For the past 1.5 years, we (the editors of LITC) have been working to bring together new empirical urban evolution research as well as novel reviews and perspectives. While this research has trickled out online over the past few months we’re excited that it is officially published in Evolutionary Applications’ first issue of 2021. This special issue covers five main themes:
- Physiological responses to urban climate
- Phenotype–environment relationships
- Population genetic patterns associated with urbanization
- Human-wildlife interactions
- Emerging themes
The introductory paper opens the special issue and discusses how the research and ideas in this issue add to our current knowledge of urban evolution and where the field is heading.
Three papers in this issue (Chick et al., 2020; Tüzün & Stoks, 2020; Yilmaz et al., 2020) cover different aspects of physiological changes in urban environments. Yilmaz et al. (2020) explored how phenotypic plasticity and adaptive evolution influenced heat tolerance, cold tolerance, and desiccation tolerance in the isopod Oniscus asellus. Tüzün & Stoks (2020) examined thermal physiological adaptations in the damselfly, Coenagrion puella and Chick et al. (2020) explored resource acquisition and metabolic rate in urban and rural acorn ants, Temnothorax curvispinosus.
Three papers in this issue (Theodorou et al. 2020; Corsini et al. 2020; Watson et al. 2020) used empirical research to examine relationships between phenotype and the environment. Theodorou et al. (2020) sampled three species of bumblebees (Bombus lapidarius, B. pascuorum, & B. terrestris) to understand how habitat fragmentation caused by urbanization is associated with increased body size. Watson et al. 2020 examined epigenetic markers in urban and forest populations of fledgling Great Tits (Parus major) to understand how gene expression may lead to differences in these two populations. Meanwhile, Corsini et al. (2020) also examined tits, including Great Tits and blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), in their study of how development, body mass, and survival are correlated with impervious surface area.
Multiple studies in the special issue examined the relationship between urbanization and gene flow. Fusco et al. (2020) and Wei et al. (2020) both examined amphibians, looking at Northern two‐lined salamanders (Eurycea bislineata) in the New York City metropolitan area and Eastern golden frog (Pelophylax plancyi) in Shanghai, respectively. Ballare and Jha (2020) examined the population structure of Eastern carpenter bees (Xylocopa virginica) in urban and agricultural areas while Carlen and Munshi-South (2020) examined feral pigeon (Columba livia) population structure across the heavily urbanized Northeastern United States. Finally, Richardson et al. (2020) tested how urbanization influences gene flow in terrestrial (white-footed mice, Peromyscus leucopus) and avian (big brown bats, Eptesicus fuscus) mammals.
With urbanization comes humans and two papers in this issue examined the relationship between urban wildlife and humans. In their perspective, Schell et al. (2020) discuss the evolutionary consequences of human-wildlife interactions (e.g., property damage, automobile collisions, attacks from domestic animals) while Byers et al. (2020) examined how relatedness among brown rats in Vancouver influence the pathogens carried by the rats.
Finally, three papers pushed our field in new directions. In their review, Alter et al. (2020) discuss how marine environments are often overlooked when studying urban evolution, despite many large cities being located on the coastline. In their perspective piece, Shultz et al. (2020) describe how natural history museums are underutilized for urban evolution research and put forth recommendations for best practices moving forward (and archiving specimens) so the field of urban evolution can continue to grow. Finally, in the capstone paper, Des Roches et al. (2020) describe the challenges and opportunities in the future of urban evolutionary biology.
Check out all the papers below:
Miles, L.S., Carlen, E.J., Winchell, K.M. and Johnson, M.T., 2020. Urban evolution comes into its own: Emerging themes and future directions of a burgeoning field. Evolutionary Applications.
Yilmaz, A.R., Diamond, S.E. and Martin, R.A., 2020. Evidence for the evolution of thermal tolerance, but not desiccation tolerance, in response to hotter, drier city conditions in a cosmopolitan, terrestrial isopod. Evolutionary Applications.
Tüzün, N. and Stoks, R., 2020. Lower bioenergetic costs but similar immune responsiveness under a heat wave in urban compared to rural damselflies. Evolutionary Applications.
Chick, L.D., Waters, J.S. and Diamond, S.E., 2020. Pedal to the metal: Cities power evolutionary divergence by accelerating metabolic rate and locomotor performance. Evolutionary Applications.
Theodorou, P., Baltz, L.M., Paxton, R.J. and Soro, A., 2020. Urbanization is associated with shifts in bumblebee body size, with cascading effects on pollination. Evolutionary Applications.
Corsini, M., Schöll, E.M., Di Lecce, I., Chatelain, M., Dubiec, A. and Szulkin, M., 2020. Growing in the city: Urban evolutionary ecology of avian growth rates. Evolutionary Applications.
Watson, H., Powell, D., Salmón, P., Jacobs, A. and Isaksson, C., 2020. Urbanization is associated with modifications in DNA methylation in a small passerine bird. Evolutionary Applications.
Fusco, N.A., Pehek, E. and Munshi‐South, J., Urbanization reduces gene flow but not genetic diversity of stream salamander populations in the New York City metropolitan area. Evolutionary Applications.
Wei, X., Huang, M., Yue, Q., Ma, S., Li, B., Mu, Z., Peng, C., Gao, W., Liu, W., Zheng, J. and Weng, X., 2020. Long‐term urbanization impacts the eastern golden frog (Pelophylax plancyi) in Shanghai City: Demographic history, genetic structure, and implications for amphibian conservation in intensively urbanizing environments. Evolutionary Applications.
Ballare, K.M. and Jha, S., 2020. Genetic structure across urban and agricultural landscapes reveals evidence of resource specialization and philopatry in the Eastern carpenter bee, Xylocopa virginica L. Evolutionary Applications.
Carlen, E. and Munshi‐South, J., 2020. Widespread genetic connectivity of feral pigeons across the Northeastern megacity. Evolutionary Applications. Summarized on the LITC blog here.
Richardson, J.L., Michaelides, S., Combs, M., Djan, M., Bisch, L., Barrett, K., Silveira, G., Butler, J., Aye, T.T., Munshi‐South, J. and DiMatteo, M., 2020. Dispersal ability predicts spatial genetic structure in native mammals persisting across an urbanization gradient. Evolutionary Applications.
Schell, C.J., Stanton, L.A., Young, J.K., Angeloni, L.M., Lambert, J.E., Breck, S.W. and Murray, M.H., 2020. The evolutionary consequences of human–wildlife conflict in cities. Evolutionary Applications.
Byers, K.A., Booker, T.R., Combs, M., Himsworth, C.G., Munshi‐South, J., Patrick, D.M. and Whitlock, M.C., 2020. Using genetic relatedness to understand heterogeneous distributions of urban rat‐associated pathogens. Evolutionary Applications. Summarized on the LITC blog here.
Elizabeth Alter, S., Tariq, L., Creed, J.K. and Megafu, E., 2020. Evolutionary responses of marine organisms to urbanized seascapes. Evolutionary Applications.
Shultz, A.J., Adams, B.J., Bell, K.C., Ludt, W.B., Pauly, G.B. and Vendetti, J.E., 2020. Natural history collections are critical resources for contemporary and future studies of urban evolution. Evolutionary Applications.
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