Transitional Ecology: Embedding ecological experiments into temporary urban public art

Abstract

Understanding the environmental consequences of urbanization is a pressing objective, and more experimental ecology in urban areas would be useful in meeting this goal. Here we introduce the concept of Transitional Ecology, which involves incorporating ecological field research into temporary public art on vacant urban land. Ecological experiments can yield useful results about urban systems over short time periods. Incorporating such experiments into temporary public art allows the space to provide diverse community benefits. Although this fusion introduces challenges for both ecologists and artists, it can also create formal and informal science training activities while raising public awareness of environmental science. We illustrate these challenges and opportunities with the Urban Flower Field, a phytoremediation project in a temporary urban park.