New Lit Alert: Different traits shape winners and losers in urban bird assemblages across seasons

Different traits shape winners and losers in urban bird assemblages across seasons Riccardo Alba, Fabio Marcolin, Giacomo Assandri, Luca Ilahiane, Francesca Cochis, Mattia Brambilla, Diego Rubolini & Dan Chamberlain  Abstract Urbanisation is a major driver of global biodiversity decline, profoundly affecting animal communities. While most studies on bird communities have primarily focused on the breeding season, we aimed to identify species responses and... Continue Reading →

New Lit Alert: Reduced thermoregulatory ability contributes to increased mortality in urban box turtles (Terrapene spp.)

Reduced thermoregulatory ability contributes to increased mortality in urban box turtles (Terrapene spp.) Stella F. Uiterwaal, Jamie L. Palmer, Saima Farook, Sharon L. Deem, Catherine Taylor, Stephen Blake Abstract Urban wildlife often shows pronounced differences in ecology, behavior, and survival compared to rural individuals. Given the broad impacts of temperature in ecology, thermal discrepancies between cities... Continue Reading →

The Effect of Feral Cats on Urban Wildlife

When people consider the causes of the decline in bird or small mammal populations most will first think of pesticides or vehicle deaths. However, one of the biggest threats to these birds and mammals may actually be our own dear pet cats. Domestic cats (Felis catus) contribute significantly to the decline in urban wildlife. Cats... Continue Reading →

New Lit Alert: Colourful Urban Birds: Bird Species Successful in Urban Environments Have More Elaborate Colours and Less Brown

Juan Diego Ibáñez-Álamo, Kaspar Delhey, Lucía Izquierdo, Mihai Valcu, Bart Kempenaers Juan Diego Ibáñez-Álamo and Kaspar Delhey shared first authors. Abstract Rapidly expanding urbanisation presents significant challenges to wildlife. Consequently, many studies have investigated the impact of urbanisation on diverse organisms. However, despite the ecological relevance of animal colouration, its association with urbanisation remains poorly understood. Using a global... Continue Reading →

Coyotes as Proxy for Urban Evolution

Urbanization has been ever increasing since the start of the industrial revolution and has shown no signs of slowing down. This has lead to cities growing bigger and bigger and thereby imposing new selection pressures on the animals in them. However, quantifying the effects of anthropogenic selection pressures has proven difficult for non-model species due... Continue Reading →

New Lit Alert! Melanic urban hedgehogs!

Published April 10, 2025 in Mammal Research: Melanin-based colouration in European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus): is it under selection in urban environments? Isabelle Defosseux, Cécile le Barzic, Pascal Arné, Grégory Jouvion & Julien Gasparini Abstract: Urbanisation is currently expanding at small and global scales, forcing several species to adapt to this new environment. In this context,... Continue Reading →

Relaxing Chipmunks in Urban Areas

The human population around the world keeps growing. With that growth existing cities are expanding and new ones are being built. The urban landscape is a relatively new environment with different ecological and environmental conditions compared to rural areas. Environmental pressures in cities affect humans and wild animals alike, for example artificial light at night... Continue Reading →

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