Frameworks for urban ecosystem studies: Gradients, patch dynamics and the human ecosystem in the New York metropolitan area and Baltimore, USA

Abstract

Introduction: This chapter addresses the conceptual frameworks that have been used in urban ecological studies in two US metropolises, and the theoretical challenges for urban ecology that flow from these experiences. The two topics relate well because frameworks lay out the structure of knowledge in a subject area, and the theoretical assessment addresses the applicability of frameworks beyond the two cities used here. The frameworks began to be articulated with the establishment of the Urban–Rural Gradient Ecology (URGE) programme in the New York City metropolitan region in the early 1980s (McDonnell and Pickett, 1990). That programme continued until the relocation of its leader, Mark McDo..