Assessing urban parks design and its influence on natural systems health

Ensuring biodiversity is maintained as Edmonton continues to grow is vital in maintaining Regional connectivity and ensuring long term sustainability of the City’s natural systems and the ecosystem services that it provides to Edmonton’s residents. The goal of this project is to identify public open space site characteristics that are associated with increased (or decreased) wildlife visitation and species richness observations. This project will assist the City in assessing the health and sustainability of Edmonton’s natural systems by using biodiversity of wildlife species as a “barometer” of ecosystem health. Results will be used to inform future recommendations on urban open space parks design and support the implementation work of Breathe: Edmonton’s Green Network Strategy.

Faculty Supervisor:

Robert Summers

Student:

Partner:

City of Edmonton

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services; Public administration

University:

University of Alberta

Program: