Insect Conservation and Urban Environments

252 Pages·2015·6.437 MB·English

by  Tim R. New (auth.)

Tim R. New
Insect
Conservation
and Urban
Environments
Insect Conservation and Urban Environments

Tim R. New
Insect Conservation and
Urban Environments
Tim R. New
Department of Ecology, Envivonment and Evolution
La Trobe University
Melbourne , VIC , Australia
ISBN 978-3-319-21223-4 ISBN 978-3-319-21224-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-21224-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015944193
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Pref ace
I ncreasing human populations engender increased changes to natural environments.
Perhaps nowhere are those changes more drastic and severe than those related to the
processes of urbanisation – with the outcomes represented by the increasing num-
bers and size of towns and cities and their surrounds that must now house vast
numbers of people and cater for their living, working and recreational needs,
together with the industrial, infrastructure and transport systems that support those
activities. Historically, many such developments have occurred with little regard for
the natural environments they replace and the associated losses of native species and
functioning communities of plants and animals. Yet, even within such concentra-
tions of modifi cation and alienation of natural ecosystems, the natural biota may
persist, and adapt, and such highly changed areas also present abundant opportunity
for practical conservation and increasing awareness of the natural world. Attention
to conservation of such native species in urban areas progressively incorporates
measures to retain or restore more natural environments and to consider an increas-
ing variety of biota – including invertebrates – and threats to them. As the most
noticed, and most diverse, category of smaller animals, insects have aroused increas-
ing attention in urban environments, both as pests and for their conservation – this
both as individual species and for the messages insect species and assemblages help
to convey on the health of local environments, not least through the changes in inci-
dence, richness and assemblage composition they display in transitions between
rural and urban regimes and infl uences of alien species whose wellbeing may be
facilitated by urban conditions.
T his book is a broad overview of information on the infl uences of urbanisation
on insects and the means that can aid their conservation in some of the most altered
of all anthropogenic environments. It draws from the principles of landscape ecol-
ogy and conservation biology to summarise and demonstrate how the detailed
knowledge available from the study of insects in towns and cities can contribute to
planning for balanced sustainability. It illustrates the considerable variety of situa-
tions that occur and the often uncertain balance between changes constituting severe
threat or conservation opportunity – and the needs to understand this dilemma
clearly – in the context of the range of impacts and novel ecological interactions that
v
vi Preface
may eventuate. It also illustrates the very positive outcomes that can arise from
sympathetic planning, incorporating ecological awareness, and the ways that, in
turn, knowledge of insects may inform and improve urban ecosystem management
and contribute to ameliorating some of the more harmful impacts that can otherwise
occur. The complexities of urban ecology and urban planning come together in
numerous different ways, but in many situations have not been harmonised for the
greatest benefi ts of both people and the natural world. In this account, I hope to
increase awareness of the roles and need of insects in urban environments, the ways
in which these can be compromised and how considerate planning can redress many
of the impacts or prevent them from occurring.
The scope of ‘urban entomology’ has changed substantially since the classic
Perspectives in Urban Entomology volume edited by Frankie and Koehler (1978),
in which fundamental ecological and environmental considerations were somewhat
secondary to problems related to management of insect pests in urban environ-
ments – albeit for a broad array of pests ranging from medically important arthro-
pods to pests of plants and buildings. Those problems, of course, persist but are now
usually considered in a wider context of both social and ecological needs. That
pioneering volume did, however, introduce the great array of insects and their bio-
logical variety, and themes developed in the taxonomically arranged compendium
by Robinson (2005). U rban E ntomology: Interdisciplinary Perspectives was broad-
ened considerably as a second edited volume (Frankie and Koehler 1983), a compi-
lation with contributions of enduring signifi cance in stimulating interest in urban
insect conservation – with the essays by Pyle (1983) on endangered insects and
Owen (1983) on values of gardens for insects, both pioneering in scope.
Insects are recognised as functionally signifi cant components of ‘urban biodiver-
sity’, with the wider ‘urban ecology’ a rapidly expanding discipline rendered urgent
by ever-accelerating demands for human habitations and associated support sys-
tems in which complex social issues must be integrated with environmental values
to assure ‘quality of life’. This broad multifaceted science has generated an enor-
mous recent literature covering themes as diverse as landscape ecology and plan-
ning, building design, pollution and climate changes, transport systems and impacts,
catering for human amenity and recreational needs, alien species impacts and many
others – but with recognition that environmental quality, however it may be defi ned,
is a key need and will commonly involve non-built ‘green areas’ in or near urban
enclaves. Studies on all these topics and other related themes proliferate through a
range of specialist journals dealing with urban environments and processes, together
with numerous books, symposium proceedings and papers in many ecological and
(a focus here) entomological journals. The diversity, complexity and vital impor-
tance of many issues in urban ecology are illustrated excellently in the edited book
compiled by Marzluff et al. (2008), but despite the wealth of information in that
magisterial volume – an indispensable source for any student of urban ecology –
insects get rather little mention. More recent texts, notably that edited by Niemela
(2011), integrate many different aspects of urban planning and urban ecology that
demonstrate the importance of biodiversity, and harmonising conservation and
development refl ects some of the most urgent pressures on modern human society.
Preface vii
Many of the above contributions address problems of sustainability of environ-
mental values and either implicitly or explicitly value ‘biodiversity’ in urban arenas,
perhaps most frequently in terms of function (‘ecological services’) and perceptions
by people (including ‘biophilia’). Both these complex themes invoke increased
awareness of insect variety. Many studies also evaluate the changes that occur to
natural biodiversity as urbanisation occurs, and increasing numbers of such investi-
gations now consider insects or related arthropods, at scales from single sites to
landscapes and from single species to whole assemblages or communities and inter-
actions. Many also extend from descriptive studies of change to consider the wider
ecological or sociological implications of those changes.
This welcome trend mirrors several societal priorities and opportunities. Some
that seem important are (1) the realisation that many insects and other biota are
highly vulnerable to urbanisation-related changes and that their loss may affect eco-
logical functions and processes that have wide impacts on humanity; (2) the grow-
ing awareness that open spaces and ‘natural values’ have both societal and individual
benefi ts as amenities and can be important in sustaining local native biota; (3) that
even heavily urbanised areas contain much space that could be used constructively
to support these biota; (4) that ethical behaviour fosters conservation and ecological
integrity; (5) that many proposed developments, from expanding suburbs to indi-
vidual buildings, to roadways and wider erosion of existing urban areas, can pro-
ceed only on the basis of applying such conscience through ‘environmental impact
statements’ or similar regulation that objectively presents the ‘cost-benefi t’ balance
including potential harm to sensitive or signifi cant ecosystems and taxa; and (6) that
many urban areas are geographically convenient study arenas for student projects
and other research by being reasonably close to educational institutions and that
(limited but welcome!) funding for such activities may be available through local
government agencies for basic documentation contributing to impact assessments,
as above. As a collective consequence, the importance of urban environments for
insect wellbeing is increasingly recognised, together with some of the means by
which their values can be enhanced to consolidate their signifi cant roles in wider
insect conservation, and valuable tools in promoting education and public aware-
ness are becoming increasingly prominent. The challenges of insect conservation
and urban environments, and of meeting the pressures and threats that arise there,
continue to daunt managers, government agencies, conservation biologists and
entomologists alike. I hope that the encapsulation presented here, including material
available to me up to mid-2014, may both help to convey the needs for this to occur
and the important contributions that studies on urban ecosystems and insects con-
tinue to make to the wellbeing of increasing proportions of humanity.
Melbourne, Australia Tim R. New
viii Preface
References
Frankie GW, Koehler CS (eds) (1978) Perspectives in urban entomology. Academic, New York
Frankie, GW, Koehler CS (eds) (1983) Urban entomology: interdisciplinary perspectives. Praeger,
New York
Marzluff JM, Shullenberg E, Endlicher W, Alberti M, Bradley G, Ryan C, Zum Brunnen C, Simon
W (eds) (2008) Urban ecology: an international perspective on the interaction between humans
and nature. Springer, New York
Niemela J (ed) (2011) Urban ecology: patterns, processes and applications. Oxford University
Press, Oxford
Owen J (1983) Effects of contrived plant diversity and permanent succession on insects in English
suburban gardens. In: Frankie GW, Koehler CS (eds) Urban entomology: interdisciplinary per-
spectives. Praeger, New York, pp 395–422
Pyle RM (1983) Urbanization and endangered insect populations. In: Frankie GW, Koehler CS
(eds) Urban entomology: interdisciplinary perspectives. Praeger, New York, pp 367–394
R obinson WH (2005) Urban insects and arachnids: a handbook of urban entomology. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge
Acknowledgements
Permission to reproduce or modify previously published material has graciously
been granted by the following individuals, publishers and organisations. Every
effort has been made to obtain permissions for use in this book, and the publishers
would welcome advice on any inadvertent omissions or corrections that should be
incorporated in any future reprints or editions. Grateful thanks for permissions and/
or advice are extended to: Dr Maria Ignatieva; Cambridge University Press;
Department of Environment Australia; Elsevier, Oxford; Ecological Society of
America; Entomological Society of America; Entomological Society of Southern
Africa; Finnish Zoological and Botanical Publishing Board; Island Press; Natural
England; Oxford University Press; Springer Science and Business Media; University
of Chicago Press; University of Melbourne and Wiley-Blackwell Publishing,
Oxford. Most previously published fi gures have been redrawn to ensure consistency
of format and lettering here, and some have been simplifi ed from the originals.
T he photographs, most of them taken around Melbourne, Victoria, are not
intended as ‘best practice’, but simply to exemplify some contexts and features of
urban/periurban environments that relate to insect conservation examples and con-
texts discussed in the text.
This book owes much to the encouragement provided by Zuzana Bernhardt at
Springer, whose friendship and continuing support is appreciated greatly. Mariska
van der Stigchel’s practical help and wise advice, coupled with consistent optimism,
in facilitating many of the above permissions and solving other problems during the
book’s gestation has extended far beyond any reasonable expectation and has done
much to assure its timely appearance. My Project Manager, Ms Sasikala Rajan, has
carefully guided later production.
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