Biodiversity and Conservation, 2014;23:963-978
Although urban sprawl is increasingly becoming a worldwide problem, the effects associated with urbanization on local biodiversity particularly in the developing countries, is still poorly understood. We investigated plant species richness along urban–rural gradients in an Afro-tropical metropolitan Morogoro city in Tanzania, and examined patterns of species movement by humans within and outside the city and its potential impact on habitat homogenization of urban ecosystems. Biodiversity information was assessed in 120 sample plots (25 × 25 m) distributed in core urban, sub-urban and peri-urban (rural) zones, while patterns of plant resource use and species movement were surveyed from 120 households in the study area. We found the highest tree species richness in the urban core (82.6 ± 1.4 species) whereas tree density decreased from peri-urban (465.60 ± 152.03 tree/ha) to urban core (244.00 ± …