Geography
Ecological homogenization of urban USA
Document Type
Article
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. © The Ecological Society of America.
Publication Title
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Publication Date
2014
Volume
12
Issue
1
First Page
74
Last Page
81
ISSN
1540-9295
DOI
10.1890/120374
Keywords
data set, ecosystem function, ecosystem structure, household structure, land cover, land management, land use change, metropolitan area, microclimate, urban area
Repository Citation
Groffman, Peter M.; Cavender-Bares, Jeannine; Bettez, Neil D.; Grove, J. Morgan; Hall, Sharon J.; Heffernan, James B.; Hobbie, Sarah E.; Larson, Kelli L.; Morse, Jennifer L.; Neill, Christopher; Nelson, Kristen; O'Neil-Dunne, Jarlath; Ogden, Laura; Pataki, Diane E.; Polsky, Colin; Chowdhury, Rinku Roy; and Steele, Meredith K., "Ecological homogenization of urban USA" (2014). Geography. 598.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_geography/598
