Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
was a favorite of the thrush and likely allowed experienced pairs to remain
within their territories even as forests, which are essential to wrens, were
felled.
In contrast to thrushes and wrens, two adapters held fast to their territo-
ries regardless of construction activity. Breeding song sparrows and spotted
towhees rarely moved more than half a football i eld's length (about 150 feet)
from year to year. And this tenacity to the home turf occurred in reserves, es-
tablished neighborhoods, and neighborhoods under active construction.
Subirdia is the place many of us call home or work. Physically, it is a richly
interwoven mixture of residential, commercial, and wilder land. Houses, allot-
ments and gardens, derelict and vacant land, golf courses and other outdoor
sports sites, cemeteries, schoolyards, highway and railway verges, municipal
utility stations, business parks, and shopping centers occur among places dom-
inated by natural vegetation such as greenways, river and stream corridors,
parks and nature reserves, pipelines and powerlines, steep slopes, and quarries.
In a variety of locales, natural vegetation constitutes one-third to two-thirds
of subirdia. Functionally, subirdia is the conl uence between city and country
that promotes a mutual exchange of plants and animals. It is also a place where
people from urban and rural cultures come together as neighbors, friends,
and acquaintances. In so doing, we learn how varied is the human perception
of nature.
In subirdia, we form emotional and intellectual connections with nature.
This is a place where we can interpret our personal experiences and observa-
tions of the natural world. It is where biophilia, a love of all life, can grow. The
adventure sites we encounter here give our children places for important free
and uncontrolled activities. Enjoying nature in subirdia allows them to un-
