Developed countries witnessed an 80% expansion of urban land use between 1990 and 2015. This is leading to degradation of ecosystems and habitats, resulting in a general loss of biodiversity in urban areas. I investigated the habitat potential of urban green roofs in Charlotte, NC, to evaluate the effect of local environmental variables on invertebrate diversity and abundance on urban green roofs. I specifically considered five green roofs in Charlotte, NC, and set up pan and pitfall traps as well as vacuum sampling in order to collect invertebrate samples. I recorded the quality of habitat by measuring temperature, relative humidity, and vegetation cover at each trap location; I identified individuals to order. I hypothesized that older, larger roofs would have higher abundance and richness. I predicted higher temperature and humidity to result in lower abundance and richness. I also predicted higher cover of vegetation to be associated with higher abundance and richness. My results found a dominant association of local roof characteristics with total abundance, order richness, and Berger-Parker evenness. Higher temperatures and lower humidity were associated with lower abundances. Vegetative cover played a more varied role: higher cover of forbs predicted lower abundances, while higher cover of graminoids predicted higher abundances. While most results matched my predictions, it is recommended that individual factors be explored in greater detail to help uncover potentially masked or complex effects captured by the broad measures recorded in the present study.
