Can Green Roofs Function as True Ecosystems? with The Biological Recording Company

Green roofs, exposed to wind, heat, and drought, might seem like unlikely places for ecological development. But can they become self-sustaining ecosystems? How do they interact with the surrounding flora and fauna? How quickly do they develop, and which insects choose to live there? Crucially, which design choices make these elevated habitats most supportive for biodiversity?

Over the past six years, Eva Drukker has explored these questions through literature review and intensive fieldwork across 10,000 m² of green roofs – catching and identifying insects, analysing soils, and monitoring plant communities. In this presentation, I will share what these studies reveal about how green roofs function, how life assembles on them, and how thoughtful design can turn them into thriving urban ecosystems.

Eva Drukker is a PhD researcher at Wagenigen University & Research in the Netherlands, focusing on interaction networks of arthropod communities and plant communities on green roofs.