Social-Ecological Drivers and Outcomes of Urban Landscape Management.

Urban landscapes are dynamic social-ecological systems that cover less than 5% of Earth’s land surface but are home to more than 50% of the world’s population. Landscape management practices bring numerous benefits for people, but they also impact biodiversity, watersheds, and airsheds within and beyond urban borders.  As municipalities increasingly embrace sustainability principles, urban landscapes are beginning to change from ‘gray’ to ‘green’ infrastructure, and from water-intensive turfgrass lawns to ‘water-wise’ yard and landscape alternatives.  While designed to enhance important ecosystem services such as storm water and climate mitigation, these structural changes also bring new management practices that lead to a range of unintended outcomes.  Understanding the feedbacks between people and the biophysical outdoor environment is a key first step to designing urban landscapes to both maximize human well-being and minimize environmental problems.