Roofs & Rambles

It has been a few years now since I visited any of the green roofs in Switzerland that hold breeding pairs of Lapwings. Green roofs are important habitats for Lapwings in the country as most of the land available to the birds has been turned over to agriculture. Roofs offer some of the only habitat for them to nest. However in the past most pairs of lapwings, although the chicks hatched etc, failed as the chicks died due to lack of food. However my colleagues Dr. Stephan Brenneisen and Nathalie Baumann have subtlety adapted to the roofs to ensure that the chicks have enough food until they can fly. Pairs are now successfully rearing young. Thus making an important contribution to the survival of this species in the country.[singlepic id=266 w=320 h=240 float=]

The roofs we visited were on a distribution centre at Emmen in the Canton of Luzern/Lucerne. The company ‘Also’ is the main centre for iphones and other technical products. From here they are sent all across the country.

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What is noticable from the pictures above is that the surrounding countryside is intensive agricultural. Therefore the roofs offer some of the most biological diverse habitat in the neighbourhood. The picture below shows the contrast. The roof is full of flowers and grasses whilst the land behind is an agricultural factory! This just shows that even in the rural areas green roof on industrial sheds can really provide valuable habitat.

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The lower roof of the green roof complex is fortunately in a sun shadow and therefore retains more moisture. This in terms means that there are a greater number of invertebrates for the chicks to feed on. The work of my colleagues at the Hochschule Wadensvil shows this as they have sample the invertebrate populations on all the roofs. Furthermore Also Holdings with the Hochschule have added a few water features which has also increased the potential for the chicks to survive.

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Although the most exciting part of the visit was seeing the two adult birds diligently protecting their young but we also were able to see the chicks foraging amongst the green roof. And then of course there were the bees and butterflies busying themselves of the various flowers, including Vipers bugloss, Common Toadflax, Mullein and Kidney Vetch to name a few.

Hopefully we too in the UK will open our eyes to the potential of large industrial sheds in both urban and rural locations being greened to provide both visual amelioration but also more importantly important habitat for a range of species. It would be good if some of the major conservation organisations grasp this idea and really push to ensure that such buildings are pressured to provide habitat a roof level.