Cities, defined as large human settlements of the contemporary human population, have been part of the “Old World” landscape for long time, including Europe. However, the current exponential increase of the urbanised landscape is an unprecedented phenomenon, which has an impact at multiple ecological scales. Urbanisation and its derived actions can fragment wildlife populations and... Continue Reading →
Genomic Analysis Highlights Cognition in Urban Burrowing Owls
What makes a bird successful in the city? Jakob Mueller and colleagues first attempted to answer this question in blackbirds, finding genomic signatures of selection in the SERT gene associated with harm avoidance. Now, building on only a handful of studies to explore the genomic basis of urban adaptive responses, Mueller and colleagues tackle this... Continue Reading →
Of City and Village Mice: Behavioural Adjustments of Striped Field Mice to Urban Environments
A recent paper in Scientific Reports, "Of city and village mice" by Dammhahn et al (2020), investigated the behavioral responses of striped field mice (Apodemus agrarius) to urbanization. The ability for an animal to adjust their behavior to a novel environment can contribute to survival in urban habitats, with the possibility of local adaptation to... Continue Reading →
Moving to the Music: Hedgehog Behavior Changes in Response to Music Festival
We often think about how the construction of new buildings, parking lots, and industrial areas will impact the local wildlife. And, indeed, governments require environmental impact surveys and ongoing monitoring when vulnerable species are present. However, it wasn't until I saw the paper "Music Festival Makes Hedgehogs Move: How Individuals Cope Behaviorally in Response to... Continue Reading →
Cities and Behavioral Adaptations
It's clear that urbanization alters native animal and plant communities around the world. However, while some organisms become locally extinct as anthropogenic forces change the land, other species survive or even thrive in this urban landscape. A recent paper by George Perry reviews several cases of human behavior impacting the genetics of urban organisms. For... Continue Reading →
Stress Hormones Do Not Reflect Urbanization in Birds and Other Reptiles
Life in the city is stressful, for humans and wildlife! One of the main physiological traits thought to be impacted by the novel pressures of urban life, such as noise and light pollution, is stress hormone concentration. Nevertheless, no patterns have emerged across species. Allison Injaian and co-authors fill this gap in knowledge with their... Continue Reading →
Eastern Gray Squirrel Behavior in Urban Environments
Urbanization can significantly alter environments in ways that impact abundance and behavior of urban animals. Fewer natural predators and greater food availability - as well as increased contact with humans - may lead to altered stress responses, increased boldness, and decreased vigilance compared to non-urban populations. The eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) has been very... Continue Reading →
Black Widows and Urban Heat: Can Spiders Cope With Increased Temperatures?
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 →
What Do FID Studies Really Tell Us About Boldness?
A common behavioral trend observed in urban animals is that they tend to be bolder compared to their rural counterparts. This behavioral shift can enable urban animals to deal with the unique stressors of urban life and may set the stage for urban adaptation. A common way to quantify boldness is to measure flight-initiation distance, or... Continue Reading →
Urban Observation of the Week: Chillin’ Frog
It's hot out there! This summer has seen excessive heat waves sweeping the world and breaking records - many places recorded the hottest summer temperatures ever! What does an ectotherm do to chill out in this extreme heat? This frog has found an unusual solution and is our urban observation of the week. https://www.instagram.com/p/B0HrHVlBgHN/?igshid=pb6g3al3s2g Do... Continue Reading →
Juggling a Junk Food Diet: Urban Birds Go on a Diet on Weekends Due to Less Availability of Junk Food
Have you ever found yourself wishing that the cafeteria was opened on weekends? Well apparently so have the birds! Read on to find out how weekly fluctuations in the availability of human food affect the foraging behavior of urban birds.
Urban Dragons are Innately Bold
We've talked before here on Life in the City about behavioral shifts related to fear and boldness in urban animals (check out: Skirting Skinks: Are Lizards Learning to Live Among Humans?, No city for shy dog, Concrete Escape: Increased Wariness of Anoles). Although it is clear that urban species experience behavioral modifications in response to urban... Continue Reading →
Skirting Skinks: Are Lizards Learning to Live Among Humans?
You can't live near humans if you're afraid. Fleeing constantly can be very costly, so generally animals near humans tend to become accustomed to them. A new research compares skinks in Mo'orea island to see if their escape response varies and if skinks living with more humans have adjusted their responses accordingly.
IUWC 2019: Community Science
This session included three very different community science projects--from otters in Singapore to cats around the world! Otters! Philip Johns, of Yale-NUS College, studies the foraging behaviors in urban smooth-coated otters in Singapore. Singapore is very urban, and all of its waterways are highly modified--similar to those in Los Angeles. Despite this, about 18 families... Continue Reading →