Natural Thoughts: An Urban Naturalist?

"Dude, why did you want to move to Chicago?  Why don't you want to be like out in Glacier National Park or the Grand Canyon?" my roommate asks as I am telling him about work.  I am an interpretive naturalist in a Chicago-area forest preserve system that spans one of the most populated regions in the country.  'Urban' is an understatement for this giant metropolis.  Large concrete highways tower over a tight grid of houses, apartments, and high rises. Horns blare off and on along the Dan Ryan Expressway, as a train rushes to gather downtown-bound passengers anxiously waiting at the station.   The Chicago area is the last place you would think a naturalist would want to live and work in, let alone that there is a large forest preserve system nearby!

While the Forest Preserves of Cook County are no match to the almighty Grand Canyon or the roar of waterfalls along the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon, I still enjoy the peaceful respite from the rush of traffic and congestion.  I can watch a Great Egret (Ardea alba) stalk fish in a shallow pond or observe giant sunflowers growing in a small prairie or roadside ditch...and then go out for coffee or do some shopping downtown.

The truth is, I don't want to be working out in some remote location such as Bryce Canyon or the Boundary Waters of Minnesota.  I want to work where most people live.  Most people don't live in the middle of nowhere.  They live in cities.  And it's people in cities that need environmental education the most.

"But there's so much wildlife out there!  My friend who lives out in Colorado sees elk and moose all the time!" exclaims my roommate, not buying into my sentimental mission statement of educating urbanites.  I know where my roomate's puzzlement is originating from.  His perspective of nature would be summed in one of many paintings of the Hudson River School - a romanticized impression of nature.  My roomate was very surprised when I told him that the southern part of Chicago was more biologically diverse (more species of plants, animals, and fungi) than many of the areas of the Rocky Mountains that he has visited on his Walden-like spiritual quests . He had troubles believing me.  No, the Chicago area no longer has giant bison running around nor does it have large mountains and canyons (although it once had a lot more large sand dunes), but it does have a more subtle beauty whose remnants can be observed in the nearby forest preserve system.

I believe the romanticized impression of nature that my roommate apparently has adopoted is based on the assumption that industrialized cities like Chicago don't have much nature, whereas scenic wilderness areas do.  Not only is this far from the truth, but it is unfortunate because natural landscapes within urban areas are proving to be critical to the health and sustainability of ecosystems - including human ecosystems like the Windy City!  Indeed, urban natural areas are grossly unappreciated.

Figure 1:  Large natural reserves surrounded by urban areas are still effective in protecting dozens of species of plants and wildlife.  Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus) grows on a forested sand dune in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, a national park located within minutes of downtown Chicago and surrounded by industrial development.

Figure 2:  Prairie grasses grow along the Chicago Lakefront, providing critical habitat for migratory birds and a peaceful respite for people living in the city.  

Figure 3:  Urban areas like Chicago may not have the dramatic natural scenery of other regions, but can still lend some interesting natural wonders.  Cactus, a plant not commonly encountered in the Midwest, grows in a sandy and gravely area in Gary, Indiana, a town notorious for its urban blight.  

Most people are living in cities now, and this is a trend that is expected to continue,  Already,  more than half of the world's human population is in cities, and by 2050, 66% of people will live, work, and play in urban areas (United Nations, 2014).  The 2010 U.S. Census reported that over 80% of Americans are living in urban and suburban areas, and this trend is expected to continue as our population grows and spreads out.


Because most people are already living in cities, it has become even more critical to protect natural resources within urban areas.  Urban ecology is the study of the interactions of nature within urbanized landscapes.  For example, ongoing research is examining the ecological ramifications of an increased coyote populations within the municipal boundaries of Chicago (Forest Preserves of Cook County, 2015). In the Chesapeake Bay area, cities are trying to reduce urban storm-water runoff by protecting green spaces along rivers and by incorporating native landscaping in parking lots and along busy streets.

Stewarding natural resources in urban areas is in some respects more complicated than managing wilderness areas.  Habitat fragmentation is often much more intense, and only a handful of plant and wildlife species can tolerate an urbanized landscape.  In spite of that, many urban nature preserves hold globally rare species of plants and animals.  For example, a system of urban nature preserves in Northwest Indiana that have remnant sand savannas and dune and swale habitats are homes for the federally endangered Karner Blue Butterfly (Lycaedies melissa samuelis) (The Nature Conservancy, 2015) as well as over a dozen species of native orchids.

As urban natural areas are increasingly under the limelight, cities themselves are looking for ways to become greener and cleaner for wildlife as well as people.   Urban planning is concerned with increasing the quality of life for people living in cities.  Urban planning is a multidisciplinary field that includes ecological sciences, social sciences, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), community organizing,  civil engineering, communications, and natural history knowledge.  Urban planners work with multiple stakeholders, including civic groups, politicians, engineers, businesses, ecologists, and others to ensure that cities are maintained and managed indefinitely in a manner that allows:

• People to safely get to where they are going, 
• Cleaner air
• Protection for waterways and wetlands 
• New construction that utilizes previously developed areas, instead of expanding development outward into forests or on fertile farmland.

As I advance through my career, I am beginning to realize that urban living will continue to be apart of my lifestyle.  I am truly a "city person" at heart and I believe urban living and nature can coexist to some extent.  Indeed, nature and cities must coexist  as most people (including myself) would not or cannot live in the middle of the wilderness.

I am a naturalist living in the nation's third largest city.  I am an urban naturalist, and as I move forward with my career I will gradually transition from an interpretive naturalist to an urban planner in order to keep myself and others moving forward with a greener and happier way of living.

Figure 4:  Milwaukee's Beerline Trail.  This abandoned railroad right-of-way was cleared of invasive species like Buckthorn  (Rhamnus spp.) and replanted with a variety of native prairie flowers and grasses , while the old railroad ties were replaced with a bike path.  

References

Coyotes in Cook County. (n.d.). Retrieved July 5, 2015, from http://fpdcc.com/conservation/people-and-wildlife/coyotes-faq/


SLMR, The Nature Conservancy. (n.d.). Retrieved July 5, 2015.


United States Census Bureau. (2010). Retrieved June 26, 2015, from https://ask.census.gov/faq.php?id=5000&faqId=5971 

World’s population increasingly urban with more than half living in urban areas | UN DESA | United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2014, July 10). Retrieved June 26, 2015, from http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/population/world-urbanization-prospects-2014.html