Abstract

Burgeoning population growth and loss of habitat due to urban development threaten the biodiversity of plants and animals while hastening the local extinction of species. Planners and landscape architects need ecological research that describes the processes and consequences of habitat fragmentation due to urbanization. Recent research in urban ecology, especially in comparative urban ecology, suggests planning and design measures that should be incorporated into initial land-use and master planning. Based primarily on responses of birds to human activity and biodiversity changes, this paper reports on research that confirms a hierarchy of minimum patch and corridor dimensions developed and applied in the Czech Republic and its application to planning and design for biodiversity.