Tree diversity, distribution, history and change in urban parks: studies in Bangalore, India | Urban Ecosystems Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Tree diversity, distribution, history and change in urban parks: studies in Bangalore, India

  • Published:
Urban Ecosystems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Urban parks constitute critical biodiversity hotspots in crowded, concrete-dominated city environments. Despite the importance, they remain little researched. This paper assesses the biodiversity and distribution of trees in urban parks in the southern Indian city of Bangalore. 127 plots were used to survey tree distribution in parks across the city. The distribution is largely dominated by a few common species. The proportion of exotic species was very high, with 77% of trees belonging to introduced species. Park history had an impact on distribution. Old parks had fewer but larger trees, and greater species diversity compared to recently established parks. Old parks also differed in species composition, having a greater proportion of large canopy trees compared to young parks. Examination of size distributions revealed that large canopied species were gradually being phased out, and replaced by narrow and medium sized tree species which are easier to maintain, but which may not provide the same environmental and ecological benefits. Greater attention requires to be paid to the selection of trees in cities, not just with a view to easy maintenance as is currently the case, but to select an appropriate mix of trees that supports biodiversity and maximizes environmental and ecosystem services.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
¥17,985 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (Japan)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alvey AA (2006) Promoting and preserving biodiversity in the urban forest. Urban For Urban Green 5:195–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aminzadeh B, Khansefid M (2010) A case study of urban ecological networks and a sustainable city: Tehran’s metropolitan area. Urban Ecosyst. doi:10.1007/s11252-009-0101-3

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolund P, Hunhammar S (1999) Ecosystem services in urban areas. Ecol Econ 29:293–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Botkin DB, Beveridge CE (1997) Cities as environments. Urban Ecosyst 1:3–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaudhry P, Tewari VP (2010) Managing urban parks and gardens in developing countries: a case from Chandigarh India. Int J Leisure Tourism Market 1:248–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiesura A (2004) The role of urban parks for the sustainable city. Landsc Urban Plan 68:129–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke KM, Fisher BL, LeBuhn G (2008) The influence of urban park characteristics on ant (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) communities. Urban Ecosyst 11:317–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cornelis J, Hermy M (2004) Biodiversity relationships in urban and suburban parks in Flanders. Landsc Urban Plan 69:385–401

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies RG, Barbosa O, Fuller RA, Tratalos J, Burke N, Lewis D, Warren PH, Gaston KJ (2008) City-wide relationships between green spaces, urban land use and topography. Urban Ecosyst 11:269–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dos Santos AR, da Rocha CF, Bergallo HG (2010) Native and exotic species in the urban landscape of the city of Rio di Janeiro, Brazil: density, richness and arboreal deficit. Urban Ecosyst. doi:10.1007/s11252-009-0113-z

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández-Juricic E, Jokimäki J (2001) A habitat island approach to conserving birds in urban landscapes: case studies from southern and northern Europe. Biodivers Conserv 10:2023–2043

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freestone R, Nichols D (2004) Realising new leisure opportunities for old urban parks: the internal reserve in Australia. Landsc Urban Plan 68:109–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcillán P, Rebman J, Casillas F (2009) Analysis of the non-native flora of Ensenada, a fast growing city in northwestern Baja California. Urban Ecosyst 12:449–463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giuliano WM, Accamando AK, McAdams EJ (2004) Lepidoptera-habitat relationships in urban parks. Urban Ecosyst 7:361–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goddard MA, Dougill AJ, Benton TG (2010) Scaling up from gardens: biodiversity conservation in urban environments. Trends Ecol Evol 25:90–98

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter P (2007) The human impact on biological diversity. How species adapt to urban challenges sheds light on evolution and provides clues about conservation. EMBO Rep 8:316–318

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Issar TP (1994) Blossoms of Bangalore. Mytec Process Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore

    Google Scholar 

  • Jim CY (2002) Heterogeneity and differentiation of the tree flora in three major land uses in Guangzhou City, China. Ann Forest Sci 59:107–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jim CY, Chen WY (2009) Diversity and distribution of landscape trees in the compact Asian city of Taipei. Appl Geogr 29:577–587

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jim CY, Liu HT (2001) Patterns and dynamics of urban forests in relation to land use and development history in Guangzhou City, China. Geogr J 167:358–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kent M, Stevens RA, Zhang L (1999) Urban plant ecology patterns and processes: a case study of the flora of the City of Plymouth, Devon, UK. J Biogeogr 26:1281–1298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khera N, Mehta V, Sabata BC (2009) Interrelationships of birds and habitat features in urban greenspaces in Delhi, India. Urban For Urban Green 8:187–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long AJ, Nair PKR (1999) Trees outside forests: agro-, community, and urban forestry. New For 17:145–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin CA, Warren PS, Kinzig AS (2004) Neighborhood socioeconomic status is a useful predictor of perennial landscape vegetation in residential neighborhoods and embedded small parks of Phoenix, AZ. Landsc Urban Plan 69:355–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maurer U, Peschel T, Schmitz S (2000) The flora of selected land-use types in Berlin and Potsdam with regard to nature conservation in cities. Landsc Urban Plan 46:209–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre S, Hobbs R (1999) A framework for conceptualizing human effects in landscapes and its relevance to management and research models. Conserv Biol 13:1282–1292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKinney ML (2006) Urbanization as a major cause of biotic homogenization. Biol Conserv 127:247–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKinney ML (2008) Effects of urbanization on species richness: a review of plants and animals. Urban Ecosyst 11:161–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McPherson EG, Rowntree RA (1989) Using structural measures to compare twenty-two U.S. street tree populations. Landsc J 8:13–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Mills GS, Dunning JB Jr, Bates JM (1989) Effects of urbanization on breeding bird structure in southwestern desert habitats. Condor 91:416–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murgiu E (2009) Influence of urban landscape structure on bird fauna: a case study across seasons in the city of Valencia (Spain). Urban Ecosyst 12:249–263

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagendra H (2008) Do parks work? Impact of protected areas on land cover change. Ambio 37:330–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagendra H, Gopal D (2010) Street trees in Bangalore: density, diversity, composition and distribution. Urban For Urban Green. doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2009.1012.1005

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagendra H, Rocchini D (2008) High resolution satellite imagery for tropical biodiversity assessment: the devil is in the detail. Biodivers Conserv 17:3431–3442

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nair J (2005) The promise of the metropolis: Bangalore’s twentieth century. Oxford University Press, New Delhi

    Google Scholar 

  • Neginhal SJ (2006) Golden trees, greenspaces and urban forestry. Self published, Bangalore

  • Oleyar MD, Greve AI, Withey JC, Bjorn AM (2008) An integrated approach to evaluating urban forest functionality. Urban Ecosyst 11:289–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pauleit S (2003) Urban street tree plantings: identifying the key requirements. Proc Inst Civ Eng – Munic Eng 156:43–50

    Google Scholar 

  • Rice BL (1897) Mysore: a gazetteer compiled for government, revised edition, volume 2. Archibald Constable and Company, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders RA (1983) Diversity and stability in a street tree population. Urban Ecol 7:159–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh VS, Pandey DN, Chaudhry P (2010) Urban forests and open green spaces: lessons for Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. RSPCB Occasional Paper No. 1/2010, Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board, Rajasthan, India. http://210.212.99.115/rpcb/RSPCB-OP-1-2010.pdf. Accessed on 23 February 2010

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Introduction to biostatistics, 2nd edn. Island, Washington DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Stohlgren TJ (2007) Measuring plant diversity: lessons from the field. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Sudha P, Ravindranath NH (2000) A study of Bangalore urban forest. Landsc Urban Plan 47:47–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sudhira HS, Ramachandra TV, Subrahmanya MHB (2007) City profile Bangalore. Cities 24:379–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weifeng L, Zhiyun O, Xuesong M, Xiaoke W (2006) Plant species composition in relation to green cover configuration and function of urban parks in Beijing, China. Ecol Res 21:221–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Welch JM (1994) Street and park trees of Boston: a comparison of urban forest structure. Landsc Urban Plan 29:131–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zérah M-H (2007) Conflict between green space preservation and housing needs: the case of the Sanjay Gandhi National park in Mumbai. Cities 24:122–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zerbe S, Choi I, Kowarik I (2004) Characteristics and habitats of non-native plant species in the city of Chonju, southern Korea. Ecol Res 19:91–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Lionel Sujay, Madhumitha Jaganmohan, Suparsh Nagendran, Vivek Gopal, Vikram Gopal and Bhargava Shastry for assistance with data collection, and Suparsh Nagendran and Somajita Paul for GIS assistance. This research was supported by grants from the International Foundation for Science, the Stockholm Resilience Center, Society in Science, and a Ramanujan Fellowship from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India to HN.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur P.O., Bangalore, 560064, India

    Harini Nagendra & Divya Gopal

  2. Center for the Study of Institutions, Population, and Environmental Change (CIPEC), Indiana University, 408 N. Indiana Avenue, Bloomington, IN, 47408, USA

    Harini Nagendra

Authors
  1. Harini Nagendra
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Divya Gopal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Harini Nagendra.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nagendra, H., Gopal, D. Tree diversity, distribution, history and change in urban parks: studies in Bangalore, India. Urban Ecosyst 14, 211–223 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-010-0148-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-010-0148-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation