{"id":1208,"date":"2015-08-24T21:37:08","date_gmt":"2015-08-24T11:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecogeog.com\/blog\/?p=1208"},"modified":"2015-08-24T21:37:27","modified_gmt":"2015-08-24T11:37:27","slug":"urban-ecology-an-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ecogeog.com\/blog\/?p=1208","title":{"rendered":"Urban Ecology: An Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"douglas\"<\/a> Rating:<\/strong> \"★\"\"★\"\"★\"\"★\"\"★\"<\/p>\n

Ian Douglas and Philip James. 2015. Urban Ecology – an introduction. Routledge. ISBN978 0 415 53895 4<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It’s fairly clear that the human future is urban<\/a>. We passed the half-way mark some time ago and now we are increasingly urbanised. Yet this urban future is not totally concrete. Cities have parks and other designated open spaces. Almost half of London can be considered as greenspace<\/a>! It’s increasingly obvious, from bomb sites as havens of rare species to brownfield sites that urban areas have considerable potential for wildlife. It’s not that traditional wild areas<\/a> are redundant; it’s that new areas are being discovered. That building looks very much like a cliff and the wall is a good rock face for lichen! From this, we see the growth of urban ecology-\u00a0 the idea that such seemingly inhospitable places have value for our wildlife. Many books have been written to examine this from an ecological perspective but there are fewer that take a more introductory approach. This text is one of the latter.<\/p>\n

The basic thesis is that urban areas can contribute a great deal to wildlife conservation and, in turn, to our appreciation and use of wild spaces. To add detail to this idea, the text is divided into 5 key parts.<\/p>\n

The first sets the scene in urban areas. We start with an exploration of the nature of urban ecology – what is it and what separates it from its rural cousin (less than you think!). It’s a way of showing the beginner (for whom the text is largely aimed) how urban and green areas are inter-related (globally) and what this means for species. This is followed by an discussion on the variety of cityscapes and the options they give wildlife. This section is completed by looking at the city as a system i.e. an eco<\/em>system. At this point, the reader how an understanding of the key components of urban design and the ways in which wildlife interacts.<\/p>\n

If this were a standard ecological text, the next section would look at the abiotic environment. In keeping with the idea that urban and rural are just divisions, the text explores the key physical components of the city. The atmospherics of the city are dominated by heating surfaces (buildings) and the impact hotter air has on the surrounding air masses. There is also the question of increased particulate matter and other pollutants and their impact on wildlife (and people!). The soil of cities might have developed like any other to start with but the process of building and use has altered it considerably and so, it’s important to see what physical and chemical changes have been made. It’s the same with water where artificial channels can impact on streamflow (as towns flooded downstream of others would attest!). Finally, we need to see how the biogeochemical cycles have been altered by urban action. There are two useful lessons in this section. Firstly, that the cycles in urban areas are similar to those in rural ones (albeit fluxes and specific chemicals might change). Secondly, that the changes are not all disadvantageous – some species thrive in urban environments and use the nutrients there to their advantage.<\/p>\n

Section three continues the ecological theme by describing the urban biota. The initial chapter creates a typology of urban habitats, showing the essential characteristics and properties of each. The next two chapters cover flora and fauna respectively. The aim is to show how “rural” species have survived and even thrived in urban settings. The range of both is sure to convince even the most hardened that “urban” does not equate with “desert”.<\/p>\n

From this point, the text takes a turn to consider what this means to humans and how they can better manage it. In keeping with current ideas on the utility value of nature, we start section four with a look at ecosystem services – from flood control to education and how we might put a price on this. The point here is not to put a price on each wildflower or bird but to get people to appreciate just how much value urban wildlife represents. It’s not just economic, as the next chapter highlights, it’s also about well-being; the idea that nature has a psychological value and that we are “better” for exposure to it. Given the rise in interest in urban wildlife this is not something to be ignored. It follows that if we are to make the most of this, we need to maintain or even restore habitats. The message is that conservation can be used in many ways and that to capitalise on its methodology in urban settings is sound practice.<\/p>\n

The final section is more practically focussed because it looks at the most fundamental of conservation issues – getting it accepted and making sure it is sustainable. The former might seem like planning but the latter is very much to do with the legal side – national parks were only seen as valuable once they had Acts of Parliament behind them! In this text, planning is equated with stewardship – not necessarily as construed elsewhere but the idea of active management is very much accepted. If it is to be sustainable then it needs to adapt to climate and other changes and this needs to be built into the initial fabric of the plans. Finally, the text explores the future for urban ecology.<\/p>\n

There is much to like in this text. It has a very clear focus and structure which would appeal to the beginner. It contains enough serious detail to show how the topics might be developed which makes it appeal to a wide audience. It also relates to the personal and practical. Each chapter has a small opening paragraph or two where the authors describe the journeys from their homes and work and what ecological aspects they see while travelling. Moving from this, key ideas and learning goals are given. This is unlike any other text on the subject. It appeals to the educator looking for a hook for learning; it appeals to the reader who can imagine just a situation (probably because they go through the same thing themselves each day. It appeals to the ecologist who can see ways of promoting awareness of the subject and finding some very good fieldwork possibilities as they go through the text. It’s this sharp science coupled with this down-to-earth approach that makes the text a delight to read. In taking this course, the authors open up subject and area to new readers. One of the best texts of the year so far – it deserves the widest readership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rating: Ian Douglas and Philip James. 2015. Urban Ecology – an introduction. Routledge. ISBN978 0 415 53895 4 It’s fairly clear that the human future is urban. We passed the half-way mark some time ago and now we are increasingly urbanised. Yet this urban future is not totally concrete. Cities have parks and other designated open spaces. Almost half of London can be considered as greenspace! It’s increasingly obvious, from bomb sites as havens of rare species to brownfield sites […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[315,31,271,316,102,290],"class_list":["post-1208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-cities","tag-conservation","tag-planning","tag-sustainable","tag-urban-ecology","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ecogeog.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1208"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ecogeog.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ecogeog.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ecogeog.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ecogeog.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1208"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/ecogeog.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1211,"href":"http:\/\/ecogeog.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1208\/revisions\/1211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ecogeog.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ecogeog.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ecogeog.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ecogeog.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}