Abstract
Green infrastructure consists of ecosystems that provide valuable services to urban areas. Constructed ecosystems, including green roofs, bioretention systems, constructed wetlands and bioreactors are artificial, custom-built components of green infrastructure that are becoming more common in cities. Small size, strong spatial boundaries, ecological novelty and the role of human design characterize all constructed ecosystems, influencing their functions and interactions with other urban ecosystems. Here I outline the relevance of ecology and evolution in understanding the functioning of constructed ecosystems. In turn, a research focus on the distinctive aspects of constructed ecosystems can contribute to fundamental science.
Highlights
Green infrastructure originally referred to natural ecosystems in and around urban areas and the corridors that connect them (Weber and Wolf, 2000; Hostetler et al, 2011)
This paper provides an ecologist’s perspective on the commonalities between seemingly disparate kinds of constructed ecosystem and how they differ from natural ecosystems
The ecosystems created in this kind of microgreening represent constructed ecosystems as they are highly artificial environments, strongly spatially bounded, potentially very isolated from natural ecosystems and other green infrastructure, feature high levels of ecological novelty, and have less ecological memory than in-situ urban gardens based on local soils
Summary
Green infrastructure originally referred to natural ecosystems in and around urban areas and the corridors that connect them (Weber and Wolf, 2000; Hostetler et al, 2011). The material and energy costs of constructed green infrastructure may outweigh their benefits, as in the case when green roofs provide too much heat sink, resulting in higher cooling costs in tropical environments (Jim, 2014), or when treatment wetlands result in significant release of greenhouse gases (Ström et al, 2007) Both “inside-out” and “outside-in” perspectives are important to understand the potential impact of constructed ecosystems on city ecology, and studies of the linkages between constructed ecosystem patches and other ecosystem in the urban matrix are essential (Braaker et al, 2014). The ecosystems created in this kind of microgreening represent constructed ecosystems as they are highly artificial environments, strongly spatially bounded, potentially very isolated from natural ecosystems and other green infrastructure, feature high levels of ecological novelty, and have less ecological memory than in-situ urban gardens based on local soils They provide ecosystem functions, especially visual relief and interest in otherwise hard-surfaced environments and should be studied to determine the overall contribution to urban ecosystem services. The emphasis on green infrastructure to date has been on “big”: wide expanses of relatively natural forest, wetland or riverine habitats, or large organisms (trees in the urban forest) but the role of microgreening in food production (Hui, 2011), ameliorating microclimates (Hagishima et al, 2007), and providing visual relief (Kaplan, 2001; Groenewegen et al, 2006) may be important where it provides the only green infrastructure in the urban core and can be readily implemented by urban residents
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