Collaborative Research:RCN:UrBioNet: A global network of urban biodiversity research and practice

世界上一半以上的人口生活在城市，这使得人类对自然的体验越来越局限于城市地区。为了了解城市如何支持人类和生物多样性，科学家，城市规划师和设计专业人士之间需要更大的合作。该项目将建立一个研究协调网络，将这些学科汇集在一起，研究影响城市生物多样性的因素（UrBioNet）。该网络将促进全球科学家的参与，并开发侧重于与当地居民、城市规划者和管理者相关的城市动植物的数据库和材料。该项目将扩大现有的全球城市植物和鸟类数据库，并开发新的城市及其周边地区蝙蝠、鱼类和昆虫传粉者数据库。该网络将侧重于汇编和监测区域生物多样性高的地区的城市生物区系，如热带城市和生物多样性热点地区的城市。三个科学工作组将利用该网络收集的信息，回答有关不同物种与城市化的生态关系的问题，同时考虑到文化和社会方面，并为监测城市生态系统提出建议。支持该网络的主要活动包括：全网络会议;讲习班;以及开发关于城市生物多样性的在线研究生课程。UrBioNet将进一步为科学界服务，支持全球、区域和地方数据库的开发，以测试基于城市的物理、气候和社会特征的物种模式假设。该项目的成果将提高我们对城市生态的认识，并为规划者和管理者提供有用的信息，以监测和保护城市地区的生物多样性。UrBioNet将针对数据较少的区域开展活动，从而加强在城市生态研究和监测方面投资程度不同的区域之间的知识转让。该网络将制定监测协议，使数据收集方法标准化，并在经济上可行。企业家、管理者和从业者将是网络的积极参与者。 在线课程将为美国13所大学（包括两所历史悠久的黑人大学）的研究生开发，UrBioNet将通过由美国多达21所大学的网络参与者领导的校园生物多样性监测项目，欧洲、非洲、亚洲和南美洲。

Over half of the world's human population lives in cities, making the human experience of nature increasingly defined within urban areas. In order to understand how cities can support both humans and biodiversity, greater collaboration is needed among scientists, urban planners, and design professionals. This project will create a research coordination network to bring together these disciplines to study the factors affecting biodiversity in cities (UrBioNet). The network will facilitate engagement of scientists globally and develop databases and materials focusing on the plants and animals of cities that are relevant to local residents, urban planners, and managers. This project will expand existing global databases of plants and birds in cities and develop new databases of bats, fish, and insect pollinators of cities and their surrounding regions. The network will focus on the compilation and monitoring of urban biota in areas of high regional biodiversity, such as tropical cities and cities within biodiversity hotspots. Three scientific working groups will use information collected in this network to answer questions regarding the ecological relationships of different species to urbanization, with consideration of cultural and social aspects, and develop recommendations for monitoring urban ecosystems. Key activities in support of the network include: network-wide meetings; workshops; and the development of an online graduate course on urban biodiversity. UrBioNet will further serve the scientific community by supporting the development of global, regional, and local databases to test hypotheses on the patterns of species based on the physical, climatic, and social features of cities. Outcomes from this project will enhance our understanding of the ecology of cities and provide useful information to planners and managers for the monitoring and preservation of biodiversity in urban regions. By targeting activities in regions with less data availability, UrBioNet will enhance knowledge transfer among regions with different degrees of investment in urban ecological research and monitoring. The network will develop monitoring protocols that will standardize data collection methods and be economically feasible to implement. Planners, managers, and practitioners will be active participants in the network. Online courses will be developed for graduate students at 13 universities (including two historically black universities) in the U.S., and UrBioNet will involve undergraduate students through campus-based biodiversity monitoring projects led by network participants at up to 21 universities in the U.S., Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America.