What Is Urban Ecology and Why Should We Care?

Urban Ecology

Urban ecology is the study of the relationships of living organisms with each other and their environment, specifically in a city or other similar landscape. While some branches of ecology focus mainly on the plants and animals themselves, the goal of urban ecology is to stabilize the relationship between humans and nature. Compared to ecology in general, urban ecology is a relatively new area of study.

North American vs. Latin American vs. European Urban Ecology

Urban ecology as applied in North America incorporates social sciences and processes within the ecosystem. Latin American urban ecology studies the effects of humans on biodiversity along with ecosystem processes. European urban ecology focuses on flora and fauna in various urban environments.

Why Is It Relevant To Us?

Because more than half of the entire world's population now lives in urban areas and in the next forty years, it's estimated that the number will increase to two-thirds of the world population, the subject of ecology in an urban context has become increasingly more pertinent to the global population. Although different relationships and processes between organisms can be studied as a whole in various ecosystems, focusing on cities allows researchers to integrate modern technology and social sciences along with ecology to study where the majority of the population lives.