New Forests

Robert Sullivan, writing for the NYMag on how cities and forests may not be as mutually exclusive as previously imagined. That the assumption that urbanism is inherently detrimental to natural systems is being rethought as we observe new natural landscapes developing within urban environments:

Recently, however, scientists have come to suspect that urban forests have thrived not despite their urban environment but because of it. “The old idea was that urban areas are not ecologically interesting or don’t have ecological processes, and that’s false,” says Richard Pouyat, who studies urban forests for the U.S. Forest Service. “The difference is, it’s been altered.” And altering the natural landscape isn’t always a bad thing.

Via Mammoth, of course.