Urban Ecology Research Lab Archives - Page 2 of 4

Earth as a Hybrid Planet: The Anthropocene in an Evolutionary Astrobiological Context

Frank, Adam; Kleidon, Axel; Alberti, Marina. (2017). Earth as a Hybrid Planet: The Anthropocene in an Evolutionary Astrobiological Context. Anthropocene, 19, 13 – 21.

View Publication

Abstract

We develop a classification scheme for the evolutionary state of planets based on the non-equilibrium thermodynamics of their coupled systems, including the presence of a biosphere and the possibility of what we call an agency-dominated biosphere (i.e. an energy-intensive technological species). The premise is that Earth's entry into the Anthropocene represents what might be, from an astrobiological perspective, a predictable planetary transition. We explore this problem from the perspective of the solar system and exoplanet studies. Our classification discriminates planets by the forms of free energy generation driven from stellar forcing. We then explore how timescales for global evolutionary processes on Earth might be synchronized with ecological transformations driven by increases in energy harvesting and its consequences ( which might have reached a turning point with global urbanization). Finally, we describe quantitatively the classification scheme based on the maintenance of chemical disequilibrium in the past and current Earth systems and on other worlds in the solar system. In this perspective, the beginning of the Anthropocene can be seen as the onset of the hybridization of the planet-a transitional stage from one class of planetary systems interaction to another. For Earth, this stage occurs as the effects of human civilization yield not just new evolutionary pressures, but new selected directions for novel planetary ecosystem functions and their capacity to generate disequilibrium and enhance planetary dissipation.

Keywords

Thermodynamic Disequilibrium; Extrasolar Planets; Climate-change; Life Detection; Habitability; Dynamics; System; Biospheres; Future; Energy; Climate Change; Astrobiology; Coupled Earth Systems; Biosphere; Thermodynamics; Dissipation

Sustainability in an Urbanizing Planet

Seto, Karen C.; Golden, Jay S.; Alberti, Marina; Turner, B. L., Ii. (2017). Sustainability in an Urbanizing Planet. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America, 114(34), 8935 – 8938.

View Publication

Keywords

Sustainability; Urbanization; Nature; Environment

The Anthropocene Generalized: Evolution of Exo-Civilizations and Their Planetary Feedback

Frank, A.; Carroll-Nellenback, Jonathan; Alberti, M.; Kleidon, A. (2018). The Anthropocene Generalized: Evolution of Exo-Civilizations and Their Planetary Feedback. Astrobiology, 18(5), 503 – 518.

View Publication

Abstract

We present a framework for studying generic behaviors possible in the interaction between a resource-harvesting technological civilization (an exo-civilization) and the planetary environment in which it evolves. Using methods from dynamical systems theory, we introduce and analyze a suite of simple equations modeling a population which consumes resources for the purpose of running a technological civilization and the feedback those resources drive on the state of the host planet. The feedbacks can drive the planet away from the initial state the civilization originated in and into domains that are detrimental to its sustainability. Our models conceptualize the problem primarily in terms of feedbacks from the resource use onto the coupled planetary systems. In addition, we also model the population growth advantages gained via the harvesting of these resources. We present three models of increasing complexity: (1) Civilization-planetary interaction with a single resource; (2) Civilization-planetary interaction with two resources each of which has a different level of planetary system feedback; (3) Civilization-planetary interaction with two resources and nonlinear planetary feedback (i.e., runaways). All three models show distinct classes of exo-civilization trajectories. We find smooth entries into long-term, sustainable steady states. We also find population booms followed by various levels of die-off. Finally, we also observe rapid collapse trajectories for which the population approaches n=0. Our results are part of a program for developing an Astrobiology of the Anthropocene in which questions of sustainability, centered on the coupled Earth-system, can be seen in their proper astronomical/planetary context. We conclude by discussing the implications of our results for both the coupled Earth system and for the consideration of exo-civilizations across cosmic history.

Keywords

Anthropocene Epoch; Holocene Epoch; Climatology; Earth System Science; Climate Change; Earth (planet); Biosphere; Easter-island; Earth; Population; Anthropocene; Astrobiology; Civilization; Dynamical System Theory; Exoplanets; Population Dynamics

Development of a Regional Lidar-Derived Above-Ground Biomass Model with Bayesian Model Averaging for Use in Ponderosa Pine and Mixed Conifer Forests in Arizona and New Mexico, USA

Tenneson, Karis; Patterson, Matthew S.; Mellin, Thomas; Nigrelli, Mark; Joria, Peter; Mitchell, Brent. (2018). Development of a Regional Lidar-Derived Above-Ground Biomass Model with Bayesian Model Averaging for Use in Ponderosa Pine and Mixed Conifer Forests in Arizona and New Mexico, USA. Remote Sensing, 10(3).

View Publication

Abstract

Historical forest management practices in the southwestern US have left forests prone to high-severity, stand-replacement fires. Reducing the cost of forest-fire management and reintroducing fire to the landscape without negative impact depends on detailed knowledge of stand composition, in particular, above-ground biomass (AGB). Lidar-based modeling techniques provide opportunities to increase ability of managers to monitor AGB and other forest metrics at reduced cost. We developed a regional lidar-based statistical model to estimate AGB for Ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forest systems of the southwestern USA, using previously collected field data. Model selection was performed using Bayesian model averaging (BMA) to reduce researcher bias, fully explore the model space, and avoid overfitting. The selected model includes measures of canopy height, canopy density, and height distribution. The model selected with BMA explains 71% of the variability in field-estimates of AGB, and the RMSE of the two independent validation data sets are 23.25 and 32.82 Mg/ha. The regional model is structured in accordance with previously described local models, and performs equivalently to these smaller scale models. We have demonstrated the effectiveness of lidar for developing cost-effective, robust regional AGB models for monitoring and planning adaptively at the landscape scale.

Keywords

Laser Scanner Data; Landscape Restoration Program; Canopy Fuel Parameters; Discrete-return Lidar; Western United-states; Wave-form Lidar; Airborne Laser; Tropical Forest; Climate-change; Adaptive Management; Forest Biomass; Aboveground Biomass; Airborne Lidar; Monitoring; Regional Forest Inventory; Variable Selection; Bayesian Model Averaging; Multiple Linear Regression

Six Fundamental Aspects for Conceptualizing Multidimensional Urban Form: A Spatial Mapping Perspective

Wentz, Elizabeth A.; York, Abigail M.; Alberti, Marina; Conrow, Lindsey; Fischer, Heather; Inostroza, Luis; Jantz, Claire; Pickett, Steward T. A.; Seto, Karen C.; Taubenboeck, Hannes. (2018). Six Fundamental Aspects for Conceptualizing Multidimensional Urban Form: A Spatial Mapping Perspective. Landscape And Urban Planning, 179, 55 – 62.

View Publication

Abstract

Urbanization is currently one of the most profound transformations taking place across the globe influencing the flows of people, energy, and matter. The urban form influences and is influenced by these flows and is therefore critical in understanding and how urban areas affect and are affected by form. Nevertheless, there is a lack of uniformity in how urban form is analyzed. Urban form analyzed from a continuum of a simple urban versus non-urban classification to highly detailed representations of land use and land cover. Either end of the representation spectrum limits the ability to analyze within-urban dynamics, to make cross-city comparisons, and to produce generalizable results. In the framework of remote sensing and geospatial analysis, we identify and define six fundamental aspects of urban form, which are organized within three overarching components. Materials, or the physical elements of the urban landscape, consists of three aspects (1) human constructed elements, (2) the soil-plant continuum, and (3) water elements. The second component is configuration, which includes the (4) two- and three-dimensional space and (5) spatial pattern of urban areas. Lastly, because of the dynamics of human activities and biophysical processes, an important final component is the change of urban form over (6) time. We discuss how a this urban form framework integrates into a broader discussion of urbanization.

Keywords

Ecosystem Services; Land-use; Reconceptualizing Land; Cellular-automata; Heterogeneity; Framework; Model; Emissions; Dynamics; Cities; Gis; Remote Sensing; Land Use; Land Cover; Urban Form; Urban Materials; Energy; Humans; Land Use And Land Cover Maps; Landscapes; Urban Areas; Urbanization

A Roadmap for Urban Evolutionary Ecology

Rivkin, L. Ruth; Santangelo, James S.; Alberti, Marina; Aronson, Myla F. J.; De Keyzer, Charlotte W.; Diamond, Sarah E.; Fortin, Marie-josee; Frazee, Lauren J.; Gorton, Amanda J.; Hendry, Andrew P.; Liu, Yang; Losos, Jonathan B.; Macivor, J. Scott; Martin, Ryan A.; Mcdonnell, Mark J.; Miles, Lindsay S.; Munshi-south, Jason; Ness, Robert W.; Newman, Amy E. M.; Stothart, Mason R.; Theodorou, Panagiotis; Thompson, Ken A.; Verrelli, Brian C.; Whitehead, Andrew; Winchell, Kristin M.; Johnson, Marc T. J. (2019). A Roadmap for Urban Evolutionary Ecology. Evolutionary Applications, 12(3), 384 – 398.

View Publication

Abstract

Urban ecosystems are rapidly expanding throughout the world, but how urban growth affects the evolutionary ecology of species living in urban areas remains largely unknown. Urban ecology has advanced our understanding of how the development of cities and towns change environmental conditions and alter ecological processes and patterns. However, despite decades of research in urban ecology, the extent to which urbanization influences evolutionary and eco-evolutionary change has received little attention. The nascent field of urban evolutionary ecology seeks to understand how urbanization affects the evolution of populations, and how those evolutionary changes in turn influence the ecological dynamics of populations, communities, and ecosystems. Following a brief history of this emerging field, this Perspective article provides a research agenda and roadmap for future research aimed at advancing our understanding of the interplay between ecology and evolution of urban-dwelling organisms. We identify six key questions that, if addressed, would significantly increase our understanding of how urbanization influences evolutionary processes. These questions consider how urbanization affects nonadaptive evolution, natural selection, and convergent evolution, in addition to the role of urban environmental heterogeneity on species evolution, and the roles of phenotypic plasticity versus adaptation on species' abundance in cities. Our final question examines the impact of urbanization on evolutionary diversification. For each of these six questions, we suggest avenues for future research that will help advance the field of urban evolutionary ecology. Lastly, we highlight the importance of integrating urban evolutionary ecology into urban planning, conservation practice, pest management, and public engagement.

Keywords

Urban Ecology (biology); Climate Change; Urban Growth; Species Diversity; Urbanization; Citizen Science; Community Engagement; Eco-evolutionary Feedback; Gene Flow; Landscape Genetics; Urban Evolution; Urban Socioecology; Mouse Peromyscus-leucopus; Rapid Evolution; Population Genomics; Selection; Habitat; Differentiation; Framework; Environments; Biodiversity; Eco-evolutionary Feedback

Effects of Mid-Twenty-first Century Climate and Land Cover Change on the Hydrology Of the Puget Sound Basin, Washington

Cuo, Lan; Beyene, Tazebe K.; Voisin, Nathalie; Su, Fengge; Lettenmaier, Dennis P.; Alberti, Marina; Richey, Jeffrey E. (2011). Effects of Mid-Twenty-first Century Climate and Land Cover Change on the Hydrology Of the Puget Sound Basin, Washington. Hydrological Processes, 25(11), 1729 – 1753.

View Publication

Abstract

The distributed hydrology-soil-vegetation model (DHSVM) was used to study the potential impacts of projected future land cover and climate change on the hydrology of the Puget Sound basin, Washington, in the mid-twenty-first century. A 60-year climate model output, archived for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4), was statistically downscaled and used as input to DHSVM. From the DHSVM output, we extracted multi-decadal averages of seasonal streamflow, annual maximum flow, snow water equivalent (SWE), and evapotranspiration centred around 2030 and 2050. Future land cover was represented by a 2027 projection, which was extended to 2050, and DHSVM was run (with current climate) for these future land cover projections. In general, the climate change signal alone on sub-basin streamflow was evidenced primarily through changes in the timing of winter and spring runoff, and slight increases in the annual runoff. Runoff changes in the uplands were attributable both to climate (increased winter precipitation, less snow) and land cover change (mostly reduced vegetation maturity). The most climatically sensitive parts of the uplands were in areas where the current winter precipitation is in the rain-snow transition zone. Changes in land cover were generally more important than climate change in the lowlands, where a substantial change to more urbanized land use and increased runoff was predicted. Both the annual total and seasonal distribution of freshwater flux to Puget Sound are more sensitive to climate change impacts than to land cover change, primarily because most of the runoff originates in the uplands. Both climate and land cover change slightly increase the annual freshwater flux to Puget Sound. Changes in the seasonal distribution of freshwater flux are mostly related to climate change, and consist of double-digit increases in winter flows and decreases in summer and fall flows. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords

Joaquin River-basin; Water-resources; Change Impacts; Model; Sensitivity; Temperature; Prediction; Streamflow; Forecasts; Humidity; Hydrologic Prediction; Climate Change Impacts; Land Cover Change Impacts

The Complexity of Urban Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics

Alberti, Marina; Palkovacs, Eric P.; Des Roches, Simone; De Meester, Luc; Brans, Kristien, I; Govaert, Lynn; Grimm, Nancy B.; Harris, Nyeema C.; Hendry, Andrew P.; Schell, Christopher J.; Szulkin, Marta; Munshi-south, Jason; Urban, Mark C.; Verrelli, Brian C. (2020). The Complexity of Urban Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics. Bioscience, 70(9), 772 – 793.

View Publication

Abstract

Urbanization is changing Earth's ecosystems by altering the interactions and feedbacks between the fundamental ecological and evolutionary processes that maintain life. Humans in cities alter the eco-evolutionary play by simultaneously changing both the actors and the stage on which the eco-evolutionary play takes place. Urbanization modifies land surfaces, microclimates, habitat connectivity, ecological networks, food webs, species diversity, and species composition. These environmental changes can lead to changes in phenotypic, genetic, and cultural makeup of wild populations that have important consequences for ecosystem function and the essential services that nature provides to human society, such as nutrient cycling, pollination, seed dispersal, food production, and water and air purification. Understanding and monitoring urbanization-induced evolutionary changes is important to inform strategies to achieve sustainability. In the present article, we propose that understanding these dynamics requires rigorous characterization of urbanizing regions as rapidly evolving, tightly coupled human-natural systems. We explore how the emergent properties of urbanization affect eco-evolutionary dynamics across space and time. We identify five key urban drivers of change-habitat modification, connectivity, heterogeneity, novel disturbances, and biotic interactions-and highlight the direct consequences of urbanization-driven eco-evolutionary change for nature's contributions to people. Then, we explore five emerging complexities-landscape complexity, urban discontinuities, socio-ecological heterogeneity, cross-scale interactions, legacies and time lags-that need to be tackled in future research. We propose that the evolving metacommunity concept provides a powerful framework to study urban eco-evolutionary dynamics.

Keywords

Habitat Modification; Seed Dispersal; Water Purification; Species Diversity; Human Behavior; Ecosystem Services; Nutrient Cycles; Cross-scale Interactions; Ecological Consequences; Contemporary Evolution; Gradient Analysis; Trophic Dynamics; Land-cover; Community; Biodiversity; Adaptation; Urban Ecology; Eco-evolutionary Dynamics; Coupled Human-natural Systems; Metacommunities; Ecology; Urbanization; Evolution; Water Treatment; Environmental Monitoring; Species Composition; Environmental Changes; Play; Food Production; Air Purification; Sustainability; Dynamic Tests; Air Monitoring; Urban Areas; Food Webs; Heterogeneity; Food Chains; Pollination; Dynamics; Complexity; Dispersal; Microclimate

Terrestrial Carbon Stocks across a Gradient of Urbanization: A Study of the Seattle, WA Region

Hutyra, Lucy R.; Yoon, Byungman; Alberti, Marina. (2011). Terrestrial Carbon Stocks across a Gradient of Urbanization: A Study of the Seattle, WA Region. Global Change Biology, 17(2), 783 – 797.

View Publication

Abstract

Most of our global population and its CO2 emissions can be attributed to urban areas. The process of urbanization changes terrestrial carbon stocks and fluxes, which, in turn, impact ecosystem functions and atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Using the Seattle, WA, region as a case study, this paper explores the relationships between aboveground carbon stocks and land cover within an urbanizing area. The major objectives were to estimate aboveground live and dead terrestrial carbon stocks across multiple land cover classes and quantify the relationships between urban cover and vegetation across a gradient of urbanization. We established 154 sample plots in the Seattle region to assess carbon stocks as a function of distance from the urban core and land cover [urban (heavy, medium, and low), mixed forest, and conifer forest land covers]. The mean (and 95% CI) aboveground live biomass for the region was 89 +/- 22 Mg C ha-1 with an additional 11.8 +/- 4 Mg C ha-1 of coarse woody debris biomass. The average live biomass stored within forested and urban land covers was 140 +/- 40 and 18 +/- 14 Mg C ha-1, respectively, with a 57% mean vegetated canopy cover regionally. Both the total carbon stocks and mean vegetated canopy cover were surprisingly high, even within the heavily urbanized areas, well exceeding observations within other urbanizing areas and the average US forested carbon stocks. As urban land covers and populations continue to rapidly increase across the globe, these results highlight the importance of considering vegetation in urbanizing areas within the terrestrial carbon cycle.

Keywords

Urbanization & The Environment; Carbon Cycle; Carbon In Soils; Climate Change Prevention; Population & The Environment; Land Cover; Cities & Towns -- Environmental Conditions; Seattle (wash.); Washington (state); Climate Change; Development; Mitigation; Pacific Northwest; Urban; United-states; Woody Debris; Storage; Growth; Responses; Fluxes; Co2; Sequestration; Landscape; Forests

Socio-evolutionary Dynamics in Cities

Des Roches, Simone; Brans, Kristien, I; Lambert, Max R.; Rivkin, L. Ruth; Savage, Amy Marie; Schell, Christopher J.; Correa, Cristian; De Meester, Luc; Diamond, Sarah E.; Grimm, Nancy B.; Harris, Nyeema C.; Govaert, Lynn; Hendry, Andrew P.; Johnson, Marc T. J.; Munshi-south, Jason; Palkovacs, Eric P.; Szulkin, Marta; Urban, Mark C.; Verrelli, Brian C.; Alberti, Marina. (2021). Socio-evolutionary Dynamics in Cities. Evolutionary Applications, 14(1), 248 – 267.

View Publication

Abstract

Cities are uniquely complex systems regulated by interactions and feedbacks between nature and human society. Characteristics of human society-including culture, economics, technology and politics-underlie social patterns and activity, creating a heterogeneous environment that can influence and be influenced by both ecological and evolutionary processes. Increasing research on urban ecology and evolutionary biology has coincided with growing interest in eco-evolutionary dynamics, which encompasses the interactions and reciprocal feedbacks between evolution and ecology. Research on both urban evolutionary biology and eco-evolutionary dynamics frequently focuses on contemporary evolution of species that have potentially substantial ecological-and even social-significance. Still, little work fully integrates urban evolutionary biology and eco-evolutionary dynamics, and rarely do researchers in either of these fields fully consider the role of human social patterns and processes. Because cities are fundamentally regulated by human activities, are inherently interconnected and are frequently undergoing social and economic transformation, they represent an opportunity for ecologists and evolutionary biologists to study urban socio-eco-evolutionary dynamics. Through this new framework, we encourage researchers of urban ecology and evolution to fully integrate human social drivers and feedbacks to increase understanding and conservation of ecosystems, their functions and their contributions to people within and outside cities.

Keywords

Urban Ecology (biology); Urban Research; Urban Ecology (sociology); Social Processes; Biologists; Adaptation; Anthropogenic; Coupled Human-natural Systems; Eco-evo; Socio-ecological Systems; Urbanization; Rapid Evolution; Ecosystem Services; Long-term; Ecological Consequences; Partitioning Metrics; Evosystem Services; Genetic Diversity; Rattus-norvegicus; Local Adaptation; Urban Landscapes; Coupled Human-natural Systems; Eco-evo; Socio-ecological Systems