Indigenous and spontaneous vegetation: their relationship to urban development in the city of Leeds, UK

The concepts of indigenous and spontaneous vegetation are considered as subsets of the broader category, semi-natural vegetation. Indigenous vegetation is conceptualised as that which has originated in a rural landscape and developed over a time period of several centuries or more, either naturally or as a result of traditional management methods, together with the environmental conditions supporting it. In contrast, spontaneous vegetation is that which has naturally colonised derelict urban sites, mainly within the last century. An investigation, using map and aerial photographic data, examined the relative proportions of potentially indigenous and spontaneous vegetation on proposed development sites in Leeds, a large industrial city in the UK. Results suggested that spontaneous vegetation occupied approximately 13% by area of the development sites while possible indigenous vegetation occupied as little as 5%. However, further analysis suggested that approximately 25% of the proposed development sites were within 0.5 km of a designated site containing indigenous vegetation. It is argued that both types of semi-natural vegetation can make positive contributions to the urban environment but that public perception of spontaneous vegetation and, in particular, the locations where it occurs, are often negative. Further research into public perceptions of semi-natural vegetation and ways of incorporating it into urban development are required.