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 →
New Lit Alert: Cat colonies and flight initiation distances of urban birds: Dealing with conflicting sources of citizen wellbeing
Cat colonies and flight initiation distances of urban birds: Dealing with conflicting sources of citizen wellbeing Mario Díaz, Jonatan Fernández, Alicia Page Abstract Feral cat colonies in cities improve the wellbeing of people who feed and care for them, but they can have negative effects on biodiversity due to the predatory behaviour of cats. We... 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 →
New Lit Alert: Downtown diet: a global meta-analysis of increased urbanization on the diets of vertebrate predators
Downtown diet: a global meta-analysis of increased urbanization on the diets of vertebrate predators Siria Gámez, Abigail Potts, Kirby L. Mills, Aurelia A. Allen, Allyson Holman, Peggy M. Randon, Olivia Linson and Nyeema C. Harris Abstract Predation is a fundamental ecological process that shapes communities and drives evolutionary dynamics. As the world rapidly urbanizes, it... Continue Reading →
Urban Observation of the Week: Jamaican Yellow-Billed Parrot
Urban trees support diverse wildlife, as Jamaican biologist and naturalist Damany Calder pointed out in Instagram this week with his observation of the Yellow-Billed Parrot (Amazona collaria), endemic to Jamaica and vulnerable to extinction, in a Black Olive tree (Terminalia buceras) in the middle of a busy parking lot of a shopping center in Kingston!... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: A Theory of City Biogeography and the Origin of Urban Species
A Theory of City Biogeography and the Origin of Urban Species Robert R. Dunn, Joseph Robert Burger, Elizabeth J. Carlen, Amanda M. Koltz, Jessica E. Light, Ryan A. Martin, Jason Munshi-South, Lauren M. Nichols, Edward L. Vargo, Senay Yitbarek, Yuhao Zhao and Angélica Cibrián-Jaramillo Abstract Many of the choices humans make with regard to infrastructure, urban planning... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Connectivity in the Urban Landscape (2015–2020): Who? Where? What? When? Why? and How?
Connectivity in the Urban Landscape (2015–2020): Who? Where? What? When? Why? and How? Todd R. Lookingbill, Emily S. Minor, Charles S. Mullis, Gabriela C. Nunez-Mir & Philip Johnson Abstract Purpose of Review This review uses a combination of narrative and systematic review techniques, including automated content analysis (ACA), to summarize the last 5 years of research... 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 →
Urban Observation of the Week: Hank the Tank!
Where there are humans, there is food... delicious calorie rich food. And so much of it, well, it can keep a bear from hibernating! We've told you about wildlife and anthropogenic food before (check out: Raccoon Eats Your Bird Food, Juggling a Junk Food Diet, Eggroll Squirrel, and of course - Pizza Rat), and taking advantage... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Variation in hematological indices, oxidative stress, and immune function among male Song Sparrows from rural and low-density urban habitats
Variation in Hematological Indices, Oxidative Stress, and Immune Function Among Male Song Sparrows From Rural and Low-Density Urban Habitats Christopher G. Goodchild, Isaac VanDiest, Samuel J. Lane, Michelle Beck, Hallum Ewbank and Kendra B. Sewall Abstract A central theme in the field of ecology is understanding how environmental variables influence a species’ distribution. In the last... Continue Reading →
New Book Alert: Chasing Bats and Tracking Rats Urban Ecology, Community Science, and How We Share Our Cities
A new urban ecology book by Dr. Cylita Guy is out that highlights the work of multiple urban ecologists and evolutionary biologists, including many of our LITC contributors! What can city bees tell us about climate change? How are we changing coyote behavior? And what the heck is a science bike? Featuring the work of... 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.
Postdoc Opportunity in the Centre for Urban Environments
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 →
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 →