Natural History Wanderings

•Redlining was a racially biased investment and lending practice established in the 1930s and applied in 239 cities across the United States.

• The program was terminated in 1968 but has since been linked with strong segregation of human communities, wealth, and green amenities in cities nationwide.

• In Greater Los Angeles, California, redlining continues to be negatively related to avian community patterns, their habitat and the people who may experience them.

• Luxury-effect patterns, where biodiversity is positively associated with affluence, largely predicted avifaunal patterns in Greater Los Angeles

• Legacy-effect patterns due to historical redlining also showed strong relationships and patterns of bird habitat and community composition, suggesting the practice is potentially a powerful force structuring contemporary urban avifauna and human communities.

• Careful yet deliberate action in urban greening could likely benefit birds and humans in redlined zones and other low-income areas of Greater Los Angeles.