Biodiversity
Urban-Suburban-Rural
In Baltimore City/County
Biodiversity
More than 25 recognized definitions
 Convention on Biological Diversity

– the variability among living organisms
from all sources including, inter alia,
terrestrial, marine and other aquatic
ecosystems and the ecological
complexes of which they are part; this
includes diversity within species, between
species and of ecosystems.
http://www.biodiv.be/glossary_keywords/B/biological_diversity
Biodiversity

Multiple scales of biodiversity
– Genetic
– Species
– Ecosystem
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Measure should be defined by the
application of the data
Benefits of Biodiversity
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Soil, air, water quality
Climate stability
Pest control
Detoxification and decomposition of waste
Crop production (pollinators)
Buffer against natural disasters
Food security
Medicine
Aesthetic value
Economic value
Question

How does biodiversity differ between
managed and unmanaged areas in
urban, suburban and rural school
yards?
Approach

5m transects
– 3 samplings per type at each site
– 3 samples x 2 types x 3 sites = 18 total
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Sample insects by sweeping parallel to
transect line
Sample herbaceous vegetation by
collecting samples along transect line
Differentiate and count Organizational
Taxonomic Units (OTUs)
Sites
Urban: Digital Harbor High School
 Suburban: Owings Mills High School
 Rural: Hereford High School
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Assumptions
Similar management regimens
between the sites
 Each site is representative of its type

– Urban, rural, suburban
Rural
Suburban
Urban
Limitations

Digital Harbor : finding enough edge
– Unmanaged areas not completely unmanaged
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High number of birds eating our sample
insects(in the field)
Time entailed in classifying the species(we
did the insects within our group)
Each group tried to determine what we
thought of as edge.
Weather conditions
Hypothesis I

Managed areas will have lower
biodiversity than unmanaged areas
– If urban,suburban and rural areas are
managed, then we expect the areas to be
more similar to each other with respect to
the herbaceous plant and insect species,
so we will see more common species
among managed fields than the
unmanaged edge areas from similar sites
Percent of species overlap between managed and unmanaged sites across an urban-rural gradient, 2729 July 2009
100%
Percent of total species
80%
60%
Unmanaged
Both
Managed
40%
20%
0%
Urban
Suburban
Rural
Comparison of Biodiversity in Managed and
Unmanaged Sites Along Urban-Rural Gradient
Unmanaged
Managed
urban
suburban
1
13
4
urban
suburban
1
9
0
3
1
2
3
1
2
8
4
rural
rural
Managed vs
Unmanaged Areas

Unmanaged areas contain more OTUs than
managed areas
– Unmanaged: 32 OTUs
– Managed:
20 OTUs

Suburban areas have the greatest overlap
of species between managed and
unmanaged areas (36.3%), followed by
urban areas (19.2%), with the least overlap
in rural areas (4.8%).
Hypothesis II

Biodiversity will occur along a gradient,
with rural areas having greatest
biodiversity.
– If biodiversity occurs across a continuous
urban-rural gradient with the greatest
biodiversity in rural areas, then we expect
the rural school yard to contain the
greatest number of OTUs and the urban
school yard to contain the lowest number
of OTUs.
Biodiversity of herbacious plants found across an urban-rural
gradient, 27-29 July 2009
30
Organizational Taxonomic Units
25
20
Unmanaged
Both
Managed
15
10
5
0
Urban
Suburban
Rural
urban
suburban
2
15
4
4
5
1
10
rural
Urban-Rural Gradient
The greatest number of OTUs was
found at the urban site, followed by the
rural site, with the least number of
OTUs found at the suburban site
 The greatest overlap in species was
found between the urban and rural
sites
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Current literature

Moritz von der Lippe and Ingo Kowarik (2007)
Institute of Ecology, Technical University of Berlin,
Rothenburgstr.12, D-12165 Berlin, Germany
Do cities export biodiversity?
Traffic as dispersal vector across
urban–rural gradients
Future Investigations
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Is this study representative?
– ie, test additional sites
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Are the similarities different?
– Alternative definitions of biodiversity, to include
biomass studies (dominant populations)
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What factors are influencing the pattern (ie,
lack of “gradient”)?
– Investigate type of area residences, traffic
patterns, watersheds, development, weather
patterns,etc
\
Making lab work in
classroom
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We would have a dichotomous key for
the species of plants and have them
label species as species 1,2,3 and
then for an extension for some
students have them work to find out
what is the species name.
Classroom applications
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This would be an intense lab to do with
students in a 45 minute class period but it
could be completed in 3 days in a 90 minute
class.
This could be started midweek and
completed the next week for students on a
45 minute schedule. Leading the students
and having them design the lab will have
them buying into the work better than
presenting the lab to them.
Making lab work in
classroom
Pre-lab having the students
understand what they will be doing
have each student practice the correct
techniques for the net sampling
method
 Have student understand collection of
plant species.
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Making lab work in
classroom
On lab day have students collect
materials and go outside and collect
the samples
 Bring samples inside and freeze
insects
 Separate and press plant samples for
identification the next day.

Making the lab work in
the classroom
Day 3 identify the plants in each group
and enter data in excel
 If time allows show pictures of the
kinds of insects

Making lab work in
classroom
Have students look at samples of
insects under dissecting microscopes
 Have them determine the differences
between flying insects, beetles,
sucking insects, grasshoppers,
crickets, ants and spiders. Have them
tell why spiders are not classified as
insects.
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Making lab work in
classroom
Data analysis graphing data using
excel
 Comparison of number of species of
plants and number of species of
animals for edge and field
 Explanation of what they would expect
with the number of species of
herbivores and number of primary
producers.
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