Wildlife gardening initiates a feedback loop to reverse the "extinction of experience"

Urbanization can cause the "extinction of experience", a feedback loop in which people who have little interaction with nature are less likely to protect it. This cycle could result in a continual erosion of biodiversity and fewer opportunities for people to experience nature. Alternatively, a sustainable version of this loop may occur which incorporates environmental engagement, or "noticing nature." Here we combine ecological and social data to provide the first empirical test of the full extinction of experience/noticing nature loop, using birds as a focal taxon. Our study included 815 urban residents from 25 neighborhoods near Chicago, IL (USA). Residents were asked about their yard management and perceptions of birds in their neighborhoods. A researcher also documented the neighborhood bird communities. The social and ecological data were incorporated into a structural equation model to test the existence of a feedback loop. Our data confirm the existence of a loop but indicate that the relationship between people and birds is indirect rather than direct, suggesting that biodiversity changes are less important in the loop than residents' impressions of biodiversity. This is promising for urban conservation, because it suggests the cycle may continue even when the scale of management in an individual yard does not match the scale necessary for an immediate impact on wildlife. We therefore suggest that small wildlife-friendly changes to residential yards, in the aggregate, have the potential to reverse the extinction of experience and promote long-term increases in biodiversity.