Note that the data published in the 2002 State of the Nation’s Ecosystems Report as well as the 2003 and 2005 Web-Only Updates have been superseded by the 2008 Report and thus should be used with caution. For the most recent data, purchase the 2008 Report from Island Press.

The Indicator

This indicator reports the percentage of “original” vertebrate animals and vascular plants that are at risk of displacement or have been displaced from metropolitan areas (i.e., major cities and their suburbs found within the urban/suburban areas defined by this report; small, isolated cities or suburbs would be excluded because it would likely not be feasible to include them in the necessary monitoring program). “Original” is defined as existing prior to European settlement in the area that is now a metropolitan area. Using the reference point of presettlement is in some sense an arbitrary choice; its use does not necessarily mean that it would be desirable to have all original species present in urban/suburban areas. This indicator includes only vertebrate animals (not insects, worms, and the like) and vascular plants (not mosses, fungi, algae, and so on).

The Data Gap

This indicator should be reported for larger metropolitan regions, where expertise and information are likely to be available. For each of these areas, a list of plant and animal species present before settlement must be compiled. These lists can be derived from reviews of the historical literature, museum records, Natural Heritage program data, and agency files. Information on current status must be obtained through field surveys, which will need to be repeated periodically. If scientists develop standardized protocols for observation and reporting, much of the data could be collected by trained volunteers.

Many organizations collect data about the current distribution and status of species, but few of these provide information on species status or population trends within areas as small as a metropolitan area. For example, most states have Natural Heritage programs, which provide status information on a wide variety of species (http://www.natureserve.org/about_nhnoverview.htm), but generally on a statewide or larger area basis.

There are a growing number of city, county, and regional efforts to gather and use biodiversity information, and these efforts could form the basis for reporting this indicator. Two programs that exemplify this trend are the Illinois EcoWatch Network and Chicago Wilderness. EcoWatch is a series of volunteer monitoring programs coordinated through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (http://dnr.state.il.us/orep/inrin/ecowatch/). The program has an UrbanWatch component (http://www.fmnh.org/urbanwatch/splash.asp), as well as RiverWatch, ForestWatch, and PrairieWatch components. Chicago Wilderness (http://www.chiwild.org) is a partnership of more than 130 organizations working to protect, restore, and manage natural areas in the three-state Chicago metropolitan area. In addition, Robinson et al. (1994), in a study in Staten Island, New York, showed a loss of over 40% of native flora and an increase of over 33% non-native flora during the period 1879 to 1991. DeCandido (2001) found similar results for The Bronx, New York.

Finally, there must be some mechanism that will ensure adequate consistency between local and regional efforts, and that will be responsible for collating data from local sources to produce regional and national statistics.

References

DeCandido, R. 2001. Recent changes in plant species diversity in Pelham Bay Park, Bronx County, New York City, 1947–1998. Ph.D. Dissertation, The City University of New York.

Robinson, G.R., M.E. Yurlina, and S.N. Handel. 1994. A century of change in the Staten Island flora: Ecological correlates of species losses and invasions. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 121(2):119–129.