Urban Wildlife Habitats

A Landscape Perspective

1994
Author:

Lowell W. Adams

In this first book-length study of the subject, Adams reviews the impact of urban and suburban growth on natural plant and animal communities and reveals how, with appropriate landscape planning and urban development, cities and towns can be made more accommodating for a wide diversity of species, including our own.

In this first book-length study of the subject, Adams reviews the impact of urban and suburban growth on natural plant and animal communities and reveals how, with appropriate landscape planning and urban development, cities and towns can be made more accommodating for a wide diversity of species, including our own.

The author discusses management techniques that apply to urban habitats ranging in size from backyards to expansive wildlife reserves. The landscape perspective provides a broad overview of how urban habitats fit into the ecosystem. The author gives a realistic view of problems caused by urban wildlife. I would recommend Urban Wildlife Habitats to urban planners, landscape architects, city commissioners, science teachers, students of wildlife, and urban homeowners. In short, this book treats the subject of urban wildlife habitats with a broad brush while using enough examples to make interesting reading.

Journal of Wildlife Management

In cities, towns, and villages, between buildings and parking lots, streets and sidewalks, and polluted streams and rivers, there is ever less space for the "natural," the plants and animals that once were at home across North America. In this first book-length study of the subject, Lowell W. Adams reviews the impact of urban and suburban growth on natural plant and animal communities and reveals how, with appropriate landscape planning and urban development, cities and towns can be made more accommodating for a wide diversity of species, including our own.
Soils and ground surface, air, water, and noise pollution, space and demographics are among the urban characteristics Adams considers in relation to wildlife. He describes changes in the composition and structure of vegetation, as native species are replaced by exotic ones, and shows how, with spreading urbanization of natural habitats, the diversity of species of plants and animals almost always declines, although the density of a few species increases. Adams contends, however, that it is possible for a wide variety of species to coexist in the metropolitan environment, and he cites a growing interest in the practice of "natural landscaping," which emphasizes the use of native species and considers the structure, pattern, and species composition of vegetation as it relates to wildlife needs.
Urban habitats vary from small city parks in densely built downtowns to suburbs with large yards and considerable open space. Adams discusses the opportunities these areas--along with school yards, hospital grounds, cemeteries, individual residences, and vacant lots--provide for judicious wildlife management and for the salutary interaction of people with nature.

Lowell W. Adams is vice president of the National Institute for Urban Wildlife in Columbia, Maryland.


Professor Lowell Adams is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Maryland. His research interests are urban wildlife ecology and management, human-wildlife interactions in metropolitan environments, ecology and management of urban open spaces, biological and cultural carrying capacities of urban habitats for wildlife, biological diversity in metropolitan environments.

The author discusses management techniques that apply to urban habitats ranging in size from backyards to expansive wildlife reserves. The landscape perspective provides a broad overview of how urban habitats fit into the ecosystem. The author gives a realistic view of problems caused by urban wildlife. I would recommend Urban Wildlife Habitats to urban planners, landscape architects, city commissioners, science teachers, students of wildlife, and urban homeowners. In short, this book treats the subject of urban wildlife habitats with a broad brush while using enough examples to make interesting reading.

Journal of Wildlife Management

This readable book is the first general introduction on urban wildlife habitats and their management. A much-needed addition to wildlife literature.

Choice

In this clear and insightful book, Lowell W. Adams not only helps define exactly what urban wildlife is, but also shows how mankind can manage the urban setting to better accommodate the myriad of birds, mammals, fish and insects that are part of every populated setting.

Journal of Environment and Development

For gardeners looking to better understand the natural model in planning their home landscapes, this is an excellent resource.

Southwest Journal