This project explores a real world example of urban ecology, as it is presently happening in the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES). The ongoing BES study, a major research project of the National Science Foundation's Long Term Ecological Research program, provides a rich example of ecosystem research within a primarily urban area. The study incorporates approaches that have traditionally been applied mainly to undeveloped areas, and the researchers working in the BES have developed a large number of transferable techniques that can be applied to other urban areas. The study begins with the premise that even dense cities behave as ecosystems, and that ecological principles must be understood moving forward toward more sustainable, more livable cities:
"By building a bridge between the natural and social sciences, BES strives to unravel how urban ecosystems function, with the goal of understanding this growing ecosystem type and incorporating the urban ecological system in the socio-political decision-making that influences the metropolitan environment." Source
Urban ecology is the subfield of ecology which deals with the interaction of plants, animals and humans with each other and with their environment in urban or urbanizing settings. Analysis of urban settings in the context of ecosystem ecology (looking at the cycling of matter and the flow of energy through the ecosystem) can result in healthier, better managed communities. Studying the factors which allow wild plants and animals to survive (and sometimes thrive) in built environments can also create more livable spaces. It allows people to adapt to the changing environment while preserving the resources.
Urban ecology also involves the study of the effects of urban development patterns on ecological conditions. Emphasis is also placed on planning communities with environmentally sustainable methods via design and building materials in order to promote a healthy and biodiverse urban ecosystem.
Source: Wikipedia "Urban Ecology" Entry (retrieved Dec 2007)
This website is one assignment in a course offered by the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. The course, Urban Nature and City Design, is a semester-long seminar taught by Professor Anne Whiston Spirn. Class participants range from MIT and Harvard graduate students and fellows with backgrounds in architecture, art history, city design, environmental planning, resource management, graphic design, and more. Readings explore underlying assumptions about urban nature, planning and landscape architecture case studies, and the natural cycles of earth, air, and water.