Urban Tree Diversity as a Driver of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Coventry, UK

Urban trees play a critical role in supporting biodiversity and enhancing climate resilience, yet these benefits are rarely assessed together. Urbanisation has fragmented habitats and isolated biological communities, making it increasingly important to understand how green infrastructure can deliver multiple benefits simultaneously. Integrating biodiversity and ecosystem service assessments is essential for identifying strategies that support both ecological and community goals. While ecosystem service models, such as i-Tree Eco, provide valuable insights into the benefits of urban trees, they do not account for biodiversity. Combining these models with biodiversity data across multiple taxa can offer a more comprehensive understanding of how nature-based solutions can deliver co-benefits for people and wildlife.

This research investigates how urban trees support birds, bats, invertebrates and vegetation in Coventry, United Kingdom. Using a combination of Passive Acoustic Monitoring, tree beat sampling and quadrat surveys across sites that vary in tree species richness, structure and levels of urbanisation, this study integrates biodiversity data with ecosystem service metrics derived from i-Tree Eco. This approach makes it possible to examine how tree species richness and composition shape biodiversity patterns and ecosystem services, and how these relationships contribute to ecological resilience in urban environments.

Bird surveys indicate a significant positive relationship between bird species richness and tree species richness, highlighting the role of tree diversity in supporting avian communities. Bird species richness was higher at semi-natural sites than at urban sites, though this difference was not statistically significant. Trait data demonstrated that urban bird assemblages were also more functionally homogeneous, suggesting reduced ecological diversity in more built-up environments. Results for bats, invertebrates and vegetation will also contribute to a broader understanding of how urban tree diversity influences multi-taxa biodiversity and ecosystem service provision.

Together, these findings emphasise the importance of tree diversity in sustaining urban biodiversity and supporting ecological resilience. This work contributes to a growing evidence base demonstrating how nature-based solutions can simultaneously address biodiversity loss and climate challenges, providing practical evidence to guide urban planning, tree planting and greenspace management for greener, more resilient cities.