Urban Ecology: An International Perspective on the Interaction Between Humans and Nature PDF
Preview Urban Ecology: An International Perspective on the Interaction Between Humans and Nature
Urban Ecology Urban Ecology An International Perspective on the Interaction Between Humans and Nature · John M. Marzluff Eric Shulenberger UniversityofWashington,Seattle,WAUSA Wilfried Endlicher Humboldt University,BerlinGermany · · Marina Alberti Gordon Bradley Clare Ryan Craig ZumBrunnen UniversityofWashington,Seattle,WAUSA Ute Simon Humboldt University,Berlin,Germany Editors JohnM.Marzluff EricShulenberger UniversityofWashington UniversityofWashington Box352100 3912NE127thStreet Seattle,WA98195 Seattle,WA98125 WilfriedEndlicher MarinaAlberti GeographischesInstitute UniversityofWashington HumboldtUniversity Box355740 UnterdenLinden Seattle,WA98195 10099Berlin,Germany GordonBradley ClareRyan UniversityofWashington UniversityofWashington Box352100 Box352100 Seattle,WA98195 Seattle,WA98195 UteSimon CraigZumBrunnen HumboldtUniversity UniversityofWashington Miningstrasse46 Box353550 12359Berlin,Germany Seattle,WA98195 ISBN:978-0-387-73411-8 e-ISBN:978-0-387-73412-5 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2007929538 (cid:2)c 2008SpringerScience+BusinessMedia,LLC Allrightsreserved.Thisworkmaynotbetranslatedorcopiedinwholeorinpartwithoutthewrittenpermissionofthe publisher(SpringerScience+BusinessMedia,LLC.,233SpringStreet,NewYork,NY10013,USA),exceptforbriefexcerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. Theuseinthispublicationoftradenames,trademarks,servicemarks,andsimilarterms,eveniftheyarenotidentifiedas such,isnottobetakenasanexpressionofopinionastowhetherornottheyaresubjecttoproprietaryrights. Printedonacid-freepaper 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 springer.com ForHerbertSukopp,UrbanEcologypioneer and MarshaLandolt(DeanoftheUniversityofWashington’s GraduateSchool),DebraNickel(firstprogram administrator oftheUniversityofWashington’sUrban EcologyProgram),andBobReineke(pioneerpost-docin theUniversityofWashington’sUrbanEcologyProgram) whogavesomuchtoourinterdisciplinarygraduate programinUrbanEcology,but diedtooyoung An introduction to Urban Ecology as an interaction between humans and nature UrbanEcologyisthestudyofecosystemsthatincludehumanslivingincitiesandurbanizingland- scapes.Itisanemerging,interdisciplinaryfieldthataimstounderstandhowhumanandecological processescancoexistinhuman-dominatedsystemsandhelpsocietieswiththeireffortstobecome moresustainable.Ithasdeeprootsinmanydisciplinesincludingsociology,geography,urbanplan- ning,landscapearchitecture,engineering,economics,anthropology,climatology,publichealth,and ecology. Because of its interdisciplinary nature and unique focus on humans and natural systems, theterm“urbanecology”hasbeenusedvariouslytodescribethestudyofhumansincities,ofnature incities,andofthecoupledrelationshipsbetweenhumansandnature.Eachoftheseresearchareas iscontributingtoourunderstandingofurbanecosystemsandeachmustbeunderstoodtofullygrasp the science of Urban Ecology. Therefore, in Urban Ecology: an international perspective on the interactionbetweenhumansandnature,weintroducestudentsandpractitionersofurbanecologyto itsroots,bases,andprospectsbywayofadiversecollectionofhistoricalandmodernfoundational readings.WeeditorsareurbanecologistsfromtheUnitedStates,Italy,andGermanywhotogether viewthesereadingsasafairrepresentationoftheimportanceofbothnaturalandsocialsciencesto UrbanEcology. InthisbookwecollectimportantpapersinthefieldofUrbanEcologythatbothsetthefounda- tionsforthedisciplineandillustratemodernapproaches,fromavarietyofperspectivesandregions oftheworld.Wedothisbyreprintingimportantpublications,fillinggapsinthepublishedliterature withafewtargetedoriginalworks,andtranslatingseveralkeyworksoriginallypublishedinGerman. Our hope is that this collection of thoughts will provide students, practitioners, and professionals witharichbackgroundinsomeofthecorefacetsofUrbanEcology. Asyoustudythesereadings,itmaybeusefultoconsiderthecityasasetofstronglyinteracting systems or spheres. The urban ecosystem includes abiotic spheres (the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and soil or pedosphere) and biotic spheres (often viewed as an interacting biosphere ofurbanplantsandanimalsplusthesocio-economicworldofpeople,theanthroposphere;Fig.1). Thereadingsdealwitheachofthesespheres,andalsowiththeconnectionsbetweenandamongst them.Theseconnectionshavebeenandcontinuetobeviewedverydifferentlybytheauthorsofthe articlesinthiscollection.Therelativeimportanceofthesphereschangeswithone’sresearchbias, butmoreimportantlythewayandextentthatauthorshaverepresentedtheconnectionsamongthe spheres(oreventhedegreeofisolationofthespheres)differsvastly.Lookforthesedifferencesas youreadthecollection.Ourviewisthattheinterrelatedprocessesamongthesubsystems(spheres) must be studied and understood to understand the ecology of a city. This is what modern Urban Ecologystrivestodo. We organize the readings in six related sections. Together they cover studies of the natural and anthropogenicaspectsofurbanecosystems.Asonemovesforwardintime,theyincreasinglyfocus oninter-relationsofpeopleandnaturewheretheyco-occurinurbanplaces. InSectionI:UrbanizationandHumanDominationofEarth,fourpapersshowwhyUrbanEcol- ogyisanimportantandgrowingdiscipline.Theydetailthetrendsofincreasinghumandomination ofEarthgenerally,andofurbanization,specifically.Theyreviewtheextentofurbanizationandits vii viii AnintroductiontoUrbanEcologyasaninteractionbetweenhumansandnature Fig. 1 Basic components of the urban ecosystem; some examples (arrows, width denotes relative magnitude) of relationshipsamongthem;anditsglobalfootprint(shadedarea).Theurbanecosystem,likeotherhuman-dominated systems,ischaracterizedbythelargedirectandindirectofeffectsoftheanthroposphereuponotherbioticandabiotic systemsanduponthosesystems’interactions relationtootherhumanendeavorsthathavechangedthefaceofEarth.Togetherthepapersexamine theimpactsofhumansonbasicecologicalandevolutionaryprocesses. InSectionII:ConceptualFoundationsofUrbanEcology,fiverecentreviewarticlesreportonthe interdisciplinarysynthesisthatismodernUrbanEcology.Citiesareviewedquitedifferentlybyearly social ecologists like Burgess, by European pioneers like Sukopp, and by more recent emerging interdisciplinary American urban ecology teams. Again, as we move forward in time, cities are increasingly viewed as emergent phenomena with a new level of organization whose macroscopic propertiesandbehaviorarepoorlypredictablefromknowledgeofthepropertiesoftheirconstituent parts. This strongly suggests that cities are, in fact, an entirely new type of ecological entity - an entirely new level of complexity and organization - and that they must be studied as integrated systems.Preciselyhowtheseemergentphenomenahavebeenstudiedhasdifferedsomewhatalong disciplinary and geographic boundaries. Two major approaches in modern studies can be called “ecology in cities” and “ecology of cities” (Fig. 2). In Europe, we see a strong tendency to study theecologyofindividualspeciesorothertaxa(butseldomHomosapiens)withinacity.Theearly AnintroductiontoUrbanEcologyasaninteractionbetweenhumansandnature ix Fig.2 Anexampleofrelationshipsinatypicalstudyofecologyinthecity(left)andecologyof thecity(right) American view championed by Burgess and others in Chicago focused on social processes and usedecologicalconceptstounderstandsocio-economicdynamicsincities.Ontheotherhand,early Europeanurbanecologyhadbeendominatedbygeographicallyconstrained,traditional,autecolog- icalstudies.ItisonlyrecentlythaturbanecologyinboththeUSAandinEuropehasexpandedto includemorecomplexinteractionsbetweenhumanandnaturalsystemsacrossmanyscales. In Section III: The Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, and Pedosphere, we present seven readings on thephysicalunderpinningsofurbanecosystems.Theycovertheinfluenceofurbanizationonsoils, hydrology,andclimate,illustratetheeffectsofthesechangesonglobalclimateandpollution,and considervariouseffectsonhumanhealth. SectionIV:TheBiosphereprovidesfourteenreadingsonspecificenvironmentalandecological aspects of urban ecosystems. The studies cover ecological patterns, processes, and impacts, and linkhumaneffectsontheabioticenvironmenttotheireffectsonaquaticandterrestrialecosystems. Researchonbirdsinurbanenvironmentsishighlightedbecausestudiesontheeffectsofurbanization on birds have a long and rich history in many parts of the world. We synthesize similarities and differences in how various animals and environments respond to urbanization while pointing out theimportanceofvegetativestructureandcomposition(andthereforeofsoilformationandnutrient cycling) in helping to determine the structure of urban animal communities. The selections show howmoststudiesinurbanecosystemsfocusonindividuals,populations,orcommunitiesofplants and animals, while studies of urban ecosystems typically focus on ecosystem-level processes like nutrientcyclingandenergyflow. Section V: The Anthroposphere–Human Dimensions explores the socio-economic aspects of urbanecosystemsandlinkshumansettlementtoecosystemfunction,humanhealthandwell-being, andsocialjusticethroughninepapers.Someimportantsocialscienceapproachesareillustratedas the included authors investigate human decision-making and patterns of human settlement. Some articlesexplicitlyconsidersustainabilityofurbandevelopmentatlocalandglobalscales.Ourselec- tionshavebeenguidedbyourintenttosynthesizesocialandeconomicdriversofvarioussettlement patternsandtoappraisetheeconomic,ecological,andsocialsustainabilityofurbansystems. SectionVI:TheAnthroposphere–PlanningandPolicypresentselevenpapersthattogetherreview the practical application of urban ecological knowledge to urban planning, conservation in and of urbanecosystems,andpolicyformulation.Thesuiteofpapersintroducesthecomplexitiesofhuman urban institutions and the difficulties of managing them for local environmental health. They also present basic planning strategies intended to conserve or promote biological diversity in urbaniz- ing areas. To help in making decisions at the policy and planning levels, these papers also discuss modelingstrategiesforappraisingchangeinecosystemfunctionresultingfromsuchdecisions.Our synthesisbuildsonthereadingstosuggestgeneralprinciplesthatwouldhelpincreasetheinclusion anduseofurbanecologicalknowledgeinthesocialarenasofplanningandpolicymaking AswestudythefoundationsofUrbanEcology,rarelydoweseethevariousscholarsinourfield stand back and attempt to place cities into a larger ecological context. That larger-scale vision is nowrapidlydeveloping,andisthedirectioninwhichUrbanEcology,asafield,isclearlyheaded. x AnintroductiontoUrbanEcologyasaninteractionbetweenhumansandnature Citiesarebothdriversof,anddrivenby,ecologicalprocesseswithinandbeyondtheirboundaries. It is no longer acceptable – indeed, it is highly counterproductive - to separate human and natural components in urban ecological studies. Cities are complex human phenomena, but they must be understoodinnewcontexts: First – cities should be studied both as social and biophysical phenomena. Like other complex phenomena,citieshavegeneralizableanddefinableinternalstructures,functions,andprocessesthat produce cities’ emergent properties. Many of those internalities are not yet identified, much less understood. Second–citieshaveincrediblylargeimpactsonEarth’secologicalprocesses,atallspatialscales yetstudied,andwithtemporalscalesyettobedetermined.Citieshavehugeecological“footprints” causedbytheirneedsforgoods,energyandservicesandtheircapacitytoimportnaturalresources from,whileexportingtheiremissionsandwastesto,distantregions.Forthesesamereasonscities also have the potential to offer unique opportunities for resource conservation and environmental impactmitigation. OurcollectionofwritingssuggeststhatthereareatleastthreeviewsofUrbanEcologyasafield: (1) ecology and evolution of organisms that happen to live within city boundaries; (2) biological, political,economic,andculturalecologyofHomosapiensinurbansettings;(3)citiesasemergent phenomenaofcoupledhumanandnaturalprocesseswithimplicationsforevolutionandsurvivalof ourownandotherspecies. Webelievethatthethirdview–towhichweourselvessubscribe–isthedirectionthatthefield can and must go. This view allows various aspects of the human enterprise and nature to be seen as interacting forces that shape measurable patterns and processes. Human factors arenot isolated fromotherbioticorabioticfactors-together,ascoupledhuman-naturalsystems,theybothdriveand areaffectedbythepatternsandprocessestheycreate(Fig.3).Ultimatelyourabilitytobuildmore resilientcitiesdependsonabetterunderstandingofthemechanismsthatgoverntheseinteractions. Fig.3 AviewofUrbanEcologythatemphasizesthecoupledrelationshipsbetweenhumansandnature.Abioticand biotic(anthropogenicandotherwise)driverscausepatternsandprocessesthaturbanecologistsmeasure.Butthese patternsandprocessesthemselvesaffectinteractinghumanandnaturaldriversbytheireffectsandchangestothe urbanecosystem AnintroductiontoUrbanEcologyasaninteractionbetweenhumansandnature xi This is a productive time for the field of Urban Ecology. Groundwork by the many scholars represented in this reader has set the foundations for the development of new hypotheses about thesimilaritiesanddifferencesofurbanecosystemsandnon-human-dominatedecosystems.There are many challenges and exciting discoveries to be made along this journey. Travelers will bring withthemvariedbackgrounds,includingtheoreticalandappliedinterestsinthenaturalandsocial sciences.Thefieldwilladvanceasnewtheoriesareconceived,dataarecollected,simulationmod- els are developed, and knowledge is used to inform planning and policy-making. We encourage theoreticians to fully conceptualize and model the complex web of interactions between humans andourecosystem.Empiricistscantesttheoryanddocumentthedualnatureoffeedbacksamongst humanhealth,economies,andculturesandthebioticandabioticcomponentsoftheirecosystems. Understanding coevolved relationships that often emerge from long-standing interactions between peopleandnaturewillbeaspecialchallengethatmustbeaccomplishedifafullunderstandingof theevolutionaryaspectsofurbanecologyistodevelop.Linkingthisbasicknowledgetoinformed practice is perhaps the greatest challenge for Urban Ecology. Doing that will require a full inte- grationofthenaturalandsocialsciences,carefuldistillationandapplicationofcomplexecological knowledge,anddedicatedpractitioners.Thesepractitionersincludeplanners,engineers,architects, landscape architects, and policy makers. Their actions quite literally shape our urban ecosystems. Howeverthesepractitionersarealsoshapedbytheresponsesoftheecosystem.Wefeelstronglythat thosewhofindthisfieldinterestingandwhochoosetoparticipateinitthroughresearchorpractice willbenefitfromunderstandingwherethefieldhasbeenandhowitgottowhereitistoday.Only then can we intelligently participate in moving the field forward. Providing that knowledge, and illustratingthetheory,implications,andapplicationofUrbanEcologyisthepurposeofthisbook. JohnM.Marzluff,EricShulenberger, WilfriedEndlicher,UteSimon, CraigZumBrunnen,MarinaAlberti, GordonBradley,andClareRyan UniversityofWashington,Seattle,WAUSA andHumboldtUniversity,Berlin Acknowledgments WethankallourstudentsandcolleaguesinUrbanEcologyforstimulatingourthoughtsaboutthis collectionofreadings.WeareespeciallyindebtedtoDr.MaresiNeradfororiginallysuggestingthat our American and German Urban Ecology graduate programs interact. The American Ornitholo- gists’UniongrantedustherighttofreelyreprintarticlesfromTHEAUK.Financialsupportforour internationalexchangeprogramthatfacilitatedthiscompilationofarticleswasprovidedbytheU.S. National Science Foundation (IGERT-0114351), the DFG’s GRAKO program, and the University of Washington’s College of Forest Resources, particularly its Rachel Woods Endowed Graduate Program. xiii
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