Urban ecology as an interdisciplinary field&ampamp;amp;colon[1].pdf

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1、UrbanEcosystems,4,5–24,2000c2001KluwerAcademicPublishers.ManufacturedinTheNetherlands.Urbanecologyasaninterdisciplinaryfield:differencesintheuseof“urban”betweenthesocialandnaturalsciencesN.E.MCINTYREDepartmentofBiologicalSciences,TexasTechUniversity,Box43131,Lu

2、bbock,TX79409-3131,USAK.KNOWLES-YANEZ´LiberalStudiesProgram,CaliforniaStateUniversity,SanMarcos,CA92096,USAD.HOPECenterforEnvironmentalStudies,ArizonaStateUniversity,Box873211,Tempe,AZ85287-3211,USAReceivedDecember8,1999RevisedMay6,2000Abstract.“Ifyouwishtocon

3、versewithme,defineyourterms.”—attributedtoVoltaire,TheHomeBookofQuotations:ClassicalandModern,Fourthedition(B.Stevenson,ed.),p.428,Dodd,MeadandCo.,NewYork,NY,1944Thoughthereisagrowingappreciationoftheimportanceofresearchonurbanecosystems,thequestionofwhatconsti

4、tutesanurbanecosystemremains.Althoughahuman-dominatedecosystemissometimesconsideredtobeanaccuratedescriptionofanurbanecosystem,describinganecosystemashuman-dominateddoesnotadequatelytakeintoaccountthehistoryofdevelopment,sphereofinfluence,andpotentialimpactsreq

5、uiredinordertounderstandthetruenatureofanurbanecosystem.Whilerecognizingthatnosingledefinitionof“urban”ispossibleorevennecessary,weexploretheimportanceofattachinganinterdisciplinary,quantitative,andconsidereddescriptionofanurbanecosystemsuchthatprojectsandfindin

6、gsareeasiertocompare,repeat,andbuildupon.Naturalscienceresearchabouturbanecosystems,particularlyinthefieldofecology,oftenincludesonlyatacitassumptionaboutwhaturbanmeans.Followingtheleadofamoredevelopedsocialscienceliteratureonurbanissues,wemakesuggestionstoward

7、saconsistent,quantitativedescriptionofurbanthatwouldtakeintoaccountthedynamicandheterogeneousphysicalandsocialcharacteristicsofanurbanecosystem.Weprovidecasestudiesthatillustratehowsocialandnaturalscientistsmightcollaborateinresearchwhereamoreclearlyunderstood

8、definitionof“urban”wouldbedesirable.Keywords:urban,socialscience,ecology,definitionof“urban”IntroductionThereisnowcompellingevidencethathumansarealteringvirtuallyalloftheEarth’secosy