Urban biodiversity and climate change

Abstract

Urban biodiversity refers to the variety and variability among living organisms found in a city and the ecological systems in which they occur. Overall, urban biodiversity responds to a combination of biogeographic and anthropogenic factors, with a strong influence of the latter. In a rapidly urbanizing world under the pressing threat of climate change, there is a growing interest in understanding how cities benefit from local biodiversity and how these benefits can be under threat due to climate change. This chapter addresses how the combined effects of climate change and urban factors affect urban biodiversity and the practical steps cities are taking to incorporate biodiversity issues in their development agendas.