Most ecological studies use remote sensing to analyze broad-scale biodiversity patterns, focusing mainly on taxonomic diversity in natural landscapes. One of the most important effects of high levels of urbanization is species loss (i.e., biotic homogenization). Therefore, cost-effective and more efficient methods to monitor biological communities' distribution are essential. This study explores whether the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) can predict multifaceted avian diversity, urban tolerance, and specialization in urban landscapes. We sampled bird communities among 15 European cities and extracted Landsat 30-meter resolution EVI and NDVI values of the pixels within a 50-m buffer of bird sample points using Google Earth Engine (32-day Landsat 8 Collection Tier 1). Mixed models were used to find the best associations of EVI and NDVI, predicting multiple avian diversity facets: Taxonomic diversity, functional diversity, phylogenetic diversity, specialization levels, and urban tolerance. A total of 113 bird species across 15 cities from 10 different European countries were detected. EVI mean was the best predictor for foraging substrate specialization. NDVI mean was the best predictor for most avian diversity facets: taxonomic diversity, functional richness and evenness, phylogenetic diversity, phylogenetic species variability, community evolutionary distinctiveness, urban tolerance, diet foraging behavior, and habitat richness specialists. Finally, EVI and NDVI standard deviation were not the best predictors for any avian diversity facets studied. Our findings expand previous knowledge about EVI and NDVI as surrogates of avian diversity at a continental scale. Considering the European Commission's proposal for a Nature Restoration Law calling for expanding green urban space areas by 2050, we propose NDVI as a proxy of multiple facets of avian diversity to efficiently monitor bird community responses to land use changes in the cities.

Centre for Ecosystem Science School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences UNSW Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia

Departamento de Ecología Genética y Evolución Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales Universidad de Buenos Aires IEGEBA Ciudad Universitaria Buenos Aires Argentina

Department of Biogeography and Global Change Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales Madrid Spain

Department of Biology University of Turku Turku Finland

Department of Plant Pathology Institute of Plant Protection Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences Budapest Hungary

Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center University of Florida Davie Florida USA

Department of Zoology Faculty of Sciences University of Granada Granada Spain

Department of Zoology Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences University of Tartu Tartu Estonia

Department of Zoology School of Biology Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Thessaloniki Greece

Ecologie Systématique Evolution Université Paris Sud CNRS AgroParisTech Université Paris Saclay Orsay Cedex France

Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic

Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences Department of Forest Ecology Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle Jena Leipzig Leipzig Germany

Institute of Biological Sciences University of Zielona Góra Zielona Góra Poland

Institute of Zoology Poznań University of Life Sciences Poznań Poland

Liniers France

Nature Inventory and EIA services Arctic Centre University of Lapland Rovaniemi Finland

Plegadis Ioannina Greece

Urbino Italy

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Agresti, A. 1990. Categorical Data Analysis. Hoboken: Wiley.

Arenas-Castro, S., A. Regos, J. F. Gonçalves, D. Alcaraz-Segura, and J. Honrado. 2019. “Remotely Sensed Variables of Ecosystem Functioning Support Robust Predictions of Abundance Patterns for Rare Species.” Remote Sensing 11: 2086.

Bacaro, G., E. Santi, D. Rocchini, F. Pezzo, L. Puglisi, and A. Chiarucci. 2011. “Geostatistical Modelling of Regional Bird Species Richness: Exploring Environmental Proxies for Conservation Purpose.” Biodiversity and Conservation 20: 1677-94.

Bae, S., J. Müller, D. Lee, K. T. Vierling, J. C. Vogeler, L. A. Vierling, A. T. Hudak, H. Latifi, and S. Thorn. 2018. “Taxonomic, Functional, and Phylogenetic Diversity of Bird Assemblages Are Oppositely Associated to Productivity and Heterogeneity in Temperate Forests.” Remote Sensing of Environment 215: 145-56.

Bailey, S. A., M. C. Horner-Devine, G. Luck, L. A. Moore, K. M. Carney, S. Anderson, C. Betrus, and E. Fleishman. 2004. “Primary Productivity and Species Richness: Relationships among Functional Guilds, Residency Groups and Vagility Classes at Multiple Spatial Scales.” Ecography 27: 207-17.

Bässler, C., M. Cadotte, B. Beudert, C. Heibl, M. Blaschke, J. Bradtka, T. Langbehn, S. Werth, and J. Müller. 2016. “Contrasting Patterns of Lichen Functional Diversity and Species Richness across an Elevation Gradient.” Ecography 39: 689-98.

Batáry, P., K. Kurucz, M. Suarez-Rubio, and D. E. Chamberlain. 2018. “Non-linearities in Bird Responses across Urbanization Gradients: A Meta-Analysis.” Global Change Biology 24: 1046-54.

Bates, D., M. Maechler, B. Bolker, and S. Walker. 2015. “Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4.” Journal of Statistical Software 67: 1-48.

Benedetti, Y., and F. Morelli. 2022. “List of Avian Species.Xlsx.” Figshare. Dataset.

Benedetti, Y., F. Morelli, C. T. Callaghan, and R. Fuller. 2022. “Distribution and Protection of Avian Specialization in Europe.” Global Ecology and Biogeography 31: 10-24.

Bergen, K. M., A. M. Gilboy, and D. G. Brown. 2007. “Multi-dimensional Vegetation Structure in Modeling Avian Habitat.” Ecological Informatics 2: 9-22.

Bibby, C. J., N. D. Burgess, and D. A. Hill. 1992. Bird Census Techniques (Google eBook). Cambridge: Academic Press.

Bino, G., N. Levin, S. Darawshi, N. van der Hal, A. Reich-Solomon, and S. Kark. 2008. “Accurate Prediction of Bird Species Richness Patterns in an Urban Environment Using Landsat-Derived NDVI and Spectral Unmixing.” International Journal of Remote Sensing 29: 3675-700.

Blair, R. B. 1996. “Land Use and Avian Species Diversity along an Urban Gradient.” Ecological Applications 6: 506-19.

Boles, S. H., X. Xiao, J. Liu, Q. Zhang, S. Munkhtuya, S. Chen, and D. Ojima. 2004. “Land Cover Characterization of Temperate East Asia Using Multi-Temporal Vegetation Sensor Data.” Remote Sensing of Environment 90: 477-89.

Bonthoux, S., S. Lefèvre, P. A. Herrault, and D. Sheeren. 2018. “Spatial and Temporal Dependency of NDVI Satellite Imagery in Predicting Bird Diversity over France.” Remote Sensing 10: 1-22.

Box, E. O., B. N. Holben, and V. Kalb. 1989. “Accuracy of the AVHRR Vegetation Index as a Predictor of Biomass, Primary Productivity and Net CO2 Flux.” Vegetatio 80: 71-89.

Box, G. E. P., and D. R. Cox. 1964. “An Analysis of Transformations.” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society (B) 26: 211-52.

Brooks, T. M., R. A. Mittermeier, J. da Fonseca, G. A. B. Gerlach, J. F. Hoffmann, M. Lamoreux, C. G. Mittermeier, D. Pilgrim, and A. S. L. Rodrigues. 2006. “Global Biodiversity Conservation Priorities.” Science 313: 58-61.

Burnham, K. K. P., and D. D. R. Anderson. 2002. Model Selection and Multimodel Inference: A Practical Information-Theoretic Approach, 2nd ed. New York: Springer.

Callaghan, C. T., Y. Benedetti, J. H. Wilshire, and F. Morelli. 2020. “Avian Trait Specialization Is Negatively Associated with Urban Tolerance.” Oikos 129: 1541-51.

Callaghan, C. T., R. E. Major, W. K. Cornwell, A. G. B. Poore, J. H. Wilshire, and M. B. Lyons. 2020. “A Continental Measure of Urbanness Predicts Avian Response to Local Urbanization.” Ecography 43: 528-38.

Callaghan, C. T., R. E. Major, M. B. Lyons, J. M. Martin, and R. T. Kingsford. 2018. “The Effects of Local and Landscape Habitat Attributes on Bird Diversity in Urban Greenspaces.” Ecosphere 9: e02347.

Carmona, C. P., F. M. Azcárate, F. de Bello, H. S. Ollero, J. Lepš, and B. Peco. 2012. “Taxonomical and Functional Diversity Turnover in Mediterranean Grasslands: Interactions between Grazing, Habitat Type and Rainfall.” Journal of Applied Ecology 49: 1084-93.

Caruso, G., L. Tozzini, G. Rallo, J. Primicerio, M. Moriondo, G. Palai, and R. Gucci. 2017. “Estimating Biophysical and Geometrical Parameters of Grapevine Canopies (“Sangiovese”) by an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and VIS-NIR Cameras.” Vitis - Journal of Grapevine Research 56: 63-70.

Clavel, J., R. Julliard, and V. Devictor. 2011. “Worldwide Decline of Specialist Species: Toward a Global Functional Homogenization?” Frontiers in Ecology and Environment 9: 222-8.

Cooper, W. J., W. J. McShea, T. Forrester, and D. A. Luther. 2020. “The Value of Local Habitat Heterogeneity and Productivity when Estimating Avian Species Richness and Species of Concern.” Ecosphere 11: e03107.

Coops, N. C., R. H. Waring, M. A. Wulder, A. M. Pidgeon, and V. C. Radeloff. 2009. “Bird Diversity: A Predictable Function of Satellite-Derived Estimates of Seasonal Variation in Canopy Light Absorbance across the United States.” Journal of Biogeography 36: 905-18.

Cramer, W., D. W. Kicklighter, A. Bondeau, B. Moore, G. Churkina, B. Nemry, A. Ruimy, and A. L. Schloss. 1999. “Comparing Global Models of Terrestrial Net Primary Productivity (NPP): Overview and Key Results.” Global Change Biology 5: 1-15.

Croci, S., A. Butet, A. Georges, R. Aguejdad, and P. Clergeau. 2008. “Small Urban Woodlands as Biodiversity Conservation Hot-Spot: A Multi-Taxon Approach.” Landscape Ecology 23: 1171-86.

Culbert, P. D., V. C. Radeloff, V. St-Louis, C. H. Flather, C. D. Rittenhouse, T. P. Albright, and A. M. Pidgeon. 2012. “Modeling Broad-Scale Patterns of Avian Species Richness across the Midwestern United States with Measures of Satellite Image Texture.” Remote Sensing of Environment 118: 140-50.

Davi, H., K. Soudani, T. Deckx, E. Dufrene, V. le Dantec, and C. François. 2006. “Estimation of Forest Leaf Area Index from SPOT Imagery Using NDVI Distribution over Forest Stands.” International Journal of Remote Sensing 27: 885-902.

Davies, K. F., C. R. Margules, and J. F. Lawrence. 2004. “A Synergistic Effect Puts Rare, Specialized Species at Greater Risk of Extinction.” Ecology 85: 265-71.

Dehling, D. M., S. A. Fritz, T. Töpfer, M. Päckert, P. Estler, K. Böhning-Gaese, and M. Schleuning. 2014. “Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity and Assemblage Structure of Frugivorous Birds along an Elevational Gradient in the Tropical Andes.” Ecography 37: 1047-55.

Devictor, V., R. Julliard, D. Couvet, A. Lee, and F. Jiguet. 2007. “Functional Homogenization Effect of Urbanization on Bird Communities.” Conservation Biology 21: 741-51.

Devictor, V., R. Julliard, and F. Jiguet. 2008. “Distribution of Specialist and Generalist Species along Spatial Gradients of Habitat Disturbance and Fragmentation.” Oikos 117: 507-14.

Devictor, V., D. Mouillot, C. N. Meynard, F. Jiguet, W. Thuiller, and N. Mouquet. 2010. “Spatial Mismatch and Congruence between Taxonomic, Phylogenetic and Functional Diversity: The Need for Integrative Conservation Strategies in a Changing World.” Ecology Letters 13: 1030-40.

Dobson, L. L., F. A. la Sorte, L. L. Manne, and B. A. Hawkins. 2015. “The Diversity and Abundance of North American Bird Assemblages Fail to Track Changing Productivity.” Ecology 96: 1105-14.

Ducatez, S., J. Clavel, and L. Lefebvre. 2015. “Ecological Generalism and Behavioural Innovation in Birds: Technical Intelligence or the Simple Incorporation of New Foods?” Journal of Animal Ecology 84: 79-89.

Dutrieux, L. P., J. Verbesselt, L. Kooistra, and M. Herold. 2015. “Monitoring Forest Cover Loss Using Multiple Data Streams, a Case Study of a Tropical Dry Forest in Bolivia.” ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 107: 112-25.

EC. 2020. “Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.” Bringing nature back into our lives. Brussels, 20.5.2020.COM.

Evans, K. L., and K. J. Gaston. 2005. “People, Energy and Avian Species Richness.” Global Ecology and Biogeography 14: 187-96.

Evans, K. L., S. E. Newson, and K. J. Gaston. 2009. “Habitat Influences on Urban Avian Assemblages.” Ibis 151: 19-39.

Faith, D. P. 1992. “Conservation Evaluation and Phylogenetic Diversity.” Biological Conservation 61: 1-10.

Farwell, L. S., P. R. Elsen, E. Razenkova, A. M. Pidgeon, and V. C. Radeloff. 2020. “Habitat Heterogeneity Captured by 30-m Resolution Satellite Image Texture Predicts Bird Richness across the United States.” Ecological Applications 30: e02157.

Foody, G. M., and M. E. J. Cutler. 2006. “Mapping the Species Richness and Composition of Tropical Forests from Remotely Sensed Data with Neural Networks.” Ecological Modelling 195: 37-42.

Gao, X., A. R. Huete, W. Ni, and T. Miura. 2000. “Optical-Biophysical Relationships of Vegetation Spectra without Background Contamination.” Remote Sensing of Environment 74: 609-20.

Gillespie, T. W. 2005. “Predicting Woody-Plant Species Richness in Tropical Dry Forests: A Case Study from South Florida, USA.” Ecological Applications 15: 27-37.

Gonsamo, A. 2010. “Leaf Area Index Retrieval Using Gap Fractions Obtained from High Resolution Satellite Data: Comparisons of Approaches, Scales and Atmospheric Effects.” International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation 12: 233-48.

Gorelick, N., M. Hancher, M. Dixon, S. Ilyushchenko, D. Thau, and R. Moore. 2017. “Google Earth Engine: Planetary-Scale Geospatial Analysis for Everyone.” Remote Sensing of Environment 202: 18-27.

Gould, W. 2000. “Remote Sensing of Vegetation, Plant Species Richness, and Regional Biodiversity Hotspots.” Ecological Applications 10: 1861-70.

Grass, I., R. Brandl, A. Botzat, E. L. Neuschulz, and N. Farwig. 2015. “Contrasting Taxonomic and Phylogenetic Diversity Responses to Forest Modifications: Comparisons of Taxa and Successive Plant Life Stages in South African Scarp Forest.” PLoS One 10: e0118722.

Grimm, N. B., S. H. Faeth, N. E. Golubiewski, C. L. Redman, J. Wu, X. Bai, and J. M. Briggs. 2008. “Global Change and the Ecology of Cities.” Science 319: 756-60.

Hawkins, B. A., R. Field, H. V. Cornell, D. J. Currie, J. F. Guégan, D. M. Kaufman, J. T. Kerr, et al. 2003. “Energy, Water, and Broad-Scale Geographic Patterns of Species Richness.” Ecology 84: 3105-17.

Hawkins, B. A., E. E. Porter, and J. A. F. Diniz-Filho. 2003. “Productivity and History as Predictors of the Latitudinal Diversity Gradient of Terrestrial Birds.” Ecology 84: 1608-23.

Helmus, M. R., T. J. Bland, C. K. Williams, and A. R. Ives. 2007. “Phylogenetic Measures of Biodiversity.” The American Naturalist 169: E68-83.

Hobi, M. L., M. Dubinin, C. H. Graham, N. C. Coops, M. K. Clayton, A. M. Pidgeon, and V. C. Radeloff. 2017. “A Comparison of Dynamic Habitat Indices Derived from Different MODIS Products as Predictors of Avian Species Richness.” Remote Sensing of Environment 195: 142-52.

Holben, B. N. 1986. “Characteristics of Maximum-Value Composite Images from Temporal AVHRR Data.” International Journal of Remote Sensing 7: 1417-34.

Huang, S., L. Tang, J. P. Hupy, Y. Wang, and G. Shao. 2021. “A Commentary Review on the Use of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in the Era of Popular Remote Sensing.” Journal of Forestry Research 32: 1-6.

Huete, A., K. Didan, T. Miura, E. Rodriguez, X. Gao, and L. G. Ferreira. 2002. “Overview of the Radiometric and Biophysical Performance of the MODIS Vegetation Indices.” Remote Sensing of Environment 83: 195-213.

Huete, A. R. 1988. “A soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI).” Remote Sensing of Environment 25: 295-309.

Huete, A. R., and C. Justice. 1999. “MODIS Vegetation Index (MOD13) Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document Version 3.1 Principal Investigators.”

Hurlbert, A. H., and J. P. Haskell. 2003. “The Effect of Energy and Seasonality on Avian Species Richness and Community Composition.” American Naturalist 161: 83-97.

Ibáñez-Álamo, J. D., E. Rubio, Y. Benedetti, and F. Morelli. 2016. “Global Loss of Avian Evolutionary Uniqueness in Urban Areas.” Global Change Biology 23: 2990-8.

Ibarra, J. T., S. Tom, and K. Martin. 2015. “Biotic Homogenization: Loss of Avian Functional Richness and Habitat Specialists in Disturbed Andean Temperate Forests.” Biological Conservation 192: 418-27.

Irschick, D., L. Dyer, and T. W. Sherry. 2005. “Phylogenetic Methodologies for Studying Specialization.” Oikos 110: 404-8.

Isaac, N. J. B., S. T. Turvey, B. Collen, C. Waterman, and J. E. M. Baillie. 2007. “Mammals on the EDGE: Conservation Priorities Based on Threat and Phylogeny.” PLoS One 2: e296.

Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann, and A. O. Mooers. 2012. “The Global Diversity of Birds in Space and Time.” Nature 491: 444-8.

Jiang, Z., A. R. Huete, K. Didan, and T. Miura. 2008. “Development of a Two-Band Enhanced Vegetation Index without a Blue Band.” Remote Sensing of Environment 112: 3833-45.

Jokimäki, J., and J. Suhonen. 1993. “Effects of Urbanization on the Breeding Bird Species Richness in Finland: A Biogeographical Comparison.” Ornis Fennica 70: 71-7.

Kembel, S. W., P. D. Cowan, M. R. Helmus, W. K. Cornwell, H. Morlon, D. D. Ackerly, S. P. Blomberg, C. O. Webb, C. O. Webb, and C. O. Webb. 2010. “Picante: R Tools for Integrating Phylogenies and Ecology.” Bioinformatics 26: 1463-4.

Keppel, G., K. Van Niel, G. Wardell-Johnson, C. Yates, M. Byrne, L. Mucina, A. Schut, S. Hopper, and S. Franklin. 2011. “Refugia: Identifying and Understanding Safe Havens for Biodiversity under Climate Change.” Global Ecology Biogeography 21: 393-404.

Kéry, M., J. A. Royle, and H. Schmid. 2005. “Modeling Avian Abundance from Replicated Counts Using Binomial Mixture Models.” Ecological Applications 15: 1450-61.

Laliberté, E., and P. Legendre. 2010. “A Distance-Based Framework for Measuring Functional Diversity from Multiple Traits.” Ecology 91: 299-305.

Laliberté, E., P. Legendre, and B. Shipley. 2015. “Measuring Functional Diversity (FD) from Multiple Traits, and Other Tools for Functional Ecology: R Package Version 1.0-12.” CRAN.

Lassau, S. A., G. Cassis, P. K. J. Flemons, L. Wilkie, and D. F. Hochuli. 2005. “Using High-Resolution Multi-Spectral Imagery to Estimate Habitat Complexity in Open-Canopy Forests: Can we Predict Ant Community Patterns?” Ecography 28: 495-504.

Lausch, A., L. Bannehr, M. Beckmann, C. Boehm, H. Feilhauer, J. M. Hacker, M. Heurich, et al. 2016. “Linking Earth Observation and Taxonomic, Structural and Functional Biodiversity: Local to Ecosystem Perspectives.” Ecological Indicators 70: 317-39.

Lee, T. M., and W. Jetz. 2008. “Future Battlegrounds for Conservation under Global Change.” Proceedings of the Royal Society London B 275: 1261-70.

Lefcheck, J. S. 2016. “piecewiseSEM: Piecewise Structural Equation Modelling in r for Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics.” Methods in Ecology and Evolution 7: 573-9.

Lennon, J. J., P. Koleff, J. J. D. Greenwood, and K. J. Gaston. 2004. “Contribution of Rarity and Commonness to Patterns of Species Richness.” Ecology Letters 7: 81-7.

Lesnoff, M., and R. Lancelot. 2018. “aods3: Analysis of Overdispersed Data Using S3 Methods.”

Leveau, C. M., and L. M. Leveau. 2005. “Avian Community Response to Urbanization in the Pampean Region, Argentina.” Ornitologia Neotropical 16: 503-1.

Leveau, L. M. 2019. “Primary Productivity and Habitat Diversity Predict Bird Species Richness and Composition along Urban-Rural Gradients of Central Argentina.” Urban Forestry and Urban Greening 43: 126349.

Leveau, L. M., F. I. Isla, and M. I. Bellocq. 2018. “Predicting the Seasonal Dynamics of Bird Communities along an Urban-Rural Gradient Using NDVI.” Landscape and Urban Planning 177: 103-13.

Leveau, L. M., F. I. Isla, and M. Isabel Bellocq. 2020. “From Town to Town: Predicting the Taxonomic, Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity of Birds Using NDVI.” Ecological Indicators 119: 106703.

Levin, N., A. Shmida, O. Levanoni, H. Tamari, and S. Kark. 2007. “Predicting Mountain Plant Richness and Rarity from Space Using Satellite-Derived Vegetation Indices.” Diversity and Distributions 13: 692-703.

Lin, H. T., C. Y. Sun, and C. T. Hung. 2008. “A Study in the Relationship between Greenery of Urban Parks and Bird Diversity in Tainan City, Taiwan.” WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment 117: 193-202.

Liu, H. Q., and A. Huete. 2019. “A Feedback Based Modification of the NDVI to Minimize Canopy Background and Atmospheric Noise.” IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 33: 457-65.

Liu, J., O. J. Sun, H. Jin, Z. Zhou, and X. Han. 2011. “Application of Two Remote Sensing GPP Algorithms at a Semiarid Grassland Site of North China.” Journal of Plant Ecology 4: 302-12.

MacArthur, R. H., and J. W. MacArthur. 1961. “On Bird Species Diversity.” Ecology 42: 594-8.

Magurran, A. 2004. Measuring Biological Diversity. Oxford: Blackwell.

Marzluff, J. M. 2001. “Worldwide Urbanization and Its Effect on Birds.” Avian Ecology and Conservation in an Urbanizing World: 4615.

Matsushita, B., W. Yang, J. Chen, Y. Onda, and G. Qiu. 2007. “Sensitivity of the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to Topographic Effects: A Case Study in High-Density Cypress Forest.” Sensors 7: 2636-51.

Mazerolle, M. J. 2016. “AICcmodavg: Model Selection and Multimodel Inference Based on (Q)AIC(c).” R package version 2.0-4.

Mcfarland, T. M., C. van Riper, and G. E. Johnson. 2012. “Evaluation of NDVI to Assess Avian Abundance and Richness along the Upper San Pedro River.” Journal of Arid Environments 77: 45-53.

McKinney, M. L. 2002. “Urbanization, Biodiversity, and Conservation.” Bioscience 52: 883-90.

McKinney, M. L. 2006. “Urbanization as a Major Cause of Biotic Homogenization.” Biological Conservation 127: 247-60.

McKinney, M. L., and J. L. Lockwood. 1999. “Biotic Homogenization: A Few Winners Replacing Many Losers in the Nextmass Extinction.” Trends Ecology Evolution 14: 450-3.

Melles, S., S. Glenn, and K. Martin. 2003. “Urban Bird Diversity and Landscape Complexity: Species-Environment Associations along a Multiscale Habitat Gradient.” Ecology and Society 7: 070105.

Mildrexler, D. J., M. Zhao, and S. W. Running. 2009. “Testing a MODIS Global Disturbance Index across North America.” Remote Sensing of Environment 113: 2103-17.

Morelli, F., Y. Benedetti, J. O. Hanson, and R. A. Fuller. 2021. “Global Distribution and Conservation of Avian Diet Specialization.” Conservation Letters 14: e12795.

Morelli, F., Y. Benedetti, J. D. Ibáñez-Álamo, J. Jokimäki, R. Mänd, P. Tryjanowski, and A. P. Møller. 2016. “Evidence of Evolutionary Homogenization of Bird Communities in Urban Environments across Europe.” Global Ecology and Biogeography 25: 1284-93.

Morelli, F., Y. Benedetti, J. D. Ibáñez-Álamo, P. Tryjanowski, J. Jokimäki, M.-L. Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki, J. Suhonen, et al. 2021. “Effects of Urbanization on Taxonomic, Functional and Phylogenetic Avian Diversity in Europe.” Science of the Total Environment 795: 148874.

Morelli, F., Y. Benedetti, A. P. Møller, and R. A. Fuller. 2019. “Measuring Avian Specialization.” Ecology and Evolution 9: 8378-86.

Muraoka, H., H. M. Noda, S. Nagai, T. Motohka, T. M. Saitoh, K. N. Nasahara, and N. Saigusa. 2013. “Spectral Vegetation Indices as the Indicator of Canopy Photosynthetic Productivity in a Deciduous Broadleaf Forest.” Journal of Plant Ecology 6: 393-407.

Nagler, P. L., R. L. Scott, C. Westenburg, J. R. Cleverly, E. P. Glenn, and A. R. Huete. 2005. “Evapotranspiration on Western US Rivers Estimated Using the Enhanced Vegetation Index from MODIS and Data from Eddy Covariance and Bowen Ratio Flux Towers.” Remote Sensing of Environment 97: 337-51.

Nguyen, T. T., P. Barber, R. Harper, T. V. K. Linh, and B. Dell. 2020. “Vegetation Trends Associated with Urban Development: The Role of Golf Courses.” PLoS One 15: e0228090.

Nieto, S., P. Flombaum, and M. F. Garbulsky. 2015. “Can Temporal and Spatial NDVI Predict Regional Bird-Species Richness?” Global Ecology and Conservation 3: 729-35.

Oindo, B. O., and A. K. Skidmore. 2002. “Interannual Variability of NDVI and Species Richness in Kenya.” International Journal of Remote Sensing 23: 285-98.

Palmer, M. W. 1995. “How Should One Count Species?” Natural Areas Journal 15: 124-35.

Palmer, M. W., P. G. Earls, B. W. Hoagland, P. S. White, and T. Wohlgemuth. 2002. “Quantitative Tools for Perfecting Species Lists.” Page Environmetrics 13: 121-37.

Pearman, P. B., S. Lavergne, C. Roquet, R. Wüest, W. Zimmermann, and N. E. Thuiller. 2014. “Phylogenetic Patterns of Climatic, Habitat and Trophic Niches in a European Avian Assemblage.” Global Ecology and Biogeography 23: 414-24.

Peckham, S. D., D. E. Ahl, S. P. Serbin, and S. T. Gower. 2008. “Fire-Induced Changes in Green-Up and Leaf Maturity of the Canadian Boreal Forest.” Remote Sensing of Environment 112: 3594-603.

Petchey, O. L., and K. J. Gaston. 2006. “Functional Diversity: Back to Basics and Looking Forward.” Ecology Letters 9: 741-58.

Pettorelli, N. 2013. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. Oxford: Oxford University.

Pettorelli, N., S. Ryan, T. Mueller, N. Bunnefeld, B. Jedrzejewska, M. Lima, and K. Kausrud. 2011. “The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI): Unforeseen Successes in Animal Ecology.” Climate Research 46: 15-27.

Pettorelli, N., J. O. Vik, A. Mysterud, J. M. Gaillard, C. J. Tucker, and N. C. Stenseth. 2005. “Using the Satellite-Derived NDVI to Assess Ecological Responses to Environmental Change.” Trends Ecology Evolutio 20: 503-10.

Pinheiro, J., D. Bates, S. DebRoy, D. Sarkar, R. C. Team, and R Core Team. 2019. “Nlme: Linear and Nonlinear Mixed Effects Models. R package version 3.1-140.”

Price, B., C. A. McAlpine, A. S. Kutt, D. Ward, S. R. Phinn, and J. A. Ludwig. 2013. “Disentangling how Landscape Spatial and Temporal Heterogeneity Affects Savanna Birds.” PLoS One 8: e74333.

Qiao, K., W. Zhu, Z. Xie, and P. Li. 2019. “Estimating the Seasonal Dynamics of the Leaf Area Index Using Piecewise LAI-VI Relationships Based on Phenophases.” Remote Sensing 11: 2-16.

R Development Core Team, R. 2019. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing.

Redding, D. W., K. Hartmann, A. Mimoto, D. Bokal, M. DeVos, and A. Mooers. 2008. “Evolutionarily Distinctive Species Often Capture more Phylogenetic Diversity than Expected.” Journal of Theoretical Biology 251: 606-15.

Regos, A., L. Tapia, S. Arenas-Castro, A. Gil-Carrera, and J. Domínguez. 2021. “Ecosystem Functioning Influences Species Fitness at Upper Trophic Levels.” Ecosystems 25: 1037-51.

Rocchini, D., N. Balkenhol, G. A. Carter, G. M. Foody, T. W. Gillespie, K. S. He, S. Kark, et al. 2010. “Remotely Sensed Spectral Heterogeneity as a Proxy of Species Diversity: Recent Advances and Open Challenges.” Ecological Informatics 5: 318-29.

Rocchini, D., D. S. Boyd, J. B. Féret, G. M. Foody, K. S. He, A. Lausch, H. Nagendra, M. Wegmann, and N. Pettorelli. 2016. “Satellite Remote Sensing to Monitor Species Diversity: Potential and Pitfalls.” Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation 2: 25-36.

Salvatore Mangiafico. 2021. “rcompanion: Functions to Support Extension Education Program Evaluation. R package version 2.4.1.”

Semeraro, T., G. Vacchiano, R. Aretano, and D. Ascoli. 2019. “Application of Vegetation Index Time Series to Value Fire Effect on Primary Production in a Southern European Rare Wetland.” Ecological Engineering 134: 9-17.

Seto, K. C., E. Fleishman, J. P. Fay, and C. J. Betrus. 2004. “Linking Spatial Patterns of Bird and Butterfly Species Richness with Landsat TM Derived NDVI.” International Journal of Remote Sensing 25: 4309-24.

Sklenicka, P. 2016. “Classification of Farmland Ownership Fragmentation as a Cause of Land Degradation: A Review on Typology, Consequences, and Remedies.” Land Use Policy 57: 694-701.

Sol, D., C. González-Lagos, D. Moreira, J. Maspons, and O. Lapiedra. 2014. “Urbanisation Tolerance and the Loss of Avian Diversity.” Ecology Letters 17: 942-50.

Son, N. T., C. F. Chen, C. R. Chen, V. Q. Minh, and N. H. Trung. 2014. “A Comparative Analysis of Multitemporal MODIS EVI and NDVI Data for Large-Scale Rice Yield Estimation.” Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 197: 52-64.

Soudani, K., C. François, G. le Maire, V. le Dantec, and E. Dufrêne. 2006. “Comparative Analysis of IKONOS, SPOT, and ETM+ Data for Leaf Area Index Estimation in Temperate Coniferous and Deciduous Forest Stands.” Remote Sensing of Environment 102: 161-75.

Souza, F. L., F. Valente-Neto, F. Severo-Neto, B. Bueno, J. M. Ochoa-Quintero, R. R. Laps, F. Bolzan, and F. de Oliveira Roque. 2019. “Impervious Surface and Heterogeneity Are Opposite Drivers to Maintain Bird Richness in a Cerrado City.” Landscape and Urban Planning 192: 103643.

Stagoll, K., D. B. Lindenmayer, E. Knight, J. Fischer, and A. D. Manning. 2012. “Large Trees Are Keystone Structures in Urban Parks.” Conservation Letters 5: 115-22.

Stein, A., K. Gerstner, and H. Kreft. 2014. “Environmental Heterogeneity as a Universal Driver of Species Richness across Taxa, Biomes and Spatial Scales.” Ecology Letters 17: 866-80.

St-Louis, V., A. M. Pidgeon, M. K. Clayton, B. A. Locke, D. Bash, and V. C. Radeloff. 2009. “Satellite Image Texture and a Vegetation Index Predict Avian Biodiversity in the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico.” Ecography 32: 468-80.

Tews, J., U. Brose, V. Grimm, K. Tielbörger, M. C. Wichmann, M. Schwager, F. Jeltsch, et al. 2004. “Animal Species Diversity Driven by Habitat Heterogeneity/Diversity: The Importance of Keystone Structures.” Journal of Biogeography 31: 79-92.

Tucker, C. J. 1979. “Red and Photographic Infrared Linear Combinations for Monitoring Vegetation.” Remote Sensing of Environment 8: 127-50.

Tucker, C. M., and M. W. Cadotte. 2013. “Unifying Measures of Biodiversity: Understanding when Richness and Phylogenetic Diversity Should be Congruent.” Diversity and Distributions 19: 845-54.

Tucker, C. M., M. W. Cadotte, S. B. Carvalho, T. J. Davies, S. Ferrier, S. A. Fritz, R. Grenyer, et al. 2016. “A Guide to Phylogenetic Metrics for Conservation, Community Ecology and Macroecology.” Biological Reviews 92: 698-715.

Turner, D. P., W. D. Ritts, W. B. Cohen, T. K. Maeirsperger, S. T. Gower, A. A. Kirschbaum, S. W. Running, et al. 2005. “Site-Level Evaluation of Satellite-Based Global Terrestrial Gross Primary Production and Net Primary Production Monitoring.” Global Change Biology 11: 666-84.

Turner, W., E. J. Sterling, and A. C. Janetos. 2001. “Contributions of Remote Sensing to Biodiversity Conservation: A NASA Approach.” Conservation Biology 15: 832-4.

United Nations. 2017. “New Urban Agenda.”

United Nations Human Settlements Programme. 2022. World Cities Report 2022: Envisaging the Future of Cities. Nairobi: United Nations.

Venables, W. N., and B. D. B. Ripley. 2002. Modern Applied Statistics with S, Fourth ed. New York: Springer.

Vermote, E. 2013. “Climate Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (C-ATBD): AVHRR Land Bundle-Surface Reflectance and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index.”

Villéger, S., N. W. H. Mason, and D. Mouillot. 2008. “New Multidimensional Functional Diversity Indices for a Multifaceted Framework in Functional Ecology.” Ecology 89: 2290-301.

Wang, Q., S. Adiku, J. Tenhunen, and A. Granier. 2005. “On the Relationship of NDVI with Leaf Area Index in a Deciduous Forest Site.” Remote Sensing of Environment 94: 244-55.

Waring, R. H., N. C. Coops, W. Fan, and J. M. Nightingale. 2006. “MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index Predicts Tree Species Richness across Forested Ecoregions in the Contiguous USA.” Remote Sensing of Environment 103: 218-26.

Waser, L. T., S. Stofer, M. Schwarz, M. Küchler, E. Ivits, and C. Scheidegger. 2004. “Prediction of Biodiversity - Regression of Lichen Species Richness on Remote Sensing Data.” Community Ecology 5: 121-33.

Webb, C. T. 2010. “A Structured and Dynamic Framework to Advance Traits-Based Theory and Prediction in Ecology.” Ecology Letters 13: 267-83.

Williams, N. S. G., M. W. Schwartz, P. A. Vesk, M. A. McCarthy, A. K. Hahs, S. E. Clemants, R. T. Corlett, et al. 2009. “A Conceptual Framework for Predicting the Effects of Urban Environments on Floras.” Journal of Ecology 97: 4-9.

Wright, D. H. 1983. “Species-Energy Theory: An Extension of Species-Area Theory.” Oikos 41: 496-506.

Wright, K. 2018. “Corrgram: Plot a Correlogram. R package version 1.13.”

Wu, X., H. Xu, and Q. Jiang. 2020. “Cross-Comparison of GF-1, GF-2 and Landsat-8 OLI Sensor Data.” Wuhan Daxue Xuebao (Xinxi Kexue Ban)/Geomatics and Information Science of Wuhan University 45: 20190084.

Wu, Y., R. K. Colwell, C. Rahbek, C. Zhang, Q. Quan, C. Wang, and F. Lei. 2013. “Explaining the Species Richness of Birds along a Subtropical Elevational Gradient in the Hengduan Mountains.” Journal of Biogeography 40: 2310-23.

Xue, J., and B. Su. 2017. “Significant Remote Sensing Vegetation Indices: A Review of Developments and Applications.” Journal of Sensors 2017: 1-17.

Zhao, J., J. Li, Q. Liu, H. Wang, C. Chen, B. Xu, and S. Wu. 2018. “Comparative Analysis of Chinese HJ-1 CCD, GF-1 WFV and ZY-3 MUX Sensor Data for Leaf Area Index Estimations for Maize.” Remote Sensing 10: 68.

Zhengxing, W., L. Chuang, and H. Alfredo. 2003. “From AVHRR-NDVI to MODIS-EVI: Advances in Vegetation Index Research.” Acta Ecologica Sinica 23: 979-87.

Zoological Society of London. 2008. “Edge of Existence Programme.” http://www.edgeofexistence.org.

Zupan, L., M. Cabeza, L. Maiorano, C. Roquet, V. Devictor, S. Lavergne, D. Mouillot, N. Mouquet, J. Renaud, and W. Thuiller. 2014. “Spatial Mismatch of Phylogenetic Diversity across Three Vertebrate Groups and Protected Areas in Europe.” Diversity and Distributions 20: 674-85.

Effects of light and noise pollution on avian communities of European cities are correlated with the species' diet