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The Fates of Cities as Human Ecosystems W.R. Burch Hixon Professor of Natural Resource Management Yale University New Haven, USA Taiwan, September 2004. Introduction.
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The Fates of CitiesasHuman EcosystemsW.R. BurchHixon Professor of Natural Resource ManagementYale UniversityNew Haven, USATaiwan, September 2004
Introduction • The human ecosystem can be an organizing concept for interdisciplinary research, integrated planning, and adaptive resource management • Applying the human ecosystem concept can provide usable knowledge at local, regional, and global scales--including urban ecosystems • Usable knowledge is relevant, timely, appropriate in scale and accuracy, and defensible • The human ecosystem concept can provide insights into the ecological trajectory (or “fates”) of cities
An Overview • First, a brief abstract of the Human Ecosystem Framework (HEF) as an organizing concept • Second, an illustrated description of the framework • Third, a caution about its powers, and the fate(s) of cities as human ecosystems • Fourth (as time permits), a dialogue on how the framework may be useful to this workshop
An Abstract of the Human Ecosystem Framework • Human ecosystems are overlaid upon base conditions, such as • Solar energy inputs • Thermodynamic properties • Biogeochemical processes and cycles • Human ecosystems have a common structure, including • Biophysical and socio-cultural components • Flows, processes, and patterns • Nested spatial scales
An Abstract (continued) • The framework can be applied to policy, planning, research, and management decision-making • The framework can be used to describe and measure human ecosystems over time and space, and in: • narrative, map, chart, numeric and graphic forms • A first step to understanding is a description of the framework and its origins…….