Global Change and the Ecology of Cities

Abstract

Urban areas are hot spots that drive environmental change at multiple scales. Material demands of production and human consumption alter land use and cover, biodiversity, and hydrosystems locally to regionally, and urban waste discharge affects local to global biogeochemical cycles and climate. For urbanites, however, global environmental changes are swamped by dramatic changes in the local environment. Urban ecology integrates natural and social sciences to study these radically altered local environments and their regional and global effects. Cities themselves present both the problems and solutions to sustainability challenges of an increasingly urbanized world.

Keywords

SustainabilityUrban ecologyBiogeochemical cycleEcologyBiodiversityClimate changeGeographyNatural (archaeology)Urban climateEnvironmental changeGlobal changeUrbanizationEnvironmental resource managementEnvironmental planningEnvironmental protectionEnvironmental scienceBiology

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Publication Info

Year: 2008
Type: review
Volume: 319
Issue: 5864
Pages: 756-760
Citations: 6621
Access: Closed

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APA Style

                            
                                
                                    Nancy B. Grimm, 
                                
                                    Stanley H. Faeth, 
                                
                                    Nancy E. Golubiewski
                                
                                et al.
                            
                            (2008). 
                            Global Change and the Ecology of Cities. 
                            Science
                            , 319
                            (5864)
                            , 756-760.
                            https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1150195
                        

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1126/science.1150195