Plant colour as a visual aspect of biological conservation

Plant colour has not been specifically considered as part of biological diversity. The absence of visual attributes in discussions of biodiversity and its conservation appears to have arisen due to the confinement of conservation to the disciplinary territory of science and to the protection of species. This essay draws attention to the need to consider colour as an aspect of biological diversity in need of protection and management. It focuses on the colour of plants which we see, and what plant colour means to us as a representation of local place or biogeographical region; it is not concerned with the visual abilities of the human eye. The distinctiveness of the colours of regional plant species and changes in plant colour in landscapes undergoing urbanisation are discussed. Plant colour as an aspect of visual diversity needs to be considered for conservation as a component of the diversity of biogeographic regions, and visual diversity acknowledged in ecology as an important aspect of biology not just worthy of conservation, but helpful to conservation ambitions.