TY - JOUR
T1 - Advancing Urban Ecology toward a Science of Cities
AU - McPhearson, Timon
AU - Pickett, Steward T A
AU - Grimm, Nancy
AU - Niemelä, Jari
AU - Alberti, Marina
AU - Elmqvist, Thomas
AU - Weber, Christiane
AU - Haase, Dagmar
AU - Breuste, Jürgen
AU - Qureshi, Salman
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the organizers and leadership of the Society for Urban Ecology (SURE) First World Congress (2013) in Berlin, Germany, for providing the opportunity that initiated this consensus article. TM''s participation was supported by the Urban Resilience to Extreme Weather-Related Events Sustainability Research Network (URExSRN; NSF grant no. SES 1444755) and the Urban Sustainability Research Coordination Network (NSF grant no. RCN 1140070). STAP''s participation was facilitated by the Urban Sustainability Research Coordination Network (NSF grant no. RCN 1140070) and the Baltimore Ecosystem Study LTER (NSF grant no. DEB 1027188). NBG was supported by the Central Arizona-Phoenix LTER (NSF grant no. DEB 1026865 and the URExSRN). JN was supported by the Academy of Finland (grant no. 1263404). TE was supported by the URBES project.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. All rights reserved.
PY - 2016/2/2
Y1 - 2016/2/2
N2 - Urban ecology is a field encompassing multiple disciplines and practical applications and has grown rapidly. However, the field is heterogeneous as a global inquiry with multiple theoretical and conceptual frameworks, variable research approaches, and a lack of coordination among multiple schools of thought and research foci. Here, we present an international consensus on how urban ecology can advance along multiple research directions. There is potential for the field to mature as a holistic, integrated science of urban systems. Such an integrated science could better inform decisionmakers who need increased understanding of complex relationships among social, ecological, economic, and built infrastructure systems. To advance the field requires conceptual synthesis, knowledge and data sharing, cross-city comparative research, new intellectual networks, and engagement with additional disciplines. We consider challenges and opportunities for understanding dynamics of urban systems. We suggest pathways for advancing urban ecology research to support the goals of improving urban sustainability and resilience, conserving urban biodiversity, and promoting human well-being on an urbanizing planet.
AB - Urban ecology is a field encompassing multiple disciplines and practical applications and has grown rapidly. However, the field is heterogeneous as a global inquiry with multiple theoretical and conceptual frameworks, variable research approaches, and a lack of coordination among multiple schools of thought and research foci. Here, we present an international consensus on how urban ecology can advance along multiple research directions. There is potential for the field to mature as a holistic, integrated science of urban systems. Such an integrated science could better inform decisionmakers who need increased understanding of complex relationships among social, ecological, economic, and built infrastructure systems. To advance the field requires conceptual synthesis, knowledge and data sharing, cross-city comparative research, new intellectual networks, and engagement with additional disciplines. We consider challenges and opportunities for understanding dynamics of urban systems. We suggest pathways for advancing urban ecology research to support the goals of improving urban sustainability and resilience, conserving urban biodiversity, and promoting human well-being on an urbanizing planet.
KW - comparative research
KW - complexity
KW - conceptual frameworks
KW - urban ecology
KW - urban systems
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U2 - 10.1093/biosci/biw002
DO - 10.1093/biosci/biw002
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84961655133
SN - 0006-3568
VL - 66
SP - 198
EP - 212
JO - BioScience
JF - BioScience
IS - 3
ER -