Urban-Rural Interfaces: Linking People and Nature [Hardcover]

What is the urbanrural interface? Is it a visual phenomenon, a place where country gives way to neighborhoods and shopping areas in a startling way? Is it a simple factor of population density? There is nothing simple about the urbanrural interfaceeditors David Laband, Graeme Lockaby, and Wayne Zipperer present the broad spectrum of interdisciplinary complexities at play. Organized into three sections on changing ecosystems, changing human dimensions, and the dynamic integration of human and natural systems, this book is a must read for anyone who works in the real world, where natural and human systems are joined. This is the new sustainability science, an emerging discipline that integrates social and economic values with the physical, chemical, and ecological functions of ecosystems. The goal is optimal management, since our human impact is often significant and far-reaching in both space and time.Foreword | vii

Introduction: Defining UrbanRural Interfaces | ix

Contributors | xiii

1 The Growing Importance of UrbanRural Interfaces: Current Demographics and Their Future Implications |1
Susana Adamo

Changing Ecosystems

2 Landscape Dynamics in the WildlandUrban Interface | 17
Wayne C. Zipperer

3 Water Quantity and Quality at the UrbanRural Interface | 29
Ge Sun and B. Graeme Lockaby

4 Forests on the Edge: The Influence of Increased Housing Density on Forest Systems and Services | 49
Susan Stein, Mary Carr, Ronald E. McRoberts, and Lisa G. Mahal

5 Nonnative Invasive Plants: Maintaining Biotic and Socioeconomic Integrity Along the UrbanRuralNatural Area Gradient | 71
Cynthia D. Huebner, David J. Nowak, Richard V. Pouyat, and Allison R. Bodine

6 Faunalã)