Anthropogenic Change

This note is about human-induced large-scale and persistent change, such as that envisioned by the Anthropocene, climate change, the sixth extinction, etc.

Key Idea

Is that correct to say that the future will be substantially different because of human interference from the past and the present? At what scales? In which ways? On what evidence?

Relevant as a justification for the continuation of Design efforts.

Evolutionary Change

Urban ecosystems are rapidly expanding throughout the world, but how urban growth affects the evolutionary ecology of species living in urban areas remains largely unknown.

Rivkin, L. Ruth, James S. Santangelo, Marina Alberti, Myla F. J. Aronson, Charlotte W. de Keyzer, Sarah E. Diamond, Marie‐Josée Fortin, et al. “A Roadmap for Urban Evolutionary Ecology.” Evolutionary Applications 12, no. 3 (2019): 384–98. https://doi.org/10/ggbt5j.

Adaptive evolution in urban ecosystems.

Donihue, Colin M., and Max R. Lambert. “Adaptive Evolution in Urban Ecosystems.” AMBIO 44, no. 3 (2015): 194–203. https://doi.org/10/f65vgb.

On the importance of evolutionary biology in conservation. Do not ignore the adaptive change. (in Harry Guan, Digital Futures 2021)

Hendry, Andrew P., Lúcia G. Lohmann, Elena Conti, Joel Cracraft, Keith A. Crandall, Daniel P. Faith, Christoph Häuser, et al. “Evolutionary Biology in Biodiversity Science, Conservation, and Policy: A Call to Action.” Evolution 64, no. 5 (2010): 1517–28. https://doi.org/10/b4n9gf.

To maintain ecosystem integrity in a rapidly changing environment, humans must also allow non-human species to adapt to urban habitats, rather than exclusively focusing on restoring habitats that are suitable for current species.

Olivieri, Isabelle, Jeanne Tonnabel, Ophélie Ronce, and Agnès Mignot. “Why Evolution Matters for Species Conservation: Perspectives from Three Case Studies of Plant Metapopulations.” Evolutionary Applications 9, no. 1 (2016): 196–211. https://doi.org/10/f77hhs.

Novel Ecologies as an Acceptance of Change

Cultural Change

Resilience as a Form of Resistance to Change

Pickett, Steward T. A., Brian McGrath, M. L. Cadenasso, and Alexander J. Felson. “Ecological Resilience and Resilient Cities.” Building Research & Information 42, no. 2 (2014): 143–57. https://doi.org/10/gjvcwx.

Pickett, Stewart T. A., Mary L. Cadenasso, and Brian McGrath, eds. Resilience in Ecology and Urban Design: Linking Theory and Practice for Sustainable Cities. Dordrecht: Springer, 2013.


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