Biodiversity Between Buildings: Results of a Two-Year Vertebrate Survey on a University Campus

As urbanization increases worldwide, areas that possess both urbanized spaces and natural or semi-natural greenspaces, such as university campuses, present ideal settings in which to measure biodiversity in the modern era. From 2015 to 2017, we documented the vertebrate species that occurred on the main campus of Georgia Southern University (GSU) in the southeastern United States. To maximize the number of species encountered, we sampled using a broad array of surveying and trapping techniques and engaged citizen scientists for assistance. In total, we recorded 206 vertebrate species, representing 46% of the species documented in the surrounding county and 58% of the county species that we would realistically expect to encounter on campus due to species-specific habitat requirements or rarity. While this biodiversity was generally concentrated in the less-intensely urbanized regions of campus, our findings suggest that even partially developed and highly fragmented landscapes can support a relatively high richness of species. Our results underscore the importance and benefits of greenspaces in urban planning and species conservation. We further emphasize that spaces like university campuses should be better leveraged to document contemporary patterns of biodiversity and can serve as ideal study sites for long-term monitoring of species assemblages in an ever-changing world.