Mammal communities are larger and more diverse in moderately developed areas

Developed areas are thought to have low species diversity, low animal abundance, few native predators, and thus low resilience and ecological function. Working with citizen scientist volunteers to survey mammals at 1427 sites across two development gradients (wild-rural-exurban-suburban-urban) and four plot types (large forests, small forest fragments, open areas and residential yards) in the eastern US, we show that developed areas actually had significantly higher or statistically similar mammalian occupancy, relative abundance, richness and diversity compared to wild areas. However, although some animals can thrive in suburbia, conservation of wild areas and preservation of green space within cities are needed to protect sensitive species and to give all species the chance to adapt and persist in the Anthropocene.学界普遍认为，开发区域的物种多样性、动物种群丰度均较低，本土捕食者数量稀少，因此生态恢复力与生态系统功能均偏弱。本研究联合公民科学志愿者，在美国东部1427个调查点位开展哺乳动物普查，覆盖两类开发梯度（野生-乡村-远郊-近郊-城市）与四类样地类型（大型森林、小型森林片段、开阔地带与住宅庭院）。结果显示，相较于野生区域，开发区域的哺乳动物占据率、相对丰度、物种丰富度与多样性均显著更高，或在统计学上无显著差异。不过，尽管部分动物可在近郊区域繁盛生存，为保护敏感物种并为所有物种提供在人类世（Anthropocene）中适应与存续的机会，仍需对野生区域实施保护，并维持城市内部的绿地空间。