Biological diversity thrives in true wildernesses, but our own species' impact is pressing hard on these remaining natural regions. More and more we have to ask ourselves whether some human-created areas can support at least a valuable fraction of earth's biota. Urban wildlands might be examples of such "second hand" nature. By our definition a wildland is a habitat initially created by human impact (e.g., by severe disturbance) that either developed naturally and unaided and/or is now in a state of wild (i.e., has no or little direct continued human impact). Often these wildlands are inhabited by so called novel communities, unprecedented mixtures of native species and new immigrants (non-native species). We are exploring the functions that these novel communities found in spontaneous urban wetland and upland wildlands have for biodiversity by comparing them with more natural or restored habitats.
Results/Conclusions
When presenting the example of the naturally revegetated parts of Liberty State Park in the Metropolitan area of New Jersey, we can show that such wildlands indeed can harbor species-rich communities. For some communities plant species-richness clearly exceeded that of natural and managed restoration areas. Such species-rich communities are mostly mixtures of native and non-native species that appear to be relatively stable. Even though parts of the study area are still affected by former industrial pollution, tested animal and plant populations appear to be viable and are currently thriving. We conclude that by allowing natural regeneration, valuable and species-rich biotic communities can be achieved even in urban regions. At least in the urban context, this model of regeneration presents a viable alternative to more traditional, managed restoration.
