Greening The Concrete Jungle

A spotlight on urban ecology in honor of NY Climate Week and the city where dreams are made of.

Sep 03, 2024

🪸 We’re Superorganism, the first VC for startups that benefit biodiversity. Each month we publish thoughts from the frontline, company updates, and a round-up of new happenings in the nature tech world.

September is upon us, which here in the US means the first hints of leaf peeping season, pumpkin spice lattes, and for the climate community, the most wonderful time of the year: New York Climate Week.

This Sept 22 to 28th, thousands of climate nerds will descend on the Empire City for events, networking, and an endless series of climate-themed happy hours. In honor of NYCW, this month we wanted to do something different, and explore an under-hyped nature tool: cities.

To some, the phrase “urban ecology” is an oxymoron. As anyone who has visited NYC knows, the city doesn’t exactly sound like a babbling brook. Predominantly steel, concrete, and glass, your odds of seeing megafauna (save for the occasional coyote) are close to nil. And perhaps the obvious: where cities are, wild untouched landscapes aren’t.

So can cities actually be good for nature?

The Skyscraper View

Let’s start with the big picture. In the next 30 years, the global population is expected to grow by around 2 billion additional humans. The fraction of city dwellers has grown from 10% of the global population in 1800 to over 50% today, and the UN projects that number will grow to 68% by 2050.

On aggregate, cities have a major environmental impact. They emit 70% of global greenhouse gasses, and consume a huge proportion of global materials, food, and energy. As cities grow with the trendline, habitats and species will feel the squeeze: on average, urban land conversion can reduce local species richness by 34% and abundance by 52% per sq.km, and up to 11-33 million hectares of natural habitat may be lost to urbanization by 2100. (The range here depends on whether we build sprawling or compact cities.)

But here’s the catch: these are aggregate figures. While cities can seem sprawling and infinite (particularly when stuck in LA traffic), they only cover <3% of land surface. This means that a majority of the human population is compressed into a relatively small thumbprint of land cover, especially when compared to the land-use impacts of other human activities like agriculture (40%). Per capita, cities outperform. Due to efficiencies in transit, shipping, and co-location, city dwellers consume fewer resources on average than their rural peers, and a high-rise on 1 acre can house significantly more families than 1 acre of rural land.

Overall, while their growth and impacts need to be managed, cities have a vital role to play in accommodating global population rise, while also retaining capacity for nature.

Concrete Jungle

The biggest misconception about cities is the “biological desert” fallacy, that man-made spaces are entirely binary: where there are cities, there is no nature. But this thinking is at the root of so many problems in biodiversity loss: that humans are outside nature, not a part of it. In fact, we have built a novel, hybrid habitat, and nature can thrive within these corridors.

Parks, tree-lined streets, even vacant lots and road medians offer strips of habitat for nature to take root. Generalist species like coyotes, raccoons, mice, and rats have adapted to city habitats. Cliff-evolved peregrine falcons took well to skyscrapers, and the species is now more abundant in some cities than in the wild. If you’re lucky, you can see the world’s fastest bird prey upon the most misunderstood urban resident: pigeons.

A whole field of study called urban evolution explores how wildlife is evolving continuously to adapt to human landscapes. When COVID offered a glimpse of what quieter cities might be like with fewer car horns and traffic noises, many bird species changed their tune, singing more complex songs.

Cities can even be refugia for endangered species. This 2017 study found that 66 species of bird are only found in urban areas, while another found that 39 critically endangered Australian species were now only to be found in cities like Perth, Broome, and Sydney. Another Australian study found that cities harbored 30% of the nation’s endangered species.

Cities aren’t all rosy for nature, of course. Light pollution can pull birds off-course, and glass buildings can become a deadly hall of mirrors. Just this month, a new report found that building collisions may lead to over 1 billion bird deaths each year, with a 60% mortality rate after collision. Trash, runoff, and sewage can ruin waterways for humans and wildlife alike. Water impermeable surfaces (cough pavement cough) can lead to flooding, and prevent groundwater from recharging the aquifer. Invasive species like spotted lanternfly can take hold and spread through cities, while ornamental city gardens can introduce new invasive plants.

But neither are cities the anti-nature they’ve been considered in the past, and the new study of urban ecology is questioning this orthodoxy for conservation in the 21st century.

New York, New York

Of course, any New Yorker would chafe at the idea that NYC is just any city. Despite its challenges, NYC has a special environmental legacy. Eric Sanderson’s Mannahatta chronicles how prior to Western colonization, the island of Manhattan was a lush, biodiverse haven covered in wetlands and stewarded by the Lenape people.

Today, approximately 10,000 acres of natural areas are preserved within the city limits with 26 distinct habitat types, and it is home to over 2,000 plant species, 200 tree species, 200 bee species, and 400 bird species. In 2023, New York City Council passed a bill to achieve 30 percent tree canopy cover, showing their dedication to urban forestry, with its many beneficial effects.

NYC also boasts one of crown jewels of urban nature across the planet: Central Park.

In Central Park, designers Olmsted and Vaux developed the modern blueprint for a truly city-scale park. Unlike other parks at the time, Central Park incorporated unique elements like boulders left from NYC’s glacial history, and created natural landscapes like the Ramble where busy New Yorkers could still get lost among the trees. While they were celebrated in their time, perhaps the best mark of their success is that Central Park is miraculously one of the best places to bird. Over 400 species have been documented in the park, including seasonal species that stop in for some water, a bite, and a quick rest as they migrate.

If you are migrating to New York Climate Week this year, carve out time to visit some of its natural wonders: the American Museum of Natural History, the Bronx Zoo, the NY Botanical Garden, Prospect Park, and of course Central Park, where you can join us for an early-morning birdwatching trip with our friends at Planeteer.

The Future of Cities

On a philosophical level, cities are a metaphor for humans' role in nature, and the type of world we choose to build. Nature isn’t just confined to national parks and safaris in protected areas: it’s found in farms, golf courses, vacant lots, ponds, lawns, abandoned sites. It is all around us, and we are a part of it, even in cities. As the most human-built habitat, we can choose whether we want gleaming skyscrapers and brutalist concrete, or a solarpunk Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

At Superorganism, we’re convinced that for all their challenges, cities are a vital component of building a more biodiverse future. And we’re equally convinced that technology can play a role in further reducing their impacts, while better incorporating nature. Some investments we have made at the urban-wildlife interface:

Cambium converts trees that fall in cities into usable timber, preventing overexploitation of forests and replanting new urban trees.
Thrive Lot helps homeowners flip their yard into native, biodiverse habitat.
BluumBio uses nature-inspired enzymes to break down toxins like PFAS or petrocarbons in order to remediate polluted landscapes.

Other ideas we’re fascinated with include grey-green infrastructure like green roofs, cheaper and better wildlife crossings, water permeable materials, and innovative approaches for returning developed property back to nature profitably.

If you’re shaping the future of humanity by bringing nature into cities, let us know. We want to build it with you.

Notes From The Field

Updates from our portfolio companies, and from us at Superorganism

🌍 Amini founder Kate Kallot was one of three entrepreneurs awarded One Young World Entrepreneur of the Year 2024, and graced the cover of Forbes Afrique in August!

🦠 BluumBio piloted their microbial-based PFAS removal product with a wastewater company in California, bringing PFAS concentrations to below regulatory levels within two weeks.

ASK: the team is seeking intros to global engineering firms such as Veolia, ERM, and Mott MacDonald focused on remediation projects. Know someone? Get in touch!

🌳 Cambium has acquired the Forward Forestry arborist network, in a bid to keep more fallen trees out of landfill and in the timber supply chain. Read more.

🌐 Cecil is hosting a breakfast on nature data with The Land Banking Group during NCYW. Interested in improving your nature data practices? Register here!

🍄 Funga has an opportunity if you’re interested in dabbling in timber real estate investment! If interested to hear more, get in touch with founder Colin Averill.

🦦 Sway’s seaweed bioplastic made a front-and-center feature in WIRED’s September/October issue! Grab a physical copy for plane reading on your way to NYCW.

🪴 Rosy Soil: A commercial customer reported 2x faster grow times, larger and healthier plants, and less pests with Rosy vs the leading peat mix, and are now transitioning their entire grow operation.

ASK: Rosy is looking to expand operations to commercial and cannabis growers in the Pacific Northwest. Know someone? Get in touch!

🍫 Planet A Foods has expanded their co-manufacturing capacities to two of Europe's largest chocolate manufacturers, and successfully produced multiple tons of ChoViva with them. They’re also hiring for a Food Technologist and Strategic Buyer.

🪸 As for us at Superorganism… we’re gearing up for NYCW! How you can engage:

Let us know if you’ll be there!
Join us for a nature tech networking event with Nature4Climate in the afternoon on Wednesday September 24. Register now to reserve your spot (they’ll go quick!)
Join us for an early-morning birdwatching trip with our friends at Planeteer.
Check out these great event guides:
- The Nature Hub at NYCW 2024 by Nature4Climate
- Climate Week Tracker by CTVC, Sightline Climate, and Planeteer
- The Great NY Climate Week 2024 Guide by Climate Tech Cities and Streetlife Ventures

Want to join a Superorganism company? Check out our Jobs Board, with 34 active jobs currently available. Start your nature tech career today!

Check out Jobs Board

Ecosystem News

🤝 Friends of the Fund

Our friends at Experiment.com are launching the Coral Tech Experiment Challenge, seeking projects that develop or enhance technologies for coral monitoring, restoration, and conservation. Rolling submissions, so apply ASAP!
Bailey Richardson, Superorganism Mentor and new Head of Community at OpenAI, is hiring for a Community Manager, Visual Arts Read more here!
A coalition of 22 bilateral and philanthropic donors committed to invest $1.7 billion between 2021-2025 to advance forest tenure rights for Indigenous Peoples and local communities in tropical forest countries. Read more.
Social Venture Partners Dallas is hosting their annual bigBANG! conference at the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas on October 25th. Apply to pitch!

🤖 Tech

Listening to worms wriggle can help us monitor ecosystem health | New Scientist
What Does a Dying Coral Reef Sound Like? AI Is Developing an Answer | Bloomberg
The ‘Internet of Animals’ Could Transform What We Know About Wildlife | Yale E360
Bioacoustics changes the way researchers study wildlife, several pieces by Mongabay highlighted by Rhett Butler | Linkedin

📜 Policy

The Poison-Free Wildlife Act Passes The California Senate, Awaits Governor's Signature | World Animal News
New initiative aims to turbocharge wildlife-crossing construction across California | LA Times
The Case for a Clean Energy Marshall Plan | Foreign Affairs
Should Rivers Have Rights? A Growing Movement Says It’s About Time | Yale E360

🌲 Nature and Climate

Nature-based credit markets at a crossroads | Nature Sustainability
Carbon Credits Found to Be Mostly 'Ineffective' in Key Study | Bloomberg
Implementing a New Pathway to Measure and Value Biodiversity | Yale e360
Resisting the carbonization of animals as climate solutions | Nature Climate Change
Deep sea mining carries biodiversity and financial risks. Here’s what companies should know | Trellis
Collapse of snow crab populations due to climate change, study finds | Salon.com

🌄 Restoration

Cost-effectiveness of natural forest regeneration and plantations for climate mitigation | Nature
Bog ugly, but totally magnificent: peatlands are finally getting the respect they deserve | The Guardian
Nearly 25% of European landscape could be rewilded, say researchers | Phys.org
Want to See Coral Reefs Grow? Freeze Them. | NY Times

🦧 Conservation

Animal apocalypse: Deadly bird flu infects hundreds of species pole-to-pole | Mongabay
Assessing the conservation value of cemeteries to urban biota worldwide | Society for Conservation Biology
Unique deer scraping behavior can spread CWD | The Wildlife Society
Death toll for birds hitting buildings may be over 1 billion a year in US | The Guardian
‘Losing Noah’s Ark’: Brazil’s plan to turn the Pantanal into waterway threatens world’s biggest wetland | Animals | The Guardian

🥗 Food

Too Much of Our Seafood Has a Dark Secret | The New York Times
How Factory Farming Ends | Vox
Slaughter-free meat hits the grocery shelf | Nature Biotechnology

🧪 Science

Continuous sterane and phytane δ13C record reveals a substantial pCO2 decline since the mid-Miocene | Nature Communications
- Editor’s note: this title is dry, but the big headline is much more important. This study based on fossil records suggests Earth is much more sensitive to CO2 than currently modeled by the IPCC.
Sunlight and diel behaviors promote coexistence of frogs through temporal acoustic partitioning | Ecoevorvix
Early warning of trends in commercial wildlife trade through novel machine-learning analysis of patent filing | Nature Communications

⚡️ Climate change

Rural ‘buffer ring’ can reduce urban heat island effect by more than 0.5C | Carbon Brief
Andrew Ng’s new model lets you play around with solar geoengineering to see what would happen | MIT Technology Review
A $1 Trillion Time Bomb Is Ticking in the Housing Market | Bloomberg

🕺 Fun

Matching sets of dinosaur footprints found on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean | CNN
Mules sold at auction were endangered Przewalski’s horses, DNA shows | The Washington Post
Peregrine falcons mount a comeback in Yosemite, thanks to rock climbers | Phys.org
Sea Lions With Cameras Are Mapping Australian Ocean Floor | NY Times
The Great Whale Renaissance | Your Daily Dose of Climate Hope
Risking His Own Extinction to Rescue the Rarest of Flowers | NY Times
How Early Hunters Drove Elephant Relatives to Extinction | Anthropology.net
Your Name in Landsat 🛰️ | NASA

Thank You!

Thanks for reading and for supporting Superorganism, and a special thank you to everyone who went above and beyond this month with introductions, diligence, advice, and help to founders:

Amanda Ackerman, Julia Arnhold, Jennifer Bernstein, Sarabeth Brockley, Nick Butcher, Grace Chang, Helen Crowley, Alex Dehgan, Sunny Fleming, Elias Habbar-Baylac, Jeff Harbach, Grant Harrison, Heidi Burns Hilton, Annalyn Lavey, Rachel Lim, Paul Lister, Jocelyn Matyas, E.J. McAdams, Janina Motter, Tom O'Keefe, Gwen Obermeyer, Raj Pattni, Ignacio Pena, Ryan Phelan, Ross Polk, Katya Putintseva, Diego Saez Gil, Jeremy Schneider, Kevin Silverman, Jen Stebbing, Carl Tremblay, Chris Wu.