Abstract To date, urban plant selection has mainly been focused on species-level characteristics such as aesthetics and suitability to form assemblages. In natural environments, however, plant species form natural assemblages based on positive (and negative) ecological interactions. Implementing an assemblage-level approach to plant selection in an urban context that utilises ecological interactions between species can not only look aesthetically pleasing but can also reduce common maintenance issues and improve plant performance and resilience. Agricultural practice has long since recognised the usefulness of utilising species interactions to improve plant and soil health, deter pests and increase resource use and diversity. However, the benefits of assemblage-level interactions have seldom been translated into the urban context. In this opinion piece, we advocate for the use of an assemblage-level approach for species selection in urban settings that draws on the interaction between species, based on key ecological principles. We suggest five such principles; facilitation, competition and niche separation, enemy avoidance and deterrence, plant-soil interactions and species diversity. We propose selected examples of how they have been utilised in agriculture and argue that these concepts can be adopted in urban landscapes.

中文翻译：

---

利用生态知识进行城市植物景观美化

摘要 迄今为止，城市植物的选择主要集中在物种水平的特征上，例如美学和形成组合的适宜性。然而，在自然环境中，植物物种形成基于积极（和消极）生态相互作用的自然组合。在城市环境中实施植物选择的组合级方法，利用物种之间的生态相互作用，不仅可以在美学上令人愉悦，而且可以减少常见的维护问题并提高植物的性能和恢复力。农业实践早已认识到利用物种相互作用来改善植物和土壤健康、阻止害虫以及增加资源利用和多样性的有用性。然而，组合层面互动的好处很少被转化为城市环境。在这篇意见文章中，我们主张在城市环境中使用组合级别的方法进行物种选择，该方法基于关键的生态原则，利用物种之间的相互作用。我们提出了五个这样的原则；促进、竞争和生态位分离、敌人回避和威慑、植物-土壤相互作用和物种多样性。我们提出了一些关于它们如何在农业中使用的例子，并认为这些概念可以在城市景观中采用。