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February 18-19, 2019 | Paris, France
Joint Event
Green Chemistry and Technology
8th World Congress on International Conference on
Organic and Inorganic Chemistry
Journal of Industrial and Environmental Chemistry| Volume: 3
Compassionate conservation: Biodiversity enhancement on green roofs
Leon Blaustein
University of Haifa, Israel
Green roofs may provide opportunities to enhance
biodiversity in urban areas. Island biogeography theory
(IBT) predicts that diversity decreases with both increasing
horizontal distance from green areas and vertical distances
(building height) and increases with increasing plot size. Habitat
heterogeneity on green roofs may also influence species
richness and species richness may also act as a barrier against
invasive species. We address these questions with a number of
experimental studies: (1) effects of identical arrays of plants on
roofs of varying horizontal and vertical distances on arthropod
diversity; (2) assessing plant species richness as a function
of plot size; (3) effects of inorganic substrate and organic
heterogeneities on species richness; (4) effects of plant species
richness on invasive plant colonization; (5) bird species, plant
species and arthropod species colonizing green roof habitats.
Our studies yielded the following results: (1) arthropod diversity
decreased with increasing distance from green areas and
increasing vertical distance supporting Island Biogeography
Theory (IBT). Roof plots and adjacent yards had low community
overlap suggesting that green roof habitats are unique habitats
in urban areas; (2) diversity increased with increasing plot size,
alsosupportingIBT;(3)increasedfine-scaleheterogeneitydidnot
increase plant or arthropod richness. Fine-scale heterogeneity
may result in small populations which increases the probability
of local species extinctions; (4) increased plant species richness
served as a barrier against invasive plants; (5) Birds utilize these
green roof habitats; (6) Stormwater drainage refers to reducing
storm water. This result is consistent with many other studies
demonstrated a lack of successful invisibility when species
richness is high. Overall, our studies suggest that green roofs
can contribute to higher diversity in highly urban systems.
e:
J Ind Environ Chem 2019, Volume 3
DOI: 10.4066/2591-7331-C1-009