A System for Urban Wildlife Habitat Restoration

The lack of habitat structure in urban greenspaces landscapes severely limits opportunities for wildlife to
successfully forage, breed, and seek shelter. Recent research suggests that landscape structure may be more important to wildlife than the presence of a particular species of plant. NEST has therefore attempted to create a holistic approach to urban restoration by combining revegetation with habitat structures such as coarse woody debris, snake hibernacula, cavity snags, and raptor roosts. Together these habitat components provide an immediate network of sheltering and feeding opportunities for wildlife at both lower and upper positions in the food web. Functional habitat is created in this holistic approach to restoration because landscape structure is integrated with revegetation. From an educational point of view, this system provides and excellent model for teaching students about forest dynamics and the importance of decomposition to forest renewal and the cycle of life.