Green Infrastructure (GI) is widely adopted by policymakers and practitioners as a form of Nature-based solution (NbS) to help restore nature and boost biodiversity, particularly in face of the climate crisis. Green infrastructure has been defined as “A strategically planned network of natural and semi-natural areas with other environmental features, designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services, while also enhancing biodiversity.” Such services include, for example, water purification, improving air quality, providing space for recreation, as well as helping with climate mitigation and adaptation. The Natura 2000 network of protected areas constitutes the backbone of the EU’s green infrastructure and it is the goal of the EUs biodiversity strategy 2030 to find the most effective ways to connect these remaining sites as it aims to conserve 30% of habitat by the end of the decade to reverse the biodiversity crisis.
Key to the challenge of creating a functioning and resilient habitat network is accounting for the resource needs of different species. Ecological knowledge is necessary to understand why some forms of GI are ‘greener’ than others. Animal species diversity is underpinned by plant species diversity and depends strongly on resource heterogeneity in both space and time – requirements that are not always necessary to support ecosystem services. It is therefore important to know which species will benefit from which form of GI so that their placement and form if implementation also benefit biodiversity.
The research student will collate and analyse existing data sets and apply knowledge of plant animal interactions to evaluate biodiversity benefits of various forms of Green Infrastructure. They will then help to devise new metrics for stakeholders to apply and recommendations to follow when making decisions about the relative merits of alternative GI as part of a larger habitat network.
For further information contact: Dr Richard Walters richard.walters@cec.lu.se; Dr Magne Friberg Magne.friberg@biol.lu.se; Prof Henrik Smith Henrik.smith@biol.lu.se