ABSTRACT
Urban areas are complex combinations of ecological remnants with varying states of human development. Urbanized areas cover only 1% to 6% of Earth’s surface, yet they have massive ecological footprints (Rees and Wackernagel 1996) and complex and often indirect effects on surrounding ecosystems (Alberti et al. 2003). Urbanized land already covers more area than the combined total of national and state parks and areas preserved by The Nature Conservancy (McKinney 2002). Urban areas continue to expand as populations increase. For example, New York City (NYC) expects to add nearly 1 million residents by 2030 to an already densely populated city. Additionally, 70% of all humans globally are predicted to live in cities by 2050 (US Census Bureau 2000). Given these trends, one of the primary
dynamics that must be understood at a local, regional, and global scale is the effect of humans on the ecology of urban systems (Machlis et al. 1997; Pickett and Grove 2009).
