Dr. Peter Del Tredici will explore the natural and cultural history of the plants that grows spontaneously in our cities. He will focus on cosmopolitan nature of this flora and its ability to adapt to the stresses that dominate our urban ecosystems. In the speaker’s opinion, the spread of spontaneous vegetation in the modern world is a symptom of massive, on-going environmental degradation rather than its cause. Dr. Del Tredici articulates a forward-looking approach to the issue of spontaneous urban vegetation that focuses on rebuilding the ecological functionality rather than on the restoration of past ecosystems. His ideas on the subject have been published in the book, “Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast: A Field Guide” (2010, Cornell University Press).
