Biodiversity concepts and urban ecosystems

The association of biodiversity and urban ecosystems has usually concerned the impact of urbanization on biodiversity. However, biodiversity concepts can easily be applied to the urban ecosystem itself. As more and more peopl e live in cities, restoration, preservation and enhancement of biodiversity in urban areas become important. Concepts related to biodiversity manageme nt such as scale, hierarchy, species identity, species values, fragmentatio n, global approaches can be used to manage urban biodiversity. Application of these concepts in such artificial ecosystems may yield important insight s for the management of natural ecosystems. Birds are highly visible and qu ite sensitive to changes in habitat structure and composition. Bird species richness in urban ecosystems is influenced both by local and landscape cha racteristics and a multiscale approach is essential to its proper managemen t. People-wildlife conflicts are an integral component of wildlife manageme nt in urban ecosystems and must be addressed. Enhancement of biodiversity i n urban ecosystems can have a positive impact on the quality of life and ed ucation of urban dwellers and thus facilitate the preservation of biodivers ity in natural ecosystems. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserv ed.