Are street trees friendly to biodiversity?

Urban areas are home to more than half the world’s population, but also habitats for a wide range of plant and animal species. While street trees in urban areas have been recognized as important for human well-being, however, how they can contribute to wildlife conservation is less explored. Here we compiled a database of street tree inventories in China, that included species diversity, abundance and origin information of street trees from 59 cities to explore how different cities rank with regards to the use of native and diversity of street trees, which are both considered beneficial to urban biodiversity. We found the most abundant species contributed an average of 35.8% of all street trees in the studied cities, and non-native species contributed an average of 40.6% of the street trees. Most cities are dominated by only a few species of trees, and a large proportion of these trees are non-native tree species, indicating that streetscapes are likely not friendly to biodiversity. Our proposed ranking schedule provides an easy tool for classifying cities according to their street tree wildlife friendliness, while also providing clear management directions on how to improve city tree composition for biodiversity conservation. To build a sustainable society in which nature and humans can coexist, we recommend that city planners should consider biodiversity conservation as a core value of urban planning. Specifically, we encourage the planting of more native trees and use of a more diverse set of species capable of attracting wildlife, thus promoting biodiversity in cities. Furthermore, awareness of biodiversity friendly tree planting systems needs special attention in developing regions and densely populated areas. We emphasize that more regional research needs to go into identifying local species that can be used as street trees while simultaneously functioning as wildlife attractants.