Coyotes as Proxy for Urban Evolution

Urbanization has been ever increasing since the start of the industrial revolution and has shown no signs of slowing down. This has lead to cities growing bigger and bigger and thereby imposing new selection pressures on the animals in them. However, quantifying the effects of anthropogenic selection pressures has proven difficult for non-model species due... Continue Reading →

Relaxing Chipmunks in Urban Areas

The human population around the world keeps growing. With that growth existing cities are expanding and new ones are being built. The urban landscape is a relatively new environment with different ecological and environmental conditions compared to rural areas. Environmental pressures in cities affect humans and wild animals alike, for example artificial light at night... Continue Reading →

How Does Urban Development Affect Soil Microbial Community?

Microorganisms are essential members of soil ecosystems, and they form complex, interactive networks [4] including communications and interactions with each other that are similar to human communities. The soil microbial community contributes to global ecological stabilization by providing various terrestrial ecosystem services, such as nutrient cycling and degradation of pollutants [4]. Moreover, the soil microbial... Continue Reading →

Navigating towards a quieter urban environment: mitigating the threat of traffic noise

In today’s urban environment, the constant presence of traffic noise is undeniable, infiltrating even the most hidden corners of the woods. Previous studies have shown that this anthropogenic noise negatively affects the welfare of both humans and other species. The fact that even unborn organisms experience negative effects is a worrying development, emphasizing the urgent... Continue Reading →

Arms race in the war on raccoons

“Madrid declares war on plague of raccoon and parrot invaders” The Guardian (2013, July 22) “Toronto wages war on Raccoon Nation”The Canadian Press (2015, May 3) Many places have declared the war on raccoons in recent years. But is this war only making them stronger? Why declare war on racoons? The raccoon (Procyon lotor) originates... Continue Reading →

The fox and the bag: a modern fable

A statue of a fox, as long as 16 meters with a height of over 10 meters, with a bag between its teeth sits in the middle of the Dutch city Rotterdam (Smets, 2024). It is locally known as the Bospoldervos, created by Hofman in 2020. Not without reason, because precisely in this part of... Continue Reading →

Nature and the City or Nature in the City?

If I were to ask a typical citizen what comes to mind when they hear the word 'nature,' they would likely think of jungles, oceans, and forests. Logical, because when the media talks about how 'nature is declining' it usually refers to declining 'natural' habitats such as coral reefs, the Amazon Rainforest or the polar... Continue Reading →

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