Sacred groves occluded in the urban matrix: Biodiversity and conservation potential of Hangzhou’s Buddhist temples, China

Buddhist temples serve as significant yet often overlooked components of urban green infrastructure, offering ecological, cultural, and historical value. This study investigates tree diversity in 22 Buddhist temples in Hangzhou, China, focusing on species composition, richness, and abundance across urban and suburban sites. We recorded 2163 trees, representing 78 species from 60 genera and 37 families. Species richness was significantly correlated with temple site size, indicating that larger temple grounds supported greater biodiversity. No statistically significant differences between urban and suburban temples regarding species richness and abundance were found. However, urban sites exhibited higher mean species richness and greater tree abundance than suburban sites. The dominant tree species included Camphora officinarum, Acer palmatum, and Osmanthus fragrans, reflecting a preference for species with aesthetic, religious, and ecological significance. Notably, several temples harbored rare and endangered species such as Ginkgo biloba and Metasequoia glyptostroboides, underscoring the conservation value of these sacred spaces. The findings highlight the role of Buddhist temples as urban biodiversity refugia and emphasize their potential contribution to sustainable urban forestry. The relatively small individual sites and aggregate areas provide disproportionally notable biodiversity and conservation values. Given the ongoing pressures of rapid urbanization, integrating temple green spaces into broader urban conservation strategies could enhance both biodiversity protection and cultural heritage preservation. Copyright © 2025 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.