Hedgehogs and Turtles:: adapting to the urban environment To many wildlife species the urban environment is not a good place to be and it often acts as a barrier. However, there are two species that have adapted, and in one case, do better in an urban environment that we unintentionally created for them. The species that is doing better is the Eastern long-necked turtle in Australia. Their native habitat is freshwater, but they've made themselves at home in the Australian suburbs. They move around easily by making use of vegetated culverts and drainage lines created to manage stormwater. This creates a whole network of movement for them and researchers found they traveled significantly more than their counterparts living in the nature reserves. In that respect the suburbs had the same effect on the turtles as it does their human neighbors, longer commutes. The stormwater management system benefited the turtles in other ways as well by creating retaining ponds which provided water when the nature reserves were suffering from a drought. The researchers found as a result of this artificial habitat the turtles appeared to live and survive better than the turtles living in the nature reserve. This is a fascinating idea that stormwater management systems can be used as
Wildlife Plants:: Serviceberry At the top of nearly all of my wildlife plant resources is the Serviceberry Amelanchier alnifolia, and for good reason. It's a diverse plant that offers many wildlife benefits including fruit, nectar and edible foliage. Many birds take advantage of the fruit including chickadees, juncos, bluebirds, goldfinches, orioles, tanagers and more. Mammals make use of the berries as well as the leaves and twigs such as skunks, foxes and chipmunks which eat the berries and deer and elk which eat the foliage. Butterflies, particularly spring azures make use of the nectar and the plant serves as a host to swallowtail larvae. The flowers can also attract beneficial insects. Amelanchier has many species so there is likely one or more that will grow in most regions in the US. It's growth habit is also diverse and depending on where it's grown it can be a shrub or a small tree. White flowers bloom in early spring and are followed by a heavy set of fruit. The leaves are a dull green color which turn in the fall to a range of red, yellow and orange. The fruit starts out red and turns dark purple when ripe and it's rather sweet and good
Did you know you can follow The Metropolitan Field Guide on Facebook as well as RSS feed? On the Facebook page you’ll find links to all new posts from this page, events and photos, many of which are posted here, but in albums.
