Vegetation regulations and upkeeping influence avifauna diversity within residential developments of Mexico City

Abstract Biodiversity inclusive design is an emerging branch offering built-environment professionals the opportunity to support species conservation within urban landscapes through the design process and upkeep of those areas. Considering its recent emergence coupled with vegetation development time frames (i.e. life cycles), the evidence of how biodiversity inclusive design supports species composition is still lacking. Thus, past cases that inadvertently used biodiversity offer an opportunity to inform the potential trajectories of these frameworks and to identify the array of biodiversity enhancement actions available to designers looking to support species persistence within urban areas. Here, we assessed the avian community and vegetation characteristics of two housing developments within Zona Esmeralda. We discussed the ecological context to then understand the role of biodiversity inclusive practices as drivers of avifauna diversity. The ecological context was addressed by comparing our study with others that also addressed avifauna in urban areas within central Mexico. We found that Zona Esmeralda presented higher ecological value than what is traditionally expected from residential areas, which was attributed to habitat characteristics within our study, where greater vegetation complexity and availability were associated with higher bird diversity. Our study showed that vegetation upkeep (i.e. management/maintenance during construction and maintenance phases) was the strongest contributor to vegetation assemblages and therefore enhanced bird diversity. Our study highlights that even the partial use of biodiversity inclusive design principles (particularly relating to vegetation upkeep) can support biodiversity and boost the ecological value of such areas, when compared to areas that do not apply these principles.