Harnessing plant-microbiome interactions for bioremediation across a freshwater urbanization gradient Anna M. O’Brien, Zhu Hao Yu, Clara Pencer, Megan E. Frederickson, Gregory H. LeFevre, Elodie Passeport Abstract Urbanization impacts land, air, and water, creating environmental gradients between cities and rural areas. Urban stormwater delivers myriad co-occurring, understudied, and mostly unregulated contaminants to aquatic ecosystems, causing... Continue Reading →
A Tale of Two Amphibians: Urban Landscapes Differentially Impact Gene Flow
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 →
Evolution 2019: Adaptation to Coastal Stressors in Oyster Larvae
When people think of the effects of cities on wildlife, changes on land often first come to mind. But, urban areas also have major impacts on aquatic life, especially near sewage treatment plants. These sewage plants dump billions of liters of effluent per day into estuaries and oceans, and this waste can contain a veritable... Continue Reading →
Time for a Dive Part I: An Introduction to the Water Flea Daphnia magna and Urban Aquatic Habitats
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 →