Mark J McDonnell – författare

This volume highlights the importance to ecological studies of incorporating humans and their effects on ecosystems. Leading experts from a variety of disciplines address a number of issues, including: the prominent role of humans in the function of ecosystems on Earth; why humans have been ignored in ecological studies; approaches taken by social scientists, historians, geographers, economists, and anthropologists in the study of human activities; the emergence of a new ecological paradigm accommodating human activities; methods for studying subtle human effects and human-populated ecosystems; and future research and training required to include humans effectively as components of ecological systems.

The unprecedented growth of cities and towns around the world, coupled with the unknown effects of global change, has created an urgent need to increase ecological understanding of human settlements, in order to develop inhabitable, sustainable cities and towns in the future. Although there is a wealth of knowledge regarding the understanding of human organisation and behaviour, there is comparably little information available regarding the ecology of cities and towns. This book brings together leading scientists, landscape designers and planners from developed and developing countries around the world, to explore how urban ecological research has been undertaken to date, what has been learnt, where there are gaps in knowledge, and what the future challenges and opportunities are.