Niche diversity in plant selection for urban green infrastructure can enhance the potential to provide ecosystem service

Urban environments provide ideal opportunities for ecologists to understand how plant taxa adapt to climate change. Such environments, however, are not simply laboratories for scientists to play with, but unique ecosystems in their own right. Moreover, within these human-dominated landscapes, plant communities are derived due to aesthetics, chance (niche opportunity) or even socio-political dogma – “native is best”. Cities and the ecosystems that support them, are themselves vulnerable to climate change, and this paper argues that a more radical vision for urban planting is required both to reduce this vulnerability but also to significantly enhance ecosystem functionality and service provision.