Strategies for Green Space Management in Mountain Cities Based on the Habitat Suitability for Urban Birds Breeding

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Urban avian species diversity is a widely studied area of research that has received significant attention. This study entails substantial work and explores the influences on nesting behavior of birds in urban environments from multiple perspectives. Although the research results indicate that the selected influential factors are unrelated to the research objectives, the research approach is commendable. In light of this study, I provide the following suggestions and feedback to help further enhance your research:

 

Lines 110-112: In future studies, it is recommended to consider the vertical structure of green vegetation and cite existing research.

 

Line 134: It is advised to include information about the remote sensing imagery used in tabular form (model, date, strip number, band information, etc.).

 

Line 253: It is recommended to specify the reasons for choosing the Shannon Wiener index as a representation of vegetation diversity.

 

Line 263: Please provide a more detailed description of the measurement and analysis methods for noise. Based on the current noise measurement approach, is it possible that measuring noise only in areas with bird nests overlooks green spaces without nests? Could this potentially be influenced by "Survivorship Bias"? Is it possible that this measurement method has obscured the impact of noise on bird nesting in the results?

 

Line 267: Please provide a detailed explanation of the method used to measure light intensity. If light intensity is measured at only one point within the sample site, it may not represent the entire area. It would be more reasonable to collect data from multiple points and calculate the average.

 

Lines 323-325: Does the correlation between environmental factors affect the results of this study? If not, it is recommended to omit the description of these results. If the selected environmental factors are unrelated to the research objectives, it is advisable to mention their lack of relevance in the article to avoid wasting space.

 

Line 497: It is recommended to provide a more detailed discussion on whether the proportion of introduced tree species only affects nest density based on foliage density.

 

Line 499: “Most urban avian species are carnivorous birds”. It is necessary to find appropriate references to support this statement.

 

Lines 520-523: Nest density in other seasons, such as winter, may be influenced by the proportion of evergreen and deciduous tree species. It is suggested to include a discussion on the ratio of "evergreen tree species/deciduous tree species."

 

Best wishes!

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Urban avian species diversity is a widely studied area of research that has received significant attention. This study entails substantial work and explores the influences on nesting behavior of birds in urban environments from multiple perspectives. Although the research results indicate that the selected influential factors are unrelated to the research objectives, the research approach is commendable. In light of this study, I provide the following suggestions and feedback to help further enhance your research:

 Lines 110-112: In future studies, it is recommended to consider the vertical structure of green vegetation and cite existing research.

the vertical structure of habitat has been added as an influencing factor and included in corresponding research literature as support.Habitat structure was found to be the main determinant of nesting height of birds in the urban environment(Savard, J. P. L & Falls, J. B ., 1981), Habitat structure was found to be the main determinant of nesting height of birds in the urban environment(Savard, J. P. L & Falls, J. B ., 1981), Due to the location of the study area in a barren alpine region, the ground cover plants are mainly shrubs, and the canopy of arbors is the main factor affecting the habitat. In addition, most of the plots are urban public green spaces, which contain some paved ground for citizens' activities. Therefore, it is expressed by"Canopy coverage of arbor" (CCA) and "Proportion of Hard Land"(PHL). .

 

Line 134: It is advised to include information about the remote sensing imagery used in tabular form (model, date, strip number, band information, etc.).

Parametric statistics table of the remote sensing imagery has been added in the article as follows

Table 1:Parametric statistics table of the remote sensing imagery

Title	Data Types	Spatial Resolution	Acquisition Date	Strip Number	Band
Figure 1	landsat-8 OLI	100m	5/6/2020	115-131	Blue (0.45 - 0.51μm) Green (0.53 - 0.59 μm) Red (0.64 - 0.67 μm)
Figure 2		30m	23/7/2020	121
Figure 3		30m	23/7/2020	124

 

 

 

 

Line 253: It is recommended to specify the reasons for choosing the Shannon Wiener index as a representation of vegetation diversity.

The reasons for choosing the Shannon Wiener index as a representation of vegetation diversity has been added in the article as follows

Due to the fact that the majority of the studied plots are artificially planted green spaces in cities, although there are many plant species in some plots, the number of plants planted may be small or concentrated in a small area, which does not conform to the natural distribution pattern and cannot accurately reflect the breeding environment of birds. Therefore, the study adopts The Shannon Wiener index as a measure of vegetation diversity that quantifies the diversity or evenness of specifications within a community It is calculated based on the foundation or frequency distribution of different specifications present in the community.

Line 263: Please provide a more detailed description of the measurement and analysis methods for noise. Based on the current noise measurement approach, is it possible that measuring noise only in areas with bird nests overlooks green spaces without nests? Could this potentially be influenced by "Survivorship Bias"? Is it possible that this measurement method has obscured the impact of noise on bird nesting in the results?

There is an error in the previous description. The noise measurement location of the plot is 1 meter near the Centroid of the plot, not 1 meter near the Bird's Nest. And specific measurement methods and basis have been supplemented as follows:

The effects of roads on wildlife populations are widespread and well documented. Many studies have shown that bird abundance, occurrence and species richness are reduced near roads, with the largest reductions where traffic levels are high. Negative correlations have been reported between bird richness/abundance and traffic noise but the possible causes of road effects are inter-correlated(Summers, et al., 2011). Therefore, the maximum period of traffic noise in the city (12:00-13:00 Beijing time) is taken as the measurement time, and the Norsonic140 Multifunctional Sound Level meter is used to measure the noise value of the plot at a height of 1.5 meters from the ground within 1 meter near the Centroid of the plot,in dB.

 

Line 267: Please provide a detailed explanation of the method used to measure light intensity. If light intensity is measured at only one point within the sample site, it may not represent the entire area. It would be more reasonable to collect data from multiple points and calculate the average.

  the research takes the proportion of the land area with the light intensity greater than 51 Lux in the total area to represent the entire area, the detailed explanation of the method used to measure light intensity has been added as follows:

The digital illuminometer CANA-0010 is used to measure all the light source boundaries within the plot at 9 p.m., and the boundary point of 51 Lux is taken as the light source radius to calculate the area of the light source. The area of all light sources with illuminance greater than 51 Lux is summed up, and its proportion in the total area of the plot is taken as the light pollution intensity value of the plot.

 

Lines 323-325: Does the correlation between environmental factors affect the results of this study? If not, it is recommended to omit the description of these results. If the selected environmental factors are unrelated to the research objectives, it is advisable to mention their lack of relevance in the article to avoid wasting space.

Unnecessary descriptions have been removed and the application of relevant analysis results has been added as follows:

Pearson correlation analysis results show that among all factors, only PA and SW, Ni have reached significant correlation levels respectively (Table 4). Therefore, SW and Ni are excluded in the correlation analysis between nest density and environmental factors.

 

Line 497: It is recommended to provide a more detailed discussion on whether the proportion of introduced tree species only affects nest density based on foliage density.

Revise the discussion on this topic as follows:

About proportion of native plants: Related studies have shown that native properties supported significantly more caterpillars and caterpillar species and significantly greater bird abundance, diversity, species richness, biomass, and breeding pairs of native species(Burghardt, et al., 2009; Narango, et al., 2017 ). There are a lot of natural forest land and agricultural land around the study area. These crops and local plants in the forest land provide food sources for urban birds. In addition, the study area is a small belt city, and the green space is close to the natural forest land, so birds choose to nest on introduced trees with dense foliage, which can also efficiently obtain food provided by local plants. Therefore, . Therefore, the proportion of local plants in the study area has little impact on the density of bird nests.

Line 499: “Most urban avian species are carnivorous birds”. It is necessary to find appropriate references to support this statement.

The statement has been deleted due to insufficient evidence

 

Lines 520-523: Nest density in other seasons, such as winter, may be influenced by the proportion of evergreen and deciduous tree species. It is suggested to include a discussion on the ratio of "evergreen tree species/deciduous tree species."

Related studies have shown that the ratio of evergreen to deciduous trees in yards may positively associated with native bird species richness, perhaps this factor also has an impact on the breeding density of birds, especially in the warm and humid southern region. However, the study area is located in the high and cold mountains in western China, the breeding season of birds is from March to June every year, during which deciduous and evergreen plants grow leaves. Therefore, this factor was not included in the statistical scope during the previous research survey, and it will be included for further research.

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Review

Manuscript ID: Land-2411768

Type of manuscript: Article

“Strategies for green space management in mountain cities based on the

suitability of bird breeding”

 

The topic of research is very interesting and up-to-date, especially in the in the era of further diminishing of the global biodiversity. That is why the so called „fourth nature”, which nowadays is the urban environment is the convenient place for living for many species, both animals and plants. The text in an interesting way assess the environmental factors affecting nest density, and compare the density of bird's nests in urban green space.

However, throughout the text there have been noted some repetitions, typos, lack of space, unnecessary words, that should be removed or corrected. Some sentences are also unclear. All the lines, of the manuscript should be checked, in order to remove the above-mentioned shortcomings that are found in the text.

Also:

1.      Introduction part:

Lines 38-39: „..Bird community is one of the most disturbed species in the process of urbanization,they are extremely sensitive to habitat and environmental changes..” – how bird community is a species?

2.      Overview of the region of study:

Please add also the latin names of the bird species, which are mentioned in the lines 70-72, and also it the the rest of the text.

3.      Discussion part:

In this part of the manuscript you should compare your results of the study with other authors, so you need more references. Also avoid putting figures in this part of the text, they should be in results.

4.       The scientific literature cited in the text of the manuscript should be numbered

[1-5 ...] - Check the Instructions for Authors for manuscript preparation.

 

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Author Response

The topic of research is very interesting and up-to-date, especially in the in the era of further diminishing of the global biodiversity. That is why the so called „fourth nature”, which nowadays is the urban environment is the convenient place for living for many species, both animals and plants. The text in an interesting way assess the environmental factors affecting nest density, and compare the density of bird's nests in urban green space.

However, throughout the text there have been noted some repetitions, typos, lack of space, unnecessary words, that should be removed or corrected. Some sentences are also unclear. All the lines, of the manuscript should be checked, in order to remove the above-mentioned shortcomings that are found in the text.

Also:

1. Introduction part:

Lines 38-39: „..Bird community is one of the most disturbed species in the process of urbanization,they are extremely sensitive to habitat and environmental changes..” – how bird community is a species?

It has been adjusted as follows:

Birds is one of the most disturbed species in the process of urbanization,they are extremely sensitive to habitat and environmental changes

2. Overview of the region of study:

Please add also the latin names of the bird species, which are mentioned in the lines 70-72, and also it the the rest of the text.

The latin names haave been added as follows:

Great tit(Parus major), Daurian Redstart(Phoenicurus auroreus), Sparrow(Passer montanus), Willow warbler(Phylloscopus inornatus), Japanese White-eye(Zosterops japonicus), Shrike(Lanius), White Wagtail(Motacilla alba ), Swallow(Hirundo rustica), Mallard(Anas platyrhynchos ), Little Egre(Egretta garzetta), Grey Heron(Ardea cinerea), Black-headed Gull(Larus ridibundus), etc.

 

3. Discussion part:

In this part of the manuscript you should compare your results of the study with other authors, so you need more references. Also avoid putting figures in this part of the text, they should be in results.

The figure has been deleted. The discussion section has been rewritten, and a large number of existing research results are cited to compare and analyze the 10 environmental factors involved in this research result.

4. The scientific literature cited in the text of the manuscript should be numbered

Modifications have been made according to the format requirements of the journal.  Please see the attachment.

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Urban biodiversity is important for sustainable urban development and management. How to optimize urban green spaces and landscape patterns to protect biodiversity is very necessary. In this study, 67 green spaces of Liupanshui city in Wumeng mountain areas were selected as study sites.This article reveals the correlation between the number of bird's nests and 10 environmental factors, which provides a scientific basis for the management of green space in mountain cities. However, the manuscript needs major revision before it would be suitable for publication.

(1) The introduction part of the article needs to explain the concept and connotation of the suitability of bird breeding. While, bird biodiversity is mentioned many times in the article, but the number of nests is difficult to reflect diversity, so can bird nest types be classified.

(2) It is recommended to optimize the Location map, such as overlaying DEM, land use map, town distribution map, etc., to highlight the characteristics of mountain cities.

(3) We recommend supplementing and improving the bird's nest survey and statistical process, such as the basis for selecting transects and surveying records.

(4) Water sources seem to be very important for bird breeding and growth, and the article should explain the basis for the extraction of water sources.

(5) In addition to considering the openness of urban green spaces, whether the connectivity of urban green spaces also needs to be considered.

(6) The article mentions that mountains have a large impact on bird populations, thus we recommend counting the difference in the number of bird's nests in urban areas and suburbs.

(7) The format of reference should be unified and modified according to the requirements of the article.

Please modify the English language appropriately according to the requirements of the journal.

Author Response

Urban biodiversity is important for sustainable urban development and management. How to optimize urban green spaces and landscape patterns to protect biodiversity is very necessary. In this study, 67 green spaces of Liupanshui city in Wumeng mountain areas were selected as study sites.This article reveals the correlation between the number of bird's nests and 10 environmental factors, which provides a scientific basis for the management of green space in mountain cities. However, the manuscript needs major revision before it would be suitable for publication.

The introduction part of the article needs to explain the concept and connotation of the suitability of bird breeding. While, bird biodiversity is mentioned many times in the article, but the number of nests is difficult to reflect diversity, so can bird nest types be classified.

The title(based on suitability forbirds breeding) has been corrected to 'based on habitat suitability for urban birds breeding', and added the concept and connotation of the suitability of bird breeding in the end of first paragraph as follows:

The habitat suitability for bird breeding refers to the degree to which a specific habitat provides suitable conditions and resources for bird species to successfully breed and reproduce. It assesses the suitability of an environment based on various factors such as food availability, nesting sites, vegetation structure, water sources, and other habitat characteristics that directly influence the reproductive success of bird populations. This study takes the spatial factors of green space that may affect bird breeding as the research object according to the breeding habits of urban birds, and analyzes the relationship between urban bird nest density and green space spatial elements through field research, aiming to find out the factors that affect bird nest density in green space, provide basis for the planning and construction of green space, and promote the rationality of urban land layout, create a harmonious urban environment for people and birds to alleviate the contradiction between the expansion of urban construction land and the deterioration of bird habitats

The content on bird diversity has been removed and the focus of the research has been on the density of bird nests.

It is recommended to optimize the Location map, such as overlaying DEM, land use map, town distribution map, etc., to highlight the characteristics of mountain cities.

Add a schematic map of the study area and surrounding terrain with elevation markings as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

• We recommend supplementing and improving the bird's nest survey and statistical process, such as the basis for selecting transects and surveying records.

The process description of data collection and statistics has been improved as follows, and the basic data form has been submitted as an attachment.

This study adopt the above 10 factors as independent variables and the density of bird nests in green spaces as dependent variables. Combining remote sensing image interpretation methods(table 1) with field investigation methods, based on the satellite imagery map and the current land layout of Liupanshui in 2020, all green land plots have been taken as samples, that is, the land partially or completely covered by grass, trees, shrubs or other vegetation in the city, including urban parks and community gardens(Marselle，et al., 2019). Firstly, the research team translated the above 10 factors that affect bird reproduction into easily measurable indicators, then conducted field research from March 12 to May 12, 2020, mainly consisting of the following three steps:

（1）Conduct on-site research and measurement on the spatial factors of the plot;;

（2）Divide the research team into four groups to search for bird nests in the green space and record them;

（3）Select bird nests that are easy to install cameras for 24-hour observation and recording.

Finally, a database was established and using SPSS17.0 software to do a correlation analysis for determining the spatial factors that affect bird nest density, then using regression analysis to determine the impact intensity of each factor, thus establishing a bird nest density prediction model with these factors and their weightage. The next year (March 1, 2021 to May 1, 2021) took 10 greenbelts in the north of Xuanwei City as the research objects and conduct the research in the same way, and compare the survey results with the predict result of the model to verify the accuracy of the model.

According to the steps determined in the research method, the research team used satellite images to number the green spaces in the study area and calculated the area of each plot before March 2021, then research participants were organized to enter the plot to search for bird nests. Firstly, searching for bird nests that were exposed to people's sight with the naked eye. Secondly, tracking the parent birds holding dry grass for nesting or food for feeding in mouths, through remote observation, the position of the bird's nest would be discovered when they entered the nest. Then recorded the location, time, and species of bird. After statistics, the following basic data have been formed(table 2):

 

• Water sources seem to be very important for bird breeding and growth, and the article should explain the basis for the extraction of water sources.

The water sources has been changed to a water body and a detailed explanation has been provided in the discussion section as follows:

 The impact of water bodies on birds is unquestionable, but from existing research results, it mainly focuses on the impact on bird diversity and water bird richness, and there is still a lack of relevant research on the impact on the number and reproductive activities of urban birds. Birds usually need water for two main reasons, that is, for drinking and bathing, so water sources are closely related to the survival of birds(Tryjanowski, et al., 2022). However, the water bodies involved in the study refer to large lakes, wetlands, or rivers with an area greater than 100 square meters that are easily identified in on-site research, and are not the only source of water for birds. In addition to these large water bodies, urban birds can obtain water from some paddles, ponds, fountains, gutters, and containers on building roofs. By monitoring the breeding process of Daurian Redstart(Phoenicurus auroreus), Great tit(Parus major) and White Wagtail(Motacilla alba) with camera installed near the bird's nest, it is find that the parent bird has never fed the young bird with water, and the water intake of the young bird mainly depends on the water contained in insects and food itself. Therefore, from the perspective of breeding activities and survival of urban birds, it is reasonable that their nest density is not related to the distance from the water body

• In addition to considering the openness of urban green spaces, whether the connectivity of urban green spaces also needs to be considered.

The description of data conversion of connectivity has been added in the data collection and processing section as follows:

In landscape ecology, connectivity is the ratio of the total number of nodes between patches to the number of possible nodes, which is applicable to the calculation of connectivity for the entire city or region. There is no relevant basis for calculating the connectivity of a single plot of land. This study takes into account the actual situation of the study area, which is surrounded by large and continuous non artificial environments such as mountains and forests, and therefore the study adopts the Distance From Non artificial environment(DFN) to plot as the measurement indicator for connectivity of green space, it takes the distance between the plot boundary and the boundary of non artificial environment, and the unit is meter. The non artificial environment refers to continuous farmland, mountains, forests or wetland with an area of more than 1 square kilometer.

 

• The article mentions that mountains have a large impact on bird populations, thus we recommend counting the difference in the number of bird's nests in urban areas and suburbs.

The analysis of the impact of mountain and urban development intensity on bird nest density has been supplemented as follows:

During the on-site investigation, the research team found that green spaces close to the mountain seemed to be more prone to discovering bird nests. Therefore, the study divided the research area into three levels based on the distance from the mountain, which were less than 100 meters, between 100-1000 meters, and greater than 1000 meters. The green space area and bird nests in each level were summarized and added together. Finally, the average density of bird nests was calculated using the ratio of the number of bird nests to the total area (Table 8), The results show that the average density of bird nests is indeed the highest within the 100 meter range closest to the mountain (0.73), while the lowest is in the area over 1000 meters away from the three bodies (0.28). At the same time, the study overlaid the location map of green spaces with the land development intensity map of Liupanshui (Figure 6), and found that most of the plots closer to the mountain are located in areas with lower land development intensity, indicating that the suburbs of cities with lower development intensity are more suitable for bird breeding.

Table 8: Statistical table of average density of bird nests in different areas with different distances from mountains

Level	Plot Numbers	Total Area	Total Nest Quantity	Density (Nest Quantity / Area)
< 100	1, 3, 5, 10, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 28, 30, 33, 36, 38, 45	112.6	82	0.73
100-1000	2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 16, 21, 22, 24, 25, 31, 34, 37, 40, 48	130.2	57	0.44
>1000	26, 39, 46, 47, 51, 53, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67	38.9	11	0.28

(7) The format of reference should be unified and modified according to the requirements of the article.

Modifications have been made according to the format requirements of the journal.  Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

After revision, the article reached a publishable standard.

 

Author Response

1.  Table 1 has been changed to a three line table as per the requirements of the article;
2. The first row of text in all tables has been bolded;
3. The first and last line edges of all tables have been bolded to 1 point, while the rest are 0.5 points ；
4. All the titles of all tables and figures have been modified according to the paper format, such as "Figure 1:" to "Figure 1." ;
5. The paper has been proofread by an English proofreading agency.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Please modify the images and tables according to the requirements of the article.

Please minor editing of English language according to the requirements of the article.

Author Response

Please modify the images and tables according to the requirements of the article.

1.  Table 1 has been changed to a three line table as per the requirements of the article;
2. The first row of text in all tables has been bolded;
3. The first and last line edges of all tables have been bolded to 1 point, while the rest are 0.5 points ；
4. All the titles of all tables and figures have been modified according to the paper format, such as "Figure 1:" to "Figure 1." .

Please minor editing of English language according to the requirements of the article.

It has been proofread by an English proofreading agency.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf