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 →

April 25, 2023 0

Conserving Urban Biodiversity Needs an Evolutionary Mindset

A variety of species – animals, plants, fungi, microbes – share our cities with us. Some we love, some we hate, and some we hardly notice. Some of these species existed naturally before we built cities. Some were obliterated during urban construction but have since re-entered the city. And others have been purposefully or accidentally... Continue Reading →

May 19, 2020 0

Monarchs, Milkweed, and Metal: Is Roadside Zinc Pollution Harming Butterflies?

Heavy metal pollution is a widespread threat to urban ecosystems. Although many types of heavy metals are required by organisms at trace levels, the environmental availability of heavy metals is increasing to potentially toxic levels due to human activities such as mining, industrial combustion, and automobile use. A key goal for ecotoxicologists, evolutionary biologists, and... Continue Reading →

March 31, 2020 0

European Rabbits Have High Gene Flow in German Cities But Not Other EU Cities

Many organisms seem to do poorly in urban areas, and it is unclear which organisms will become extirpated in cities. Typically, organisms that are experiencing population declines are ones that we would think are negatively impacted by urbanization. However, this may not always be the case. Recently, Ziege and co-authors studied populations of the European... Continue Reading →

February 18, 2020 0

Urban Observation of the Week: Bald Eagle

Most of the time we expect pigeons or other common birds to be spotted on the power lines and poles. Sometimes, we get a rare gem, the bald eagle! We have shown you a number of birds in these "Urban Observation" posts. This one is super majestic for sure. But sadly, many birds have... Continue Reading →

October 9, 2019 0

IUWC 2019: Linking Student Conservation Knowledge to Attitude and Behavior

For most of us, our interest in urban ecology is rooted in the desire to better understand and conserve biodiversity. Once researchers better understand the science behind issues facing our urban species, the next step is engaging the wider public on how to beset conserve these species. This theme was present almost every talk I... Continue Reading →

June 10, 2019 0

Evolution in Urban Environments Talk

For those of you who follow us and live in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), I'm giving a talk at the Riverwood Conservancy this Saturday, April 20th at 9:30 am. You can register for the event here. I will be talking about how urbanization can influence evolution for a lot of different organisms, including plants... Continue Reading →

April 17, 2019 0

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Tag: conservation

New Lit Alert: Urban tolerance is phylogenetically constrained and mediated by pre-adaptations in African bats

Conserving Urban Biodiversity Needs an Evolutionary Mindset

Monarchs, Milkweed, and Metal: Is Roadside Zinc Pollution Harming Butterflies?

European Rabbits Have High Gene Flow in German Cities But Not Other EU Cities

Urban Observation of the Week: Bald Eagle

IUWC 2019: Linking Student Conservation Knowledge to Attitude and Behavior

Evolution in Urban Environments Talk

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