Biodiveristy can flourish on an urban planet

"New wildlife communities are coming together in cities, often with accidental manipulation and active management by humans. These communities can play an important role in both the urban ecosystems and for surrounding habitats. Gardens, for example, can support important reservoir populations of bees and other pollinators that could be valuable for many plants but find it difficult to survive under modern intensive agriculture. So the overall picture is not bleak. Cities can provides new habitats and niches that may be quite different from those in natural ecosystems, but still can support a variety of species. Species that evolve under such urban conditions may well represent what the future holds for much of Earth’s biodiversity."

     --Madhusudan Katti, Associate Professor, California State University, Fresno

     The Conversation Blog, 

     https://theconversation.com/biodiversity-can-flourish-on-an-urban-planet-18723

Book quote: Bringing Nature Home

"My central message is that unless we restore native plants to our suburban ecosystems, the future of biodiversity in the United States is dim." --Douglas Tallamy, Bringing Nature Home, p. 9

Biophilic Design

Landscape architects are charged with greenscaping a project--to bring life to a building and its exterior spaces. Ironically, it has been observed that plants are not a major part of their education/interests and as a result, many landscape designers are not very good plantsmen. Sometimes they put the wrong plants in the wrong place. Many LA's use a short list of plants that suit their architectural aesthetic, and are hardy and adaptable to a wide range of site conditions. Unfortunately, many of these selected few plants offer little benefit to native wildlife, and to the overall ecology of a project, effectively 'greenwashing' our cities. Compounding this are planners, architects and landscape architects jumping on any available open space in a community under the banner of high urban density. This comes at a cost of reducing green space in our environments and assumes that you can drive or take some alternate transportation outside of the city limits to 'get away'.

A number of studies have shown that people prefer plants and nature within their living environment. Not only prefer, but are healthier and happier. Known as biophilia, there is an innate human need for a connection with nature. Some designers recognize this and maximize opportunities for nature in their projects, and are called biophilic designers. Terrapin Bright Green listed the multiple benefits of nature in cities in their 2014 report "14 Patterns of Biophilic Design". Terrapin Bright Green is an environmental consulting an strategic planning firm committed to improving the human environment with environmental opportunities. The 14 patterns are grouped by "Nature in the Space," "Natural Analogues", and "Nature of the Space." These groups list the design elements of biophilic design-- such as providing visual connections, sensory stimuli, airflow, presence of water, and biomorphic forms and patterns. With each of these they list the published research that shows their health benefits, such as, stress reduction, cognitive performance, and emotional preference (see chart below).

Of course, in addition to the health benefits, biophilic design promotes environmentally sustainable practices, ultimately connecting humans to nature in a way that promotes environmental awareness and stewardship. The report is available for free on the Terrapin Bright Green website at http://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/report/14-patterns/

Connecting Green Spaces Within the Urban Grid

 

(Wildlife crossing, Balmori Associates)

Just how do plants and animals migrate between green spaces in urban and suburban areas? Providing adequate green corridors are always a troubling issue in community development. Urban infill and development continues to eat at most available green spaces. The extent of the problem is noticeable with amount of wildlife roadkill along highways and interstates. In Mississippi, which is a rural state, 3,400 deer-related crashes were reported by the Mississippi Highway Patrol in 2014. For years the state has remained in the top 10 national ranking of most wildlife accidents, which of course results in higher insurance premiums. Some states provide highway overpasses or underpasses in busy wildlife corridors, but many, like Mississippi, don't. Wyoming for example is spending $9.7 million to create roadway crossings for wildlife. Their main reason, they state, is safety (Transportation Nation). Wyoming Department of Transportation engineer stated "Take the $10,000 per property damage crash, and the value of deer around $3,000 based on Game and fish values, multiply that by 100 car cases and 20 or 30 property damage crashes and run that out over 20 years, and that's a significant amount of money" (Transportation Nation).

 (BIG)

A few years back, a city in Denmark looked at organizing a new development along a waterfront in the City of Holbaek that took the shape of a patchwork quilt. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the designers tried to create smaller intimate living spaces within a large area. Interestingly, they ended up with an organized series of green corridors  or ribbons that run through the dense urban space. If designed correctly, the labyrinth could provide interesting green spaces, while also providing safe wildlife corridors.

Quote of the week

"In many ways, because urban locations are so removed from forests or meadows, plantings that recall these places can be that much more pleasurable." --Thomas Rainer and Claudia West, Planting in a Post-Wild World