Variation in vegetation characteristics and landscape patterns of urban forests: implications for ecosystem management under rapid urbanization

Abstract

Urban forests are essential components of green infrastructure, however, rapid urbanization-induced changes in landscape patterns may affect their ecosystem services through complex ecological processes. A total of 184 sample plots in the built-up areas of Nanchang, China, were used as research sites. Urbanization intensities were categorized by the rate of impervious surface area, and forest types were classified into landscape and relaxation forest, attached forest (AF), road forest (RF), and ecological public welfare forest. This study aimed to explore the spatial variations in vegetation characteristics and landscape pattern indices of different forest types under rapid urbanization. The results indicated that the largest patch index (LPI), aggregation index (AI), and percentage of landscape (PLAND) in RF and AF were lower than those in the other forest types (p < 0.05). With increasing urbanization intensity, the mean perimeter-area ratio increased by 130.84%, whereas the PLAND, LPI, and AI decreased by 22 − 86% (p < 0.05). Redundancy analysis and variation partitioning suggested that the interpretation rate of landscape pattern indices for variations in vegetation characteristics increased from low to heavy urbanization areas. Especially, the landscape shape index, patch connection index, PLAND, and mean patch size were significantly correlated with vegetation characteristics (e.g., tree richness, herb coverage, and tree height). In the future, appropriate landscape layout superiority cases should be considered in different urbanization areas and forest types; for instance, increasing the patch connection index will beneficially improve the diversity of trees and herbs in heavy urbanization areas and the RF. This study serves as a reference for maximizing the ecosystem services of urban forests.

Keywords

Forest type / Vegetation / Urbanization / Landscape pattern

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