Green spaces in cities are thought to play an important role in maintaining urban biodiversity. However, it is difficult to create large new areas of green space in big cities. Therefore, existing green spaces need to be conserved and properly managed to conserve urban biodiversity. In big Japanese cities, sacred sites such as shrines, temples, and historic parks are some of the common types of green space. In addition to their role as religious spaces, they may also play an important role in urban biodiversity conservation because of their function as long-term reserves of natural vegetation. In this study, we examined the function of shrines, temples, and historic parks in Bunkyo ward, Tokyo, in maintaining bird diversity by comparing them with urban parks. In addition, a vegetation survey was conducted to identify environmental factors that affect bird diversity, and differences in the bird species observed in each type of green space are discussed. The heterogeneity of bird species composition between study sites was higher among shrines and temples than among urban parks. Forest bird abundance was higher during the breeding season and bird species richness was higher in winter at shrines and temples and historic parks than in urban parks. Bird diversity was positively affected by the abundance of shrubs and evergreen trees. We found that sacred sites were more important than urban parks for maintaining bird diversity. The results also suggested that differences in vegetation structure are a cause of this pattern, and small green spaces in the grounds of sacred sites are managed in a way that is more suitable for maintaining bird diversity. However, shrines and temples, despite their strong historical and cultural value, are threatened by recent urbanization. It is necessary to maintain and properly manage these green spaces as part of urban ecosystems.

中文翻译：

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圣地为日本东京大都市提供城市绿地，保持鸟类多样性


城市中的绿色空间被认为在维护城市生物多样性方面发挥着重要作用。然而，在大城市创造大片新的绿地是很困难的。因此，需要保护和妥善管理现有的绿色空间，以保护城市生物多样性。在日本的大城市，神社、寺庙和历史公园等圣地是一些常见的绿地类型。除了作为宗教场所的作用外，它们还可能作为自然植被的长期保护区，在城市生物多样性保护中发挥重要作用。在这项研究中，我们通过与城市公园进行比较，考察了东京文京区的神社、寺庙和历史公园在保持鸟类多样性方面的作用。此外，还进行了植被调查，以确定影响鸟类多样性的环境因素，并讨论了在每种绿地中观察到的鸟类物种的差异。研究地点间鸟类物种组成的异质性在神社和寺庙中高于城市公园。繁殖季节的森林鸟类数量较高，冬季神社、寺庙和历史公园的鸟类物种丰富度高于城市公园。灌木和常绿乔木的丰富性对鸟类多样性产生了积极影响。我们发现，在维持鸟类多样性方面，圣地比城市公园更重要。结果还表明，植被结构的差异是造成这种模式的一个原因，圣地场地中的小绿地以更适合维持鸟类多样性的方式进行管理。然而，尽管神社和寺庙具有强大的历史和文化价值，但受到近期城市化的威胁。 作为城市生态系统的一部分，有必要维护和妥善管理这些绿色空间。