DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3bh66
title: Data from: Landscape structure influences urban vegetation vertical structure

description: Vegetation vertical structure is important for biodiversity and ecosystem
 service provision. In cities, however, while variation in the spatial
 extent and distribution of vegetation has been widely investigated,
 vertical vegetation structure and its potential drivers have not.
 Understanding how vegetation vertical structure varies across cities and
 identifying the potential drivers of this variation will improve the
 management of urban vegetation for biodiversity and ecosystem services. We
 used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data to quantify the vertical
 structure of vegetation across Brisbane, Australia, at 1-km2 and 1-ha
 spatial scales and investigated how this structure varied in response to
 biophysical, socioeconomic, urban form and landscape structure variables.
 Using model selection techniques, we found that landscape structure
 variables related to tree cover (tree cover extent and spatial
 configuration) best explained the vegetation vertical structure at both
 spatial scales. Biophysical and urban form variables were also important,
 but only in combination with landscape structure. Mean vegetation vertical
 complexity, foliage projective cover and canopy height at a site all
 decreased as the treed proportion of the surrounding urban landscape
 decreased. In general, these vertical structure variables also increased
 where patches of vegetation were clustered together spatially. Synthesis
 and applications. Using light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data and model
 selection techniques, we show that the extent and vertical structure of
 urban vegetation are not independent and that reduced extent and increased
 fragmentation of urban vegetation are associated with simplification of
 its vertical structure. If common, this relationship means that managing
 urban vegetation for biodiversity and ecosystem services should not focus
 solely on the amount of tree cover or green space present across cities,
 but also on identifying where interventions to improve vegetation vertical
 complexity are required. Our study provides important insights into where
 these locations may be in cities.
description: 1 km2 data
 fileData file of vegetation
 vertical structure and physical, soil, socioeconomic, urban form, and
 landscape structure variables at 1 km2 spatial resolution across Brisbane,
 Australia.Mitchell_etal_data_1km_20160627.csv1 ha data fileData file of vegetation vertical structure and physical, soil, socioeconomic, urban form, and landscape structure variables at a 1 ha spatial resolution across Brisbane, Australia.Mitchell_etal_data_1ha_20160627.csvCustom R Spatial autoregressive model (SAR) functionsCustom R functions for creation of multiple spatial autoregressive (SAR) models, diagnostics for model evaluation, calculation of Nagelkerke-R2 values, and plotting of partial residual results.Mitchell_etal_2016_SAR_Script_20160624.RSpatial autoregressive model (SAR) R script for 1 ha analysisR script of spatial autoregressive models (SAR) and model selection at a 1 ha spatial resolutionMitchell_etal_2016_1ha_analysis_20160624.RSpatial Autoregressive Model (SAR) R script for 1 km2 analysisR script of spatial autoregressive models (SAR) and model selection at a 1 km2 spatial resolutionMitchell_etal_2016_1km_analysis_20160627.R