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A comparative gradient approach as a tool for understanding and managing urban ecosystems

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Abstract

To meet the grand challenges of the urban century—such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and persistent poverty—urban and ecological theory must contribute to integrated frameworks that treat social and ecological dynamics as interdependent. A socio-ecological framework that encapsulates theory from the social and ecological sciences will improve understanding of metropolitan dynamics and generate science for improved, sustainable management of urban ecosystems. To date, most urban ecological research has focused on single cities. A comparative approach that uses gradients within and between cities is a useful tool for building urban ecological theory. We offer five hypotheses that are testable using a comparative, gradient approach: (i) the current size, configuration, and function of larger metropolitan ecosystems predicts the potential trajectory of smaller urban areas; (ii) timing of growth explains the greatest variance in urban ecosystem structure and function; (iii) form and function of urban ecosystems are converging over time; (iv) urban ecosystems become more segregated and fragmented as populations increase; and (v) larger cities are more innovative than smaller cities in managing urban ecosystems.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a USDA Forest Service Joint Venture Agreement (08-JV-11221632-260), and by the National Science Foundation under awards BCS-1026865 Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (CAP LTER), and BCS-0948749 ULTRA-Ex: Land- and Water-Use Decision Making and Ecosystem Services along a Southwestern Socioecological Gradient.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 875402, Tempe, AZ, 85287-5502, USA

    Christopher G. Boone

  2. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Elizabeth Cook, Sharon J. Hall & Nancy B. Grimm

  3. Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Marcia L. Nation

  4. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Carol B. Raish

  5. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Deborah M. Finch

  6. School of Human Evolution & Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Abigail M. York

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  1. Christopher G. Boone
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Correspondence to Christopher G. Boone.

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Boone, C.G., Cook, E., Hall, S.J. et al. A comparative gradient approach as a tool for understanding and managing urban ecosystems. Urban Ecosyst 15, 795–807 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-012-0240-9

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