Evolution in an Urbanizing World
Spotted Lanternflies (Lycorma delicatula) have become an unavoidable nuisance since their arrival in the Big Apple in 2020. These clumsy hemipterans have managed to dominate the urban jungle due to their bright red warning coloration, which is indicative of their bitter tasting chemicals they uptake from their favorite food source, the Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima). Despite... Continue Reading →
Lurking beneath the trash laden leaf litter of the 5 boroughs lurks a secretive little amphibian that exemplifies the struggle between the forces of urbanization and the biological need to adapt or face extinction. The Eastern Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) is a unique kind of caudate with numerous traits that make it well equipped to... Continue Reading →
Although many urban residents are woefully familiar with flies (Order: Diptera), I am willing to bet not many know about the Peacock Fly (Callopistromyia annulipes). A native of North America, this diminutive fly stands out from the rest of its kin due to its rather peculiar behavior, seen below! This otherwise cryptically-colored fly uses its... Continue Reading →
Temperature and not landscape composition shapes wild bee communities in an urban environment Costanza Geppert, Andree Cappellari, Daria Corcos, Valerio Caruso, Pierfilippo Cerretti, Maurizio Mei, Lorenzo Marini Abstract 1. More than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected to increase. Even if urbanisation is widely regarded as a... Continue Reading →
Habitat provision is a major driver of native bird communities in restored urban forests Elizabeth Elliot Noe, John Innes, Andrew D. Barnes, Chaitanya Joshi, Bruce D. Clarkson Abstract 1. Urbanization, and the drastic loss of habitat it entails, poses a major threat to global avian biodiversity. Ecological restoration of urban forests is therefore increasingly vital... Continue Reading →
Signs of Urban Evolution? Morpho-Functional Traits Co-variation Along a Nature-Urban Gradient in a Chagas Disease Vector Ana C. Montes de Oca-Aguilar, Adriana González-Martínez, Raúl Chan-González, Pilar Ibarra-López, Selene Smith-Ávila, Alex Córdoba-Aguilar, and Carlos N. Ibarra-Cerdeña Abstract Environmental change (i.e., urbanization) impacts species in contrasting ways, with some species experiencing benefits given their way of life... Continue Reading →
Socio-ecological drivers of multiple zoonotic hazards in highly urbanized cities Matthew A. Combs, Pallavi A. Kache, Meredith C. VanAcker, Nichar Gregory, Laura D. Plimpton, Danielle M. Tufts, Maria P. Fernandez, Maria A. Diuk-Wasser Abstract The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder of the devastating consequences of pathogen spillover from wildlife to human hosts, particularly... Continue Reading →
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 →
The Centre for Urban Environments (CUE) at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) seeks applications for a fully-funded one-year CUE Post-doctoral Fellowship. The topic is open to studies on urban environments on any topic in the natural sciences, or research that bridges natural sciences with social sciences and humanities. CUE’s vision is to promote healthier,... Continue Reading →
Genetic differentiation in pesticide resistance between urban and rural populations of a nontarget freshwater keystone interactor, Daphnia magna Kristien I. Brans, Rafaela A. Almeida, Maxime Fajgenblat Abstract There is growing evidence that urbanization drives adaptive evolution in response to thermal gradients. One such example is documented in the water flea Daphnia magna. However, organisms residing in urban lentic... Continue Reading →
Hi everyone, we (the lead team here at Life in the City) have fallen a little behind on our New Literature alerts since mid-summer. Sorry about that! We are working on catching up, so check back daily to see more New Lit Alert updates with cool urban ecology and evolution research that has come out... Continue Reading →
How Do We Begin To Center Environmental Justice in Urban Ecology Research?How Do We Begin To Center Environmental Justice in Urban Ecology Research? Urban ecology has many definitions depending on who you ask. An urban planner or a sociologist may define urban ecology as "the study of the ways that human and ecological systems evolve... Continue Reading →
If you are reading this blog, you probably know well that cities create unique environments that can drive rapid evolution of species. However, cities are also hotspots for the entry and establishment of invasive species, harboring high numbers of non-native species. So, is it possible that urban evolution of non-native species is enhancing their ability... Continue Reading →
Today we are excited to launch a new section of the site on urban eco-evo literature! You'll notice that along with this post today a handful of other "new literature alert" posts also were published. Instead of just tweeting the cool urban ecology and evolution papers we hear about, we will post the abstract and... Continue Reading →
We are happy to share today some fantastic news about our LITC crew: LITC co-founder, Elizabeth Carlen, passed her dissertation defense today on urban evolution in pigeons! And one of our top contributors (and my academic sibling), Kevin Avilés-Rodríguez, also passed his dissertation defense this past friday on the interacting effects of hurricanes and urbanization in Anolis... Continue Reading →
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