Megan Duenas

Dr. Estes
22 February, 2016
Research Paper

Urbanization Effects Species Populations

Buildings are going up and people are moving in. Rapid population growth has
caused humans to expand and in response, animals are forced to move out. What did your
bustling city look like before all those office buildings and apartments went up? How much
wildlife is around you? How many different species do you see? Are the things around you
native? Urbanization has caused a decline in native species and an increase in non-native
species. Though Urbanization has its benefits on wildlife, it has completely taken off and in
result, we are making it more and more difficult for animals to adapt, survive, and reproduce.
Though the effects of urbanization on wildlife tend to be mostly negative, there are
some positive effects. There are some species that are able to adapt and actually thrive in our
man made urban environments. Vegetation and many types of insects are usually the ones
who thrive the most. Places like gardens, parks, and waste land provide different small
environments for species to create their niche. If it were not for parks and gardens, there
would be little hope for any type of species to thrive. Along with providing a variety of small
niches, the urban world also provides many native and non-native species with beneficial
perks, The importation of large amounts of water, fertilizers and food into urban areas
provides the nutrients required to significantly increase primary productivity (Hardman,
2011). Some wildlife does not have all odds against them.

There is no doubt that in the past couple decades, there has been massive expansion of
homes and cities in urban areas. With all of the building and demand for natural resources,
large areas of natural habitat have been cleared and the increased population of humans have
caused native species to decline and non-native species to increase. McCleery (n.d.) states,
more than 50% of the worlds human population lives in urban and suburban areas, and over
67% of humans will live in cities by 2050. There has been little regulation to protecting the
wildlife that co-inhabits the environments we have selfishly taken over. Urbanization has had
many different effects on wildlife and the wildlife deserves more attention and protection.
Urbanization and its expansion has made it difficult for species biodiversity to grow.
Urban environments are not able to support the same amount of wildlife or level of diversity
that undeveloped land is capable of. Urbanization promotes non-native species and humans
are the bigger contributors to that. Cities and suburb homes create favorable habitats for
establishment for non-native species (Mckinney,2006). Some of these non-native species
include house mice, feral cats, and many types of insects and plants. While animals like these
thrive, others like deer, bobcats, and small fox are forced to adapt and find new homes in
different environments or become extinct. Invasive non-native species lead to an overall
decrease in biodiversity because native species are often at a disadvantage. Native species
usually are unable to compete with non-native species giving the invasive species the upper
hand when resources are scarce; eventually leading to a lack of species diversity and invasive
species dominating. The demand for natural resources has also contributed to disappearance
of animals, The demand for natural resources such as timber and fossil fuels. This inevitably

leads to habitat destruction which has been called the largest factor contributing to the
current global extinction event, (Hardman, 2011). With a majority of the land going towards
human development and at the rate we are expanding, this leaves no suitable land for animals
to thrive in.
Bad urban planning has made it difficult for many species to survive. Many animals
need lush large habitats to survive and the concrete jungle is not a suitable place.
Urbanization is a relatively new stressor on wildlife and as said by U.S Forest Service,
Without thoughtful planning, urbanization can lead to species habitat loss and
fragmentation. These fragments are only able to support certain species and those species
are usually seen in other fragments in cities. Fragmentation does not only exist in our cities;
it can also be seen in South American forest regarding birds. There have been many studies
documenting declines in numbers of forest breeding migratory birds in small isolated forest
patches. Whitcomb and others found that many neotropical migrant species became
increasingly rare as the size of the forest decreased. In addition, area sensitivities varied
depending on the degree of isolation from larger forest tracts. (Graham, 2001). This proves
that fragmentation in a city is not able to support the wildlife that there once was.
Urbanization is also one of the leading factors in homogenization. The fragments
within each of the different cities have a remarkably uniform nature, cities are habitats
constructed almost exclusively to meet the relatively narrow demands of just one species,
Homo sapiens (McKinney, 2006). The demands met for humans are no where near similar
to the demands that wildlife needs to survive. Also shown by science and environmental
reporter Kniver (2015) and his international team of researchers who have been working with
green spaces all around the world, found cities retained about just 8% of bird species and

25% of plant species of comparable undeveloped land. Further proving that species within
an urban area have declined due to homogenization and fragmentation caused by
urbanization.
Along with urbanization eliminating species on the land, it has also effects the aquatic
system and the animals living in it. With all the waste humans produce and chemicals used in
factories, there is no way for some of it not to end up in our lakes and rivers. Polluted lakes
and rivers are then unable to support its natural vegetation and wildlife. Water in our
environment is critical to all life. Without suitable water, vegetation will begin to die and all
species will decline. Water pollution is a huge issue and it was not until recent that there is
any regulation on what was being dumped into our local rivers and lakes. The EPA was
established in 1970 by president Richard Nixon and created to protect human health and the
environment. People have come a long way in their thinking about the environment and
people are continuing to work to fix it.
There is a lot of work to be done in the community in order to help our native species.
Urban planners are beginning to create designs for cities that incorporate green corridors.
These corridors support natural processes that occur in a healthy environment and most
importantly help create mobility within city areas. Green corridors will hopefully help to
decrease homogenization and fragmentations throughout our cities. As stated in, The role of
green corridors..., physical environment that allow provision of green corridors inbetween
urban parks as habitat connectors give good chances for the urban wildlife to move and
disperse under urban pressure (Aziz, 2014). Along with people actively changing things in
the community, another way to make a difference is to make others aware of the wildlife we

share our homes with. Educating people on what is happening to the wildlife within our
cities will help to create more focus on the native species.
Urbanization has had a worldwide impact on every system on earth. It has benefits to
humans but needs have more structure that will support wildlife. The rapid increase in human
population has caused unbelievable damage on both a large and small scale. Urbanization has
caused an incredible decline in native species and we as a species need to take care of those
we share our homes with. Even though cities have helped some species, many have lost the
ability to thrive due to rapid urbanization