Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Millbrook, NY 12545, USA.
J Environ Manage. 2011 Mar;92(3):331-62. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.08.022. Epub 2010 Oct 20.
Urban ecological studies, including focus on cities, suburbs, and exurbs, while having deep roots in the early to mid 20th century, have burgeoned in the last several decades. We use the state factor approach to highlight the role of important aspects of climate, substrate, organisms, relief, and time in differentiating urban from non-urban areas, and for determining heterogeneity within spatially extensive metropolitan areas. In addition to reviewing key findings relevant to each state factor, we note the emergence of tentative "urban syndromes" concerning soils, streams, wildlife and plants, and homogenization of certain ecosystem functions, such as soil organic carbon dynamics. We note the utility of the ecosystem approach, the human ecosystem framework, and watersheds as integrative tools to tie information about multiple state factors together. The organismal component of urban complexes includes the social organization of the human population, and we review key modes by which human populations within urban areas are differentiated, and how such differentiation affects environmentally relevant actions. Emerging syntheses in land change science and ecological urban design are also summarized. The multifaceted frameworks and the growing urban knowledge base do however identify some pressing research needs.
城市生态研究，包括对城市、郊区和城市远郊的关注，虽然在 20 世纪早期到中期就已经有了深厚的根基，但在过去几十年中才蓬勃发展起来。我们使用状态因子方法来强调气候、基质、生物、地形和时间等重要方面在区分城市和非城市地区方面的作用，并确定空间广阔的大都市区内的异质性。除了回顾与每个状态因子相关的关键发现外，我们还注意到有关土壤、溪流、野生动植物的暂定“城市综合征”的出现，以及某些生态系统功能（如土壤有机碳动态）的同质化。我们注意到生态系统方法、人类生态系统框架和流域作为将多个状态因子相关信息联系在一起的综合工具的实用性。城市综合体的生物组成部分包括人类种群的社会组织，我们回顾了城市地区内人类种群的主要分化方式，以及这种分化如何影响与环境相关的行动。还总结了土地变化科学和生态城市设计中的新兴综合研究。然而，多方面的框架和不断增长的城市知识库确实确定了一些紧迫的研究需求。
