Atmospheric deposition of carbon and nutrients across an arid metropolitan area.

Urbanization is increasing rapidly in semi-arid environments and is predicted to alter atmospheric deposition of nutrients and pollutants to cities as well as to ecosystems downwind. We examined patterns of wet and coarse dry deposition chemistry over a five-year period at 7 sites across the Central Arizona-Phoenix (CAP) study area, one of two urban sites within the National Science Foundation's Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program. Wet and dry deposition of organic carbon (oC) were significantly elevated in the urban core; in contrast, mean annual wet and dry fluxes of nitrogen (N) were low (<6 kg ha(-1) yr(-1)) compared to previous estimates and did not differ significantly among sites.

From patterns to emerging processes in mechanistic urban ecology.

Rapid urbanization has become an area of crucial concern in conservation owing to the radical changes in habitat structure and loss of species engendered by urban and suburban development. Here, we draw on recent mechanistic ecological studies to argue that, in addition to altered habitat structure, three major processes contribute to the patterns of reduced species diversity and elevated abundance of many species in urban environments. These activities, in turn, lead to changes in animal behavior, morphology and genetics, as well as in selection pressures on animals and plants.

Socioeconomics drive urban plant diversity.

Spatial variation in plant diversity has been attributed to heterogeneity in resource availability for many ecosystems. However, urbanization has resulted in entire landscapes that are now occupied by plant communities wholly created by humans, in which diversity may reflect social, economic, and cultural influences in addition to those recognized by traditional ecological theory. Here we use data from a probability-based survey to explore the variation in plant diversity across a large metropolitan area using spatial statistical analyses that incorporate biotic, abiotic, and human variables.

Preliminary assessment of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity and community structure in an urban ecosystem.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) species richness, composition, spore density and diversity indices were evaluated in the Phoenix metropolitan area, Arizona, USA at 20 sampling sites selected to represent the four predominant land-use types found in the greater urban area: urban-residential, urban non-residential, agriculture and desert. AMF spores were extracted and identified from soil samples and from trap cultures established using soil collected at each site. Data were analyzed according to land use, land-use history, soil chemistry and vegetation characteristics at each site.