This wooden owl was photographed in Marham Park in Bruyard Province, Florida. It can be found in different regions throughout the United States. They inhabit the open herbal lands in the meadows and can be found in many urban parks as well. Credit: Brittani Mason, UF/ifas FLRC.
Throughout the United States, more than 440 national parks and 7,400 urban gardens offer a variety of entertainment green spaces for people and pets.
However, forest service in the United States warns that urbanization, including the development of the park, reduces the natural habitats of plants and animals, which violates the survival of wildlife.
How can urban parks continue to have vital havens for wildlife, even because they are designed to meet the increasing needs of people? A first study of its kind by Florida University scientists explores this decisive balance and provides visions on ways to achieve harmony for the design of the Smart Urban Park.
Published In the magazine Urban forests and urban greenScientists at the UF/IFAS (UF/IFAS) Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences studied gardens in one of the most populated boycotts in the Rising Sun State – to answer this question.
The researchers analyzed more than 600 urban spaces throughout the Brund Province to explore how different material features such as the umbrella of trees, sports facilities and stadiums are related to human activity and biological diversity.
“We have found that the size of the green space is a strong indicator of both human benefit and biological diversity. Most importantly, the results we have reached highlighting that green spaces need to be carefully designed to support biological diversity, but also a mixture of green spaces with different goals is important.”

Cottontail Eastern is the most common species of rabbits that you will find in Florida, and they live in various habitats throughout North America including Canada. They live in open areas that feed on wild vegetation, and it is not uncommon to see them wandering in the gardens of your region. Credit: Brittani Mason Center, UF/Ifas Fort Lauderdale Research and Eduction Center.
Urban green spaces are an integral part of the health of the environment and people living in cities. It provides critical services such as air and water purification, climate regulation and entertainment opportunities. Moreover, they maintain various forms of life by providing habitats to a variety of species.
Urban green spaces are crucial because they work as assets within cities, and support both environmental and social systems. Callen said that these areas provide places for entertainment, relaxation and communication with nature-closely related deaths to mental and physical well-being.
He said, “Meanwhile, with regard to biological diversity, green spaces provide basic habitats for birds, insects, mammals and plants, which helps to maintain the population in the fragmented urban landscape,” he said. “From an environmental point of view, these spaces contribute to climate regulation by reducing the impact of the urban heat island, improving air and water quality, temporary storage against floods and carbon modification.”
These spaces also help store the effects of floods and help to isolate carbon. This double role-support human welfare and environmental health-makes urban green spaces necessary with the growth of cities.
An important fast food from the study highlights how urban green spaces can be designed to serve different purposes, although these purposes can sometimes conflict with wildlife needs.

About 29 acres, Welleby Park is one of the largest gardens in Sunrise, FL. This lake and friendly park provides the dogs of entertainment and amenities throughout the year, including spraying platforms, stadiums, walking paths and more for sunrise residents and visitors. It also hosts many events throughout the year. Credit: Brittani Mason, UF/ifas FLRC.
Kalhan said features such as sports fields and stadiums are great for people, but they can reduce the quality of habitats for sensitive species.
“On the other hand, the thick vegetation and limited lighting support supports biological diversity but may be unusual by people. It is all about finding that middle ground,” said Natalie Miguz, the main author of the newspaper who conducted this research as a university student from the geography department at UF.
Repeated cutting can be hurt to preserve the original pollinated meadows, and light facilities for nightcare safety purposes can be disrupted. Despite these differentials, there are ways to design green spaces that can benefit both people and wildlife. Researchers recommend the inclusion of original plant species, the creation of curtains trees and the connection of separate green spaces to provide better wildlife habitats, while supporting human activities as well.
To increase the enhancement of coexistence between human activities and wildlife in urban green spaces, benefiting from modern technology and community participation is necessary.
One of the ways to merge it is through data -based visions, which have become possible by citizens ’science platforms such as Instaturalist, which allows people to contribute directly to our understanding of biological diversity in urban areas.

The Indian name in Seminole means this urban park, which has an area of 138.6 acres, Topeekee Yugnee, a “interview or place of assembly”, which is suitable for a park known for the shaded picnic areas, many shelters, and a balcony balcony. The paved path of two miles is used by visitors and the broward residents for walking, running, skiing and cycling. Plants that attract butterflies, rabbits, ducks and more can be found along the northern corridor of the garden. Credit: Brittani Mason, UF/ifas FLRC.
Citizen science platforms such as Insaturalist have played a pivotal role in collecting a huge amount of biological diversity data for this study. By providing public members in a way to contribute to plants and animals notes in urban gardens, these platforms provide a unique and developed tool to assess biological diversity across large areas.
Using these data, scientists and urban parks can better align space management in urban areas with the needs of both human visitors and wildlife that calls these spaces to the home, Calman said.
The results of the study show that the studied and usual planning planning should not weaken the biological diversity of the biological diversity of entertainment-or vice versa. By identifying the garden features that support both wildlife and human use, planners around the country can design the most flexible and functional urban Greenspaces. This research provides a model that can be applied beyond South Florida, and provides cities at the country level, which is striving to protect nature during the service of the growing population.

This garden is located on an area of 12.6 acres and includes amenities such as the baseball, seats, candidate, cricket court, fitness stations, football field, dressing room, network football field and children’s playground between the ages of 5 and 12 years, football/running paths and more. Credit: Brittani Mason, UF/ifas FLRC.
“With the continued expansion of cities, we need to ensure the work of our green spaces more seriously for both people and biological diversity.” “This means continuous investment in research, monitoring and community science like Instralist. The more we know, the more we can design the comprehensive spaces for both people and biological diversity. Constant support is the key to making this vision a reality.”
More information:
Nataly G. Miguez et al, urban Greenspaces are useful for human benefit and biological diversity, Urban forests and urban green (2025). Doi: 10.1016/J.UFG.2025.128791
quoteBelow: How can smart designs help prevent the loss of our wildlife to seats and balls (2025, April 10).
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