lj's urban_nature

About lj's urban_nature

This group is intended to serve as a companion to the livejournal urban_nature community for geotagging members' photos.

Even if such a thing were desirable, living things can not be excluded from the city. Birds will fly in, their bellies full of the seeds of the plants that will grow there. Urban spaces create habitat, and different kinds of urban spaces will invite different kinds of living things. Humans encourage some species deliberately, and some species make due in spite of our wishes. A birdfeeder will draw songbirds and mice. Rooftop gardens can be waystations for migrating butterflies as well as nectar-drinking male mosquitoes. Subways and sewers provide warm year-round habitat for subterranean and tropical animals, such as rats and cockroaches. Buildings provide habitat for animals that live practically nowhere else: house spiders, house centipedes, house flies, house mice. Nature is always working on the hard surfaces of the city, softening brick and stone with layers of algae, cyanobacteria, mosses and lichens, providing soil for pioneer plants. Thousands of species plants are brought into cities, and a select few, the "invasives," are able to make it their home: The tree of heaven, the wild carrot, dandelions, bindweed, plantain, mulberry, oleander, ivies both English and poison. They green up the gray, split sidewalks, colonize railroad tracks, turn vacant lots into wildflower meadows, and create a nuisance for gardeners and park managers.

The city parks, created to provide peaceful places of solace for humans, invite all manner of life that is deterred by the traffic and noise of the streets. Depending on the continent, there may be rabbits, bandicoots, monkeys, or deer.

The air itself carries the city's smog and acid along, but it also carries the wind-borne seeds of trees and other plants, the spores of mosses and fungi, and the aerial planktonic animals.

The world is an increasingly urban place. The city and nature can no longer be considered separate. The species that are successful in the city are heir to the future, and the design of future cities and the future development of the land, will determine what species will continue to survive.

This community is a place for members to share their experiences, pictures, and questions about urban nature.

Even if such a thing were desirable, living things can not be excluded from the city. Birds will fly in, their bellies full of the seeds of the plants that will grow there. Urban spaces create habitat, and different kinds of urban spaces will invite different kinds of living things. Humans encourage some species deliberately, and some species make due in spite of our wishes. A birdfeeder will draw songbirds and mice. Rooftop gardens can be waystations for migrating butterflies as well as nectar-drinking male mosquitoes. Subways and sewers provide warm year-round habitat for subterranean and tropical animals, such as rats and cockroaches. Buildings provide habitat for animals that live practically nowhere else: house spiders, house centipedes, house flies, house mice. Nature is always working on the hard surfaces of the city, softening brick and stone with layers of algae, cyanobacteria, mosses and lichens, providing soil for pioneer plants. Thousands of species plants are brought into cities, and a select few, the "invasives," are able to make it their home: The tree of heaven, the wild carrot, dandelions, bindweed, plantain, mulberry, oleander, ivies both English and poison. They green up the gray, split sidewalks, colonize railroad tracks, turn vacant lots into wildflower meadows, and create a nuisance for gardeners and park managers.

The city parks, created to provide peaceful places of solace for humans, invite all manner of life that is deterred by the traffic and noise of the streets. Depending on the continent, there may be rabbits, bandicoots, monkeys, or deer.

The air itself carries the city's smog and acid along, but it also carries the wind-borne seeds of trees and other plants, the spores of mosses and fungi, and the aerial planktonic animals.

The world is an increasingly urban place. The city and nature can no longer be considered separate. The species that are successful in the city are heir to the future, and the design of future cities and the future development of the land, will determine what species will continue to survive.

This community is a place for members to share their experiences, pictures, and questions about urban nature.

http://community.livejournal.com/urban_nature/profile