Ecological homogenization of urban USA
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Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Land use, Urban
Ecology
Ecosystems
Genre:
article
serial ( sobekcm )

Notes

Abstract:
A visually apparent but scientifically untested outcome of land-use change is homogenization across urban areas, where neighborhoods in different parts of the country have similar patterns of roads, residential lots, commercial areas, and aquatic features. We hypothesize that this homogenization extends to ecological structure and also to ecosystem functions such as carbon dynamics and microclimate, with continental-scale implications. Further, we suggest that understanding urban homogenization will provide the basis for understanding the impacts of urban land-use change from local to continental scales. Here, we show how multi-scale, multidisciplinary datasets from six metropolitan areas that cover the major climatic regions of the US (Phoenix, AZ; Miami, FL; Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Minneapolis–St Paul, MN; and Los Angeles, CA) can be used to determine how household and neighborhood characteristics correlate with land-management practices, land-cover composition, and landscape structure and ecosystem functions at local, regional, and continental scales. ( , )
Summary:
• Urban land-use change may be homogenizing the US, producing residential ecosystems/landscapes that are more similar to each other than to the natural ecosystems that they replace • This homogenization may have continental-scale effects on carbon sequestration, microclimate, and other ecosystem properties • Urban homogenization may be driven by a specific set of human actions that are manifest at the household parcel scale and vary along definable and scalable geodemographic axes
General Note:
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2014; 12(1): 74–81

Record Information

Source Institution:
Florida International University
Rights Management:
Please contact the owning institution for licensing and permissions. It is the users responsibility to ensure use does not violate any third party rights.
Resource Identifier:
FI14082509
10.1890/120374 ( doi )