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Urban biodiversity arks

Nature Sustainability volume 1, pages 725–727 (2018)Cite this article

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Urban biodiversity is an unplanned species assemblage. Although promoting native biodiversity should be the primary goal, the built environment often contains optimal habitat for non-natives. With planning and research, we could use cities as semi-natural assurance colonies for endangered species.

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Fig. 1: The potential of urban ecosystems for endangered species persistence.
Fig. 2: The reality of current urban biodiversity.

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Acknowledgements

U. Heise, P. Kareiva and T. Smith encouraged my thinking on urban biodiversity. My work was partially supported by the NSF (DEB 1457832).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    H. Bradley Shaffer

  2. La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    H. Bradley Shaffer

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Shaffer, H.B. Urban biodiversity arks. Nat Sustain 1, 725–727 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0193-y

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