SYMP 2

An Ecology IN, OF, and FOR the City

The past decade has seen the maturation of the discipline of urban ecology. Whereas earlier urban ecological research was focused on the obvious green components “IN” cities, a more comprehensive approach that investigates entire urban complexes as heterogeneous ecological systems - an ecology “OF” cities - has been added. Most recently, an interest in sustainability has led to recognition that ecological information can be used to improve the environmental quality of urban environments and the quality of life for urban residents – an ecology “FOR” cities. In this session we will cover the development of urban ecology as a discipline highlighting how it has contributed to basic understanding of ecological processes at multiple scales and to the solution of environmental problems in cities across the globe. We will begin with a history of urban ecology (Pickett) tracing the development of ideas about an ecology in, of and for the city, and include the approaches that have promise for future improvement of the basic urban ecology and its application. This will be followed by an introduction to the idea that cities are ideal places for facilitating the flow of information from basic science to decision-making and problem solving (Grove); this process has led to solving environmental problems in cities and is applicable to areas of ecology. Opportunities and strategies for improving the science-decision making dialog in the future will be presented. This will be followed by a discussion of ecosystem “services” in cities (Hobbie), which represents a formalization and augmentation of that dialog. The final three talks will highlight how urban ecology has become fundamental in ecology at multiple scales, and how it can contribute to both disciplinary and interdisciplinary advances in the future. Presentations will address the importance and growing contributions of urban ecological research to regional and macrosystem ecology (Grimm), basic biogeochemistry (Ehleringer) and stream ecology (Rosi-Marshall). These presentations will demonstrate how urban ecology has helped the discipline of ecology to 1) become more firmly rooted in the basic science of cities as novel environments , and 2) increase its relevance to the solution of environmental problems and the quality of life on a human-dominated planet.