Urban Ecosystem in Transition: Integrating Ecology, Design, and Social Innovation for Biodiversity Conservation
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2027 | Viewed by 249
Special Issue Editors
Interests: urban ecology; urban biodiversity conservation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: ecotoxicology; urban planning; urban ecology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We undoubtedly live on Planet City: for the first time in human history, the global population is predominantly urban. Due to its enormous influence on the biosphere, managing urban growth has become one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. Cities are heterotrophic ecosystems. Unlike autotrophic ecosystems (structured by food chains composed of photosynthetic organisms that convert solar energy into chemical energy, which in turn feeds groups of heterotrophic organisms), heterotrophic ecosystems depend on immense external areas to obtain energy, food, fibers, and other materials, and for the disposal of waste and pollutants. Although they occupy a small fraction of the biosphere (something between 1 and 5% of the Earth's landmass), cities influence the entire biosphere through their immense inflows and outflows. In other words, cities and their ecological processes are not confined by administrative, geographical, or political boundaries. Cities need more information, knowledge, and better methodological approaches to preserve their urban biodiversity and the vital ecosystem services it provides to hundreds of millions of people. Furthermore, reducing the ecological footprint of urban ecosystems is crucial for the conservation of global biodiversity. As the editors of the book Ecology of Tropical Cities (Volume I, 2025) recently stated, the battle for biodiversity will be won or lost in cities. On the other hand, with global warming, extreme weather events—floods, prolonged droughts, and high-intensity rainfall events—will become increasingly frequent. It is necessary to plan cities for climate resilience through nature-based solutions. The transition to urban sustainability needs to happen immediately. In this Special Issue, we seek articles that contribute to improving the environmental planning and management of cities, and research or review articles that offer relevant perspectives and knowledge for the formulation of municipal policies focused on the conservation of urban biodiversity.
Dr. Fabio Angeoletto
Dr. Domingos Sávio Barbosa
Dr. Normandes Matos da Silva
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- urban ecology
- urban biodiversity conservation
- urban planning
- urban ecosystem services
- urban green infrastructures
- nature-based solutions
- ecology in the city
- ecology of the city
- ecology for the city
- urban ecosystems
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