Urban ecology paper discussion

We will be reading “Urbanization as a major cause of biotic homogenization” by M. McKinney. Your assignment is to read the paper and review by writing a 3-5 page paper answering the following questions.

  1. Define urbanization and explain why urbanization is an important concern for ecology and conservation
  2. What are native and what are non-native species and why is it important to distinguish between the two?
  3. Define biological homogenization and explain why it is such a big issue and how cities promote it.
  4. How is biological homogenization measured (i.e. explain what Jaccard’s index is)?
  5. Analyze Fig. 1 by explaining what is on the X and Y axes, and what is the major take-away from this plot?
  6. Does urbanization negatively impact all species? Based on what you know about the different groups of organisms from the rest of class:

    ◦ What are some groups that have features that might make them more likely to be invasive?

    ◦ What are some groups that have features that might make them more likely to be urban adapters?

    ◦ What are some groups that have features that might make them more likely to be negatively impacted by urbanization?

(NOTE, you can have the same group for more than one answer if you clearly justify why)

  1. What are the implications of urbanization in planetary biodiversity and ecology?

We will be discussing the paper on May 11, 2023 and reports will be due the following week during finals.

Reference the rubric below for basic expectations:

Criteria 5 4 3 2 1
Paper analysis The paper presents a thorough and well-supported analysis of the article with all questions answered, using appropriate references to the text. The paper presents a mostly thorough and well-supported analysis with all questions answered, but with minor errors or omissions. The paper presents a partially thorough and well-supported analysis with most questions answered, but with significant errors or omissions. The paper does not effectively present a thorough and well-supported analysis, with multiple errors or omissions. The paper does not attempt to present a thorough and well-supported analysis.
Reflection The paper includes a comprehensive and thoughtful reflection on the content of the paper, discussing the implications of the research, limitations, and potential future directions. The paper includes mostly a comprehensive and thoughtful reflection on the content of the paper, but with minor errors or omissions. The paper includes partially a comprehensive and thoughtful reflection on the content of the paper, but with significant errors or omissions. The paper does not effectively include a comprehensive and thoughtful reflection on the content of the paper, with multiple errors or omissions. The paper does not attempt to include a comprehensive and thoughtful reflection on the content of the paper.
Writing and organization The paper is well-written, with clear and concise language, proper grammar, and logical flow. The paper is mostly well-written, but with minor errors or issues in language, grammar, or flow. The paper is partially well-written, but with significant errors or issues in language, grammar, or flow. The paper is poorly written, with multiple errors or issues in language, grammar, or flow. The paper is not written in a clear, organized or structured way.