08-21-2005 - Human World

In places like cities, ecologists are looking at ways to maximize the ability of nature to provide us with essential services like clean air and water.

At the moment, paved areas and rooftops of a city often cause real problems with water quality. Water that runs off over pavement gets to rivers and streams very quickly, and this water often carries pollution. Most storm gutter systems only remove water from property, but current systems do little to filter water.

To comply with tougher water quality regulations, some urban areas like those around Washington D.C. are changing their landscaping – and designing more sustainable urban ecosystems. For example, ‘rain gardens’ can be placed near buildings or in parking lots specifically to absorb and filter runoff. ‘Green roofs’ accomplish the same thing with lightweight plants on rooftops. Margaret Palmer is a stream ecologist with the University of Maryland. She talked with us about using nature as an ally in solving environmental problems.

Margaret Palmer: Nature can do a lot of things for us if we’re clever about thinking about some of those solutions… And in general, the rule of thumb is, the less engineered the solution, the more likely it is to cause fewer problems in the environment, and also to be less costly.

Our thanks today to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

Our thanks to:
Margaret Palmer
University of Maryland
Professor of Entomology and Biology
Stream Ecologist

Written by Jorge Salazar