IUWC 2019: Drivers of Bird and Arthropod Diversity in Portland Yards

Urban yards have a large potential for providing habitat, and important considerations when studying these spaces are the tritrophic interactions between plant species, herbivores, and predators. Dr. Marion Dresner, Professor at Portland State University, has spent years studying these interactions in backyard habitats and is particularly interested in understanding how the management of backyards provides... Continue Reading →

June 5, 2019 0

IUWC 2019: Characteristics of Garden Bee Communities

Dr. Gail Langellotto, Professor of Urban and Community Horticulture at Oregon State University, was the first speaker in the "Urban Garden Ecology" section at the 2019 IUWC. Dr. Langellotto has been conducting research in garden ecosystems since her first faculty job at Fordham University. An entomologist by training, when she moved to the Bronx she... Continue Reading →

June 5, 2019 2

IUWC 2019: Urban Bats

If you live in a city you may not realize that urban populations of bats are all around you. But Liza Lehrer and Shannon Pederson, who work on urban bats, know that bats are common in cities, even if you don't always see them. Lehrer started off by describing how bats are under threat due... Continue Reading →

June 4, 2019 0

IUWC 2019: Opening Plenary – Collaboration & Conservation, Applications to Urban Wildlife

The International Urban Wildlife Conference kicked off Monday morning in Portland, OR with a Plenary Session titled "Collaboration and Conservation: Applications to Urban Wildlife" featuring talks by Dr. Chris Schell, Deeohn Ferris, and Bob Sallaniger followed by a panel discussion. Dr. Schell, Assistant Professor of Urban Ecology at the University of Washington, Tacoma and Life... Continue Reading →

June 3, 2019 2

International Urban Wildlife Conference 2019 – See you there?

The 2019 International Urban Wildlife Conference will take place in Portland, Oregon from June 2nd-5th. This meeting is a great chance to connect with other scientists studying urban evolution and hear about the wide range of research that is being conducted in urban environments. Talk submission has already closed, but registration is open until May... Continue Reading →

May 17, 2019 1

Evolution 2019 – See you there?

The annual Evolution meeting co-sponsored by the Society for the Study of Evolution, Society of Systematic Biologists, and American Society of Naturalists is coming soon to Providence, Rhode Island this June 21-25th! This meeting usually has a strong representation of researchers working in urban systems and we hope this year will be no different. Are... Continue Reading →

April 15, 2019 1

SICB 2019: Urban Gulls Alter FID and Flight Behaviors

Urbanization is a global form of habitat change that alters native habits and either excludes the animals that live there or forces them to acclimate to novel environments. Altering behavioral strategies can allow individuals to quickly acclimate and successfully colonize urban habitats, reproduce and live within them. In two studies presented at SICB, researchers, Dr.... Continue Reading →

January 11, 2019 0

SICB 2019: Urbanization Affects the Stress Physiology and Life History of Stream Fish

Urban environments are on the rise, bringing with them pollutants from run-off which alters water temperature, chemistry, and hydrology, ultimately driving a decrease in biodiversity. These disturbances can affect the physiological stress response of fishes by increasing or dysregulating their primary stress hormone, cortisol, and potentially altering their reproductive allocation. Arseniy Kolonin, a master’s student at Texas State... Continue Reading →

January 7, 2019 0

SICB 2019: Do Warm City Nights Accelerate Development and Growth of Butterflies?

A painted lady (Vanessa cardui), a species of butterfly common in urban habitats (Photo credit: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT) The urban heat island effect is a well-known consequence of urbanization whereby temperatures in cities are higher than those in surrounding natural areas. One wrinkle in the heat island effect is that the increase in temperatures is not... Continue Reading →

January 7, 2019 0

SICB 2019: Female Aggression in Song Sparrows is Higher in Urban Habitats

Song Sparrow - Melissa McMasters, Wikimedia Commons

Urbanization has repeatedly been shown to negatively impact wild animals and is a particular concern for wild birds. Fortunately, some species are able to flexibly alter their behavioral phenotypes and adapt to the busy life in the city. Resource competition may be higher in urban environments, thereby selecting for more aggressive behaviors in city-slicking birds.... Continue Reading →

January 6, 2019 0

SICB 2019: Artificial Light at Night Has Various Effects on Wildlife

Have you ever stopped to look at the city lights at night? Have you ever wondered what impact these lights have on wildlife? Chris Thawley, Zach Forsburg, and Krystie Miner all asked this question in their research on artificial light at night, or ALAN. After exploring how ALAN, affected anoles in a laboratory setting,... Continue Reading →

January 5, 2019 0

SICB 2019: How Does Road Salt Affect Monarch Butterfly Life History?

With this gorgeous Tampa weather, the last thing anyone at SICB 2019 wants to think about is snow and ice. Everyone except for Megan Kobiela, a PhD candidate from University of Minnesota, who studies the effects of deicing salt on monarch butterflies. By using salt to keep roads safe in the winter, humans have dramatically... Continue Reading →

January 5, 2019 0

SICB 2019: What Factors Influence How Ants Cope With High Urban Temperatures?

What consequences does the urban heat island effect have for animals that live in cities? How might increased heat interact with other environmental factors, such as water availability, to affect survival or fitness of animals exposed to these higher temperatures? Dustin Johnson, a masters student in Zach Stahlschmidt’s lab at University of the Pacific chose... Continue Reading →

January 4, 2019 0

Urban Evolution at SICB

The annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) is almost here! From January 3-7 biologists will convene in Tampa, Florida 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... Continue Reading →

December 21, 2018 0

Category: Conference Proceedings