REALLY URBAN NATURE

Cellars, walls, roofs, gutters, drains, roads and subways are not sterile but exploited by a large and often poorly-recorded range of specialised plants, fungi, invertebrates and micro-organisms waiting to be discovered by a keen naturalist with a good hand lens, a basic microscope and access to identification keys which are increasingly available via the internet. Walls and roofs receiving at least some sunlight are home to many species of algae, mosses, liverworts and lichens, amongst which many tiny animals and micro-organisms thrive. These are often not well studied and there is even the chance of finding a new species! Take a water sample from a roof gutter-pot and examine it under your microscope – you’ll often be surprised at how much life is there.

You may think that all the contamination from vehicle emissions, plastic and other wastes, chemicals, noise, and constant artificial light or permanent darkness might preclude any form of larger, non-microscopic taxa, but not at all. Amongst the larger dwellers of hyper-urban habitats are several species of ants, beetles, spiders, flies and others, although the microscopic realm of protozoa, etc. is larger still. These assemblages of urban taxa deserve much more study and understanding of their ecology.

Betts Ecology always encourage people to study nature, and even very urbanised habitats can still reward amateur naturalists with new discoveries.

Photos © Betts Ecology