnant of a more pristine native grassland reference area (old native), and one long-established, non-native reference garden (old non-native). Plant and insect diversity were sampled over one year. The short-term findings suggest that higher plant beta diversity (species turnover indicating heterogeneity in a site) supports greater insect richness and evenness in richness. Garden size, age, and connectivity were not clear factors mediating urban habitat enhancement. Based on the preliminary results, the researchers recommend high native grassland species composition and diversity, avoiding individual species dominance, but increasing beta diversity and functional types when selecting garden plants for urban insect biodiversity conservation in grassland biomes.

Keywords: urban biodiversity conservation; landscape architecture; design; gardens; native species; grassland plants; insects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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