Ecology of domestic gardens

Domestic gardens comprise a high proportion of the green space of urban areas in many developed countries. They thus play an important role in the provision of ecosystem services by that space, including the delivery of nature interactions that can be important for human health and wellbeing. We conduct both extensive and intensive studies of the role of domestic gardens in providing biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Key references

Cox, D.T.C., Inger, R., Hancock, S., Anderson, K. & Gaston, K.J. 2016. Movement of feeder-using songbirds: the influence of urban features. Scientific Reports 6, 37669.

Davies, Z.G., Fuller, R.A., Loram, A., Irvine, K.N., Sims, V. & Gaston, K.J. 2009. A national scale inventory of resource provision for biodiversity within domestic gardens. Biol. Conserv. 142, 761-71

Smith, R.M., Thompson, K., Warren, P.H. & Gaston, K.J. 2010. Urban domestic gardens (XIII): composition of the bryophyte and lichen floras, and determinants of species richness. Biol. Conserv. 143, 873-82