TOPICS: URBAN ECOLOGY in Spring 2026 (SC2091A)

The population of the world is increasing exponentially and concentrating in cities. But the resources on the planet are limited and the Earth is getting close to its carrying capacity. In this context, cities are not only Human settlements; they are also a new type of habitat for other species that have found new ways of using its resources, interacting with each other and with us, and being subjected to new selective pressures, pushing evolution.

This course will focus on the physical and biological factors that define our interactions with biodiversity in cities, the ecological dynamics that come with by the mere presence of Human settlements, the environmental changes/impacts it causes and what we can do to address them. These changes can be as visually dramatic as the total obliteration of the previous habitat, a highly fragmented habitat for most of these organisms or as subtle as the decline of biodiversity. They can be the result of local processes, such as the change in the temperature of the area compared to the original habitat, or by societal dynamics, as for resource depletion or plastic pollution. Some of the impacts affect us directly, such as heat waves, or through the destruction of our environment, such as oil spills, chemical spills, habitat destruction, or the introduction of invasive species.