Urban areas emit the vast majority of anthropogenic CO2, but most efforts to study terrestrial and atmospheric carbon dynamics avoid areas influenced by urbanization. Urban areas are growing in spatial extent and the ecology of cities is becoming ever more germane to people?s lives and the development of carbon mitigation strategies. This research will improve understanding of how urbanization affects ecosystem characteristics and productivity across the Boston urban-to-rural gradient, and develop a framework for analysis of urban impacts on ecosystems, by (1) quantifying how ecosystem productivity changes across an urban-to-rural gradient and developing a clear empirical foundation for productivity estimation; (2) mapping historical and current patterns of land-cover change to determine trajectories of development and the carbon consequences of increasing urban lands; and (3) developing new methods to scale the results of this work from the plot and pixel level to the entire region.
This research addresses the pressing need for science to inform the development of policies that enhance core ecosystem services (e.g., air and water purification, carbon and nitrogen sequestration, food and energy production) while supporting a growing and increasingly urban human population. This work includes the development of a new science education curriculum, collaborations with the City of Boston, and will support undergraduate and graduate student research.
