Solutions-oriented conservation science in the Anthropocene: biodiversity outcomes of urban interventions

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Despite a growing body of conservation science, biodiversity across many taxa continues to decline worldwide. As action becomes ever more urgent, conservation science must move from understanding threats, to designing and testing solutions. Urban areas are critical for biodiversity conservation, as urbanization is a major contributor to biodiversity loss. Moreover, urban biodiversity represents the predominant exposure to nature and opportunity to engage with conservation for over half of the global population. As such, an increasing number of nature-based solutions and ecological restoration programs target biodiversity conservation in cities. Examples include tree planting, invasive species removal, and reducing human disturbance, and these initiatives can create habitat, reduce fragmentation, and minimize threats. Yet, how wildlife responds to conservation interventions in highly modified urban environments is unclear. This lack of understanding can lead to reduced efficacy and potentially costly project failures. My ultimate aim is to test the outcome of urban conservation solutions for wildlife communities in order to guide and mobilize more effective interventions. The long-term goal of my research program is to develop a framework for how bird and mammal communities respond to threat mitigation and habitat enhancement in complex, human-dominated urban environments. Over the next five years my trainees and I will pursue three short-term objectives that will combine broad evidence synthesis with direct testing of specific conservation interventions. To work towards my long-term goal, these objectives include: 1) examine key threats to wildlife in urban areas and the current evidence base for the effectiveness of mitigation; 2) determine whether reducing traffic, a key threat in an urban park, changes wildlife behaviour and demography; and 3) explore different factors affecting the recovery of bird communities after native tree-planting in urban schoolyards. As cities continue to grow, planning is required to guide more effective conservation solutions. My research program will grow the evidence base for urban wildlife conservation and resolve uncertainties about key urban biodiversity threats and mitigation. My research group will directly undertake conservation solutions and evaluate their impact, generating tangible environmental benefits for people and wildlife. We will involve scientists, managers, planners, and municipal decision-makers and importantly, co-produce knowledge with community members. This will ensure the research objectives and results are relevant and knowledge is mobilized. By providing networking opportunities with a broad group of collaborators and developing both field and modelling skills, trainees will be prepared for a range of scientific careers in the fundamental and applied realms.