原生植物对城市环境的影响
We would like to imagine that if Jane Jacobs were alive today she would enthusiastically expand her perspective on the life of a city—a dynamic dance performed by the human community—to welcome other species to the dance as well. 在她去世后的十年里, ecological studies have led many shapers of cities to recognize the importance and benefit of accommodating species beyond Homo sapiens in the complex ecosystems of our urban spaces.
一项研究 出版于去年年底 美国国家科学院院刊 is just one of several that expand our human understanding of how our cities should be shaped. The study demonstrates the links between urban songbirds and plants—specifically native plant species. One case study from the research looked at the Carolina chickadee populations in the Washington, D.C. 市区. The study found that in areas with less than 70 percent native plant biomass, the Carolina chickadees will not produce enough young to sustain their populations.
Doug Tallamy, professor of Entomology at the University of Delaware has been promoting our human role in sustaining this ecological interdependence for the past decade. 他的书中, 把自然带回家, reveals that while plant species that originate in other parts of the world may please our human eye, they make little contribution to the health of our ecosystem compared to their native counterparts. 虽然它们可以提供荫凉或稳定土壤, they do not support the ecosystem’s food web—they cannot be eaten by local insects whose specific dietary needs are the result of countless years of coevolution with local plants. Monarch butterflies are the posterchildren of this plight- their populations are quickly diminishing due to the reduction of milkweed in our landscapes. And without insects to nourish young birds, the survival of our feathered friends is endangered.
至关重要的是，我们的城市空间, 以及所有的风景, contribute to the ecosystem supporting native plant species that insects depend on to survive. 对于许多, this emphasis on the planting of native species represents a new approach to our public and private spaces, an approach dependent on developing an appreciation for the wondrousness of the plant species endemic to one’s neighborhood and region. 在AG平台波士顿的办公室, that wondrousness lies just outside our door in the one block section of the 1.5 mile-long Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway that is devoted to native species.
2019 marks the second year that IBI Group has been enjoying a weekly stroll of the Greenway’s native plant section enhancing our knowledge and appreciation for the numerous species growing there. 星期二，5月7日，我们的散步 简的走——将她对城市的看法扩展到本地植物物种, 赖以生存的昆虫和鸟类. 我们确信简会同意的.
露丝于1980年加入CRJA-AG平台. Since that time she has worked on a variety of projects from master planning and site design of public and mixed income housing to signage design. More recently her work has focused on the master planning and site design for a variety of institutions – colleges, 大学, 中学, 社区组织, 自然中心, 还有植物园. Ruth enjoys working with institutional communities to plan and design facilities that meet their needs and reflect their image and unique character, using workshops to gather the critical information and discover collective solutions. 露丝是马萨诸塞州本土种植公司的董事会成员, a small non-profit that promotes the recognition of the ecological potential of every corner of the state, 不管多小.
