FORUM: Do green roofs help urban biodiversity conservation?

Wildflower green roofs for urban landscaping, ecological sustainability and biodiversity

The aim of this trial was to test a wildflower roof in order to show how a country landscape fits in an urban environment. The bio-agronomic performance, the biodiversity dynamics during the two-years experiment, and the pollinating fauna, were analysed. Each plant group was able to efficiently colonize the surface of the roof though in different periods and with various modalities. Thermal ins...

Do green roofs provide habitat for bats in urban areas ?

As the world population continues to increase, with more than 50 percent of people now residing within cities, remaining natural and semi-natural habitats within urban areas play an increasingly important role for people and wildlife (Mortberg and Wallentinus, 2000; Benedict and McMahon, 2002; Jim, 2004; Town and Country Planning Association, 2004; Bierwagen, 2007; Gill et al., 2007; Tratalos e...

Positive effects of vegetation: urban heat island and green roofs.

This paper attempts to evaluate the positive effects of vegetation with a multi-scale approach: an urban and a building scale. Monitoring the urban heat island in four areas of New York City, we have found an average of 2 °C difference of temperatures between the most and the least vegetated areas, ascribable to the substitution of vegetation with man-made building materials. At micro-scale, we...

Performance evaluation of green roofs in urban runoff reduction

Urbanism directly affects the hydrological cycle. One of the ways to manage runoffs in urban areas that is considered nowadays is green roof creation. Green roof is mainly created in humid and semi-humid areas, and efficiency of green roofs in arid and semi-arid areas has attracted less attention. In the current study, to evaluate the effect of green roof in arid and semi-arid to reduce runoff,...

Green Roofs as Urban Ecosystems: Ecological Structures, Functions, and Services