Studying the Urban Jungle to Build Healthier Cities

[Music]

i’m an ecologist

which is really just another way of

saying that i’m a nature nerd

i’ve always been fascinated by the

creatures we share this planet with

so much so that i study the interactions

between these species and their

environments

and often when people find out that i’m

an ecologist they always want to know

what sorts of cool animals i get to work

with or where i adventure to do my field

work

do i spend my winters down in south

america studying tree dwelling primates

or perhaps my summers in the canadian

arctic studying nesting seabirds

and while i would love to hike through a

rainforest in the name of science

i’ve never actually had to travel that

far to do my work

in fact for me it’s usually a 10 minute

walk down the street

because i do all my field work in the

city of toronto i’m an

urban ecologist i study the interactions

between species living in cities

now i know what you’re probably thinking

there’s no nature in cities

or at least not enough to warrant

studying it

after all in the process of building our

cities we have to alter and destroy

natural landscapes

as a result we do see less biodiversity

in urban areas

but while there are fewer species in our

cities cities aren’t devoid of nature

think about the last time you took a

walk through an urban area

chances are you encountered nature in

some form or another maybe it was

weeds growing through cracks in the

sidewalk a bird flying down to grab some

leftover food

perhaps you’ve had more frustrating

encounters with urban nature

had your dog sprayed by a skunk you know

woken up to find your green bin turned

over by raccoons or

my personal favorite filled up your bird

feeder only to watch the squirrels empty

it and then ask

for more although we don’t always pay

attention to it

there is nature in cities and this

presence of biodiversity has led many

ecologists to turn their focus away from

more pristine environments

to study the nature that exists in close

association with humans

these urban ecologists want to

understand what species persistent

cities

which behaviors change and how we can

use this ecological knowledge

to design cities that are good for both

biodiversity and humans alike

and now more than ever it’s critical

that we think about the design of our

cities

because our cities are growing rapidly

currently over half of the 7.8 billion

people on this planet live in a city

the un predicts that by 2050 68

of the global population will reside in

an urban area

now this growth is going to present us

with some challenges

not all species can survive in cities

but as humans we rely on these species

and the healthy functioning ecosystems

they create for a variety of services

storm protection water filtration

pollination of our crops

these are all services that we get from

nature and depend on even in urban areas

nature also just makes us happier and

healthier it boosts mood

improves focus and productivity and so

as we grow our cities

we need to find ways to make space for

and incorporate nature into them

but as our current circumstance

highlights we have to be careful about

how we mix humans and wildlife in urban

areas

you know we’re currently in the middle

of a global pandemic i’m giving this

talk remotely because covet 19 has made

it unsafe for us to gather

now covet 19 although now transmitting

between humans originated as a zoonotic

disease

zonoses are diseases that leap from

animals into humans

things like ebola rabies coronaviruses

like sars and covid are

all examples of zoonotic diseases

and while the transmission of zenoses is

rare our cities are these interconnected

hubs that bring together many species

that might not otherwise mix

and so our cities as our cities grow we

have more opportunity for

sonatic transmission and emergence of

these diseases in the future

now as an ecologist i spent a lot of

time thinking about zoonotic diseases

in my phd i actually studied bats as

carriers as an oceans

i used statistics and machine learning

to predict which species were undetected

carriers of viruses to help us inform

where we hunted for new emerging

diseases in the future

but i also studied bats in cities to

understand how their behaviors changed

and what that might mean for disease

emergence

and after five years of working with

these animals i may be a little bit

biased but my

opinion they are simply the dopest group

of animals in existence

but they get a really bad rep you know

among other things bats have been

imp are implicated as a potential animal

source for our current pandemic

there are also lots of myths and

misconceptions that exist about this

group

but the truth is the world of bats is

incredible and wonderful

you know bats are the only mammals so

they’re like you and i

warm-blooded fuzzy things that give

birth to live babies but they are the

only

mammals that have the ability to fly

and to give you an idea of how special

that is flight has only ever evolved

four times

bats do it insects birds and pterosaurs

the now extinct group of flying reptiles

bats are also the second most

species-rich group of mammal

there are over 1400 different species

worldwide and just

look at that variation

you know the world’s smallest bat is the

size of my thumb while the biggest has a

wingspan of over two meters

some bats eat birds some feed on insects

and there are three species that fleed

exclusively on blood

and you know if you’re kind of on the

fence about how you feel about this

group i i get it

okay but i have one word for you

tequila no seriously if you like tequila

you should thank bats because the

species that feed on nectar pollinate

things like

wild agave they pollinate things like

cocoa which we use to make chocolate and

durian

the species who feed on fruit distribute

seeds in our landscapes making sure our

forests grow up big and healthy

and the species who feed on insects like

the ones we have here in toronto

are really important for pest control

which our crops benefit from

so just like the rest of nature bats do

a lot of good for humans

so as an ecologist i thought a lot about

disease but as an urban ecologist i was

actually doing boots to the ground field

work

i was trapping tagging and following

bats around toronto’s largest fully

urban park high park

i was trying to understand how bats were

using space in the city

where were they going at night to feed

where were they going during the day to

sleep

and while not directly related to

disease transmission this work helped to

tell us more about what type of habitat

bats need to survive in cities moving

forward this is information that we can

use to

both conserve bats in landscapes in our

cities but also minimize contact between

them

and humans you know but i’m only one

person in a city and

just like i’m not the only person living

in my city i’m not the only scientist

interested in this type of work

all over the world there are urban

ecologists asking questions about the

species

living in our cities urban ecologists

like dr carly zeder

now carly feels the same way about trees

as i do about bats which is to say she

likes them

a lot carly rode her bike equipped with

a mobile weather station around madison

wisconsin

she showed that urban trees cool the air

down more in the summer than the

pavement heats it up

but roughly 40 percent of our

neighborhoods need to be covered by tree

canopy for us to reap these cooling

benefits

carly’s work is already being used to

inform how trees are planted in cities

moving forward to combat extreme heat

so work like carly shows how valuable

urban nature can be

but let’s not forget about the value of

one of the most abundant species living

in cities

you you and other humans are critical to

the success of a lot of urban ecology

projects

many of us depend on our local

communities to help us get our science

done

take for example charlotte de kaiser

charlotte actually began her career

studying the effects of climate change

on bees in the rocky mountains of

colorado

but she quickly realized there was no

way she could collect the data she

needed on her own

so charlotte switched to an environment

where she could crowdsource some of that

data collection

a city charlotte started the urban

redbud community science program

every summer hundreds of regular

everyday people help her by tracking

when the redbud trees on their

properties begin flowering

this is data that charlotte’s using to

understand how flowering time changes in

cities and what this means for our

communities of native bees

so you have a role to play in urban

ecology as well

and for the most part while our

communities can be incredibly helpful to

us as scientists

sometimes the people living in cities

and their pre-existing biases can

actually prevent us from doing our work

this is particularly true for many urban

ecologists of color

people like myself who’ve had racist

encounters while trying to do their

science

have had the police called on them have

been racially profiled have been

perceived as a threat

black brown and indigenous urban

ecologists have to deal with the racism

that exists in our cities and elsewhere

and because this prejudice affects both

them and their communities many don’t

view it as separate from their science

but instead look to understand how it

shapes the biodiversity that they study

dr krishel and deja perkins are two such

urban ecologists

both chris and deja study how racist

practices like redlining

where black and brown people were

prevented from buying homes in certain

areas

influence where we find nature to take

today in cities

think about it economic discrepancies

between neighborhoods influence who has

access to the best and biggest

maintained public parks

it influences whose homes back onto

ravines and so it fundamentally

influences who gets to reap the most

benefits from urban nature

that’s not right and for that reason and

i really

can’t say it any better than chris does

you know economic

and and social inequality are not just

social justice issues

these are ecological ones too and

knowing this will help us do our science

better

i feel very fortunate a couple of months

ago i was on a skype call with chris

i’m currently writing my first

children’s book for anik press

all about urban ecology of course and

chris is one of eight scientists whose

stories and work i’m featuring in this

book

chris and i talked for nearly two hours

it was the first time i talked to

another urban ecologist of color it was

the first time that i’ve learned about

how you could integrate

you know social justice with ecological

research

and as chris explained his ongoing work

quantifying the legacy of racial and

class imbalances on biodiversity in

cities

something finally clicked for me

but as much as i think i became an

ecologist to study the cool exotic

species i grew up watching on naked

nature documentaries

as a scientist i’ve come to find

studying the nature in our cities far

more alluring

now don’t get me wrong if given the

opportunity i will totally go down to

south america to catch me some little

mohawk having bats

but there’s something really special

about studying the nature in cities

you know as an urban ecologist i get to

do science in my own community

i have this opportunity to unite the

social and racial justice issues that

i’m passionate about with the ecological

ones i also care for

as an urban ecologist i get to talk to

everyday people

i get to show them how science is being

done

and for that reason while a city may not

be the first place that comes to mind

when we think of nature

i think with the right energy cities can

be the kind of places where we can

foster the local

stewardship we need to motivate global

conservation

hear me out what if we could open

everyone’s eyes to the nature that

surrounds them in cities

what if we could design cities and make

sure that nature was distributed equally

regardless of race or class

can you imagine a world in which all

children have access to natural spaces

and

people who encourage their love and

respect for them

this might just help a generation go up

understanding why it’s important to

conserve nature at a global scale

because they learned how to see protect

and care for it locally first

now in saying this my goal is not to

have everyone feel like i do about bats

or carly does about trees

but as a minimum after listening to this

i want all of you to go out there and

see some of that nature that exists in

cities

maybe it’s rabbit tracks in the mud a

red tail hawk gliding

above a thermal on a downtown core

or perhaps you’ll notice that the tree

at the end of your street is different

from the one at the beginning

and maybe you’ll even care enough to

learn their names

i want all of you to see some of that

nature

because when we see nature we begin to

understand its value

and could you imagine the change we

could create if every one

of the over 4 billion people on this

planet living in a city

saw just enough nature that they decided

they wanted to make a small change

to protect it thank you