Impact of the neighboring cityscape on Collembola biodiversity: a Mediterranean case study

Urbanization threatens biodiversity, increasing landscape patchiness and habitat loss. In order to turn urban parks into healthy ecosystems, deeper knowledge on their biodiversity and the processes driving species assemblages is required, especially for soil communities to which scarce attention has been paid so far. This study, conducted in public parks in Montpellier (Southern France), is the first one examining the impact of neighboring landscape patterns on collembolan species communities. Moreover, soil abiotic properties were analyzed to examine how local factors drive species assemblages within homogeneous landscape groups. Different neighboring landscape patterns were associated with specific communities, differing in their structure. Specifically, late successional stage communities were found within the most diverse neighboring landscapes, mainly composed of woody patches. By contrast, communities of pioneer stages were observed in neighboring landscapes with wide turf patches surrounded by other green habitats. Finally, biotic homogenization was evident when considering communities of small and isolated turf patches. This work corroborates the hypothesis that urban parks with more complex plant communities would host more diverse animal communities as well. With an urban park landscaping perspective, limiting fragmentation and preserving landscape diversity, as well as presence of woody vegetation, are the priorities to ensure the development of diverse and structured Collembola communities, indicators of the overall soil quality.