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.
A coyote in Vancouver, B.C. Rodent pesticides in large cities kill and adversely affect the health of urban wildlife.
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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.
Even the standard grassed nature strip has value for local wildlife.
Michelle/Flickr
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.
Stylish? No. Effective? Probably not.
Tony Wills/Wikimedia Commons
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.
Learning about urban rat populations through genetic testing reveals information about their movements through cities.
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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.
Rats are part of the urban ecosystem and an urban ecology approach to managing their populations may involve learning to share the city.
Mert Guller/Unsplash
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.
Koalas can adapt to urban areas with enough suitable green spaces but would benefit from wildlife crossing areas to reduce their risk of being hit by cars.
Julian Smith/AAP
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.
Brisbane’s South Bank parkland isn’t exactly getting out in the wild, but experiences of urban nature are important for building people’s connection to all living things.
Anne Cleary
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.
Red fox under cover of darkness in London.
Jamie Hall. For use only with this article.
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.
Even pocket parks in cities (Duane Park in Lower Manhattan, pictured here) can shelter wildlife. Read below for ideas about urban biodiversity and other green innovations.
Aude
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.
A coyote cools off in the shade of a leafy suburb. Wildlife interactions with pets and humans can transfer disease, including the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis.
(Winston Wong/flickr)
A parasite found in coyotes, wolves and foxes is now spreading to dogs and their owners as its range expands across Canada.
The birds commonly seen in urban backyards of Australia are increasingly introduced species like this house sparrow, sharing a birdbath with a native red-browed finch.
Wanda Optland
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.
Citizen science projects are a way to contribute to science from your own backyard.
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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.
Native plants don’t need much space really.
Simon Pawley/Sustainable Outdoors
Lizzy Lowe, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau and 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.