Biodiversity Conservation in Urban and Forest Ecosystems

Urbanisation, land-use change and climate pressures have reshaped natural habitats across the globe, posing acute challenges for the conservation of species and ecological processes. Urban and forest ecosystems interact through gradients of land cover, forming composite landscapes where remnant woodlands, green spaces and protected reserves are embedded within or adjacent to built environments. Efforts to maintain and restore biodiversity in these contexts hinge upon understanding habitat fragmentation, edge effects and the capacity of species to disperse, persist and adapt to novel conditions. In urban areas, the retention and design of green infrastructure—ranging from street trees and parks to brownfield regeneration—can support native flora and fauna, enhance functional connectivity and deliver co-benefits for human well-being. In forested landscapes, conservation strategies have increasingly integrated climate-smart management, enabling the identification and linkage of core habitat patches through ecological corridors and adaptive restoration. Cross-disciplinary approaches draw on remote sensing, species distribution modelling and community engagement to inform planning, prioritise interventions and monitor outcomes. Globally, the convergence of urban ecology and forest conservation is fostering landscape-scale initiatives that reconcile human development with the safeguarding of ecosystem services, resilience building and the preservation of biodiversity.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Biodiversity Conservation in Urban and Forest Ecosystems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in biodiversity conservation in urban and forest ecosystems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Habitat fragmentation: The process by which large, continuous habitats are divided into smaller, isolated patches, often as a result of human activities.

Edge effects: Changes in population or community structures that occur at the boundary of two habitats, such as forest and urban areas.

Ecological connectivity: The degree to which landscapes facilitate or impede the movement of species and the flow of ecological processes across habitat patches.

Habitat suitability modelling: Computational techniques used to predict the distribution of species or vegetation types based on environmental variables.

Understorey: The layer of vegetation beneath the main canopy of a forest, including shrubs and young trees, which plays a key role in biodiversity and ecological function.

References

1. A machine learning approach to mapping suitable areas for forest vegetation in the eThekwini municipality. Remote Sensing Applications Society and Environment (2024).
2. Predicted distributions of avian specialists: A framework for conservation of endangered forests under future climates. Diversity and Distributions (2020).
3. Spatial Occupancy, Local Abundance and Activity Rhythm of Three Ground Dwelling Columbid Species in the Forests of Guadeloupe in Relation to Environmental Factors. Diversity (2022).