Genetic patterns reveal differences between the invasion processes of common ragweed in urban and non-urban ecosystems Siran Lu, Xiangyu Luo, Linwei Han, Jingyi Yang, Jing Jin, & Jun Yang Abstract Invasive alien plant species (IAPS) in urban ecosystems can significantly impact ecosystems and human wellbeing. However, our knowledge on the IAPS in urban ecosystems are limited due... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: The effects of urbanisation on ecological interactions
The effects of urbanisation on ecological interactions Panagiotis Theodorou Abstract Cities are expanding worldwide and urbanisation is considered a global threat to biodiversity. Urban ecology has provided important insights on how urban environmental changes might affect individuals, populations and species; however, we know little about how the ecological impacts of urbanisation alter species interactions. Species... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Urban-adapted Mammal Species Have More Known Pathogens
Urban-adapted mammal species have more known pathogens Gregory F. Albery, Colin J. Carlson, Lily E. Cohen, Evan A. Eskew, Rory Gibb, Sadie J. Ryan, Amy R. Sweeny & Daniel J. Becker Abstract The world is rapidly urbanizing, inviting mounting concern that urban environments will experience increased zoonotic disease risk. Urban animals could have more frequent... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: A comprehensive overview of the effects of urbanisation on sexual selection and sexual traits
A comprehensive overview of the effects of urbanisation on sexual selection and sexual traits Andrew D. Cronin, Judith A. H. Smit, Matías I. Muñoz, Armand Poirier, Peter A. Moran, Paul Jerem, and Wouter Halfwerk Abstract Urbanisation can affect mating opportunities and thereby alter inter and intra-sexual selection pressures on sexual traits. Biotic and abiotic urban... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Linking genetic structure, landscape genetics, and species distribution modeling for regional conservation of a threatened freshwater turtle
Linking genetic structure, landscape genetics, and species distribution modeling for regional conservation of a threatened freshwater turtle Eric M. McCluskey, Vijay Lulla, William E. Peterman, Kinga M. Stryszowska-Hill, Robert D. Denton, Anthony C. Fries, Tom A. Langen, Glenn Johnson, Stephen W. Mockford & Rusty A. Gonser Abstract Regional conservation efforts should incorporate fine scale landscape... Continue Reading →
Urban Evolution Goes Global: Main findings from the Global Urban Evolution Project
As of 2018, 55% of the world’s human population lives in villages, towns, or cities, and this figure grows annually as people increasingly adopt the urban lifestyle. The environmental consequences of this urban expansion are vast: grasslands, forests, and wetlands are replaced by roads, sidewalks, and buildings that make up the residential and commercial infrastructure... Continue Reading →
Parallel Evolution of Melanism in Urban Squirrels
Cities offer an unprecedented global experiment for parallel evolutionary change: they similarly differ in several dimensions including climate, land cover, and pollution. Yet few studies examine evolutionary change across multiple cities, which is critical for identifying environmental characteristics that mediate adaptive responses. For example, city size, age, and habitat connectivity may all contribute to the... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Detecting patterns of vertebrate biodiversity across the multidimensional urban landscape
Detecting patterns of vertebrate biodiversity across the multidimensional urban landscape Marina Alberti & Tianzhe Wang Abstract Explicit characterisation of the complexity of urban landscapes is critical for understanding patterns of biodiversity and for detecting the underlying social and ecological processes that shape them. Urban environments exhibit variable heterogeneity and connectivity, influenced by different historical contingencies,... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: No evidence for innate differences in tadpole behavior between natural, urbanized, and invasive populations
No evidence for innate differences in tadpole behavior between natural, urbanized, and invasive populations Max Mühlenhaupt, James Baxter-Gilbert, Buyisile G. Makhubo, Julia L. Riley & John Measey Abstract Animals are increasingly challenged to respond to novel or rapidly changing habitats due to urbanization and/or displacement outside their native range by humans. Behavioral differences, such as increased boldness (i.e., propensity for risk-taking), are often observed in animals persisting in novel environments; however, in many cases, it is unclear how these differences arise (e.g., through developmental plasticity or evolution) or when they arise (i.e., at what age or developmental stage). In the Guttural Toad (Sclerophrys gutturalis), adult urban toads from both native and invasive ranges are bolder than conspecifics in natural habitats. Here, we reared Guttural Toad tadpoles in a common garden experiment and tested for innate differences in boldness across their development and between individuals whose parents and lineage came from rural-native, urban-native, and urban-invasive localities (i.e., origin populations). Tadpoles did not differ in their boldness or in how their boldness changed over ontogeny based on their origin populations. In general, tadpoles typically became less bold as they aged, irrespective of origin population. Our findings indicate that differences in boldness in free-living adult Guttural Toads are not innate in the tadpole stage and we discuss three possible mechanisms driving phenotypic divergence in adult boldness for the focus of future research: habitat-dependent developmental effects on tadpole behavior, decoupled evolution between the tadpole and adult stage, and/or behavioral flexibility, learning, or acclimatization during the adult stage.
Top Urban Evolution Papers of 2021
Humans are increasingly a dominant driver of evolutionary change within populations. Since its inception, the Life in the City Blog has brilliantly shown that some of the most stunning examples of human caused evolution relates to how urbanization affects species’ evolution. This area of research has gained a lot of attention from scientists in recent... Continue Reading →
A New Hope for Urban Pit Building Insects
A pit-fall is only as good as the location is deployed. Cities can provide large shaded areas with a layer of soil suitable for trap building. Check out our blog to find out how Wormlion larvae use walls to deploy the perfect pit-fall trap.
Is Plastic Always Fantastic? Selection on Thermal Plasticity in Urban Anoles
A recent publication in Nature Communications goes above and beyond in studying how selection on adaptive and/or maladaptive gene expression plasticity may be regulating thermal tolerance in urban anoles. The importance of plasticity in the colonization of new environments is a widely-accepted argument, however, the role of plasticity in facilitating adaptive evolution remains controversial. Plasticity... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Which Traits Influence Bird Survival in the City? A Review
Which Traits Influence Bird Survival in the City? A Review Swaroop Patankar, Ravi Jambhekar, Kulbhushansingh Ramesh Suryawanshi, and Harini Nagendra Abstract Urbanization poses a major threat to biodiversity worldwide. We focused on birds as a well-studied taxon of interest, in order to review literature on traits that influence responses to urbanization. We review 226 papers... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Recent spread of blue tits into the Barcelona urban environment: morphological differences and the role of balanced dispersal
Recent spread of blue tits into the Barcelona urban environment: morphological differences and the role of balanced dispersal Juan Carlos Senar & Mats Björklund Abstract Rates of phenotypic change are greater in cities than in any other habitat. Consequently, urban habitats are an ideal experimental area to study contemporary evolution and adaptation. A key question... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Bioindicator snake shows genomic signatures of natural and anthropogenic barriers to gene flow
Bioindicator snake shows genomic signatures of natural and anthropogenic barriers to gene flow Damian C. Lettoof, Vicki A. Thomson, Jari Cornelis, Philip W. Bateman, Fabien Aubret, Marthe M. Gagnon, and Brenton von Takach Abstract Urbanisation alters landscapes, introduces wildlife to novel stressors, and fragments habitats into remnant ‘islands’. Within these islands, isolated wildlife populations can... Continue Reading →