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Ecologists Dr. Matt Holden, Dr. Andrew Rogers and Dr. Russell Yong observed their share house and its backyard in 2020, and discovered 1,150 unique species of animals and plants over a 12-month period.

“We asked a large number of ecologists and conservation scientists how many species they’d expect to find in this setting and they said it could be only 200,”Dr. Holden said. “But after 60 days of surveying, we’d already discovered 777 species. It shows suburban (郊区的) houses and apartments could have far more biodiversity (生物多样性) than ever imagined, especially when it comes to insects.”

The idea of the species count was born when Dr. Rogers went to clean spider’s webs (蜘蛛网) in his room and wondered how many spiders were in the house. “The three of us soon worked out a plan to check the house and backyard in search of other insects that lived alongside us,” Dr. Holden said.

The survey showed richly biodiverse creatures, including 436 moth and butterfly species, 56 different spiders, and 56 birds. The researchers were also surprised to discover three species not previously recorded in Australia’s leading biodiversity database. “The house was a rich ecosystem of species interacting—we discovered unexpectedly a kind of moth, which spends its whole time feeding inside the waste of other animals before turning into an adult,” Dr. Holden said.

Homes across all suburban areas could play host to similar biodiversity. “It depends on how people tend to their homes and gardens—keeping low maintenance trees and flowers and preventing chemicals used for killing insects will lead to the rising number of living creatures,” Dr. Holden said. “You don’t have to go travelling to connect with Australia’s different species of creatures. Just look in your own backyard.”