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The fly that tried to save the world: saproxylic geographies and other-than-human ecologies

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Abstract

The discovery of a rare fly in a North London cemetery marks my entry point into a wider reflection on the value and significance of urban biodiversity. Using different indices of ecological endangerment, along with a critical reading of new materialist insights, this paper explores the cultural, political, and scientific significance of saproxylic (rotten wood) invertebrate communities in an urban context. The paper brings the fields of urban ecology and post-humanism into closer dialogue to illuminate aspects to urban nature that have not been systematically explored within existing analytical frameworks. We consider a series of intersecting worlds, both human and non-human, as part of a glimpse into saproxylic dimensions to urban nature under a putative transition to a new geo-environmental epoch.

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Keywords

ecologies of endangerment, forensic ecology, indicator species, other‐than‐human ecologies, saproxylic geographies

Journal Title

Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1475-5661
1475-5661

Volume Title

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell
Sponsorship
European Research Council (340077)
European Research Council