Evolution in an Urbanizing World
The Galápagos Islands are renowned for their unique, endemic biodiversity which inspired Charles Darwin to develop his theory of evolution by natural selection. In particular, Darwin’s finches are an iconic example of adaptive radiation due to natural selection, where ~18 species have evolved from a single, common ancestor. Adaptive radiations can occur when exploitation of... Continue Reading →
As areas become more urbanized, fauna are continually exposed to novel anthropogenic structures and are forced to adapt. However, adapting is not always an option. For example, we see that individuals across various groups have not adapted to roads and train tracks (e.g., deer, bears, birds) and the outcome is fatal. Instead of creating barriers... Continue Reading →
This summer the International Association for Landscape Ecology - North America (IALE-NA) hosted an annual meeting that was originally scheduled to be in person in Toronto, ON, Canada, but due to Covid-19 it was hosted online. This was my first online conference and I was a chair for a special symposium: Landscape genetics as a... Continue Reading →
As habitats become increasingly urbanized, wildlife are exposed to artificial light at night (ALAN). Greater exposure to ALAN can have detrimental effects on animal physiology, such as suppressing components of the host immune system. However, how these changes ultimately affect infectious disease dynamics remains poorly understood. Meredith Kernbach, a PhD candidate at the University of... Continue Reading →
Urbanization is becoming a huge concern and many researchers at SICB 2020 wanted to study the effects it has on the surrounding wildlife. Laura Taylor, an undergraduate student at Trinity University, looked specifically at how urbanization and artificial light at night (ALAN) effected both the physiology and the behavior of anoles. Green anoles (Anolis carolinensis),... Continue Reading →
The decisions that a parent makes or conditions that a parent experiences can influence the survival and fitness of their offspring. These transgenerational effects, in which impacts of the environment on one generation impact subsequent generations, are widespread and can originate with both mothers and fathers. In organisms that make eggs, the environments mothers experience... Continue Reading →
The annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) is here! From January 3-7 biologists will convene in Austin, Texas to share the latest and greatest from a broad range of research areas. Urban evolution talks have a strong showing at the meeting this year, and we would like to hear about... Continue Reading →
Entomology 2019 I recently attended the Entomology Conference in St. Louis, Missouri and here are some of the highlights. I was part of the special symposium "What Everyone Ought to Know about Insect Biodiversity in the Urban Environment" where a number of scientists gave talks and posters about their research related to this topic. Biodiversity... Continue Reading →
When was the last time you cleaned your bird feeder? Bird feeders are a common sight in the city. For many, they represent a chance to view nature from the comfort of their own home, with little else required but to go out each morning to fill the feeder in their pajamas. This gives city... Continue Reading →
The annual Joint Meeting of Icthyologists and Herpetologists (JMIH) kicks off today in Snowbird, Utah. This is one of my favorite conferences so I'm sad I will not be attending this year. And unfortunately, none of our contributors are attending this meeting either this year (that I know of), so we will not be able... Continue Reading →
The 56th annual conference of the Animal Behavior Society and the 36th International Ethological Conference will come together for Behaviour 2019 in Chicago, Illinois from July 23 - 27. There are several presentations that are bound to be of interest to the urban evolution community including a full symposium on animal behavior on an urbanized... Continue Reading →
Did you miss out on Evolution 2019 last week in Providence, Rhode Island? Were you overwhelmed with all of the urban talks at the meeting? Not to worry, here's a recap of what you missed. We brought you a total of 20 blog posts from 10 contributors, including 5 new contributors to the blog! Check... Continue Reading →
Here’s an idea for the newest weight loss fad: live in a city. In her presentation at Evolution 2019, Dr. Sarah Diamond showed that the resting metabolic rate of urban acorn ants was higher than that of rural colonies. This research, conducted by Dr. Diamond and coauthors Lacy Chick and James Waters, looked at the metabolic... Continue Reading →
When it comes to current studies on urban plant evolution, The Global Urban Evolution Project (GLUE Project) is by far the most robust in terms of replication at a global scale. This worldwide collaboration spans every continent except Antarctica and includes hundreds of contributing researchers. The GLUE Project aims to answer two main questions: 1)... Continue Reading →
Who hasn’t picked up a fluffy dandelion, blew a deep breath, and smiled as the seeds fly along on the wind? But did you know that those seeds are possibly clones of the parent plant? Dandelions (Taraxacum sp.) can produce seeds asexually, a process called apomixis that involves no fusion of egg and sperm. The... Continue Reading →
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