The future for wildlife in a revitalized L.A. River | Sustainable LA Grand Challenge

September 29, 2016

A great blue heron in the L.A. River. — Restoration of the L.A. River may help provide more food, such as non-native turtles, crayfish and snails, to support native birds, including the great blue heron, shown above, in the L.A. River. Photo by UCLA.

Brad Shaffer, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCLA, comments on the revitalization of the L.A. river. According to Shaffer, the feasibility of restoration efforts must be considered in the context of human’s changes to the natural environment. Ultimately, he identifies the river as “a fascinating example of urban ecology, where species’ adaptive resilience can be observed in the presence of dense human development.”