Investigating arthropod biodiversity on New York City green roofs

Little is known about the diversity of arthropods inhabiting green roofs, and this is the first study of green roof fauna in New York City. Urban development has dramatically decreased habitat for native insects. A potential solution is to re-create ecosystems on green roofs. Most green roofs are planted with a mixture of non-native succulent plants (mostly the genus Sedum), but with a deeper soil medium native ecosystems can be created. The questions are, what is living on New York City’s green roofs and is there a difference in insect biodiversity between different rooftop habitats.