Biodiversity of flora and fauna

Rooftop farming can contribute to urban biodiversity in terms of providing habitats and creating an urban green network. In addition, the cultivation of plants on roofs can provide places where wild animals and plants can survive and reproduce. Chosen cultivation practices and plant species can improve habitats and present more opportunities for wildlife and if flowering plants are grown together with vegetables, wild pollinators and domestic bees are attracted, providing pollination for edible species too. The presence of pollinators also contributes to a trophic web, attracting other species, such as predators (spiders and birds) and parasites (e.g. wasps). Thus, green roofs are an opportunity to create greenways in anthropized areas, combating the habitat fragmentation caused by urban expansion. This chapter highlights the differences between different levels of green roof management in relation to their contribution to urban biodiversity and considers agrobiodiversity in relation to cultivated species and local cultivars. Finally, rooftop fauna has been considered in order to assess the attraction of rooftop habitats to animal species, especially wild and domestic pollinators.