Crop phylogenetic diversity across urban farms in Toronto, Canada

Crop phylogenetic diversity across urban farms in Toronto, Canada | Authorea try { document.documentElement.classList.add('js'); } catch (e) { } var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'G-8VDV14Y67G']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Skip to main content Preprints Collections Wiley Open Research IET Open Research Ecological Society of Japan All Collections About About Authorea FAQs Contact Us Quick Search anywhere Search for preprint articles, keywords, etc. Search Search ADVANCED SEARCH SCROLL This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. 10 March 2026 V1 Latest version Share on Crop phylogenetic diversity across urban farms in Toronto, Canada Authors : Gillian Nightingale , Jada Hollingsworth , Osmond Hui , Marney Isaac 0000-0002-5975-833X , and Adam Martin 0000-0002-7207-4004 [email protected] Authors Info & Affiliations https://doi.org/10.22541/au.177312997.76989068/v1 114 views 67 downloads Contents Abstract Supplementary Material Information & Authors Metrics & Citations View Options References Figures Tables Media Share Abstract Urban agriculture, the practice of growing food within cities, confers a variety of ecological and social benefits, many of which are contingent upon crop biodiversity on urban farms. However, the evolutionary or phylogenetic diversity of crops on urban farms remains poorly documented. We surveyed crop diversity across 16 urban agriculture sites in Toronto, Canada, to analyze patterns of taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity across farms. Our survey found 58 unique crop species grown throughout Toronto farms belonging to 17 plant families; based on species accumulation curves we find an extrapolated city-wide richness of 75.910.5 crop species. Compared to crop species globally, crops on urban farms are significantly phylogenetically clustered, largely owing to multiple species in the Lamiaceae, Solanaceae, and Apiaceae. Relationships between taxonomic and phylogenetic crop diversity were non-linear, indicating that certain crops contribute disproportionately to evolutionary diversity. Additionally, our analysis suggests crops on urban farms contribute a unique 6,516.4 million years of evolutionary phylogenetic diversity that is not captured in existing plant lists for the city of Toronto. Our analysis shows that urban farms represent distinct plant phylogenetic diversity at municipal and national scales, which may be associated with certain socio-economic constraints. Our work represents a step in better understanding the diversity of urban farms and its contributions to biodiversity and food production in cities. Supplementary Material File (nightingale et al. manuscript.docx) Download 996.15 KB Information & Authors Information Version history V1 Version 1 10 March 2026 Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Keywords description ecosystem ecosystem ecology natural history plants terrestrial Authors Affiliations Gillian Nightingale University of Toronto Scarborough View all articles by this author Jada Hollingsworth University of Toronto Scarborough View all articles by this author Osmond Hui University of Toronto Scarborough View all articles by this author Marney Isaac 0000-0002-5975-833X University of Toronto Scarborough View all articles by this author Adam Martin 0000-0002-7207-4004 [email protected] University of Toronto Scarborough View all articles by this author Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 114 views 67 downloads .FvxKWukQNSOunydq8rnd { width: 100px; } Citations Download citation Gillian Nightingale, Jada Hollingsworth, Osmond Hui, et al. Crop phylogenetic diversity across urban farms in Toronto, Canada. Authorea . 10 March 2026. 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