The building materials used to construct homes and other buildings have a significant impact on wildlife. Construction projects disrupt and damage natural habitats which leads to wildlife losing their food sources, shelter and breeding ground.
Inspecting sites before construction begins is the best way to protect animals during the process. This is not only the humane approach but it may also be a legal requirement in some areas.
Natural Materials
Natural materials are physical matter that comes from plants, animals, or the ground and have not been altered in a lab or factory. They include organic substances such as wood or wool, and inorganic substances such as rocks and metals.
Materials scientists use what they know about a material’s structure and properties to develop new materials that serve a variety of purposes. They often look for inspiration in nature. For example, a sea cucumber is soft and flexible to hide in crevices, but when danger approaches, it turns hard and tough like armor to protect itself. Materials scientists want to create a synthetic material that mimics this ability for brain implants for paralyzed patients.
Many products that are considered to be natural can actually cause harm to wildlife. For example, a wool garment may be labeled as a natural material, but it’s unnatural for Australia to have 70 million sheep on often cleared native land, or for cotton to be dyed with non-biodegradable chemicals.
When choosing a natural material for construction, the best option is a renewable and/or recycled product. These types of materials will not only help protect birds, but they will also be more sustainable for our environment and reduce our carbon footprint. Additionally, using natural materials will save money in the long run as they will last longer and can be repurposed for future use.
Man-Made Materials
As the name suggests, man-made materials are created in laboratories and industries using chemicals and other ingredients to achieve certain characteristics. They are usually more durable and cost effective than natural materials.
The choice of building materials can dramatically affect the durability, energy efficiency, and overall aesthetic of a construction project. Structural materials, such as wood and concrete, are the main building blocks of any structure, while finishing and insulation materials provide a finished look to interior spaces and reduce energy costs.
Wood is a versatile, sustainable, and economical natural material that has been used in building for centuries. It is also naturally insulating, helping to keep buildings warm in the winter and cool in the summer, reducing energy usage.
Metal is another popular and eco-friendly building material that has a number of advantages, including its strength and versatility. It can be formed into various shapes and sizes, making it ideal for building frames and supports, as well as wall panels and roofing.
More recently, scientists have developed a new form of aluminum bubble wrap that could be a game-changer for packaging and other applications. It’s not quite as easy to pop as traditional bubble wrap, but it promises to be just as useful.
Bird Collisions
Birds collide with buildings, communication towers, vehicles, transmission lines, and wind turbines, resulting in an estimated 100 million to 1 billion bird deaths each year. Most of these collisions occur when birds are attempting to fly through the sky and encounter reflective surfaces such as windows. Birds typically misinterpret reflections of open skies and nearby vegetation as clear flight paths, luring them off their migration routes into fatal collisions with buildings. Buildings are the primary source of this mortality in North America, with taller buildings (11 stories or more) causing a greater proportion of bird-collision deaths than shorter structures.
Annual and seasonal collision patterns are likely influenced by factors such as variation in bird populations during breeding season, the availability of food sources near buildings (such as feeders at residences), weather conditions that increase foraging flights by resident birds, and the phenology of vegetation that provides cover or feeding substrates for migrants. The peak in collision rates for migratory species during fall migration is also expected to be associated with geographic location, as seasonal peaks occur earlier at higher latitudes.
Loss and his colleagues analyzed bird-collision data to identify species that were disproportionately vulnerable to this threat, including Golden-winged Warbler at low-rises, Painted Bunting at both low-rises and high-rises, Kentucky Warbler at both low-rises and high-rises, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at high-rises, Ovenbird at low-rises, Ruby-throated Hummingbird at high-rises, and Wood Thrush at both low-rises and high-rises. Several of these species are national Birds of Conservation Concern or have declined significantly in population, suggesting that this significant anthropogenic threat may contribute to or exacerbate declines.
Habitat Destroyment
Habitat destruction, or the loss of the environment in which plants and animals live, is one of the greatest threats to wildlife. This is because habitats provide the food, water, shelter and space that plants and animals need to survive. When the ecosystem is changed by human activities, animals may have trouble finding their natural resources, or they may not be able to find places to raise young.
The iconic image of habitat destruction is a bulldozer pushing down trees, but there are many ways that humans destroy habitats. This includes filling in wetlands, dredging rivers, mowing fields, and cutting down trees. Habitat destruction also happens when a habitat is split into pieces that are too small to support animal populations.
Historically, people have used a variety of materials to build homes. Some of these materials are naturally occurring, such as mud or stone, and others are man-made, such as glass or bricks. Some of these materials are flammable, while others are not. The materials that do not contain any flammable components are classified as fire-resistant.
In the modern world, a lot of natural materials are still used to construct buildings. However, the growing population and fast development of land are wreaking havoc on animal habitats like never before. Luckily, there are steps that you can take to help counter these trends, from making sure your energy bills are low to testing your water for pollution.