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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…
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Swimming through concrete: how the platypus adapts to city life
The platypus: a peculiar mix of DNA The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), a well known monotreme from Australia, is an animal that defies one’s imagination. With a bill like a duck, tail like a beaver and feet like an otter’s, this…
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The effects of noise and light pollution on Australian Black Swans (Cygnus atratus)
Urban environments, also known as concrete jungles, are the most rapidly growing type of environment of the current time. They force not only the landscape, but also its inhabitants, to adapt to the completely different rules that come with living…
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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…
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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…
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The Superpowers of Urban Rats: How urban life transforms rodents
Our typical urban rats, mainly brown rats (Rattus norvegicus), have undergone adaptations that enable them to thrive in urban environments. These adaptations distinguish urban rats from their wild relatives and highlight the impact of urbanization on species evolution. Genetic evolution…
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Bees below our feet: How pavement can host a diversity of nesting bees
Pollinator decline is significant problem we are currently facing. Many studies have shown a drastic decrease of insects, including pollinators (Hallmann et al., 2017). Not only is this the loss of unique species and detrimental to ecosystem functioning, but pollination…
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Artificial light at night may make African mouse species vulnerable
When thinking about a city at night, chances are that you include some twinkling streetlights in your mental image. Billboards, streetlamps, and neon signs are no novel presence to city dwellers. These light sources are in technical terms called artificial…
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