Ecology research is now being done on industrial sites, landfills, and institutional lawns in urbanized areas. These are very degraded sites, often distant from existing natural areas.

Research in the New York City area on the current pattern of urban biodiversity, methods for successful ecological restoration, and management needs of restored areas is showing that many ecological links can be rebuilt, and many species introduced to their former ranges. These principles can have wide application.

The fragmented nature of urban land and changed urban conditions put constraints on the number of species that can be successfully restored. Public understanding and education are critical for long term success.

About Professor Handel
Prof. Steven N. Handel is Professor of Ecology at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA, and Director of the Center for Urban Restoration Ecology.

Steven Handel is a restoration ecologist with wide experience in the installation of native communities of plants on degraded lands. He has had many years experience in the analysis and design of natural communities, particularly in urban and suburban areas.

Among his projects are studies of closed landfills and strip mines, and the problems and needs of designing new landscapes on these stressful lands. He has taught a series of courses at the university level and in continuing professional education for practitioners and regulators interested in modern restoration ecology and its application to the urban sphere, and spoken about these issues internationally.

His scientific background is in plant ecology and plant-animal interactions. He has been named an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow of the Ecological Society of America, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a Fellow of The Explorers Club.

He is an editor of Restoration Ecology, and was awarded the Board of Directors Service Award by the Society for Ecological Restoration.