Natural Habitats and Wildlife Gardening - A Conservation Approach to Managing Backyards

Learn how to use ecology to turn your backyard into a thriving haven for pollinators, birds, and other wildlife with this engaging, marvelously illustrated guide

Native plants are essential for healthy ecosystems that support insects and animals, but vegetation alone does not provide the necessary resources for most creatures or their life cycles. This book breaks down ecological processes that regulate habitats and explains how to recreate vibrant, gorgeous, natural habitats in your own backyard—ones that attract pollinating insects, birds, and other suburban wildlife while appealing to neighbors and friends. It focuses on how to rebuild broken processes and covers a wealth of topics, such as the importance for gardens that support wildlife to include shelter, nest sites, hydration areas, and places to overwinter. Written by a leading expert, Natural Habitats and Wildlife Gardening is an easy-to-understand primer on ecology and ecological processes that explains innovative conservation and ecological ideas for small and large garden designs. This book will interest gardeners, land managers, natural science majors, and urban planners.

• Shares design tips for creating robust garden habitats for insects and animals, giving step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow
• Draws inspiration from wild habitats and their ecosystems, showing readers how to cultivate aesthetically beautiful home gardens that replicate healthy natural landscapes
• Provides a deep understanding of natural processes and systems in simple terms
• Includes detailed species profiles for common insects (including bees), amphibians, birds, and reptiles, with an emphasis on key resources to include in your landscape designs
• Explains how to replicate roles of absent animals including bison, wolves, and beavers and processes like floods, fires, and ecological succession, which naturally regulate and create habitats
• Discusses the specific requirements of ecosystems across North America
• Features hundreds of stunning color photos

About the author

Shaun McCoshum

Product details

• Authors: Shaun McCoshum
• Assisted by: Loren Merrill (Photographs), Miller Leslie (Photographs)
• Publisher: University Presses
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 03.03.2026
• EAN: 9780691261003
• ISBN: 978-0-691-26100-3
• No. of pages: 360
• Illustrations: 400 color photos. 23 diagrams. 9 maps.
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Biology > Ecology; Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection, NATURE / Plants / General, NATURE / Animals / Insects & Spiders, GARDENING / Reference, natural history, Gardening: plants, Conservation of the environment, Gardening: plants and cultivation guides, Nature and the natural world: general interest, Wildlife: butterflies, other insects & spiders