title: Early urban impact on Mediterranean coastal environments.
abstract: A common belief is that, unlike today, ancient urban areas developed in a sustainable way within the environmental limits of local natural resources and the ecosystem's capacity to respond. This long-held paradigm is based on a weak knowledge of the processes underpinning the emergence of urban life and the rise of an urban-adapted environment in and beyond city boundaries. Here, we report a 6000-year record of environmental changes around the port city of Akko (Acre), Israel, to analyse ecological processes and patterns stemming from the emergence and growth of urban life. We show that early urban development deeply transformed pre-existing ecosystems, swiftly leading to an urban environment already governed by its own ecological rules and this, since the emergence of the cities.
authors.affiliation: 1] Université Paul Sabatier-Toulouse 3, EcoLab (Laboratoire d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Bâtiment 4R1, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France [2] CNRS, EcoLab (Laboratoire d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France [3] Institut Universitaire de France, 103 boulevard Saint Michel, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kaniewski
authors.affiliation: 1] Université Paul Sabatier-Toulouse 3, EcoLab (Laboratoire d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Bâtiment 4R1, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France [2] CNRS, EcoLab (Laboratoire d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Elise
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van Campo
authors.affiliation: 1] Institut Universitaire de France, 103 boulevard Saint Michel, 75005 Paris, France [2] Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, UM 34, Europôle de l'Arbois BP80, F-13545 Aix-en-Provence, France.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Morhange
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, UM 34, Europôle de l'Arbois BP80, F-13545 Aix-en-Provence, France.
authors.forename: Joël
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guiot
authors.affiliation: Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3190501, Israel.
authors.forename: Dov
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zviely
authors.affiliation: Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3190501, Israel.
authors.forename: Idan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Shaked
authors.affiliation: 1] Université Paul Sabatier-Toulouse 3, EcoLab (Laboratoire d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), Bâtiment 4R1, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France [2] CNRS, EcoLab (Laboratoire d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement), 31062 Toulouse cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Otto
authors.affiliation: 1] Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3190501, Israel [2] Hatter Laboratory, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3190501, Israel.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Artzy
mesh_terms: D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003710:Demography; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D049690:History, Ancient; D007557:Israel; D011158:Population Growth; D014505:Urban Population / Q000266:history*; D014507:Urbanization; D014887:Weather