So the big idea is: Urban gardens are green spaces jammed with diversity. There will often be 20 crop plants, a dozen weeds within garden beds, and then a slew of incidental species in areas between and around the garden beds, and in beds that have been abandoned. So we have botanical diversity. Bed boundaries, stray lumber, compost piles all provide structural complexity. Together these features of gardens will create spaces for many kinds of animals life.
If we regard biodiversity as a community resource, it would be interesting to know how much gardens contribute to overall diversity. How many kinds of Insects and spiders do they host? In our study we will try to answer this question for the system of community gardens in Hartford. We will also try to tease out the factors that underlie diversity, such as the size, plant diversity, and characteristics of adjacent spaces.
Our initial thought is to focus on ants, for at least 2 reasons: 1) Ants are really cool; 2) It is a small enough taxonomic group that we can reliably count and ID all specimens.
If we regard biodiversity as a community resource, it would be interesting to know how much gardens contribute to overall diversity. How many kinds of Insects and spiders do they host? In our study we will try to answer this question for the system of community gardens in Hartford. We will also try to tease out the factors that underlie diversity, such as the size, plant diversity, and characteristics of adjacent spaces.
Our initial thought is to focus on ants, for at least 2 reasons: 1) Ants are really cool; 2) It is a small enough taxonomic group that we can reliably count and ID all specimens.