Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
setting. As the species level is one of three fundamental levels of biodiversity
(the others are the genetic level and the ecosystem/community level), species diversity
is thus an important component of conservation.
Urban Ecology
- Within the science of ecology, urban ecology is defined as the
study of structure, dynamics, and processes in urban ecological systems. Urban
ecology is the study of the relationships of human and nonhuman organisms in
urban areas, the interactions of these organisms with the native and built physical
environment, and the effects of these relationships on the fluxes of energy,
materials, and information within individual urban systems and between urban
and nonurban systems. Urban ecology applies the methods and concepts of the
biological science of ecology to urban areas, but requires and integrates with
the concerns, concepts, and approaches of social sciences to produce a hybrid
discipline. Urban ecological systems include individual organisms, populations,
communities, and landscapes, as well as buildings and infrastructure. Urban
ecology further recognizes specific urban ecosystems as a part of the global bio-
geochemical, economic, and human demographic system.
