As our cities and urban environments grow there are ever-increasing impacts on the ecological systems upon which we depend. One that is frequently forgotten when considering the healthy functioning of plants and wildlife is light pollution. Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, unnecessary, excessive and misdirected artificial light at night.
The effects of artificial light at night (ALAN) on wildlife and ecosystems is a critical and emerging area of concern, research and community effort around the world. Light pollution is rapidly increasing and the impacts are well-documented. In a very short timeframe relative to evolutionary timescales, we have transitioned the night-time environment of substantial portions of the Earth’s surface. About 80% of the world’s population now lives beneath light-polluted skies and many of the world’s children will grow up never seeing the Milky Way. We are currently experiencing a worldwide disappearance of the night sky and it is more than our view of the stars that is being lost.
Light pollution seriously impairs ecological health and function, and many nocturnal habitats and ecosystems are being damaged. ALAN affects predation, feeding, mating and reproduction, physiology and development, wayfinding and migration. It affects terrestrial, aquatic and aerial ecosystems.
This presentation explores ways in which we can reduce the impacts of light pollution on wildlife in both public and private environments by using the principles of dark sky lighting to inform planning and design. Dark Sky International, the Australian Dark Sky Alliance and the Federal Government’s National Light Pollution Guidelines for Wildlife all provide valuable guidance to enable the implementation of wildlife-sensitive lighting.

This presentation explores how nature-based social prescribing (NBSP) can inform the vision and implementation of nature positive cities. Drawing on the EU Horizon RECETAS project, it highlights findings from a Melbourne-based intervention that collaborated with LGBTIQA+ asylum seekers and refugees, groups often excluded from mainstream urban greening and public health initiatives.

Co-designed with Many Coloured Sky and cross-sectoral urban stakeholders, the intervention involved a series of weekly activities across fifteen biodiverse urban sites, including forest therapy, community gardening, creative nature engagement, and biodiversity education. These sessions became safe, relational spaces that supported not only individual well-being but also social connection, cultural expression, and a stronger sense of place.

Data from pre- and post-surveys, ethnographic observation, and in-depth interviews show the program’s impact: a reduction in reported loneliness, improved emotional and social well-being, and a greater connection to both local ecosystems and wider communities. Facilitators, who are culturally embedded and community-connected individuals, proved crucial to this success, acting as trust-builders, cultural mediators, and navigators of complex urban environments.

This intervention adds to an expanding body of work that redefines cities not just as habitats for people and species, but also as spaces of ecological justice and healing. It highlights that nature positive cities must go beyond infrastructure and biodiversity measures to embrace social inclusion and care. By integrating NBSP into urban design and public health, cities can activate underused green and blue spaces as relational commons—accessible, culturally meaningful, and healing for everyone.

This presentation encourages discussion on how urban ecologies can be reshaped through co-designed, place-based initiatives that prioritise the voices of those most affected by ecological and social exclusion. It advocates for interdisciplinary collaborations to ensure that nature-positive futures are also community-positive and equity-driven.

Urban green spaces, including street trees, parks, and gardens, support biodiversity and human well-being but often face challenges like poor soil, limited space, and low water availability. As climate change brings hotter, drier conditions and more extreme events, it is crucial to select climate-resilient species and apply adaptive management strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability of urban vegetation.
This research aimed to explore strategies to ensure that native tree species used in urban greening can thrive, particularly under the warmer and drier conditions expected with climate change. We used field and glasshouse experiments to assess the role of climate provenance and soil amendments (biochar and microbial inoculants) in determining plant performance in water-limited, hot urban environments.
We conducted a factorial field experiment at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, western Sydney, to evaluate growth and survival of 10 native species. Treatments included climate provenance (local, warmer /drier), biochar, and microbial inoculants. Plants were grown from tube stock and monitored for 34 months. For some species, plants from warmer/drier provenance showed improved survival compared to local provenance. A complementary glasshouse experiment tested soil additives on a subset of the 10 field species under water-limited conditions. As expected, water stress significantly reduced the growth of the study species. Surprisingly, this reduction in growth was not alleviated by soil amendments despite biochar increasing soil water retention.
These findings suggest that selecting plants from warmer, drier provenances can enhance survival for some species, highlighting the importance of provenance selection in restoration. Additionally, soil amendments may offer a cost-effective strategy to improve the resilience of urban forests under water stress.

Maintaining nature in cities is essential for supporting biodiversity, improving human well-being, and creating resilient, liveable urban environments. Designed urban wildflower meadows offer a promising strategy to enhance biodiversity and provide attractive green spaces in cities. Recent research by the University of Melbourne demonstrates that species from critically endangered grassland communities can be used to establish naturalistic native wildflower meadows that also support conservation outcomes. However, native seed supply remains a major challenge. Most seed is hand-harvested from wild populations, which is a time-consuming practice that can stress vulnerable ecosystems. Our study investigated the potential for using existing native wildflower meadows to supply seed for establishing new meadows. We evaluated the effectiveness of two mechanical harvesting methods (vacuum and brush harvesting) at an existing meadow in Royal Park, Melbourne during early and late summer 2024-25. We found a significant effect of harvest time on the mass of seed harvested, with the early summer harvest yielding 4.5 times more seed than the late summer harvest. There was no significant difference in seed yield between the two harvest methods. Subsequent glasshouse and field trials assessed the species richness of the harvested seed lots. These findings suggest that urban wildflower meadows can have a dual-purpose; supporting biodiversity whilst providing seed resources for subsequent sowing. Notably, the higher seed yield from early summer harvests highlights the need to optimise timing of seed collection. This research addresses a key challenge in native seed supply and offers a practical approach to expanding urban biodiversity.

Over 300 species of native Australian wildlife rely on tree hollows for breeding and shelter, yet these crucial habitats are becoming increasingly scarce across the country. While artificial hollows have been introduced to offset this loss, they are often criticised as short-term solutions with limited efficacy. In an urban landscape where natural habitat is limited, it is vital to understand the distribution of remaining tree hollows to manage wildlife. We examined the most common street tree species in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and determined the likelihood of hollow formation. Among the largest individuals sampled, 23% of the most common tree species did not bear hollows in an urban environment, despite being known to do so in natural settings. This suggests that the practice of routine maintenance of street trees limits the formation of hollows, rather than the size or species. For tree species that formed hollows, we modelled the relationship between tree size and hollow presence. Using this relationship and data available to local councils, we created a predictive map of hollow density across Sydney’s eastern suburbs. This map provides a valuable tool for managing habitat availability and, by extension, native wildlife in an urban environment.

In 2022, the United Nations Global Biodiversity Framework set forth an ambitious target for “biodiversity-inclusive cities”, recognising the imperative to address biodiversity decline across all sectors, including the built environment. However, the application of this emerging concept remains limited, with few projects directly aligned with the framework’s objectives or timelines necessary for meaningful biodiversity outcomes. To address this limitation this research presents The Paddock, a 27-home regenerative development in southeastern Australia, designed to empower residents in ecological restoration and regeneration efforts. Engagement was initiated through citizen science surveys and a co-design workshop during 2015–2016. As a result, The Paddock seeks to support five focal species’ return via ecosystem-centred design principles. Utilising a mixed-methods approach, the paper documents the design process, ecological decision-making, and the evolving people–nature relationships within the community. Preliminary results indicate the anecdotal return of four targeted species alongside other local fauna. Feedback gathered from residents, combined with insights from the landowner and architect, illustrates that residing in a regenerative environment enhances ecological connections and stewardship tendencies. Ongoing long-term species monitoring will further evaluate the project’s ecological impact. This case study underscores the potential of biodiversity inclusive design (BID) in fostering biodiversity-positive and socially responsive housing developments.

Blue spaces in cities are biodiversity hotspots and crucial to sustaining a variety of ecosystem services. However, there is still limited understanding of the environmental and governance conditions under which urban blue spaces host more or less biodiversity. Addressing this gap requires integrative approaches that can inform inclusive and ecologically sound urban planning. By looking at 38 ponds in the city of Berlin (Germany), we explore how management, citizen appreciation, and environmental characteristics of blue spaces relate to the occurrence of bat and bird species (i.e. a measure of biodiversity). Bats and birds at ponds were sampled via passive acoustic monitoring during the 2024 and 2025 breeding seasons. Environmental features were assessed directly at the sites (e.g. shore and terrestrial vegetation) and in a GIS environment (e.g. impervious cover, tree cover, light pollution). Citizen appreciation of ponds was derived by analysing user-generated content (e.g. online reviews). Management of ponds (e.g. city vs. district level, private, waterworks) was categorised based on interviews with key informants and stakeholders. We used Joint Species Distribution Models (JSDMs) to examine relationships between biodiversity and pond features (environment, management, and perception). These models allow us to identify the key predictors of species’ distribution patterns of both taxa, of bat and bird richness overall, and can even uncover expected cross-species relationships which can be leveraged for cross-species management. Our study shows the potential of applying JSDMs to describe and quantify the links between social and ecological elements, opening the door to future applications in the field of social-ecological research, and providing a valuable tool for enhancing biodiversity conservation at ponds in complex urban systems.

Residential road verges are a common green feature of cities, but often present little habitat value for fauna. As we strive to identify novel spaces for conservation in cities, there are opportunities to use the space afforded by residential road verges for habitat additions to support urban fauna. I implemented a paired before-after-control-impact (BACI) experiment to assess the value of native habitat gardens on residential road verges for bee, beetle and butterfly biodiversity in Melbourne, Australia. These gardens were designed specifically for the insects known to inhabit the area and included resources for adult and juvenile nutrition, nesting and shelter. Following the addition of native habitat gardens, insect abundance was seven times higher on impact sites compared with controls, and species richness approximately doubled. This effect was not consistent across insect taxa; bees showed the greatest response followed by beetles. I detected no response to the treatment from butterflies. The richness and abundance of bees was positively associated with the availability and diversity of flowers in the habitat gardens, and native bees foraged consistently on flowers of Goodenia ovata, Wahlenbergia spp. and Brachyscome multifida. Road verges offer a substantial area of opportunity for researchers, local government and community groups looking to enhance habitat in urban areas. Here, I demonstrate that native habitat gardens on residential road verges can support a higher abundance and species richness of insects than a traditional lawn verge. As such, this study provides crucial evidence that gardening on the road verge could contribute to urban insect conservation. I aim to inspire local councils to support road-verge gardening programs and emphasise that gardening on the road verge can contribute to achieving local biodiversity goals.

Urban environments typically experience higher temperatures than surrounding natural landscapes, making vegetation crucial for local climate regulation. However, as climate change intensifies, urban plants face increasing risk of overheating, crown dieback, and mortality. Despite the widespread use of common plant varieties in cities, species-specific responses to extreme heat and water limitation remain poorly understood in urban settings. Here, we investigated leaf water relations and thermal regulation mechanisms in eight commonly planted species—four tree and four shrub species—across two consecutive austral summers (2022–2024) in a common garden in the hot, dry suburb of western Sydney. Both summers experienced generally average climatic conditions, with mild periods of water deficit, one heatwave per season, and a total of 20 hot days. Species differed markedly in their capacity to maintain water status and leaf thermal safety margins (TSM), defined as the difference between leaf critical temperature (Tcrit) of photosystem II and observed maximum leaf temperature (Tleaf_max). Two shrub species exhibited greater crown dieback and mortality, with lower predawn leaf water potentials (Ψpre) and midday leaf water potentials (Ψmid) that approached or exceeded their turgor loss point (πTLP). On the hottest days, Tleaf_max exceeded Tcrit for some shrub species, indicating thermal damage risk. These findings demonstrate that species’ hydraulic regulation and thermotolerance traits are key determinants of urban canopy health under mild episodes of heat and drought stress. Mortality was linked to an inability of some shrub species to use transpiration to cool leaves on hot summer days. Our results underscore the need to evaluate species-specific functional traits when selecting vegetation for urban landscapes to ensure climate-resilient green infrastructure under future warming scenarios.