Urban Biodiversity

It is a pleasure to read this book that documents the great variety of wonderful plants and animals that now call the Meadowlands home. -- Judith Weis, Rutgers University This book presents a critically important case study of how biodiversity can be studied, monitored, and managed in our increasingly urban world. Kiviat and McDonald bring to vivid life the habitats and creatures that have survived, and some that have even thrived, in the New Jersey Meadowlands, amidst interstates, suburbs, factories, and malls-and all of the associated environmental damage that comes with them. This will be a critical reference for scientists and land managers interested in the Meadowlands but also an inspiring resource for anyone with an interest in the natural history of urban areas. The sheer scope of the biodiversity identified here is itself a paean to the extraordinary skills of natural historians in the field. -- Felicia Keesing, Bard College Kiviat and MacDonald patiently lead us through the complexities of what is, in ecological terms, the center of the New York City region, the estuarine heart of the region. Just as the Meadowlands are a still too-secret defense against the devastating impact of climate change, so Urban Biodiversity is a vital tool in a battle that unchecked development threatens to win each and every day. -- Robert Sullivan, author of <i>The Meadowlands,</i> <i>A Whale Hunt,</i> and <i>My American Revolution,</i>