Cities as sanctuaries

Christopher A. Lepczyk, Myla F.J. Aronson, Frank A. La Sorte

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cities have classically been viewed as biologically impoverished, homogenized, and simplified systems that harbor low value for biodiversity. However, recent work has demonstrated that cities are critical ecological systems that provide important services to humanity and biodiversity. Cities can play vital roles in conserving biodiversity as well as habitats, providing system stability, and offering direct opportunities for people to engage with nature. In a rapidly changing world with biodiversity loss at an all-time high, cities have the potential to act as sanctuaries for biodiversity conservation. Here, we propose a “cities as sanctuaries” concept, which demonstrates the importance of cities for ecology and conservation, and provide the groundwork for advancing this novel field of study.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)251-259
Number of pages9
JournalFrontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Volume21
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2023

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Ecology

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