Integrating avian ecology into emerging paradigms in urban ecology

Abstract

We discuss emerging paradigms in the conceptual and methodological approaches to the study of urban ecosystems. We review methods used in urban studies of avian ecology, both historically and in this book, and discuss how the results of these studies can be incorporated into these paradigms. We explore the mechanistic links between the urban environment and between different levels of biological organization, from physiology to individuals to populations to communities and we suggest future approaches to increase the applicability of urban avian ecology to understanding the functioning of cities as ecosystems. These approaches require and will benefit from interdisciplinary research and education.