Positive relationships among aboveground biomass, tree species diversity, and urban greening management in tropical coastal city of Haikou

Abstract

Within urban green spaces, tree species diversity is believed to correlate with aboveground biomass, though there is some disagreement within the literature on the strength and directionality of the relationship. Therefore, we assessed the relationship between the biodiversity of woody species and the aboveground biomass of woody plant species in the tropical, coastal city of Haikou in southern China. To accomplish this, we obtained comprehensive tree and site data through field sampling of 190 urban functional units (UFUs, or work units) corresponding to six types of land uses governmental-institutional, industrial-commercial, park-recreational, residential, transport infrastructure, and undeveloped area. Based on our field data, we investigated the relationship between tree species diversity and aboveground biomass using multiple regression, which revealed significant relationships across all five types of land uses. Aboveground biomass in green spaces was also correlated with anthropogenic factors, especially time since urban development, or site age, annual maintenance frequency by human caretakers, and human population density. Among these factors, maintenance is the strongest predictor of aboveground biomass in urban green space. Therefore, this study highlights the critical role of maintenance of urban green space in promoting both aboveground biomass and woody biodiversity in urban ecosystems and, consequently, on urban ecosystem services. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the ecosystem services provided by communities of woody plant species in urban areas.