Spring 2006 Bio 295S.74 Ecosystem Services and Urban Ecology
Course Information:

This site holds information regarding an ecosystem services course I held once quite some time ago, but still holds useful links and papers. Another couple of sites are more up-to-date, my undergrad course site here and the web site of my new book, Constructed Climates: A Primer on Urban Environments, at www.ConstructedClimates.org.



Course stuff:
  • Syllabus.pdf Course syllabus.


    • Following is a collection of the most important papers I found that I think we should cover in class, or use as entry points to different topics. (3/2009: Actually, this list summarizes my thinking from Fall 2006/Spring 2007 when I first got into this topic. My urban trees site, linked above, holds more current ideas):
  • CarsonEtal2001.pdf R.T. Carson, N.E. Flores, N.F. Meade. 2001. Contingent Valuation: Controversies and Evidence. Environmental and Resource Economics 19173-210.

  • CostanzaEtal1997.pdf Costanza, R, d'Arge, R., deGroot, R., Farber, S., Grasso, M., Hannon, B., Limburg, K., Naeem, S., O'Neill, RV., Paruelo, J., Raskin, RG., Sutton, P., van den Belt, M. 1997. The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387: 253-260.

  • Costanza1997MasterWorksheet.xls Supplementary Information to Costanza etal 1997: Excel Spreadsheet (courtesy of Bob Costanza).

  • Costanza1997NotesTable2.doc Supplementary Information to Costanza etal 1997: Notes on Table 2 (courtesy of Bob Costanza).

  • DonnellyMarzluff2006.pdf R. Donnelly and J.M. Marzluff. 2006. Relative importance of habitat quantity, structure, and spatial pattern to birds in urbanizing environments. Urban Ecosystems 9:99-117

  • EPAGuidelines1983.pdf EPA guidelines 1983.

  • EPAGuidelines2000.pdf EPA guidelines 2000.

  • FarberEtal2002.pdf Farber, S., R. Costanza, and M. Wilson. 2002. Economic and ecological concepts for valuing ecosystem services. Ecological Economics 41:375-392.

  • FarberEtal2006.pdf Farber, S., et al. 2006. Linking Ecology and Economics for Ecosystem Management. Bioscience 56:117-129.

  • Harrison1992.pdf G.W. Harrison. 1992. Valuing public goods with the contingent valuation method: a critique of Kahneman and Knetsch. J. Env. Econ. and Manangement 23: 248-257.

  • SOD_Urban_E2003.pdf M. Harcourt etal. 2003. The State of the Debate on the Environment and the Economy: Environmental Quality in Canadian Cities: the Federal Role. (National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy)

  • KayeEtal2006.pdf J.P. Kaye, P.M. Groffman, N.B. Grimm, L.A. Baker and R.V. Pouyat. 2006. A distinct urban biogeochemistry? TREE 21:192-199.

  • Mccauley2006.pdf D.J. McCauley. 2006. Selling out on nature. Nature 443:27-28.

  • Mccauley2006Responses.pdf Responses to D.J. McCauley. 2006. Nature 443:749-750.

  • MilleniumEcoAssess2005.pdfMillennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis. Island Press, Washington, DC.

  • ValuingEcosystemServices.pdf 2004. Valuing Ecosystem Services: Toward Better Environmental Decision-Making. (National Academy of Sciences).

  • pickett_etal2001.pdf S.T.A. Pickett, M.L. Cadenasso, J.M. Grove, C.H. Nilon, R.V. Pouyat, W.C. Zipperer, and R. Costanza. 2001. Urban Ecological Systems: Linking Terrestrial Ecological, Physical, and Socioeconomic Components of Metropolitan Areas. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 32:127–57.

  • QianFollett2002.pdfY. Qian and R.F. Follett. 2002. Assessing Soil Carbon Sequestration in Turfgrass Systems Using Long-Term Soil Testing Data. Agron. J. 94:930–935.

  • Rees1992.pdfW.E. Rees. 1992. Ecological footprints and appropriated carrying capacity: what urban economics leaves out. Environment and Urbanization 4: 121-130.

  • RojstaczerEtal2001.pdfS. Rojstaczer, S.M. Sterling, N.J. Moore. 2001. Human Appropriation of Photosynthesis Products. Science 294: 2549-2552.

  • RojstaczerEtal2001refs.txt Rojstaczer etal 2001 reference list.

  • Rojstaczerweb2.xlsRojstaczer etal 2001 spreadsheet.

  • SutherlandEtal2006.pdf W.J. Sutherland etal. 2006. The identification of 100 ecological questions of high policy relevance in the UK. Journal of Applied Ecology 43: 617-627

  • SuttonCostanza2002.pdfP.C. Sutton, R. Costanza. 2002. Global estimates of market and non-market values derived from nighttime satellite imagery, land cover, and ecosystem service valuation. Ecological Economics 41: 509–527.

  • USDA2006.pdf USDA 2006. Cooperating Across Boundaries: Partnerships to Conserve Open Space in Rural America. Forest Service FS-861.

  • VitousekEtal1986.pdf P.M. Vitousek, P.R. Ehrlich, A.H. Ehrlich, P.A. Matson. 1986. Human Appropriation of the Products of Photosynthesis. BioScience 36: 368-373.

  • WalshEtal2005.pdf C.J. Walsh, A.H. Roy, J.W. Feminella, P.D. Cottingham, P.M. Groffman, R.P.Morgan. 2005. The urban stream syndrome: current knowledge and the search for a cure. J. N. Am. Benthol. Soc. 24:706–723.


    • Other documents of potential interest:
  • AlbertiEtal2003.pdf M. Alberti, J.M. Marzluff, E. Shulenberger, G. Bradley, C. Ryan, and C. Zumbrunnen. 2003. Integrating Humans into Ecology: Opportunities and Challenges for Studying Urban Ecosystems. Bioscience 53:1169-1179.

  • BinghamEtal1995.pdf G. Bingham, R. Bishop, M. Brody, D. Bromley, E. Clark, W. Cooper, R. Costanza, T. Hale, G. Hayden, S. Kellert et al., 1995. Issues in ecosystem valuation: improving information for decision making. Ecological Economics 14: 73-90.

  • CostanzaDaly1992.pdf R. Costanza, and H.E. Daly. 1992. Natural Capital and Sustainable Development. Conservation Biology 6: 37-46.

  • EB6_FarmSize.pdf J. MacDonald, R. Hoppe, and D. Banker. 2006. Growing Farm Size and the Distribution of Farm Payments. USDA Economic Brief #6.

  • FloresEtal1998.pdf A. Flores, S.T.A. Pickett, W.C. Zipperer, R.V. Pouyat, R. Pirani. 1998. Adopting a modern ecological view of the metropolitan landscape: the case of a greenspace system for the New York City region. Landscape and Urban Planning 39:295-308.

  • Forbes1880.pdf (First EcoServices?) Anonymous. General Notes: The Food of Birds by S.A. Forbes. 1880. The American Naturalist 14: 448-450.

  • GeorgiZafiriadis2006.pdf N.J. Georgi and K. Zafiriadis. 2006. The impact of park trees on microclimate in urban areas. Urban Ecosystems 9:195-209

  • GreenAmongtheConcrete.pdf K. Wilkie and R. Roach. 2004. Green Among the Concrete: The Benefits of Urban Natural Capital. Canada West Foundation.

  • groveEtal2006.pdf J.M. Grove, A.R. Troy, J.P.M. O'Neil-Dunne, W.R. Burch Jr., M.L. Cadenasso, and S.T.A. Pickett. 2006. Characterization of Households and its Implications for the Vegetation of Urban Ecosystems. Ecosystems 9: 578-597.

  • KayeEtal2005.pdf J.P. KAYE, R.L. MCCULLEY and I.C. BURKE 2005. Carbon fluxes, nitrogen cycling, and soil microbial communities in adjacent urban, native and agricultural ecosystems. Global Change Biology 11: 575-587.

  • Pearce1994.pdf D. Pearce. 1994. Valuing the environment: Past practice, future prospect. CSERGE Working Paper PA 94-02.

  • Rees1998.pdf W.E. Rees. 1998. How should a parasite value its host? Ecological Economics 25: 49–52

  • state_of_our_streams2005-1.pdf 2005: The State of Our Streams. (City of Durham Stormwater Services)

  • Thompson2002.pdf C.W. Thompson. 2002. Urban open space in the 21st century. Landscape and Urban Planning 60: 59-72.



    • Some links:

    EPA Greening Site...great stuff.
    Open Space Framework Plan.
    Hixon Center for Urban Ecology.
    Harvesting the City: Community Gardening in Greater Madison, Wisconsin.
    Urban Open Space Foundation.
    Benefits of Urban Open Space (Trust for Public Land).
    2006 Science for Nature Symposium: Ecosystem services.
    National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (Canada).
    The Economics of Parks and Open Spaces.
    Ecology and Society (An open access journal).
    Urban Forestry information site.
    Urban and Community Forestry site.
    US EPA "Green Communities" site.
    Stern Review on the economics of climate change (UK).
    Cal State-Monterey Bay Ecosystem Services course web site.
    UNC TV Program.
    The Economic, Social and Ecological Value of Ecosystem Services: A Literature Review.
    Gund Institute publication list.