Exoskeletons and economics: indoor arthropod diversity increases in affluent neighbourhoods

TY - JOUR

T1 - Exoskeletons and economics

T2 - indoor arthropod diversity increases in affluent neighbourhoods

AU - Leong, Misha

AU - Bertone, Matthew A.

AU - Bayless, Keith M.

AU - Dunn, Robert Roberdeau

AU - Trautwein, Michelle D.

N1 - © 2016 The Authors.

PY - 2016/8/1

Y1 - 2016/8/1

N2 - In urban ecosystems, socioeconomics contribute to patterns of biodiversity. The 'luxury effect', in which wealthier neighbourhoods are more biologically diverse, has been observed for plants, birds, bats and lizards. Here, we used data from a survey of indoor arthropod diversity (defined throughout as family-level richness) from 50 urban houses and found that house size, surrounding vegetation, as well as mean neighbourhood income best predict the number of kinds of arthropods found indoors. Our finding, that homes in wealthier neighbourhoods host higher indoor arthropod diversity (consisting of primarily non-pest species), shows that the luxury effect can extend to the indoor environment. The effect of mean neighbourhood income on indoor arthropod diversity was particularly strong for individual houses that lacked high surrounding vegetation ground cover, suggesting that neighbourhood dynamics can compensate for local choices of homeowners. Our work suggests that the management of neighbourhoods and cities can have effects on biodiversity that can extend from trees and birds all the way to the arthropod life in bedrooms and basements.

AB - In urban ecosystems, socioeconomics contribute to patterns of biodiversity. The 'luxury effect', in which wealthier neighbourhoods are more biologically diverse, has been observed for plants, birds, bats and lizards. Here, we used data from a survey of indoor arthropod diversity (defined throughout as family-level richness) from 50 urban houses and found that house size, surrounding vegetation, as well as mean neighbourhood income best predict the number of kinds of arthropods found indoors. Our finding, that homes in wealthier neighbourhoods host higher indoor arthropod diversity (consisting of primarily non-pest species), shows that the luxury effect can extend to the indoor environment. The effect of mean neighbourhood income on indoor arthropod diversity was particularly strong for individual houses that lacked high surrounding vegetation ground cover, suggesting that neighbourhood dynamics can compensate for local choices of homeowners. Our work suggests that the management of neighbourhoods and cities can have effects on biodiversity that can extend from trees and birds all the way to the arthropod life in bedrooms and basements.

KW - Journal Article

U2 - 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0322

DO - 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0322

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 27484644

SN - 1744-9561

VL - 12

JO - Biology Letters

JF - Biology Letters

IS - 8

M1 - 20160322

ER -