ABSTRACT
Agroecological studies from urban agroecosystems examine local and landscape drivers of biodiversity including abundance, species richness, and community composition of many animal taxa. Yet, few emphasize how local and landscape management forces alter ecological interactions and ecosystem services in urban agroecosystems. In this review, we focus on natural science approaches to study ecological interactions and ecosystem services in urban agroecosystems, or urban farms and gardens. To comprehensively review the diversity of ecological scales and interactions associated with specific ecosystem services, we take an in-depth and case-study-driven approach to evaluate two key ecosystem services in urban agroecosystems: pest control and pollination. We examine how habitat management drives change in herbivore, natural enemy, and pollinator community composition and resulting impacts on the functional traits of service-providing organisms, structure of ecological networks (e.g. natural enemy-herbivore and pollinator-plant interactions), and trophic interactions (e.g., herbivory, parasitism, pollen deposition), and ultimate provisioning of pest control and pollination services in urban agroecosystems. Further, we highlight the different observational and experimental approaches currently used and the challenges presented by working in managed agroecosystems in the urban environment. Finally, we present future directions for research that would advance our knowledge of species interactions and ecosystem services in urban agroecosystems.
