The Effect of Greenway Connecting Urban Parks on Avifauna in Winter period

Abstract

The value of urban parks is currently reconsidered and the guidelines are required to institute plans for greenery and open spaces of high quality as habitat. In this study, we aimed at illustrating the relationship between bird species richness and the conditions of urban parks such as coverage by woods or shrubs, connectivity by greenways, and surrounding land-use of woodlots or agricultural lands. During two consecutive wintering seasons, we studied the bird distributions within urban parks, some of which were connected to each other by greenways. The study sites were located in Yokohama city, near Tokyo. Two Way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN) divided bird species into two groups. To detect clearly the relationship between birds and urban park variables, we adopted the species richness of one of the group for multiple regression analysis. The result showed that the bird species richness significantly correlated with area covered by woods, ratio of coverage by shrub, and the arrangement of greenways that connected urban parks. It is suggested that we could improve the quality of habitats in urban area not only by increasing the area or the vegetation structure, but also by arranging greenways to connect the habitats.