A new book on urban ecology is about
to appear. Three urban ecologists from the
University of Quebec in Montreal, Beatrix Beisner, Christian Messier, and
Luc-Alain Giraldeau, have compiled an engaging series of essays to share with
general readers and students the richness of ecological processes and phenomena
in cities, suburbs, and exurbs (CSE). I
was very excited to obtain an advanced copy of this book at a recent meeting on
urban biodiversity in Montreal.
The book starts out with a statement
that will be uncontroversial to biophysical ecologists and the other
researchers who work with them: “Above all else, ecology is a science. Ecology is not a philosophy or a way of
being, and even less is it a panacea to save the planet” (Beisner et al. 2013:
1). Of course sound ecological knowledge
is of extraordinary utility in identifying and solving environmental problems,
but this is because of the scientific foundation it provides. Ethics, philosophy, and action are the tools
by which scientific knowledge come to play its key role in personal and social
decision making. In its 147 pages, this
book comprises 25 essays that range widely across the ecological principles,
processes, and responses relevant to urban systems in the broadest sense.
Readers will come away with an
understanding of the fundamental processes of biological production and
decomposition as they occur in CSE systems.
The technical vocabulary needed for this understanding is gently
introduced, and for the forgetful, a glossary appears at the end of the
book. Each essay includes a few
beautiful line drawings and illustrations to engage the reader visually in the
topic as well.
Although the titles of the essays do
not always alert the professional ecologist to the technical content, rest
assured that the conceptual coverage is broad.
Ponds and aquatic organisms, the function of plants and the composition
of vegetation, the role of invasive species, evolution and adaptation,
population dynamics, pollution, and social ecology are among the many topics
exemplified in the essays.
In addition to understanding some of
the key points of ecological knowledge needed to understand and better manage
and plan CSE systems, readers will come to appreciate the nature of ecological
science itself. Controversies, conflicting
hypotheses, and problematic interpretations are highlighted in some of the
essays. All of the essays include
questions, a point to discuss, or an invitation for rigorous observation that
can involve readers in the thinking and doing that are the core of
science.
Watch for this little book in 2013, in
either paper or e-book formats, as a stimulus for teaching and learning about
the inextricable meshing of the ecological in our cities, suburbs, and towns.
Bibliography
Beisner, B., C. Messier, and L.-A.
Giraldeau, editors. 2013. Nature all around us: a guide to urban ecology.
University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
(Readers in French will want to look for the publication under the title
L’ecologie en ville published by
Editions Fide in 2006.)
