Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
i nd their way into nature and harm the rarest and often most endearing resi-
dents of subirdia.
As we foster our own healthy urban ecosystem, we should also consider
its unique qualities and strive to maintain the individual character of our
yards, neighborhoods, and cities. This requires a wider view of the urban
ecosystem.
Foster a diversity of habitats and natural variability within landscapes.
Within our gardens, parks, and other small green spaces, birds benei t when
nonnative turl ands are diversii ed to include native ground, shrub, and tree
cover. Over larger expanses—between neighborhoods, cities, regions, and
continents—birds also benei t from variety, not uniformity. As the spatial ar-
rangements of built and open lands become similar across cities and suburbs
of the world, we favor the same, limited set of adaptable species, such as the
fab i ve, everywhere. A greater variety of birds would enrich our lives if de-
velopers and planners sought variety instead of dividing the land into repeti-
tive and regular patterns dei ned by an oft-repeated grid or spiral of roads.
Interspersing neighborhoods of dense, evenly spaced homes with those fea-
turing clustered lots and substantial open space increases a city's diversity.
In Seattle, for example, Bewick's wrens, bushtits, and black-capped chicka-
dees thrive in dense, older developments with decorative shrubs and many
deciduous trees. Pacii c wrens and chestnut-backed chickadees occupy the
conifer buf ers featured in newer, outlying clustered developments, while
Swainson's thrushes and other edge specialists lurk in the boundaries of ex-
tensive salmonberry fronting small woodlots and parks. Beyond subirdia,
others respond to more extreme conditions. The sparse shrubbery of strip
