Evolution in an Urbanizing World
Cities, defined as large human settlements of the contemporary human population, have been part of the “Old World” landscape for long time, including Europe. However, the current exponential increase of the urbanised landscape is an unprecedented phenomenon, which has an impact at multiple ecological scales. Urbanisation and its derived actions can fragment wildlife populations and... Continue Reading →
Of all the places you'd think you might see a moose, strolling through a university campus is probably not high on that list. University of Connecticut students were recently treated to a sighting of one of their wildlife neighbors — a friendly moose taking a walk — as reported by the local news. https://twitter.com/wfsbnews/status/1391735978482675713?s=21 Do... Continue Reading →
Urban Roosts: Use of Buildings by Florida Bonneted Bats Elysia N. Webb, Holly K. Ober, Elizabeth C. Braun de Torrez, Jeffery A. Gore, and Ricardo Zambrano Abstract Florida Bonneted Bats, Eumops floridanus, were first documented in Miami, Florida, USA, in the 1930s. We summarized reports of these bats in the greater Miami area throughout the past... Continue Reading →
Pigeons are super common in urban areas. We find them so often that it is actually rare for them to get a spot on our observation of the week. But, we couldn't resist this one. This week we bring you bird on the bed. Yes, a pigeon, which are notoriously bad at making nests, made... Continue Reading →
The piece below was posted in 2018 by A.Z. Andis Arietta a PhD candidate in the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies at Yale University -- I recently rediscovered it and thought it would be of interest to our followers. Check out Andis's blog here. In schools, we are taught that evolution is an imperceptibly... Continue Reading →
Urban evolution of invasive species Jesse B Borden, S Luke Flory Abstract Urban areas can drive rapid evolution of species and are hotspots for entry and establishment of invasive species, but it is unclear how urban evolution is impacting the process and risk of invasion by non‐native species. Using a synthesis of current research as... Continue Reading →
Where do urban coyotes den? Turns out under a building is a pretty okay spot, at least this coyote thought so! Our urban observation of the week comes from Travis Ryan, who not only spotted this coyote poking it's head out from it's den, but also caught the adorable pups emerging! https://twitter.com/IndyWildWatch/status/1386702253273329667?s=20 https://twitter.com/IndyWildWatch/status/1389933915402604553?s=20 Do... Continue Reading →
Living in discarded containers: spiders explore a new niche created by littering in urban woodlands Krzysztof Kolenda, Konrad Wiśniewski, Krzysztof Kujawa, Natalia Kuśmierek, Adrian Smolis & Marcin Kadej Abstract Increased urbanisation is leading to littering of the environment. However, some animals may adapt to live in such altered habitats. The aim of this study was to assess whether discarded containers... Continue Reading →
Morphological divergence, tail loss, and predation risk in urban lizards Shashank Balakrishna, Madhura Sham Amdekar & Maria Thaker Abstract Urbanisation changes the structure of natural habitats and alters trophic interactions, pressuring urban species to adjust and adapt. Unlike behavioural shifts that tend to be more flexible, morphological characteristics in vertebrates are less plastic and changes may come... Continue Reading →
Coyotes are widespread across North America and are one of few large predators that are found in cities. If you've been following our blog, you may have seen a few pictures of coyotes in urban and residential areas. You have probably also read some great research as well, presented by our guest contributors. Because they... Continue Reading →
Many birds nest in and around human-made structures, taking advantage of windowsills, air vents, rooftops, and just about anywhere that looks like a cozy and safe spot. Previously, we've highlighted birds nesting in some strange locations: rooftops, building nooks, and even cars! Add to the list: the underside of decks. Our urban observation of the... Continue Reading →
As we know, the landscape of urban areas is changing rapidly as land is converted from natural to anthropogenic space. Additionally, new technology has allowed us to collect more data at a lower cost than ever before. The combination of these two events led my co-authors and me to ask "Are biologists keeping up with... Continue Reading →
Interactions between the introduced European honey bee and native bees in urban areas varies by year, habitat type and native bee guild Kit S Prendergast, Kingsley W Dixon, Philip W Bateman Abstract European honey bees have been introduced across the globe and may compete with native bees for floral resources. Compounding effects of urbanization and... 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 →
Phenotypic response to a major hurricane in Anolis lizards in urban and forest habitats Kevin J Avilés-Rodríguez, Kristin M Winchell, Luis F De León, Liam J Revell Abstract Little is known about the synergistic impacts of urbanization and hurricanes on synanthropes. We compared morphological traits of the lizard Anolis cristatelluson Puerto Rico sampled before the 2017 category... Continue Reading →
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