Vogt, KristiinaFriedman, Daniel Aaron2022-07-142022-07-142022Friedman_washington_0250O_24591.pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/1773/49015Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2022The continued acceleration of urbanization and land conversion for agriculture threatens global biodiversity. Various conservation plans, such as the 30X30 initiative, have been proposed for biodiversity conservation. To reach these ambitious targets, policymakers and conservationists will likely need to expand the scope of lands considered for biodiversity protection. Urban landscapes present an opportunity for the conservation of many species despite the diversity of challenges these environments pose to wildlife. The increasingly shrinking amount of land available for reserves means that a broader set of landscapes, including urban, suburban, and peri-urban, as well as a wider variety of land-use types, from urban parks to agriculture to recreational areas, should be included in discussions of biodiversity conservation. Some research has already begun to explore whether urban green patches, such as community gardens, farms, and vacant lots, can be of use to wildlife.This study built on this research by exploring multi-functional urban green spaces in Seattle comprising forest areas and adjacent garden/farm areas. It explored whether these types of green spaces provide habitat for a diversity of wildlife species, specifically mammals and birds, and whether differences in species diversity existed between interior forest areas and garden/farm edges. Camera traps were located at three sites along transects spanning the distance between interior forest areas and garden/farm edges, and calculated species diversity at each of the transect locations using the Shannon and Simpson’s Diversity Indices. Across the 66-day observation period, the camera traps yielded images of 16 bird species and 8 mammal species, with no apparent differences in diversity between forest-positioned cameras and garden/farm edge-positioned cameras. Of the sites surveyed, the park with the smallest forest area and largest agricultural area had the highest diversity according to the indices calculated. This study adds to the growing body of data supporting the use of urban landscapes in discussions of biodiversity conservation and is one of the first studies to explore the potential value of urban agricultural green spaces in the conservation of mammals.application/pdfen-USnoneEnvironmental scienceEnvironmental studiesEcologyForestryThesis