Cities as Evolutionary Incubators: Unlocking the Secret of the Spotted Lanternfly Invasion

If you live in the Northeast United States, the Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) probably needs no introduction. Since their arrival around 2014, these striking planthoppers have transformed from a localized curiosity in Pennsylvania into a region-wide phenomenon, swarming vineyards, coating city sidewalks, and becoming the target of public "squish-on-sight" campaigns. But as evolutionary biologists, we... Continue Reading →

February 20, 2026 0

Urbanized Invaders

Does urban evolution help or hamper invasive species? Among biologist invasive species have been a well-documented problem for a long time. In the Netherlands ecologist are actively fighting the spread of Japanese knotweed, American crayfish and many more invasive species. A recent article by Borden and Flory (Borden and Flory, 2021) has suggested that the... Continue Reading →

February 13, 2026 0

Clever City Crows: How Corvids Conquered the City

What is the most intelligent animal you can think of? Species that likely come to mind are perhaps apes, cetaceans, or elephants. However, in spite of their intelligence, most of the species from these groups are not as abundant as they used to be. Humans have changed the world through climate change, pollution, and changing... Continue Reading →

October 30, 2025 0

Our cat’s cousin has returned to the Netherlands!

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 →

September 19, 2025 0

Herding cats

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 →

September 15, 2025 0

Dealing with relatives and concrete: how to make the city a refuge for wild bees?

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 →

September 12, 2025 0

Urban beekeeping poses a threat on wild bee species

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 →

September 10, 2025 0

Urbanization and the re-shaping of fish.

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 →

September 2, 2025 0

Death and Opportunity: The Hidden World Behind (Urban) Road Systems

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 →

August 28, 2025 0

Beyond the Shade: The Growing Disadvantages of the London Plane

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 →

August 26, 2025 0

How do we make birds feel more at home?

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 →

August 22, 2025 0

A concrete hunting ground: a new environment for raptors

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 →

August 18, 2025 0

Using Soundscapes to Monitor Urban Diversity

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 →

August 15, 2025 0

The urban curse on Coho salmon

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 →

August 12, 2025 0

‘Our neighbours suck!’

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 →

August 8, 2025 0

Life in the City