Städtische Grünflächen, einschließlich Parks, Gärten und Straßenränder, sind natürlichen Ökosystemen ähnlicher als bisher berichtet und erbringen mehrere wichtige Ökosystemdienstleistungen auf ähnlichem Niveau wie nahegelegene natürliche Ökosysteme

Hi r/science – sharing the above study led by Dr David Eldridge from our school of Biological, Earth & Environmental Science. The study has been published in npj Urban Sustainability if you’d like to check it out: [Urban greenspaces and nearby natural areas support similar levels of soil ecosystem services](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1038/s42949-024-00154-z)

The study compared 56 urban greenspaces from around the world with nearby natural environments – looking at 23 different ecosystem ‘services’ the soil and plants from each environment offered the surrounding ecosystems.

The results of the study showed that urban greenspaces and nearby natural areas support similar levels of ecosystem services, with six of 23 attributes (available phosphorus, water holding capacity, water respiration, plant cover, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and arachnid richness) significantly greater in urban greenspaces, and one (available ammonium) greater in natural areas.