Greening up the City with Native Species: Challenges and Solutions
Urban green spaces provide many benefits, including to human wellbeing, ecosystem services, and urban wildlife. Thus, there are many reasons to green up urban spaces, especially by using native species. Furthermore, urban green spaces are suited to enhancing biodiversity without negatively impacting...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/17/1/56 |
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| author | Amy Hardberger Danielle Craig Catherine Simpson Robert D. Cox Gad Perry |
| author_facet | Amy Hardberger Danielle Craig Catherine Simpson Robert D. Cox Gad Perry |
| author_sort | Amy Hardberger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urban green spaces provide many benefits, including to human wellbeing, ecosystem services, and urban wildlife. Thus, there are many reasons to green up urban spaces, especially by using native species. Furthermore, urban green spaces are suited to enhancing biodiversity without negatively impacting food or fiber production. Municipalities and private landowners invest substantially in landscaping and its maintenance. However, much of that outlay supports non-native plants that may be less adapted to local conditions such as rainfall patterns and temperature ranges, thus having greater resource requirements, as well as being less supportive of native wildlife and possessing a greater potential of becoming invasive. Here, we explore ways to increase the use of native plant species in urban settings to reduce the need for watering or chemical application, enhance the support of native species, and reduce the risk of invasion to urban and ex-urban habitats. We identify three main impediments: the perception of native species as less aesthetically pleasing, the availability of native plants in the nursery industry, and the willingness of policymakers to take supportive measures. We propose methods to address all three, providing successful examples from a number of US localities and a case study that demonstrates what drivers might exist and what actions remain to be taken. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-36b9dd6d56c648a8b604577f65b83482 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1424-2818 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diversity |
| spelling | doaj-art-36b9dd6d56c648a8b604577f65b834822025-01-24T13:29:30ZengMDPI AGDiversity1424-28182025-01-011715610.3390/d17010056Greening up the City with Native Species: Challenges and SolutionsAmy Hardberger0Danielle Craig1Catherine Simpson2Robert D. Cox3Gad Perry4Texas Tech Center for Water Law and Policy, Texas Tech School of Law, 3311 18th St., Lubbock, TX 79409, USADepartment of Landscape Architecture, Texas Tech University, 2904 15th Street, MS 2121, Lubbock, TX 79409, USADepartment of Plant and Soil Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USADepartment of Natural Resources Management, 2903 15th St., Lubbock, TX 79409, USADepartment of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, MSN 5F2, Fairfax, VA 22030, USAUrban green spaces provide many benefits, including to human wellbeing, ecosystem services, and urban wildlife. Thus, there are many reasons to green up urban spaces, especially by using native species. Furthermore, urban green spaces are suited to enhancing biodiversity without negatively impacting food or fiber production. Municipalities and private landowners invest substantially in landscaping and its maintenance. However, much of that outlay supports non-native plants that may be less adapted to local conditions such as rainfall patterns and temperature ranges, thus having greater resource requirements, as well as being less supportive of native wildlife and possessing a greater potential of becoming invasive. Here, we explore ways to increase the use of native plant species in urban settings to reduce the need for watering or chemical application, enhance the support of native species, and reduce the risk of invasion to urban and ex-urban habitats. We identify three main impediments: the perception of native species as less aesthetically pleasing, the availability of native plants in the nursery industry, and the willingness of policymakers to take supportive measures. We propose methods to address all three, providing successful examples from a number of US localities and a case study that demonstrates what drivers might exist and what actions remain to be taken.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/17/1/56urban ecosystem regenerationurban greenspacediversitynative species |
| spellingShingle | Amy Hardberger Danielle Craig Catherine Simpson Robert D. Cox Gad Perry Greening up the City with Native Species: Challenges and Solutions Diversity urban ecosystem regeneration urban greenspace diversity native species |
| title | Greening up the City with Native Species: Challenges and Solutions |
| title_full | Greening up the City with Native Species: Challenges and Solutions |
| title_fullStr | Greening up the City with Native Species: Challenges and Solutions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Greening up the City with Native Species: Challenges and Solutions |
| title_short | Greening up the City with Native Species: Challenges and Solutions |
| title_sort | greening up the city with native species challenges and solutions |
| topic | urban ecosystem regeneration urban greenspace diversity native species |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/17/1/56 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT amyhardberger greeningupthecitywithnativespecieschallengesandsolutions AT daniellecraig greeningupthecitywithnativespecieschallengesandsolutions AT catherinesimpson greeningupthecitywithnativespecieschallengesandsolutions AT robertdcox greeningupthecitywithnativespecieschallengesandsolutions AT gadperry greeningupthecitywithnativespecieschallengesandsolutions |