Author: Olivia Weklar

Olivia is a graduate student in Kristin's lab at NYU. She studies the impacts of urbanization on the diet and gut microbiome of birds!

New Lit Alert: Urban colonies are less aggressive but forage more than their forest counterparts in the ant Temnothorax nylanderi

Urban colonies are less aggressive but forage more than their forest counterparts in the ant Temnothorax nylanderi L Jacquier, M Molet, C Doums Abstract Urbanization imposes new constraints on organisms, leading to changes in various traits including behaviour. In particular, foraging and aggressive behaviours are often affected by urbanization. In eusocial species, behaviour can be defined at the... Continue Reading →

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City Nature Challenge

The City Nature Challenge is an annual competition among hundreds of international cities to increase awareness of urban biodiversity. Last year’s challenge totaled 1,694,877 observations, 50,176+ species, and 67,220 participants across 450+ cities worldwide. Check if your city is participating in this year’s challenge! If not, join the global project this year and sign-up your city to participate in 2024’s challenge! This year’s challenge is active starting tomorrow, April 28, to... Continue Reading →

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New Lit Alert: Urban tolerance is phylogenetically constrained and mediated by pre-adaptations in African bats

Urban tolerance is phylogenetically constrained and mediated by pre-adaptations in African bats G.E. Marsden, D Vosloo, M.C. Schoeman Abstract With increasing urbanization, particularly in developing countries, it is important to understand how local biota will respond to such landscape changes. Bats comprise one of the most diverse groups of mammals in urban areas, and many... Continue Reading →

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New Lit Alert: Going Wild in the City–Animal Feralization and Its Impact on Biodiversity in Urban Environments

Going Wild in the City--Animal Feralization and Its Impact on Biodiversity in Urban Environments T Göttert, G Perry Abstract Domestication describes a range of changes to wild species as they are increasingly brought under human selection and husbandry. Feralization is the process whereby a species leaves the human sphere and undergoes increasing natural selection in... Continue Reading →

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New Lit Alert: What coloration brings: Implications of background adaptation to oxidative stress in anurans

What coloration brings: Implications of background adaptation to oxidative stress in anurans TB Radovanović, TG Petrović, BR Gavrilović, SG Despotović, JP Gavrić, A Kijanović, M Mirč, N Tomašević Kolarov, T Vukov, MD Prokić Abstract Background Urban development results in habitat destruction, affecting populations of amphibians, the most fragile group of vertebrates. With changes in the environment, these animals become more exposed to light and... Continue Reading →

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Backyard Wildlife

Check out Lauren Cook's 'The New Urban Jungle' to explore ways to make your backyard a suitable habitat for urban wildlife! https://twitter.com/UNBiodiversity/status/1632788135401619470 Featured image: screenshot from 'The New Urban Jungle' video

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New Lit Alert: Phenotypic variation along urban-to-rural gradients: an attempt to disentangle the mechanisms at play using the alien species Matricaria discoidea (Asteraceae)

Phenotypic variation along urban-to-rural gradients: an attempt to disentangle the mechanisms at play using the alien species Matricaria discoidea (Asteraceae) C Geron, JJ Lembrechts, R Hamdi, J Berckmans, I Nijs, A Monty Abstract Cities often exhibit higher temperatures, drier soils and greater habitat fragmentation than rural areas, and may thus represent constraining growing environments for... Continue Reading →

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Urban Wildlife in Albuquerque

Check out this video of Zoë Rossman discussing the vibrant and diverse wildlife in Albuquerque, New Mexico! https://twitter.com/ABQcitynature/status/1635393208393023488 Zoë is a wildlife photographer and Ph.D. candidate studying urban coyotes (Canis latrans), and other large mammals, at the University of New Mexico. In 2021, she sat down with Laura Paskus of New Mexico PBS to discuss... Continue Reading →

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New Lit Alert: Future directions in urban endocrinology – the effects of endocrine plasticity on urban tolerance

Future directions in urban endocrinology - the effects of endocrine plasticity on urban tolerance Frances Bonier Abstract After twenty years of studies of endocrine traits in animals living in cities, the field of urban endocrinology has built a robust literature including numerous studies looking for signatures of the effects of urban living, usually in mean... Continue Reading →

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Are Squirrels More Stressed in Cities?

The ongoing global urban expansion presents resident wildlife with many changes to their environmental structure. A few changes created by anthropogenic growth include habitat fragmentation, roads and buildings, pollution, and increased human presence. These consequences of urbanization have caused many species to become locally extinct, while others appear to thrive from the effects of urban... Continue Reading →

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New Lit Alert: Climbing and clinging of urban lizards are differentially affected by morphology, temperature, and substrate

Climbing and clinging of urban lizards are differentially affected by morphology, temperature, and substrate P L Vaughn, C Colwell, E H Livingston, W McQueen, C Pettit, S Spears, L Tuhela, E J Gangloff  Abstract Urbanization alters the environment along many dimensions, including changes to structural habitat and thermal regimes. These can present challenges, but may also provide suitable habitat for certain species.... Continue Reading →

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Urban Observation: Dolphins in the Bronx River!

Wow, last month dolphins were spotted swimming in the Bronx River for the first time in over five years! Check out the video tweeted by NYC Parks below. https://twitter.com/NYCParks/status/1616138540672516098 The Bronx River is the only freshwater river in NYC and used to be a thriving, abundantly diverse ecosystem. In the 1840s, the New York Central... Continue Reading →

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