Land use history promotes shifts in composition and increases the functional vulnerability of urban forests

Abstract

Urbanisation is rapidly transforming our world and threatening the maintenance of ecosystem functions as biodiversity and primary production. This study aimed to understand how different land-use histories affect functional composition and diversity of urban forests and how functionally vulnerable are these forests to future disturbances. We used data from nine urban forests with different land-use histories (LUH) grouped in three intensity categories with three forests in each: soil denudation (high intensity LUH), cropland (medium intensity LUH) and without land use history (low intensity LUH) and from three non-urban mature forests (control), for comparison purposes, all situated in the Brazilian Atlantic forest. We addressed two questions: (i) to what extent do urban forests with different land-use histories differ in functional composition and diversity metrics?; and (ii) how functionally vulnerable are these forests to future disturbances? The first was answered from the species categorization into functional groups and by the functional richness and dispersion indices; and the second through a resistance analysis based on functional redundancy and a resilience analysis based on species response diversity. As we predict, urban forests showed differences in functional composition, regardless of the land use history. However, negative effects on the amount and diversity of functions were only related to the more intense previous land use (cropland and denudation LUH). Only urban forests with some land use history had significant reductions in functional redundancy and species response diversity. Surprisingly, urban forests without land use history are able to maintain high levels of functional diversity and safety, similar to those found in nonurban forests. We conclude that, although urban forests can still serve as reservoirs of functional diversity and may present some safety in the provision of their functions in the face of future disturbances, the intensity of land use history is determinant for the functional reduction, homogenization and vulnerability of these urban forests.