Voices of the West; New Science on Life in the Garden: Biodiversity

Spring 2023
What is biodiversity?
Exploring biodiversity in gardens seems simple at first glance. Many of us define it in relatively simple terms—how many species of plants? Birds? Insects? Our gardens are relatively small ecosystems, but if we consider the possible number of interactions in even a small urban garden, it is immediately evident that biodiversity is almost unimaginably complex. Why does biodiversity matter, and how is it measured? Here I connect with three scientists in our region to talk about their work on biodiversity.Biodiversity in Urban Gardens is a multifaceted project that explores ecosystem dynamics in gardens along the California Central Coast. Dr. Stacy Philpott at UC Santa Cruz leads the research along with co-project directors Dr. Heidi Liere at Seattle University, Dr. Shalene Jha at the University of Texas at Austin, and Dr. Brenda Lin at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia. They conduct research on biodiversity in almost 30 urban community gardens in California.We talked with Liere about this project and a companion project she is conducting in the Seattle region. “In both regions, we are now focusing ...