Ecological Properties of Epigeal Invertebrate Communities in Green Areas in the City of Plovdiv. Part 1 - Urban City Parks

Urban green areas are of great importance for preserving biodiversity in cities. There is a wide variety of invertebrates in cities including a specific group that crawls on the surface of the earth called „epigeal“ invertebrates. The current study aims to characterize and compare the epigeal invertebrates communities in three urban parks on the territory of the city of Plovdiv („Parashutna Kula“ Park, „Lauta” Park and „Loven park” Park), based on the urban-to-rural gradient paradygm. „Lauta“ Park differs the most from the other two parks in terms of the measured abiotic factors (air and soil temperature, soil moisture and soil pH). The predominant tree and shrub vegetation in the three studied parks is mainly decorative and ruderal, and „Loven park“ Park is the only place, where most of the natural, autochthonous vegetation is still found. With the greatest number of individuals and with the highest species richness is the epigeal invertebrates community in „Loven park“ Park, followed by „Parashutna kula“ Park, and the lowest numbers and species richness, was recorded in „Lauta“ Park. In the three studied urban parks, Collembola and Hymenoptera, Formicidae predominate, while Aranea occupy significant share in „Loven park“ Park. In „Lauta“ Park the epigeal invertebrates community is characterized by the greatest diversityty, calculated using two diveristy indices, with the lowest share of random taxa in both the ecotone and the interior of the park compared to the other two parks. The surveyed epigeal invertebrates communities in the three urban parks do not follow the generally established dependence of declining the diversity from the periphery to the city center.