Evolution in an Urbanizing World
When we think of urban organisms, we often don't think of aquatic organisms. But wetlands exist in the urban matrix, and aquatic and amphibious species are impacted by habitat changes associated with urbanization. A recent study published in Ecology and Evolution by Jared Homola, Cynthia Loftin, and Michael Kinnison dug into the population genetics of... Continue Reading →
As the largest city in the United States, New York City seems to be full of all sorts of urban wildlife! This week, we bring you the smoking cockroach. If your pesticides won't kill it, neither will smoking cigarettes. Urban birds are known to incorporate cigarette butts into their nests, which may function as... Continue Reading →
Many urban wildlife biologists face unique challenges when trying to capture their study organisms. Traditional methods that are used in remote areas are often not available to urban wildlife biologists, either because the method requires traps that the public tampers with (though this problem does happen to non-urban biologists as well), because urban animals are... Continue Reading →
The air is getting crisper, leaves are finally changing colors, and pumpkin spice lattes have been at Starbucks for over a month now. It is definitely fall. While we enjoy harvest festivals and simultaneously lament the end of warm days, most animals are readying themselves for winter. For bats, fall is a migration period. Most... Continue Reading →
Recently, I published a review paper in Molecular Ecology with my co-authors, Ruth Rivkin, Marc TJ Johnson, Jason Munshi-South, and Brian Verrelli. In this paper, we discussed how urbanization influences gene flow and genetic drift. We looked at 167 primary literature papers to see what researchers have found. Competing Models of Urban Effects You might... Continue Reading →
For the month of November we're doing something special... a comment contest! We want to liven up the conversations here on the blog, and to do that we need your participation! To enter the contest, all you have to do is post a comment here on the blog. At the end of the month, the user who... Continue Reading →
Welcome to Urban Observation of the Week: Halloween Edition 2019! This year, we're celebrating Halloween by featuring an oft-forgotten taxon in the world of urban evolution: fungi. This kingdom is remarkably prepared for a holiday dedicated to all things creepy. Below are some examples of fungi that could go trick-or-treating any day of the year... Continue Reading →
From Anoles to Indian Agamids to Australian Water Dragons to Western Fence Lizards, lizards from diverse branches of the squamate tree are proving themselves in urban environments. Add one more species to this growing list of urban lizards: Brazilian lagartixas, Tropidurus hispidus. In a recent paper, Antonio de Andrade examined the abundance and habitat use of... Continue Reading →
If you have ever been to the desert Southwest (of the USA), you have probably noticed spider webs throughout the summer and even in early fall. And even if you have not noticed the webs, you'll likely have seen leaves that look like they are floating in the air, which is really leaves stuck in... Continue Reading →
This week's post comes from Dale Stevens, who tells us about the effects of elevated urban temperatures on black widow spiders. Along with landscape changes, urbanization also leads to a significant increase in temperature. Human-made surfaces retain heat during the day and stay hot well into the night. Because of this, animals that thrive in... Continue Reading →
Last year I saw this tweet that so deeply resonated with me: https://twitter.com/rodger/status/1075094981193265154?lang=en Squirrels are abundant across my own campus in New York City and I have heard numerous students remark that our squirrels are somehow better/different than the squirrels in the rest of the city. We've even had our fair share of squirrels in... Continue Reading →
Along with the altered landscape, urban organisms also encounter novel (anthropogenic) food resources. And while anthropogenic food can be abundant in cities, it is often lower in quality than natural food. This can lead to a situation in which low-quality but abundant food attracts animals to urban areas, but due to its reduced quality, this... Continue Reading →
Most of the time we expect pigeons or other common birds to be spotted on the power lines and poles. Sometimes, we get a rare gem, the bald eagle! We have shown you a number of birds in these "Urban Observation" posts. This one is super majestic for sure. But sadly, many birds have... Continue Reading →
The field of urban evolution is relatively young, but researchers have been fascinated by animal movement through cities for quite some time. Recently, I was perusing the archives of the Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society and came across a note by Sidney Hessel detailing the movements of monarch butterflies through Manhattan. He observed 82 monarchs... Continue Reading →
This week our observation comes from Dr. Christy Zolnik who spotted this Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) on the southern edge of Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem, New York City. We've posted about Red-tailed Hawks before as part of our Urban Observation of the Week, but seeing hawks in the city never ceases to amaze me.... Continue Reading →
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