![]() All these facts point to the need for better understanding of urban ecosystems, and for improvement of the theory to explain and predict their dynamics. 2004), and urban land cover affects a much larger area through alteration of climate, atmospheric chemistry, and hydrology ( Pickett et al. Some 110,000 square kilometers in the United States are impervious ( Elvidge et al. The sprawl of many cities consumes agricultural lands and threatens the integrity of neighboring wild and managed areas ( Berube and Forman 2001). Second, urban lands have a disproportionate impact on regional and global systems ( Collins et al. Therefore, settled ecosystems must be better used to exemplify environmental principles ( Berkowitz et al. Hence, most people's experience of nature is urban ( Miller 2005). First, cities are home to an increasing fraction of humanity. The need for better understanding of urban ecosystems emerges from two trends. 2000)? Articulating and evaluating key assumptions about complex urban regions as integrated social-ecological systems can help contribute to a preliminary theoretical framework. We use these findings to clarify assumptions about urban ecological systems and to address this question: Is existing ecological theory sufficient to support the new discipline of integrated urban ecology, or is new theory required ( Collins et al. We briefly summarize a diverse range of research findings from the BES that exemplify the state of the art of contemporary urban ecology. The Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES), part of the NSF's Long Term Ecological Research Network, is one such project. This disciplinary maturity and utility has been facilitated by the investment of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) Forest Service, and partner institutions in major urban ecological research projects. 2006b), the interdisciplinary dialogs to mature, and the empirical base to broaden sufficiently for urban research to take shape as a inclusive and rigorous field of ecological study, and to exhibit its potential for integrating with other disciplines in the physical and social sciences ( Pickett et al. However, it has taken the intervening period for the supporting conceptual frameworks to develop ( Cadenasso et al. ![]() Stearns (1970) made a notable effort to bring urban ecology within the fold of mainstream ecology. By the middle of the last century, ecologists had begun to apply the ecosystem perspective to cities to estimate urban material budgets (e.g., Boyden et al. In the early 20th century, ecological factors were used to explain specific urban processes, such as the spread of disease in cities, and concepts of ecological succession and zonation were adopted to explain the competition between different social groups and the spatial layout of neighborhoods ( Park and Burgess 1925). Its breadth and inclusive ecological perspective differentiate the current status of urban ecology from its earlier incarnations ( Pickett et al. It aims to understand extensive urban areas that include not only biological and physical features but also built and social components ( Cadenasso et al. Urban ecology is emerging as an integrated science ( Grimm et al. These results suggest a framework for a theory of urban ecosystems. Finally, we illustrate lags between social patterns and vegetation, the biogeochemistry of lawns, ecosystem nutrient retention, and social-biophysical feedbacks. ![]() In addition, we probe the suitability of land-use models, the diversity of soils, and the potential for urban carbon sequestration. We present patterns of species diversity, riparian function, and stream nitrate loading. We address the relationships between social status and awareness of environmental problems, and between race and environmental hazard. The findings suggest a broader range of structural and functional relationships than is often assumed for urban ecological systems. Results from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, part of the Long Term Ecological Research Network, expose new assumptions and test existing assumptions about urban ecosystems. The emerging discipline of urban ecology is shifting focus from ecological processes embedded within cities to integrative studies of large urban areas as biophysical-social complexes.
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