Ecosystem & habitat destruction is a leading cause of biodiversity loss worldwide. My ecology research focused on insect diversity in urban areas, with stormwater management ponds as my study ecosystem. These ponds are intended to collect storm runoff and reduce water pollution before it re-enters the wider ecosystem. While these ponds are not intended to provide habitat, they inadvertently become a novel ecosystem. Like a public park replaces a forest, a stormwater pond replaces a wetland in our cities.

So, if our urban areas are filled with man-made ecosystems, does this make them unnatural? Do urban ecosystems harbour the same beauty as untouched ecosystems without anthropogenic inputs? How do urban ecosystems foster new social and ecological perspectives in urban areas?

The images convey nature's persistence within our cities. There is an opportunity for cities to retain their natural areas despite development pressures.