Evolution in an Urbanizing World
Above: (c) Erin Walsh for Journal of Conservation Physiology on the evolution of heat tolerance in Daphnia “No they do not itch”, “Yes, they are super cute”, and “Yes, they live in water”. “Also in this pond?”. Behold the standard answers given during an ‘interrogatory’ conversation with a passer-by on a sunny sampling day, somewhere in... Continue Reading →
One thing I always wonder when I see birds flying around cities is "where are they nesting???" Fortunately, the Audubon Society has an answer for that question - many birds nest in and on buildings and other anthropogenic structures. For example: Chimney swifts nest inside of chimneys Cliff swallows build mud nests on the sides... Continue Reading →
This post is part of our series covering the large number of urban evolution manuscripts that were published in August in the special issue "The Evolution of City Life" in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Urban environments are often composed of novel communities of native and introduced species. In several cities in Germany,... Continue Reading →
Urbanization is a global form of habitat change that alters native habits and either excludes the animals that live there or forces them to acclimate to novel environments. Altering behavioral strategies can allow individuals to quickly acclimate and successfully colonize urban habitats, reproduce and live within them. In two studies presented at SICB, researchers, Dr.... Continue Reading →
Urban environments are on the rise, bringing with them pollutants from run-off which alters water temperature, chemistry, and hydrology, ultimately driving a decrease in biodiversity. These disturbances can affect the physiological stress response of fishes by increasing or dysregulating their primary stress hormone, cortisol, and potentially altering their reproductive allocation. Arseniy Kolonin, a master’s student at Texas State... Continue Reading →
A painted lady (Vanessa cardui), a species of butterfly common in urban habitats (Photo credit: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT) The urban heat island effect is a well-known consequence of urbanization whereby temperatures in cities are higher than those in surrounding natural areas. One wrinkle in the heat island effect is that the increase in temperatures is not... Continue Reading →
Urbanization has repeatedly been shown to negatively impact wild animals and is a particular concern for wild birds. Fortunately, some species are able to flexibly alter their behavioral phenotypes and adapt to the busy life in the city. Resource competition may be higher in urban environments, thereby selecting for more aggressive behaviors in city-slicking birds.... Continue Reading →
Have you ever stopped to look at the city lights at night? Have you ever wondered what impact these lights have on wildlife? Chris Thawley, Zach Forsburg, and Krystie Miner all asked this question in their research on artificial light at night, or ALAN. After exploring how ALAN, affected anoles in a laboratory setting,... Continue Reading →
With this gorgeous Tampa weather, the last thing anyone at SICB 2019 wants to think about is snow and ice. Everyone except for Megan Kobiela, a PhD candidate from University of Minnesota, who studies the effects of deicing salt on monarch butterflies. By using salt to keep roads safe in the winter, humans have dramatically... Continue Reading →
What consequences does the urban heat island effect have for animals that live in cities? How might increased heat interact with other environmental factors, such as water availability, to affect survival or fitness of animals exposed to these higher temperatures? Dustin Johnson, a masters student in Zach Stahlschmidt’s lab at University of the Pacific chose... Continue Reading →
Thanks for following Life in the City in our first year. On this last day of 2018 we (the editors: Elizabeth, Kristin, Lindsay) figured we would take a moment to reflect on the first few months of the blog and urban evolution research over the past year. The Blog Since launching on September 28, we've... Continue Reading →
From the Natural History Museum in London to the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, pretty much every major city has a science museum that houses collections of animals, plants, and fossils from around the world. The tragedy of the fire that devastated the... Continue Reading →
The Smithsonian Channel and Day's Edge Productions have put together a fantastic mini-series and a full-length documentary on anole evolutionary research. Episode 7 of the miniseries and part of the full-length movie feature urban lizards and urban evolution research by myself and my collaborators, Shane Campbell-Staton (UCLA) and Jason Kolbe / the Kolbe lab (U. Rhode Island). Check out... Continue Reading →
The annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) is almost here! From January 3-7 biologists will convene in Tampa, Florida to share the latest and greatest from a broad range of research areas. Urban evolution talks have a strong showing at the meeting this year, and we would like to hear... Continue Reading →
Urbanization impacts species in many different ways, including behavior, morphology, and physiology. Although many of the documented phenotypic shifts show evidence of a genetic basis, the actual genetic differences and the genes they occur in are unknown for most urban adaptations. In fact, it seems we know very little at the genetic level regarding which... Continue Reading →
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