Gardiner Mary M, Burkman Caitlin E, Prajzner Scott P
The Ohio State University, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Avenue, Wooster, OH 44691, USA.
Environ Entomol. 2013 Dec;42(6):1123-36. doi: 10.1603/EN12275.
The expansion of urban areas is occurring globally, but not all city neighborhoods are gaining population. Because of economic decline and the recent foreclosure crisis, many U.S. cities are demolishing abandoned residential structures to create parcels of vacant land. In some cities, weak housing markets have, or will likely, recover in the near term, and these parcels will be redeveloped. However, in other cities, large numbers of abandoned parcels have no significant market value and no likelihood of near-term redevelopment. The creation of these vacated green spaces could offer opportunities to preserve declining species, restore ecosystem functions, and support diverse ecosystem services. Arthropods are an important indicator of the ability of urban vacant land to serve multiple functions, from conservation to food production. Across Europe, vacant lands have been found to support a diversity of rare species, and similar examinations of arthropods within this habitat are underway in the United States. In addition, using vacant land as a resource for local food production is growing rapidly worldwide. Arthropods play key roles in the sustainability of food production in cities, and land conversion to farming has been found to influence their community composition and function. A greater focus on quantifying the current ecological value of vacant land and further assessment of how changes in its ecosystem management affect biodiversity and ecosystem processes is clearly needed. Herein, we specifically focus on the role of arthropods in addressing these priorities to advance our ecological understanding of the functional role of vacant land habitats in cities.
城市区域的扩张正在全球范围内发生，但并非所有城市社区的人口都在增加。由于经济衰退和近期的止赎危机，许多美国城市正在拆除废弃的住宅建筑，以创造一块块空地。在一些城市，疲软的房地产市场已经或可能在短期内复苏，这些地块将被重新开发。然而，在其他城市，大量废弃地块没有显著的市场价值，近期也没有重新开发的可能性。这些腾出的绿地的出现可以为保护濒危物种、恢复生态系统功能以及支持多样化的生态系统服务提供机会。节肢动物是城市空地发挥从保护到粮食生产等多种功能能力的重要指标。在欧洲各地，已发现空地能支持多种珍稀物种，美国也正在对该栖息地内的节肢动物进行类似的研究。此外，将空地用作当地粮食生产资源在全球范围内正迅速发展。节肢动物在城市粮食生产的可持续性中发挥着关键作用，并且土地转变为农田已被发现会影响它们的群落组成和功能。显然需要更加关注量化空地当前的生态价值，并进一步评估其生态系统管理的变化如何影响生物多样性和生态系统过程。在此，我们特别关注节肢动物在解决这些优先事项方面的作用，以推进我们对城市中空地栖息地功能作用的生态学理解。
