Plant flowers and plants on the roof
Can birds be summoned back?
People often use "birds and flowers" to describe the excellent environment, it can be seen that in the public perception, the plant community with a hundred flowers and the animal community with birds chirping is an important indicator to measure the ecological environment of a region, and for the animal community, birds are the animal groups that can be perceived and felt by humans. With their beautiful feathers, beautiful songs, dexterous posture and lively behavior, birds have become the most familiar wildlife group for city dwellers. But how can we increase the diversity of urban birds and bring dwindling birds back to our urban periphery? This is an important issue in urban planning and greening projects.
Pictured: A home sparrow foraging in an urban environment
What about the impact of cities on bird diversity?
The construction and expansion of cities has a significant impact on bird diversity. Compared with the native habitat of birds, cities have some special environmental characteristics: first, artificial structures and landscapes replace natural structures and landscapes, especially buildings and artificially planted trees replace native woodlands and other habitats, resulting in great changes in the habitat environment of birds; Secondly, a large number of landscapes have been constructed in urban construction, which also means that there are a large number of boundaries between landscapes and landscapes, and the area of a specific single landscape is small and fragmented, and the differences between different landscapes lead to the heterogeneity of the living environment of birds. In addition, the air, sound, light and other pollution generated by people, vehicles and machinery in the city is much higher than that of the natural environment, which poses a great challenge to the life of birds.
The "bird strikes" caused by the glass facades used frequently in cities are an important human factor in the casualties of urban birds
The Chenshan Botanical Garden pastes anti-"bird strike" film on the glass structures in the park to reduce bird strikes
According to research, most scholars believe that the diversity and community richness of birds in urban environments declines with increasing urbanization. However, some studies have shown that moderate urbanization will increase bird diversity and community richness to a certain extent, which may be due to more abundant food resources and less natural enemy threats in cities. However, the community composition of birds has undergone many changes compared with the native environment, for example, birds originally adapted to woodland and wetland life migrate out with the disappearance and disturbance of trees and wetlands, and migratory birds in transit also choose areas far away from cities as temporary habitats or transit channels; Birds adapted to urban environments and able to make good use of artificial resources have become the main groups in cities. For example, in the Beijing area, Lou Yan has become a dominant group because of its ability to use urban building structures to build nests. For Shanghai, birds such as the pearl-necked dove, black thrush, sparrow, and bald bulbul have become the dominant group of urban birds due to their low reproductive requirements and strong adaptability. In addition, the population of exotic birds caused by pet escape and release in cities has also become a unique ecological phenomenon in cities.
Hong Kong formed a small sunflower cockatoo population native to Southeast Asia
Effects of roof gardens on birds
It can be seen that the focus of improving the diversity and population richness of urban birds lies in building an environment suitable for birds to inhabit and breed. Increase the density of bird habitats and reduce boundary fragmentation; Reduce pollution factors such as air, sound, light, etc. Considering the reality of urban planning and construction, roof gardens, or green roof technology, have become an effective way to increase the diversity of birds in cities and create wildlife-friendly cities.
The reason is that the roof garden first uses the top space of the building itself for greening without destroying the original urban building location and structure, which increases the area of urban green space and improves the ecological benefits of urban gardens. Relying on different plants to build a green habitat can easily construct a green space containing grass-shrub-small trees, which has a certain plant structure level and composition, and imitates the native woodland environment of birds to a certain extent. Through eco-friendly design, animal drinking points and insect habitats can also be organically integrated into the construction of roof gardens, providing birds with a more convenient and effective living space. In addition, roof gardens are usually located high, away from more polluted surface roads, and human activities are relatively less disturbed, which is more suitable for birds. Therefore, a well-designed roof garden is more attractive to birds, especially forest birds, than the same area and plant greenery.
Shanghai Metro Puhuitang Base roof greening (with rich community hierarchy, suitable for birds)
Take the construction of the roof garden of Shanghai Zizhu Lingshi Kindergarten as an example, the roof garden will attract birds and companion animals as one of the ecological indicators of the design. The garden is composed of fruit-bearing shrubs and nectar plants to form the main body of garden plants, and trees are matched to form an environment suitable for birds to inhabit, and uses fountains, artificial streams and other landscapes to build water sources for birds to drink and bathe, and build a roof garden with the goal of attracting birds. Subsequent results showed that the garden successfully attracted birds such as sparrows and magpies, and more types of birds appeared in winter. This proves that designed roof gardens play an important role in enhancing the diversity and abundance of urban birds. In the future, with more high-standard roof gardens with rich hierarchies being built in the city, I believe that more birds will return to the city, so that our city has more birds singing.
Design drawing of the roof garden of Zizhu kindergarten
Precautions for epidemic prevention and control
Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden is currently only open to Gates 1 and 2, and Gate 3 is temporarily closed.
1. Visitors must pass the digital sentinel to check the valid nucleic acid test negative certificate within 72 hours. Personnel with a body temperature of more than 37.3°C and a red and yellow health code are refused entry to the park, and cooperate with the flow regulation and control work. (Specifically implemented according to the city's epidemic prevention and control requirements)
2. The opening hours of the park (8:00-17:00), the number of people entering the park throughout the day and the instantaneous carrying capacity are controlled below 50% of the maximum carrying capacity.
3. Tourists purchasing tickets to implement online reservation real-name purchase, need to make an online reservation one day in advance to purchase tickets, and do not provide on-site reservation and ticket purchase service.
4. According to the requirements of epidemic prevention, 4D cinemas, climbing nets and other places in the park are temporarily closed to the public, please understand.
5. Visitors must strictly implement the epidemic prevention regulations in public places during the entry and visit of the park, wear masks throughout the process, maintain a distance of more than 2 meters, do not gather or get together, and follow the guidance of on-site personnel. Enter the toilet and other areas to cooperate with the site code inspection.
In order to do a good job in epidemic prevention and various measures, protect the health and safety of tourists. We kindly ask for your understanding and support for the above provisions.
Correspondent: Tatsumama
Editor: Jia Li