The Ecology of Urban Habitats

1. Front Matter

   Pages iii-xi

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2. Introduction

   • O. L. Gilbert

   Pages 1-8

3. Characteristics of the Urban Flora and Fauna

   • O. L. Gilbert

   Pages 9-24

4. The Urban Climate and Air Pollution

   • O. L. Gilbert

   Pages 25-40

5. Soils in Urban Areas

   • O. L. Gilbert

   Pages 41-54

6. Vegetation Dynamics

   • O. L. Gilbert

   Pages 55-67

7. Urban Commons

   • O. L. Gilbert

   Pages 68-109

8. Industrial Areas

   • O. L. Gilbert

   Pages 110-125

9. Railways

   • O. L. Gilbert

   Pages 126-144

10. Roads

    • O. L. Gilbert

    Pages 145-164

11. City Centres

    • O. L. Gilbert

    Pages 165-182

12. City Parks

    • O. L. Gilbert

    Pages 183-205

13. Allotments and Leisure Gardens

    • O. L. Gilbert

    Pages 206-217

14. Cemeteries

    • O. L. Gilbert

    Pages 218-238

15. Gardens

    • O. L. Gilbert

    Pages 239-263

16. Rivers, Canals, Ponds, Lakes, Reservoirs and Water Mains

    • O. L. Gilbert

    Pages 264-290

17. Woodland

    • O. L. Gilbert

    Pages 291-310

18. Living with Wildlife

    • O. L. Gilbert

    Pages 311-319

19. Back Matter

    Pages 320-369

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This book is about the plants and animals of urban areas, not the urban fringe, not encapsulated countryside but those parts of towns where man's impact is greatest. The powerful anthropogenic influences that operate in cities have, until recently, rendered them unattractive to ecologists who find the high proportion of exotics and mixtures of planted and spontaneous vegetation bewildering. They are also unused to considering fashion, taste, mowing machines and the behaviour of dog owners as habitat factors. I have always maintained, however, J. nd I hope this book demonstrJ. tes, that there are as many interrelationships to be uncovered in a flower bed as in a field, in a cemetery as on a sand dune; and due to the well documented history of urban sites, together with the strong effects of management, they are frequently easier to interpret than those operating in more natural areas. The potential of these communities as rewarding areas for study is revealed in the literature on the pests of stored products, urban foxes and birds. The journals oflocal natural history societies have also provided a rich source of material as amateurs have never been averse to following the fortunes of their favourite groups into the heart of our cities. It is predictable that among the few professionals to specialize in this discipline have been those enclosed in West Berlin, who must he regJ. rdcd as among the leJ. ding exponents of urban ecology.

• Evolution
• air pollution
• ecology
• fauna
• invertebrates
• mammals
• pollution
• vegetation

• The University of Sheffield, UK

  O. L. Gilbert

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