Australian Academy of Science-WH Gladstones Population & Environment Fund, $24,000
Dr Dale Nimmo, Karen Retra, Dimitry Bambrick
Biodiversity Conservation and Rural and Regional Communities
Urban areas house half of the world's population and it is expected that by the year 2050 they will house an additional 2.5 billion people. The major driver of biodiversity loss globally is urbanisation as it results in the loss of native vegetation, altered nutrient cycles and changes to the climate. A key question therefore is How can we ensure that the growth of urban populations has minimal impact on biodiversity? Is it by 'land sharing' i.e. spreading the human population thinly via sprawling but low density 'leafy' suburbs? Is it be dedicating some land to high density housing, while 'sparing' other parts for nature conservation? Or is it by an intermediate approach which blends elements of both i.e. a mix of low, medium and high density housing together with nature reserves?
The research project aims to uncover the optimal approach to conserve biodiversity in Australia's growing cities. It is composed of five components:
Geschke, A., James, S., Bennett, A. F., & Nimmo, D. G. (2018). Compact cities or sprawling suburbs? Optimising the distribution of people in cities to maximise species diversity. Journal of Applied Ecology, 55(5), 2320-2331. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13183
The findings from this project are expected to better inform town planners and land managers on how to distribute people in growing urban landscapes while conserving biodiversity.
Contact
Dr Dale Nimmo Email
Albury-Wodonga Campus
October 2017