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Life on Land pp 1069–1079Cite as

Urban Growth and Biodiversity Conservation

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

Definition

While there are certainly costs associated with urbanization that must be mitigated, responsible urban development also offers opportunities to manage human population growth and consumption in ways that can reduce pressures on natural landscapes and create new urban ecological niches. It is therefore imperative that societies take the connection between biodiversity and urbanization seriously in order to manage the impact of this new trend to ensure responsible and sustainable growth. The remainder of this chapter explores the current state of knowledge on the impacts of urbanization on biodiversity and recent trends in effective management.

Introduction

Since the middle of the last century there have been a series of important global changes on the planet, such as the disturbance of the cycles of the elements, the extinction of many species, and climate change. These changes are occurring very quickly with a rate that is calculated between 10 and 100 times higher than in...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain

    Miren Onaindia & Joshua Fisher

  2. Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Miren Onaindia & Joshua Fisher

Authors
  1. Miren Onaindia
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  2. Joshua Fisher
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miren Onaindia .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. European School of Sustainability Science and Research, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

  3. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo University, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

  4. HAW Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Amanda Lange Salvia

  5. University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

Section Editor information

  1. Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), Lisbon, Portugal

    Ana Catarina Luz

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Onaindia, M., Fisher, J. (2021). Urban Growth and Biodiversity Conservation. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A.M., Brandli, L., Lange Salvia, A., Wall, T. (eds) Life on Land. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95981-8_134

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