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Objectives

Sauvages de ma rue (Wilderness on my street) is a citizens’ observatory from Vigie-Nature that lets urban dwellers learn to identify the wild plants that grow on the streets in their neighborhoods. The data are used for urban ecology research.

Specific actions

Participants carry out inventories of wild plants that grow on city streets. They note the presence of plant species from among 240 plants listed in the protocol and indicate whether they are growing at the base of a tree, on sidewalks, in the grass, etc.

Project created
Mainland France

Mainland France

Type of project : Field, online

Participation period : All year

Level of involvement : Case by case

Participate

Sauvages de ma rue Michel Demares
Photo credits CC-by-SA
Sauvages de ma rue
Photo credits Noelie Morel

Project description

This observatory is part of the Vigie Nature network.

 

With the rise of urban ecology, researchers are learning more about the urban ecosystem. At the city scale, the wildlife species that live in urban environments are more or less known, although some gaps remain. However, at the smaller street scale, species lists are non-existent. These data are crucial to understand how “urban breaks” (e.g., the bases of trees, grassy areas etc.), urban structures and management approaches influence biodiversity quality.

 

The Sauvages de ma rue program aims to help urban dwellers learn to recognize the plant species that grow in their local area: the plants they see every day on their street at the bases of trees, along sidewalks, in the grass, etc. Even if they have no prior botanical knowledge, they can use the simple available tools to list the species growing on their street and send their data to the researchers through the website.

 

The data will be added to the databases of the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle and Tela Botanica, where they can then be analyzed. The data will advance knowledge of the distribution of species in cities and the impact of these “urban breaks” on biodiversity quality. The data may be provided to local government authorities that would like to know more about their cities’ plant biodiversity.

Co-managers

Anne Dozières

Anne Dozières

Directrice de Vigie-Nature

Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN)

CESCO

Anne Dozières

Nathalie Machon

Nathalie Machon

Professeure MNHN

Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN)

CESCO

Nathalie Machon

Elodie Masseguin

Elodie Masseguin

Coordinatrice de programmes participatifs

Tela Botanica

Elodie Masseguin

Partners