Bird life thrives on Detroit's vacant land
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Vast swaths of vacant Detroit land are unexpectedly rich in bird life, according to a new study that found 54 species over four years, from eastern wood pewees to northern cardinals.
Why it matters: Researchers hope this bird diversity will provide a blueprint for "deindustrialized" cities like Detroit to leverage vacant land in ways that benefit both residents and the natural surroundings.
State of play: Decades of population loss since the 1950s left Detroit with more than 18 square miles of vacant land — about twice the size of Hamtramck, Highland Park and Ferndale combined.
Between the lines: These overlooked spaces can support more kinds of birds and encourage residents to spend more time outdoors, per the study from researchers at Michigan State and Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario.
What they're saying: Detroit's patchwork of vacant land gave scientists unique insight into how biodiversity and public health can coexist in a post-industrial city.
- "It's interesting to do research on urban wildlife in a place where a lot of areas have been sort of returned to a natural state or become something that resembles an area that would support different kinds of wildlife, birds just being one example," Christopher Dennison, a co-author of the study from Carleton University, tells Axios Detroit.
What they did: The project spanned 11 neighborhoods, where researchers placed audio recorders in 110 places to record bird activity near parks and vacant lots.
- Carleton researchers tracked bird activity and teamed up with public health specialists at Michigan State to focus on neighborhood benefits of plant and bird diversity.
- Specific study areas were not shared with Axios for privacy reasons.
What they found: While vacant land is often associated with neighborhood disinvestment, it can also create a restorative natural environment that residents can collectively reclaim and put to productive use.
Case in point: Over the course of the study, researchers saw local groups transforming vacant lots into gardens, meadows and learning spaces.
- "That was the coolest thing to watch. … People just being like, 'You know what? We're taking things into our own hands and we're making this neighborhood shine in a way that we want to see," Rachel Buxton, another study co-author from Carleton, tells Axios.