Patches of native habitat in urban and other degraded areas provide important ecological services. A design team developed and tested a series of planting that attempted to restore ecological connections between fragmented and degraded remnant habitats in large, urban areas. Old, urban landfills were planted with woodland patches of various sizes to determine how quickly mutualisms, including seed dispersal and pollination, occurred. Focusing on Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York and Orange County Great Park in California, where complex habitat was integrated with civic needs, Dr. Handel will explore how these types of ecological solutions can be applied to many urban designs.