Importance of urban green areas’ connectivity for the conservation of pollinators

GRAFFIGNA, SOFIA; GONZÁLEZ-VAQUERO, ROCÍO A.; TORRETTA, JUAN P.; MARRERO, HUGO J.

Urban Ecosystems

Springer

Año: 2023

1083-8155

Urbanization is one of the main processes generating large changes on the Earth´s surface. The remaining green spaces within cities can be of utmost importance for pollinator conservation. Through a systematic literature review, we evaluate how the connectivity of urban green areas (parks, gardens, squares, among others) in different cities can affect the richness and abundance of pollinators. We utilize a connectivity metric using satellite images corresponding to 241 urban green areas obtained from 20 published works. The green areas were classified in urban, peri-urban and non-urban according to their percentage of impervious surface estimated in each image. The metric relates the connectivity of green areas contained within images with a radius of 500 m immersed within a city. Our study shows the richness and abundance of pollinators is positively correlated with the connectivity of green areas in sites with different degrees of urbanization, mainly in urban and peri-urban sites. Our results emphasize the importance of green spaces to maintain the pollinator’s community in cities, and suggest that proper design and/or management could improve conditions for these important insects.