The Ecology of a Garden: The First Fifteen Years Book

Many suburban gardens are recognized as being rich in wildlife. Published accounts of their natural history, however, are largely antecdotal with little quantitative basis. This is, therefore, a unique documentation of the wildlife that existed in the author's Leicestershire garden over a fifteen-year period between 1972 and 1986. After an introduction to urban wildlife, gardens, and the natural history of Leicestershire, the author describes her garden and the techniques employed for trapping, collecting, and recording of species. In total, the diversity, abundance and yearly fluctuations of 1757 species of animal and 422 species of plant were recorded. It is clear that the author views the suburban garden as an ecological habitat, and one of the most important conclusions reached by Dr. Owen is that with increasing despoliation of the countryside, gardens will have considerable significance for conservation.