DOI - Mendel University Press

DOI identifiers

DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7701-087-0-0403

URBAN FORESTS AS BIODIVERSITY REFUGEES IN CULTURAL LANDSCAPES

Ivo Machar1, Vilém Pechanec2, Pavel Borusík3
1 Palacky University, Faculty of Science, Dpt. of Development and Environmental Studies, 17 listopadu 12, 779 00 Olomouc, Czechia
2 Palacky University, Faculty of Science, Dpt. of Geoinformatics, 17 listopadu 12, 779 00 Olomouc, Czechia
3 Mendel University, Faculty of Horticulturae, Department of Planting Design and Maintenance, Valtická 337, Lednice 691 44, Czechia


Urban forests provide many ecosystem services for people, including recreational activities. As biodiversity in rapidly changing urban areas is very dynamic, we need a better understanding of long-term biodiversity changes in urban forests. This study analysed the long-term change in bird-species richness in a temperate Central European urban forest over a time span of 37 years. Bird community investigated in 2023–2024 was compared with older field data from 1987. The high local alpha diversity of the bird community as well as the high long-term stability in bird richness indicates the importance of the studied urban forest as a stable biodiversity refugium in a dynamic urbanized landscape. Therefore, urban forests can be considered very stable biodiversity refugia in dynamically changing urban areas.

Keywords: Birds as bioindicator, bird counting, floodplain forest, urban recreational park

pages: 403-406, Published: 2026, online: 2026



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