Cities and the Environment (CATE) Volume 4 Issue 1 Article 5 2011 Factors Influencing Arthropod Diversity on Green Roofs Bracha Y. Schindler Wellesley College,
[email protected] Alden B. Griffith Wellesley College Botanic Gardens,
[email protected] Kristina N. Jones Wellesley College Botanic Gardens,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cate Recommended Citation Schindler, Bracha Y.; Griffith, Alden B.; and Jones, Kristina N. (2011) act"F ors Influencing Arthropod Diversity on Green Roofs," Cities and the Environment (CATE): Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 5. Available at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cate/vol4/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for Urban Resilience at Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Cities and the Environment (CATE) by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Factors Influencing Arthropod Diversity on Green Roofs Green roofs have potential for providing substantial habitat to plants, birds, and arthropod species that are not well supported by other urban habitats. Whereas the plants on a typical green roof are chosen and planted by people, the arthropods that colonize it can serve as an indicator of the ability of this novel habitat to support a diverse community of organisms. The goal of this observational study was to determine which physical characteristics of a roof or characteristics of its vegetation correlate with arthropod diversity on the roof. We intensively sampled the number of insect families on one roof with pitfall traps and also measured the soil arthropod species richness on six green roofs in the Boston, MA area.