I NTERNATIONAL G REEN W ALL C ONFERENCE th September The Green Wall Centre, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK How the characteristics of green façades and living walls influence their animal biodiversity Caroline Chiquet, John W Dover, Paul Mitchell International Conference on Green Walls 4-5 th September 2014 The Green Wall Centre Staffordshire University

I NTERNATIONAL G REEN W ALL C ONFERENCE th September The Green Wall Centre, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK Experimental design  Animal Populations  Birds, snails, spiders, insects  Study sites  29 well-established GF  22 well-established LW + 4 GS  1 new LW with 2 heights and 2 botanical compositions  Investigated factors  ≠ wall characteristics  ≠ local environments  ≠ time of sampling  ≠ sampling methods

I NTERNATIONAL G REEN W ALL C ONFERENCE th September The Green Wall Centre, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK We showed the obvious → Vegetated vertical surfaces are significantly more attractive for animals than bare vertical surfaces.

I NTERNATIONAL G REEN W ALL C ONFERENCE th September The Green Wall Centre, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK Birds  Visual searching  Variables studied  bird abundance  species richness  individual species abundance Chiquet C, Dover JW, Mitchell P (2013). Birds and the urban environment: the value of green walls. Urban Ecosystem 16: 453:462 © Lewis

I NTERNATIONAL G REEN W ALL C ONFERENCE th September The Green Wall Centre, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK Birds: Results a a a b a a a b a a summerwinter

I NTERNATIONAL G REEN W ALL C ONFERENCE th September The Green Wall Centre, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK Snails  Sampling methods visual searching + suction sampling  Variables studied  snail abundance  species richness  individual species abundance  shell size, age structure © Dover

I NTERNATIONAL G REEN W ALL C ONFERENCE th September The Green Wall Centre, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK Snails: Results a a b b b b b a a a a a a bc b c

I NTERNATIONAL G REEN W ALL C ONFERENCE th September The Green Wall Centre, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK Spiders  Sampling methods visual searching/manual capture + suction sampling + web categorisation  Variables studied  spider and web abundances  web category  species richness, individual species abundance  sex, age structure © Dover

I NTERNATIONAL G REEN W ALL C ONFERENCE th September The Green Wall Centre, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK Spiders: Results

I NTERNATIONAL G REEN W ALL C ONFERENCE th September The Green Wall Centre, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK Insects  Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera  Suction sampling  Morphospecies  Variables studied  Insect total abundance and species richness  Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera abundance and species richness © Dover © Biedrona ©R.Wisman© LDavis

I NTERNATIONAL G REEN W ALL C ONFERENCE th September The Green Wall Centre, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK Insects: Results  GF: 6404 insects, 208 species, 86 families, 11 orders LW: 1399 insects, 137 species, 61 families, 9 orders  Coleoptera  vegetation surface area, foliage type, height  nearby surrounding vegetation, vehicle traffic volume  Diptera  vegetation composition, richness and density, foliage type, height, wall age, LWS  Hemiptera  vegetation surface area, vegetation composition, foliage type, height, LWS  nearby surrounding vegetation, seasonality  Hymenoptera  height  pedestrian traffic volumes a cd d b ab c bc a a b abcd bc c c ab a a b bc c NS abc c a

I NTERNATIONAL G REEN W ALL C ONFERENCE th September The Green Wall Centre, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK Discussion  Vertebrates and invertebrates clearly exploit the vegetation covering walls.  The use of GW and their surroundings by birds is influenced by human presence and nearby vegetation.  Spider species composition and diversity are affected by the plant composition and the type of GW.  Although the insect total abundance and species richness are similar between the ≠ GW, insect orders respond differently to their characteristics and local environment.  Although GF and LW have similar animal abundance and species richness, they have different species composition.

I NTERNATIONAL G REEN W ALL C ONFERENCE th September The Green Wall Centre, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK Conclusion  Value for Urban Ecology  With a vegetated cover as small as 3 m², green walls can have substantial impact on our urban environment often made of hard surfaces.  It is possible to influence which animal groups are going to use a green wall by its design, its location and the maintenance intervention frequencies.

I NTERNATIONAL G REEN W ALL C ONFERENCE th September The Green Wall Centre, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, UK Thank you for your attention Any questions?