How do you measure biodiversity, and why should landscape architects and planners care? What are the essential issues, the clearest terminology, and the most effective methods for biodiversity planning and design? How can they play a role in biodiversity conservation in a manner compatible with other goals? These are critical questions that Jack Ahern, Elizabeth Leduc, and Mary Lee York answer in this timely and useful book.
Real-world case studies showcase biodiversity protection and restoration projects, both large and small, across the U.S.: the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle,Washington; the Crosswinds Marsh Wetlands Mitigation Project in Wayne County, Michigan; the Florida Statewide Greenway System; and the Fort Devens Stormwater Project in Ayer, Massachusetts. Ahern shows how an interdisciplinary approach led by planners and designers with conservation biologists, restoration ecologists, and natural and social scientists can yield successful results and sustainable practices. Minimizing habitat loss and degradation-the principal causes of biodiversity decline-are at the heart of the planning and design processes and provide landscape architects and planners a chance to achieve their professional goals while taking a leading role in the environmental community.
"This book highlights both how important biodiversity considerations are to planning and design and how essential good planning and design are to conserving biodiversity. The case studies offer important lessons for strengthening the links between biodiversity conservation and planning and design practice."---Timothy P. Duane, Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley "Restoration requires a big vision informed and balanced by reality. These case studies have the advantage of hindsight to assess what worked and what did not work, yielding invaluable insights for both practitioners and planners."---Leslie Jones Sauer, author of The Once and Future Forest; founder, Andropogon Associates "Biodiversity Planning and Design: Sustainable Practices is a valuable resource for students, practitioners, and environmental activists that describes, through multiple case studies, a diverse range of projects in varied climates, and at scales that range from small sites to regions. That the planning and design process, and post-construction challenges and performance are included only increases the book's value."---William Wenk, FASLA, Founder/President, Wenk Associates Inc.
