Evolution in an Urbanizing World
Our cat’s cousin has returned to the Netherlands! The Netherlands, one of the smallest countries in Europe, is getting wilder! A few days ago, I came across an intriguing news report on Jeugdjournaal. It stated that the European wildcat has been spotted in the southern part of the Netherlands, with signs that a few have... Continue Reading →
Humans and domesticated cats (Felis catus) have lived alongside one another for a very long time and, consequently, humans have taken their cats all over the world (Cecchetti et al., 2020; Pirie et al., 2022; Wijburg et al., 2022). Nowadays, cats are in the household as pets, but they are also used on farms as... Continue Reading →
Wild bees are declining at alarming rates in rural environments, but cities have the potential to provide habitat for a surprisingly high diversity of these pollinators (Sirohi et al., 2025). At the same time, urban beekeeping is gaining ground as an increasingly popular hobby, spiking up honey bee numbers in cities worldwide (Lanner et al.,... Continue Reading →
Urban areas as a refuge Cities provide a diverse set of habitats that have the possibility to house many wild bee species [1]. Urban green spaces such as gardens, parks and yards provide nesting and foraging resources for many bee species and often are seen as a refuge for many wild bee species that are... Continue Reading →
Around the globe we see an increase of populations living in cities, making urban environments the fastest growing ecosystem on the planet. Urbanization is a global phenomenon that has been increasing at an accelerating rate, altering both terrestrial and aquatic landscapes. These alterations are often linked to biodiversity loss, but can urbanization also drive evolution?... Continue Reading →
Spotting roadkill while driving evokes sadness for many people. Imagine how intimidating our roads must feel for most animals: long concrete lines with strange metal boxes five times your size, moving faster than anything you have ever seen and producing terrifying amounts of noise. Roadkill is one of the leading causes of death for vertebrates... Continue Reading →
When I was younger, I remember thinking to myself: “This tree is losing its skin, is it dying?” I believe I can’t be the only child that thought this when first looking at a London plane. Little did I (and the other children) know, this was one of the London planes’ amazing abilities that made... Continue Reading →
Cover photo: Birds on a lantern post (Source: Business Insider) Taking a walk through the busy streets of the city, life appears to all around us. Bikers briskly pass you by, drivers honk loudly and hundreds of people walk around as if you find yourself in a busy anthill. A pigeon quickly takes off before... Continue Reading →
Within cities, the number of trophic levels present in the community can change when animals migrate there. Smaller predators can end up at the top of the trophic chain or a different species, like the domestic cat, becomes the apex predator of the city. How are apex predators like raptors thriving or at least surviving... Continue Reading →
Using soundscapes to monitor urban diversity by Shade Walker Daily sounds of local traffic, the coffee machine pouring, conversations over breakfast, and morning birdsong, are all familiar to us, signaling the start of a new day. As sound waves pulse through the air, they encounter physical structures in the environment, and it is through this... Continue Reading →
Lets perform a small thought-experiment: what are the first three things you think about when you hear the term urbanization? I would guess people would give answers akin to stone houses, big cities, paved roads and a decrease in greenery. And yes, those are big aspects of urbanization. But all of those aspects have an... Continue Reading →
The Earth is surely heating up, and so are our cities. The concrete structures that surround us in our daily lives quickly raise temperatures in the cities up until 15 degrees Celsius higher than surrounding rural areas (Mentaschi, 2022). One of the key strategies of governments to make cities more resilient to climate change is... Continue Reading →
Pollination is a fundamental ecological process that supports biodiversity and sustains economies through crop pollination. About 80% of wild plant species rely on insect pollination for seed set and fruit. Additionally, about 75% of crops used for human food rely on insect pollination. This means that insect pollination is highly important for biodiversity and agriculture... Continue Reading →
In my previous blog post I wrote about the beauty and uses of lichens in the city, and I mentioned their use as indicators for pollution. In this post I want to go a little deeper into their interactions with pollution especially in urban habitats. Ammonia Pollution Urban traffic causes a great deal of pollution... Continue Reading →
Cities are becoming more and more grey, with less and less living biomass. The consequence is that there is not enough natural nesting material available for the urban birds. These birds adapt to use alternative anthropogenic nesting materials. Examples include synthetic twine, string, and rope or artificial plants made of plastic (Hiemstra et al. 2021).... Continue Reading →
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