Threatened and endangered bird species and critical habitats in US cities

Cities have classically been viewed as biologically impoverished,
homogenized, and simplified systems that harbor low value for
biodiversity. However, recent work has demonstrated that cities are
critical ecological systems that provide important services to humanity
and biodiversity. Cities can play vital roles in conserving biodiversity
as well as habitats, providing system stability, and offering direct
opportunities for people to engage with nature. In a rapidly changing
world with biodiversity loss at an all-time high, cities have the
potential to act as sanctuaries for biodiversity conservation. Here, we
propose a “cities as sanctuaries” concept, which demonstrates the
importance of cities for ecology and conservation, and provide the
groundwork for advancing this novel field of study.