Urban Ecosystems

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Urban Ecosystems

• Humans in the Environment

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The Human Element

• Until the 19th century, American Bison roamed the
  Great Plains by the millions, providing
  invaluable resources for Native Americans.
• Europeans exploited the resource in an
  unsustainable manner, seeing Bison as a source of
  income.
• Bison reduced to a fraction of one percent of
  their prior numbers.
• Values, knowledge, technology and social systems
  of Europeans were inappropriate for sustainable
  interaction with the Great Plains ecosystem.

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Interesting Urban Ecosystems

• Centralia PA is a ghost town due to an
  underground coal fire that has smoldered since
  1962 and produces carbon monoxide, etc.
• 500 dogs live in the subways of Moscow begging
  for scraps from passengers. Theyve learned to
  ride the subway on their own.
• Kansas Citys subtropolis has 90 percent of the
  worlds underground office space.
• Dharavi is a slum of Mumbai where there is a
  toilet for every 60 people and everybody uses the
  local creek.

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Characteristics of U.E.s

• Organized by humans
• traffic
• parks and natural areas
• community activity areas
• Many plants and animals are domesticated
• Dominated by human-made structures
• housing (single family, high-rise, apartments)
• shopping centers and commercial
• offices and industrial
• Basis for human civilization
• Cities of the industrial age are very difficult
  to sustain

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Abiotic Elements of the U.E.

• buildings (industrial, residential, commercial)
• streets, roads parking lots
• streams sewage systems
• energy communication distribution systems
• artificial light
• noise

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Biotic Elements of the U.E.

• people
• domesticated animals
• wild animals
• native plants
• non-native plants
• microorganisms

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What is Nature worth?

• The Natural Capital Project

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Key Question

• How should we live in the watershed so that it
  can continue to provide essential resources and
  services?

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Water usage calculator