Do urban habitats induce physiological changes in Mediterranean lizards? R Vardi, S Dubiner, R Ben Bezalel, S Meiri, E Levin Abstract Urban environments offer dramatically different habitats for wildlife compared with natural environments. They provide, for example, different levels of resource availability, anthropogenic night light, and microclimates (e.g., urban heat islands). For reptiles, increased temperatures... Continue Reading →
Urban Environments – A Hidden Insect Biodiversity Hotspot?
Walid-Dani Kaki “In none of his works did Nature show her originality more than in insects”(Pliny the Elder) In recent years we have seen a steady decline in biodiversity, with devastating consequences for the natural world and human populations. The tendency of people to migrate to urban areas has led to their chaotic development at... Continue Reading →
The rapid spread of an urban lichen
Is the urban landscape pushing lichen evolution or is it just providing space for opportunists? Harold Timans Photo by: Matthijs MolenaarPhysciella chloantha is shown with a fertile apothecium and the lobes producing vegetative soralia The urban environment creates a multitude of habitats that differ widely in their abiotic factors. In one street it can be... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Urban colonies are less aggressive but forage more than their forest counterparts in the ant Temnothorax nylanderi
Urban colonies are less aggressive but forage more than their forest counterparts in the ant Temnothorax nylanderi L Jacquier, M Molet, C Doums Abstract Urbanization imposes new constraints on organisms, leading to changes in various traits including behaviour. In particular, foraging and aggressive behaviours are often affected by urbanization. In eusocial species, behaviour can be defined at the... Continue Reading →
City Nature Challenge
The City Nature Challenge is an annual competition among hundreds of international cities to increase awareness of urban biodiversity. Last year’s challenge totaled 1,694,877 observations, 50,176+ species, and 67,220 participants across 450+ cities worldwide. Check if your city is participating in this year’s challenge! If not, join the global project this year and sign-up your city to participate in 2024’s challenge! This year’s challenge is active starting tomorrow, April 28, to... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Urban tolerance is phylogenetically constrained and mediated by pre-adaptations in African bats
Urban tolerance is phylogenetically constrained and mediated by pre-adaptations in African bats G.E. Marsden, D Vosloo, M.C. Schoeman Abstract With increasing urbanization, particularly in developing countries, it is important to understand how local biota will respond to such landscape changes. Bats comprise one of the most diverse groups of mammals in urban areas, and many... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Going Wild in the City–Animal Feralization and Its Impact on Biodiversity in Urban Environments
Going Wild in the City--Animal Feralization and Its Impact on Biodiversity in Urban Environments T Göttert, G Perry Abstract Domestication describes a range of changes to wild species as they are increasingly brought under human selection and husbandry. Feralization is the process whereby a species leaves the human sphere and undergoes increasing natural selection in... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: What coloration brings: Implications of background adaptation to oxidative stress in anurans
What coloration brings: Implications of background adaptation to oxidative stress in anurans TB Radovanović, TG Petrović, BR Gavrilović, SG Despotović, JP Gavrić, A Kijanović, M Mirč, N Tomašević Kolarov, T Vukov, MD Prokić Abstract Background Urban development results in habitat destruction, affecting populations of amphibians, the most fragile group of vertebrates. With changes in the environment, these animals become more exposed to light and... Continue Reading →
Backyard Wildlife
Check out Lauren Cook's 'The New Urban Jungle' to explore ways to make your backyard a suitable habitat for urban wildlife! https://twitter.com/UNBiodiversity/status/1632788135401619470 Featured image: screenshot from 'The New Urban Jungle' video
New Lit Alert: Phenotypic variation along urban-to-rural gradients: an attempt to disentangle the mechanisms at play using the alien species Matricaria discoidea (Asteraceae)
Phenotypic variation along urban-to-rural gradients: an attempt to disentangle the mechanisms at play using the alien species Matricaria discoidea (Asteraceae) C Geron, JJ Lembrechts, R Hamdi, J Berckmans, I Nijs, A Monty Abstract Cities often exhibit higher temperatures, drier soils and greater habitat fragmentation than rural areas, and may thus represent constraining growing environments for... Continue Reading →
Urban Observation: Why did the pheasant cross the road?
A couple of weeks ago in Detroit, a ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) was spotted crossing a major urban road, seemingly to get to a nearby park! Although the details of this individual are hard to see in the photo, the presence of a white ring around its neck when zoomed in and the long, pointed... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: High incidence of leg autonomy in urban crickets
High incidence of leg autonomy in urban crickets T Kuriwada, S Shindome, Y Tomita, M Kawanishi Abstract Predation is an important selection pressure affecting animals. Predation has both consumptive and non-lethal effects. Because it is often difficult to estimate the extent to which non-lethal effects occur, we focused on autotomy as an indicator of non-lethal... 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 →
Clinging & climbing & claws, oh my: morphology performance in urban lizards
The common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis) offers a great opportunity to study how humans are influencing the course of evolution. These lizards have a large native range, covering much of Southern Europe, but are also successfully established in many places, including Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The common wall lizard was introduced to Cincinnati in the early... Continue Reading →
Urban Wildlife in Albuquerque
Check out this video of Zoë Rossman discussing the vibrant and diverse wildlife in Albuquerque, New Mexico! https://twitter.com/ABQcitynature/status/1635393208393023488 Zoë is a wildlife photographer and Ph.D. candidate studying urban coyotes (Canis latrans), and other large mammals, at the University of New Mexico. In 2021, she sat down with Laura Paskus of New Mexico PBS to discuss... Continue Reading →