Greenroofs, Solar Arrays, And Urban Farms: Insect Conservation In Human-Dominated Ecosystems

Bug Banter with the Xerces Society

Most of the natural world has been altered by humans in some way. Ecosystems that are dominated by humans or man-made structures, such as cities, can still provide meaningful and essential habitat for insects. Today, we are going to discuss research being done in various human-dominated landscapes to answer the question: how do we restore and conserve insects in these ecosystems?

We are joined by Dr. Chelse Prather, Associate Professor and Environmental Biology Coordinator at the University of Dayton. As an ecologist, Chelse has worked with insect communities in forests, grasslands, and urban ecosystems. She has managed a variety of projects from understanding basic insect ecology, like what nutrients limit insect communities, to very applied projects, such as how the installation of solar arrays affects insect communities.

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Photo by Matthew Shepherd

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.