1⃣ How can urban landscapes support growing populations and nature? Protect large areas of natural vegetation; it’s critical to the safeguarding of sensitive species from local extinction. I’ll show you why… #SBCMelb20 @JAppliedEcology #UrbanEcology #LandSparing 1/5
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2⃣In #GreaterMelbourne, the bird #'s of 28 species related to the density of people in the area. Eg Red Wattlebirds were most common in highly populated areas; Eastern Spinebills in lightly populated areas; Golden Whistlers exclusive to areas of native vegetation #SBCMelb20 2/5
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3⃣ Species responses informed our optimisation model; solving for maximising biodiversity & accommodating a given number of people into a specified area (974km2). It allocated land to 17 bins of population density (range: 0-1600p/ha) under 3 population scenarios. #SBCMelb20 3/5
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4⃣ As people⬆️, the best biodiversity outcomes were achieved by prioritising land allocated to natural vegetation. Land sharing (all urbanised) performed poorly under all scenarios, failing to support species that depend on natural habitat #SBCMelb20 4/5
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5⃣ As urban populations grow, supporting both people and nature requires compact cities with large areas of natural vegetation. This may also apply for urban areas around the world where some species depend exclusively on natural vegetation. #SBCMelb20 5/5
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Just a follow-up, our paper can be accessed here: https://t.co/SfgPN9z62v DM me if you aren't able to access the full article. Cheers. #SBCMelb20 #UrbanEcology #Landsparing 6/5
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