What does this research mean for the field?

The biodiversity outcomes of urban land-sparing and land-sharing strategies are highly context-dependent, with land-sparing favoring resident birds in areas with low green cover and land-sharing favoring migratory birds in areas with high green cover during non-breeding seasons. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To compare the impacts of land-sparing versus land-sharing strategies on urban bird diversity across varying green-space cover gradients, residency statuses, and seasonal periods.

September 3, 2026Landscape EcologyOpen Access

Context-dependent effects of land-sparing and land-sharing strategies on urban bird diversity

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

QHQiyao HanNanjing Agricultural University ZLZeyu LouNanjing Agricultural University KGKexin GuoChina University of Geosciences (Beijing)

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Observational spatial analysis reveals divergent bird diversity patterns across urban greening strategies, indicating that conservation efficacy depends on landscape context.

Key Points

To compare the impacts of land-sparing versus land-sharing strategies on urban bird diversity across varying green-space cover gradients, residency statuses, and seasonal periods.
Analyzed N=116,387 citizen-science bird records collected between 2022 and 2024 across three spatial scales (500, 1000, and 1500 m) in Nanjing, China.
Calculated species richness, Shannon–Wiener, and Simpson diversity indices, subsequently synthesizing them using principal component analysis.
Fitted generalized additive models to detect key environmental drivers of diversity, stratifying by green-cover thresholds (<50% vs. >50%), residency status (resident vs. migratory), and season (breeding vs. non-breeding).
Land sparing was generally associated with higher avian diversity for resident birds in areas with green-space cover below 50%, though associations were not consistently statistically significant.
Land sharing favored migratory bird diversity in settings with high green cover (>50%) and during the non-breeding season, with the clearest strategy divergence detected at the 500 m scale.
Human disturbance, quantified through the Human Footprint Index, emerged as one of the most frequent predictors of avian diversity across both land-use frameworks.

Cite This Study

Han et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9935e5636c6408cfa7e73d https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-026-02451-7

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Implication

Observational spatial analysis reveals divergent bird diversity patterns across urban greening strategies, indicating that conservation efficacy depends on landscape context.

Context-dependent effects of land-sparing and land-sharing strategies on urban bird diversity

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Context-dependent effects of land-sparing and land-sharing strategies on urban bird diversity

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Also Consider

Also Consider