Evolution in an Urbanizing World
An outstanding question in urban evolutionary biology is what factors influence a species' success in urban environments. This is a topic we've talked about before (check out Urban Adaptation in Mammals) and several other recent papers have tackled this topic. A variety of factors may influence whether or not a species occupies an urban environment... Continue Reading →
We get a whole lot of New York City's wildlife observations here. For your viewing pleasure, here is the Eastern Phoebe, which may look like it is in pristine wildlife, but listen closely and you can hear the sounds of the city. Do you have a photo or video of an urban species doing... Continue Reading →
There's an old saying, "the early bird gets the worms." Well in Washington D.C., the early bird, a Peregrine Falcon, gets the better parking spots! This week our observation comes from iNaturalist, a web and mobile app that allows users to record, share, and discuss observations of plants and animals. You can read more about... Continue Reading →
What is urbanization and how do we, as urban evolutionary biologists, ecologists, and conservation biologists, define this metric? We've written about this topic before and a new paper by Remington Moll et al. titled "What does urbanization actually mean? A framework for urban metrics in wildlife research" takes a deep dive into defining urbanization. Generally,... Continue Reading →
These milkweeds are still hanging on. Most milkweed plants are not visible, they have retreated to under the soil, especially in urban areas that mow. This population has been holding on, protected by the narrow patch of land, shielded from many of the elements in this nook. These are hearty plants, found in rough patches,... Continue Reading →
Evidence for evolution in urban systems is increasing, but a key outstanding question in the field of urban ecology and eco-evolutionary dynamics is whether the ability of individuals to adapt to environmental conditions (plasticity) also evolves and how this process can happen. In a new paper, Sarah Diamond and her collaborators looked to examine the... Continue Reading →
This weekend is Saint Patrick's Day and what better way to celebrate than to show off a four-leaf clover, Trifolium repens. They are more common than you'd think, if you were collecting hundreds of samples across the world like graduate student Simon Innes. Usually these plants have three distinct leaves (hence trifolium in the name).... Continue Reading →
This is part two of a two part series from Carly Ziter and Karen Dyson, adapted from a recent paper we wrote as a “how to” guide to urban fieldwork on private land. In last week's post Fieldwork on Urban Private Property: Getting Started, we talked about how to get started with fieldwork on urban private... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago one of the students in my department, Stephanie Lieffrig, had this Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) land on her AC unit in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx, New York. Hawks, along with Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) are quite common in New York City and AC units are a rather common perch... Continue Reading →
Let’s consider a scenario. You’re designing a new research project, and you realize that for the first time that you (or your students) are going to need access to private property in an urban area to answer your question properly. Do you need a permit? A permission form? Who do you ask? Should you just... Continue Reading →
We find all sorts of flora and fauna in urban areas that don't seem to belong there. Here is a purple gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus) that was found a bit outside of its Southern US range. These birds are usually found in marshes further south than Washington D.C., and usually not so high up as this apartment sill!... Continue Reading →
Coyote have widely colonized every mayor city in the United States. A new study asks what behaviors urban coyotes exhibit and what this might tells us about the process facilitating their success in the city.
Raccoons are really smart and prolific in urban areas. They have been found to eat "people" food, cat food, dog food, trash, etc. In fact, they may be getting fatter in urban areas compared to non-urban areas. Dr. Albrecht Schulte-Hostedde is working on finding out if this is really the case. Do you have a... Continue Reading →
What does it mean to be urbanized on a volcanic archipelago? With ‘Darwin Day’ (February 12th) just behind us, my upcoming research trip to the Galápagos Islands feels almost unbelievably well-timed. My goal will be to study one of the fabled Darwin’s finches, the small ground finch (Geospiza fuliginosa), and its relationship with an invasive... Continue Reading →
This week we wish you a Happy Valentine's Day, urban anole style! Here's some photos I took of Anolis grahami in Kingston, Jamaica a couple of weeks ago. Anoles have a colorful throat fan (called a dewlap) that they extend to signal to other males in dominance displays and to females they would like to mate... Continue Reading →
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