Data from: Landscape structure influences urban vegetation vertical structure

Vegetation vertical structure is important for biodiversity and ecosystem
service provision. In cities, however, while variation in the spatial
extent and distribution of vegetation has been widely investigated,
vertical vegetation structure and its potential drivers have not.
Understanding how vegetation vertical structure varies across cities and
identifying the potential drivers of this variation will improve the
management of urban vegetation for biodiversity and ecosystem services. We
used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data to quantify the vertical
structure of vegetation across Brisbane, Australia, at 1-km2 and 1-ha
spatial scales and investigated how this structure varied in response to
biophysical, socioeconomic, urban form and landscape structure variables.
Using model selection techniques, we found that landscape structure
variables related to tree cover (tree cover extent and spatial
configuration) best explained the vegetation vertical structure at both
spatial scales. Biophysical and urban form variables were also important,
but only in combination with landscape structure. Mean vegetation vertical
complexity, foliage projective cover and canopy height at a site all
decreased as the treed proportion of the surrounding urban landscape
decreased. In general, these vertical structure variables also increased
where patches of vegetation were clustered together spatially. Synthesis
and applications. Using light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data and model
selection techniques, we show that the extent and vertical structure of
urban vegetation are not independent and that reduced extent and increased
fragmentation of urban vegetation are associated with simplification of
its vertical structure. If common, this relationship means that managing
urban vegetation for biodiversity and ecosystem services should not focus
solely on the amount of tree cover or green space present across cities,
but also on identifying where interventions to improve vegetation vertical
complexity are required. Our study provides important insights into where
these locations may be in cities.