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Tools of the Trade: the Net Gun
Collecting samples in urban environments can present some challenges (as Matt Combs describes in “The Good, The Bad, and The Smelly” and Jane Remfert describes in “Urban Residential Field Tip”). As someone working on pigeons in Northeastern cities, I’ve encountered…
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Why Did the Squirrel Cross the Road?
In cities the number and types of predators drastically differ from nearby rural and “natural” areas. This often means that the biggest threat prey species have to face in cities are domestic predators (dogs and cats) or generalist “mesopredators” like…
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Proc B. Special Issue: Urban Hubs of Connectivity: Contrasting Patterns of Gene Flow Within and Among Cities in the Western Black Widow Spider
In my recent contribution to the special issue on urban evolution in Proceedings B, my co-authors and I share our findings on contrasting patterns of gene flow (paper here). This is one of several posts on the recent special issue…
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Is Artificial Light Changing Pigeon Behavior?
I live in New York City, “city that never sleeps,” where you can get a manicure at 11pm, a haircut at 1am, and a slice of pizza at 3am. While it may be normal for people to be out and…
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The Good, The Bad, and The Smelly: Fieldwork in the Big Apple
I’ve spent years trapping rats across Manhattan in New York City as I study the urban evolution and ecology of brown rats (Rattus norvegicus). This fieldwork has led to many experiences, some good, some bad, and some smelly. Below are my…
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iNaturalist: Track Life in the City Near You!
Many people don’t think about cities as great places to observe wildlife, and most people have no idea what plants and animals live in the city with us! Say you’re walking around in the city and you see an interesting plant…
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Wherefore and Whither the Non-urban Areas?
Posted by: Brian C. Verrelli, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA The esteemed evolutionary biologist Douglas J. Futuyma once famously wondered “Wherefore and whither the naturalist?” in pondering the role of naturalists and the future of natural history studies. It is hard…
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Friendly Neighborhood Spiders
If you live in Europe or North America, chances are you have seen the species I have studied in my most recent paper at least once. The cross spider (Araneus diadematus) makes big beautiful orb webs, can easily be recognized…
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