Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Preface
Section I: Systems Approaches to Understanding How our Cities Work and Assessing Potentially More Sustainable Ways of Managing the Environment on Which We Depend
1. What Is Urban Ecology and Why Should We Study It?2. Urban Ecology from a Biophysical and Systems Perspective3. Social Processes, Urban Ecosystems and Sustainability
Section II: The City in History
4. Scale and Metabolism in Ancient Cities5. Economy and Development in Modern Cities
Section III: Urban Ecological Systems - Structure, Function, Controls, and Impacts on Social-Ecological Metabolism
6. The Urban Hydrological System7.The Climate System8. The Atmospheric System: Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases9. Nutrient Biogeochemistry of Urban Systems10. Material Cycles11. The Biological System: Plants in the Urban Environment12. The Biological System: Urban Wildlife, Adaptation and Evolution; Urbanization as a Driver of Contemporary Evolution in Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis)13. Environmental Justice in the Urban Environment
Section IV: Designing Solutions to Deal with Impacts of Urbanization - Past, Present, and Future
14. Urban Food Systems15. Urban Design Toward More Holistic Systems: Improving Discipline Integration and Sustainability Evaluation16. The Epilogue
Synopsis
Includes 10 detailed field exercises to promote hands on experience, observation, and quantification of urban ecosystem structure and function.
Provides an overview for graduate students and a rich literature base on the topic.