It’s well-established that green spaces are good for our well-being. Now we can demonstrate that greater biodiversity boosts this benefit, as well as helping to sustain native plants and animals.
Urban wildlife are exposed to more pollutants than wildlife living in natural areas. In addition to causing death, these pollutants can affect animals’ development and reproduction.
When so much of the green space in our cities is in the form of nature strips, current restrictions on plantings are denying us the many social and environmental benefits of more diverse greenery.
Magpie attacks aren’t as common as you (and the media) might think. But here are a few tricks to get you through swooping season unscathed - and a few classic tactics that don’t work.
Genetic analysis shows that urban rats prefer to stay near their relatives; however, some of them migrate. Knowing this could help with pest control efforts.
Household rat poison is endangering caracals, and other wildlife species in Cape Town, that prey on poisoned rodents. If not managed, this can negatively alter the region’s ecosystem.
Expanding cities and farmland have created many small, often isolated patches of vegetation. Long seen as having limited ecological value, a new study shows these are vital for endangered species.
Moves to connect people with nature for both the conservation and health benefits point to the need for people to experience nature as they find it in the city, rather than only out in natural areas.
Urban trees are literally made with the help of human breath – they turn the carbon dioxide we breathe out into the building blocks of plant growth. So your local trees have a piece of you inside them.
It’s becoming harder and harder for animals to find human-free spaces on the planet. New research suggests that to try to avoid people, mammals are shifting activity from the day to the nighttime.
Trump administration rollbacks dominated news about the environment in 2017 – but beyond Washington D.C., many researchers are developing innovative visions for a greener future.
We all know how vital it is for our native bird species to thrive. But what if the only birds that visit your garden are introduced “pest” species? Many people feel these birds deserve some love too.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition features sumptuous images: from giant cuttlefish courting to a vertigo-inducing portrait of an orangutan taken with a GoPro camera.
Lizzy Lowe, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau et Margaret Stanley, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
It is possible to use small spaces such as transport corridors, verges and the edges of sporting grounds for native wildlife habitat restoration, helping to bring biodiversity back into cities.