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Contents:

1 - Reconciliation ecology; 2 - Landscape architecture for the third millennium; 3 - Prometheus in the pinelands; 4 - Making money; 5 - Hidden costs; 6 - Hard-core reconciliation; 7 - Happy accidents; 8 - The tyranny of space; 9 - Falling down the time shaft: the case of the incredible shrinking planet; 10 - Fighting for crumbs - the traditional forms of biological conservation; 11 - Extinction happens; 12 - Clearing hurdles.

Review:

Considering most of us live in large settlements, the city gets a really bad press ecologically speaking! It's seen as a destroyer of native habitat and a reducer of biodiversity. Given the negatives it's surprising that any species actually makes it into the city and yet, as we all know, the place is far from dead. If we turn the idea of the hostile city around we find that what we have created are a range of new habitats. It's a premise that starts off this author better known for texts on species diversity. Subtitled 'how the earth's species can survive in the midst of human enterprise' it calls for a rethink of the value of urban areas.

The fundamental thesis here is that reconciliation ecology - the use of ecological principles to deliberately increase wildlife's use of urban areas - is beneficial to both wild species and humans. The opening chapter describes in some detail the way in which a seemingly barren part of the Red Sea was turned into a reef area. Part of this work displayed coral species for visitors but part was also dedicated to returning coral species to natural areas which might have reduced diversity. Thus the system was more than the usual wreck-diving site and more a cross between a zoo and a hospital. The idea behind this is to use the built environment to support species. However, if we take this idea seriously then we can make the next step which is to design urban areas for maximum habitat diversity. This idea of changing architecture is the theme of chapter two. Few species thrive in the standard urban environment but with some changes we can increase this. Schemes such as those to increase the variety of plants in gardens (wildlife gardening) are already well known but this can be increased dramatically if we use rooftops and parks. Chapter three looks at the effects of fire in wild areas. Although this might seem like a complete change of location we are actually looking at the management of the urban wild fringe. By creating small fires ('hazard reduction burns') we can reduce the fuel for forest fires. We can also deny trees the fire regime (especially temperature) that they require to germinate. Areas in both the US and Australia are in danger of dying because of the use of hazard reduction. Ironically, a fierce blaze is more likely to conserve tree species (but not the homes bought to look out over them, hence the conflict).Chapter four turns to economics. Can a scheme like this make money? Certainly the schemes mentioned here are able to increase profits and it does show the value of reconciliation ecology but the case if far from proven. The other side of the coin is to ignore natural systems in artificial land management such as farming. Such costs, as demonstrated in chapter five, can far outweigh the benefits gained. Chapter six and seven share a common theme - the niches created by human habitation. The former deals with the need to help species through artificial habitat creation such as bird boxes whilst the latter shows how we can provide habitat even whilst not planning for it. If all this seems too simple then chapter eight brings us down to earth. Even if we want to open up buildings for maximum habitat creation we must still obey fundamental ecological principles of which the species-area relationship is the one under investigation here. If we add chapter 9s theme - the spread of urbanisation to this then we are left with the realisation that human occupancy is now so widespread that we must adapt to allow larger territory species to find habitats. The final three chapters act as a final comment on our current activities. Conservation in its current form can only do so much (chapter 10) - most wilderness has already been declared. Furthermore, by focussing on this we are ignoring greater dangers elsewhere. Next, whatever we do, species will die out (chapter 11). The aim is to make sure we don't add too much to the background extinction rate! Finally (chapter 12) we must take this initiative as a whole-community activity by using governments and volunteers to assist in this work.

This text is a departure from the author's usual line. Rather than an academic text we find a thoughtful discussion of how we can increase species diversity but using our settlements more effectively. It's not a polemic more a plea for a widening of our traditional views of both wildlife management and urban design. As such it should be required reading on both sets of courses. School students, usually concerned about the natural world would also find much of interest - the easy writing style makes ideas accessible to a wide audience.