CITY HOTSPOT: LINKAGES BETWEEN ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND BIODIVERSITY OF URBAN GREEN AREAS

Abstract

Green areas in cities and their ecosystem services (ES) offer residents various benefits. The range of services depends on biodiversity of a green space. The aim was to determine the relationship between biodiversity in different categories of green areas in the city and the ecosystem services, which appear in it. We made 108 relevés in the autumn and spring time, within nine categories of green areas in the Municipality of Ljubljana. In each category the range of ES was assessed based on field analysis and compared with literature assessed ecosystem services. Results showed that the category of forests differ from others. Other categories were similar to each other, in particular grassland categories. Also, a positive relationship linkage was found - more plant species mean more assessed ecosystem services in a specific green infrastructure category.

Keywords

• biodiversity
• ecosystem services
• green infrastructure
• green spaces
• green infrastructure categories
• Ljubljana