Open University student Siobhan Brocklehurst has used NatureSpot plant records to show that plant diversity is highest in urban areas. More...

Urban ecology is a growing topic of interest due to urban expansion and current environmental issues. Previous studies have identified species richness as either increasing with proximity to urban centres, or peaking at intermediate levels of urbanisation. However, most have identified increasing non-native species in cities and increasing natives in the suburbs. The use of citizen science is becoming more popular, successful and informative for studies in urban ecology. This study focused on the species richness of vascular plants across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland along an urbanisation gradient. Data obtained from NatureSpot indicate a statistically significant positive relationship between species richness and degree of urbanisation overall, and for archaeophytes and neophytes. The majority of the data originated from urban parks and recreational areas and is a major limitation of the citizen science data. Two outlier data points located in Abbey Park in Leicester provided the largest number of observations, supporting studies which have identified urban parks as major contributors to urban species richness and havens for native species. The River Soar was also identified as a major corridor providing connectivity between Leicester’s largest parks. It is hoped this study will improve the recording of future observations on NatureSpot, assist with urban planning, and provide an insight into the region’s biodiversity levels.

Brocklehurst, Siobhan (2022) An investigation into the relationship between urbanisation and the species richness of vascular plants in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. https://doi.org/10.21954/ou.ro.00015115