Cities as Evolutionary Incubators: Unlocking the Secret of the Spotted Lanternfly Invasion

If you live in the Northeast United States, the Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) probably needs no introduction. Since their arrival around 2014, these striking planthoppers have transformed from a localized curiosity in Pennsylvania into a region-wide phenomenon, swarming vineyards, coating city sidewalks, and becoming the target of public "squish-on-sight" campaigns. But as evolutionary biologists, we... Continue Reading →

February 20, 2026 0

Urbanized Invaders

Does urban evolution help or hamper invasive species? Among biologist invasive species have been a well-documented problem for a long time. In the Netherlands ecologist are actively fighting the spread of Japanese knotweed, American crayfish and many more invasive species. A recent article by Borden and Flory (Borden and Flory, 2021) has suggested that the... Continue Reading →

February 13, 2026 0

The Urban Spider Survival Guide

An introduction to the city spider Spiders are the most diverse and abundant terrestrial predators on earth. This group of species is, in turn, a crucial contributor to the earth's ecosystems as we know them: they control insect populations directly, which indirectly changes plant diversity and productivity. Since many of the earths ecosystems are under... Continue Reading →

June 30, 2025 0

Urbanization’s Hidden Pleiotropic Effect on Pigeon Plumage Color and Blood Cholesterol

Some fries left on the ground, a half-eaten sandwich, or some breadcrumbs kindly given by someone on a park bench. Pigeons (Columba livia) in the city don’t shy away from eating human-derived foods. Although most pigeons are eager to eat our food scraps, this behaviour has been linked to a likely downside: the urban lifestyle... Continue Reading →

June 16, 2025 0

The Evolution of Creek Chubs: How Urbanization is Shaping Freshwater Species

Urbanization strongly affects freshwater streams, because they are sensitive to land use due to their topographical location. The increase in discharge that occurs after rainfall is one of the most noticeable alterations to urban streams. In urban environments, buildings, roads, and other infrastructure rush the transportation of rainwater into streams by preventing it from soaking... Continue Reading →

June 12, 2025 0

Spotlight on foraging behaviour of nocturnal rodents

World map of light pollution: September 2021 by David Lorenz

What wakes you up in the morning? Is it your alarm clock? Is it the clattering of your housemate in the kitchen? Is it the smell of coffee? While these experiences happen like clockwork, for many organisms it is not sound or smell that wakes them up but the sun. Those first dawn beams of... Continue Reading →

June 9, 2025 0

New Lit Alert: Were bed bugs the first urban pest insect? Genome-wide patterns of bed bug demography mirror global human expansion

Were bed bugs the first urban pest insect? Genome-wide patterns of bed bug demography mirror global human expansion Lindsay S. Miles, Brian C. Verrelli, Richard Adams, Yannick Z. Francioli, Daren C. Card, Ondřej Balvin, Todd A. Castoe and Warren Booth Published: 28 May 2025 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2025.0061 By Camille Block This newly published paper, coauthored by one... Continue Reading →

June 6, 2025 0

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 creature is a peculiar sight to see. Its life cycle is even more marvellous: the... Continue Reading →

May 28, 2025 0

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 lights at night, or ALAN for short. While thinking about a city at night can... Continue Reading →

May 18, 2025 0

New Lit Alert! Melanic urban hedgehogs!

Published April 10, 2025 in Mammal Research: Melanin-based colouration in European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus): is it under selection in urban environments? Isabelle Defosseux, Cécile le Barzic, Pascal Arné, Grégory Jouvion & Julien Gasparini Abstract: Urbanisation is currently expanding at small and global scales, forcing several species to adapt to this new environment. In this context,... Continue Reading →

April 25, 2025 0

SICB 2025: The Impact of Urban Heat Islands and Wetlands on Avian Diversity

The shrinkage of natural landscapes with increased urbanization causes substantial shifts in ecosystems, particularly a decrease in bird diversity. Understanding the interactions between the urban heat island (UHI) effect, urban wetlands, and bird diversity is crucial to conserving biodiversity. Advised by Kristin Winchell, New York University undergraduate researcher Emerald Lin presented her poster at SICB... Continue Reading →

February 3, 2025 0

Algae might be the cure to pharmaceutical waste

With the rise of modern medicine came the rise of pharmaceutical waste. Not only expired or discontinued drugs and hospital waste fall under this category, but also sources such as the components of ingested drugs that are not being metabolized by the patient, therefore reaches their faeces, which are disposed of in the bathroom and... Continue Reading →

October 10, 2024 0

Focus points for urban biodiversity conservation planning and design for birds, reptiles and amphibians

Urbanization is happening all over the world. Everywhere you look, you can see that cities are expanding and new cities are being built. This is often at the expense of nature. There is not a lot of room for vegetation in cities and more and more existing vegetation and farmlands are being turned into urban... Continue Reading →

July 22, 2024 0

Is agriculture actually beneficial for avian biodiversity?

It is a common belief that human-modified areas, such as farmlands, support fewer bird species than natural habitats such as forests. However, new research by Zhao et al. (2024) challenges this idea. Their study of bird species diversity on islands off the coast of China has unexpected results that suggest that farmlands might play a... Continue Reading →

July 16, 2024 0

Science Meets Activism: Stream ecology in the wake of the Mountain Valley Pipeline

During the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) 2024 conference, I interviewed Andrea Beverly and Jamie Lau, from Radford University, who are studying how the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) is impacting freshwater streams in Rural Virginia. We discuss their collaboration with local groups, the intersection between politics and science, and the... Continue Reading →

July 8, 2024 0

Category: New Research