Urban patterns in the biodiversity of metropolitan wetlands in the Metropolitan area of Cconcepcion

Urbanization of the Metropolitan region of Concepcion (36 degrees S) in the last decades has impacted on the ecological value of areas such as wetlands and lagoons. Here, we analyse the disturbance to biodiversity indicators in six urban wetlands. Three measures are proposed: a naturalness indicator and two Macrolepidoptera plant indicators of species richness. Multiple regression models were developed for the assessment of indicators. Results show that the wetlands with the lowest degree of human interference are located in a protected area and surrounded by a matrix of semi-natural landscapes, whereas the more disturbed wetlands are those closer to areas of urbanization. Results indicate that macrolepidopterans richness is more affected by the distance to roads, in contrast with the richness of plants, which is affected by housing density. We generated a tool for the assessment of urbanization effects in urban wetlands.