Biology subjects

Mimet, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Mimet, A..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Urban Cohabscapes: exploring European Co-Habitative landScapes diversity, in the ECOLOPES framework.

Urban liveability is closely related to the landscape features that support human societies. The promotion of liveability influences the well-being of both human and non-human inhabitants of the city, as the two share the same urban habitat. In this paper, we propose a classification of urban landscapes tailored to facilitate the acquisition of interdisciplinary knowledge on the multi-inhabitant liveability of urban landscapes. Our classification represents the layered urban dimensions through four different subclassifications: local and landscape Urban Form, Anthropic Imprint, and Biophysical Conditions. We developed a flexible and scalable methodology that enables us to expand to other cities, by using only opensource geospatial and remote sensing data. We modelled our four subclassifications at 10-metres through a set of automatic pipelines, running Principal Component Analysis as dimensionality reduction and KMeans unsupervised classification. In this paper we explore the application of our methodology in the framework of ECOLOPES, a project that investigates the human and non-human liveability in cities through the computational design of green building envelopes. We apply the methodology to three distinct European cities, i.e. Vienna, Munich, and Genoa. We produced a set of 12 raster maps from 64 variables, with a total of 32 classes and 1264 possible combinations. We analysed inter and intra-urban class frequencies by highlighting the primary spatial signatures over each sub-classification, and between the overall Functional Urban Areas and the core areas. In this paper we discuss how this approach could foster multidisciplinary studies on urban liveability that hold into account not just humans, but all living inhabitants in cities. From this application, we envision a second step where our methodology will be applied to the full extent of European cities.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2024

The ECOLOPES PLANT MODEL : a high-resolution model to simulate plant community dynamics in cities and other human-dominated and managed environments

Cities and urbanized areas have become an important habitat for organisms. Although nature can provide multiple ecosystem services to humans, urban planning and architecture often do not adequately consider the ecological needs of species. In ECOLOPES we envision buildings, and in particular building envelopes, to be a joint habitat for humans, plants, animals and microbiota as equally relevant stakeholders. A centerpiece of the planning and design tools that ECOLOPES provides is a joint soil-plant-animal community model. We present the first prototype of the ECOLOPES PLANT (community) MODEL that responds to 3-dimensional (building) geometry and management, show potential applications as a stand-alone model, and discuss its technical and conceptual limitations that are yet to be overcome.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Connectivity at home: A data-driven connectivity modeling framework for home range movements in heterogeneous landscapes

The landscape connectivity of cities is increasingly recognized as crucial for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services. Yet, modelling ecological connectivity in cities remains challenging because landscape resistance is often based on expert judgment rather than empirical evidence, leading to varying modelling results and limited use for planning. We developed and tested a data-driven framework for empirically parametrizing resistance and movement-distance parameters in functional connectivity models from movement-proxy data - information on the presence/absence of animal movement from direct observation or camera traps. At each step, we ensured that the connectivity model reflected the behavioural and spatial properties of the observations. We applied the framework for the common blackbird (Turdus merula) in Munich, Germany. We used observations of flying blackbirds as movement-proxy data in a logistic regression framework, testing alternative combinations of resistance and movement distances. Model selection identified the parameter sets best supported by the data. The resulting parameters were validated using repeated out-of-sample validation and compared against an expert-based connectivity model. Connectivity derived from empirically estimated parameters increased the probability of observing flying blackbirds. Across repeated validations, the empirical model achieved a mean AUC of 0.76 and R2 of 0.17. It performed moderately better than the expert-based model. Depending on their height, buildings exhibited varying resistance to flying blackbirds. Results indicate that expert assessments may oversimplify urban barriers. The approach provides a transparent, reproducible framework for using movement-proxy data to derive maps of landscape resistance. It offers a step toward more data-driven urban connectivity modelling.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2019

Recent global changes have decoupled species richness from specialization patterns in North American birds

AimTheory suggests that increasing productivity and climate stability toward the tropics can explain the latitudinal richness gradient by favouring specialization. A positive relationship between species richness and specialization should thus emerge as a fundamental biogeographic pattern. However, land use and climate change disproportionally increase the local extirpation risk for specialists, potentially impacting this pattern. Here, we empirically quantify the richness-specialization prediction and test how 50 years of climate and land use change has affected the richness-specialization relationship.\n\nLocation\n\nUSA\n\nTime period\n\n1966-2015\n\nMajor taxa studied\n\nBirds\n\nMethodsWe used the North American breeding bird survey to quantify bird community richness and specialization to habitat and climate. We assess i) temporal change in the slope of the richness-specialization relationship, using a Generalized Mixed Model; ii) temporal change in spatial covariation of richness and specialization as driven by local environmental conditions, using Generalized Additive Models; and iii) land use, climate and topographic drivers of the spatio-temporal changes in the relationship, using a multivariate method.\n\nResultsWe found evidence for a positive richness-specialization relationship in bird communities. However, the slope of the relationship declined strongly over time. Richness spatially covaried with specialization following a unimodal pattern. The peak of the unimodal pattern shifted toward less specialized communities over time. These temporal changes were associated with precipitation change, decreasing temperature stability and land use.\n\nMain conclusionsRecent climate and land use changes induced two antagonist types of community responses. In human-dominated areas, the decoupling of richness and specialization drove a general biotic homogenization trend. In human-preserved areas under increasing climate harshness, specialization increased while richness decreased in a \"specialization\" trend. Our results offer new support for specialization as a key driver of macroecological diversity patterns, and show that global changes are erasing this fundamental macroecological pattern.\n\nBiosketchAnne Mimet is a postdoctoral researcher interested in the understanding of human impacts on biodiversity through land use and climate changes, at various spatio-temporal scales. She is interested in embracing the complexity of socio-ecological systems, and in the understanding of biodiversity trends in a human-dominated world in the context of the general theories of ecology.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2019

Contribution of private gardens to habitat availability, connectivity and conservation of the common pipistrelle in Paris

Urban sprawl is one of the greatest global changes with major negative impacts on biodiversity and human well-being. Recent policies have acknowledged the value of urban green areas in counterbalancing such impacts. These policies aim to increase the ecological value of green areas, making cities more permeable to natural populations. However, they are largely focused on the role and management of public green areas, ignoring the role and potential of private green areas for urban ecological value.\n\nThis study aims to evaluate the benefits of considering private green areas for conservation efforts in cities. Using data on bat activity and information on vegetation and building height, we quantify the respective role of public and private green areas in habitat availability and connectivity for the common pipistrelle in the city of Paris, France. Our results show that despite the low proportion of private green areas in Paris (36% of the total green areas), they still contributed up to 47.9% of bat habitat availability and decrease the resistance of the city matrix by 88%. The distribution in the city matrix and vegetation composition of those areas appeared especially beneficial for bat habitat availability and connectivity. The study demonstrates the importance of private green areas in the ecological value of cities in complementing the role of public green areas. Our results confirm the need to develop more inclusive urban conservation strategies that include both public and private stakeholders.\n\nHighlightsO_LIThe urban ecological value of private gardens outweighs that of public gardens\nC_LIO_LIThis is true for both habitat availability and connectivity\nC_LIO_LIBiodiversity policies in cities should also focus on private green areas\nC_LIO_LIInclusive conservation strategies are also needed in cities\nC_LI

ecology↗