Urban Wildlife Podcast on the return of five-lined skinks
Posted 15 Feb 2016 / 0
Urban Wildlife Podcast “Bonus Episode: Pier 53 Skinks”
Perpetually behind, I finally checked out the final Urban Wildlife Podcast “Bonus Episode“, posted last October as the final episode of Season 1. This is a great finale to the first season of this offbeat, fun podcast that looks at urban wildlife through the lens of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Solely focused on the finding of five-lined skinks on a restored Pier in the Washington Avenue Green park, this episode looks at the intentional and unintentional aspects of restoration. Restored not just to create an attractive park but also to provide habitat for native species, Pier 53 became home to a native species of lizard previously not seen in urban Philadelphia. How did these five-lined skinks find their way onto the pier? Were they surviving unnoticed in this urban area, only to appear when this public piece of suitable habitat was constructed? Or were they unintentionally part of the construction project, imported on plants or materials from areas where skinks still thrive? You’ll have to listen to the whole episode to find out. Great coverage here of the very engineered nature of our natural restoration projects and the complicated questions that emerge as we try to restore some wild areas to our cities.
A Minor Post, Biodiversity Loss, Commensalism, Conservation Biology, Ecological Restoration, Habitat Destruction, Habitat Fragmentation, Invasive Species, Mutualism, Predation, Public Policy, Radio & Podcasts, Urban Ecology