Urban Life Affects Differentiation and Phenotypic Variation but not Asymmetry in a Fully Terrestrial Salamander Lucía Alarcón-Ríos, Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou, David Álvarez & Guillermo Velo-Antón Abstract The environmental transformations associated with cities are expected to affect organisms at the demographic, phenotypic, and evolutionary level, often negatively. The prompt detection of stressed populations before their viability is compromised is essential to... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Metabolic adjustment in urban birds: glycometabolic enzyme activities in urban and rural tree sparrows (passer montanus)
Metabolic adjustment in urban birds: glycometabolic enzyme activities in urban and rural tree sparrows (passer montanus) J Shang, S Cun, S Zhang, W Liang Abstract Urbanization is rapidly changing habitats of wild birds around the world. Food availability is one of the important factors leading to phenotypic differences between urban and rural bird populations. Comparing... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Variation in Pheidole nodus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) functional morphology across urban parks
Variation in Pheidole nodus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) functional morphology across urban parks Y Luo, QM Wei, C Newman, XQ Huang, XY Luo, ZM Zhou Abstract Background Habitat fragmentation and consequent population isolation in urban areas can impose significant selection pressures on individuals and species confined to urban islands, such as parks. Despite many comparative studies on... Continue Reading →
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 →
New Lit Alert: A global meta-analysis reveals higher variation in breeding phenology in urban birds than in their non-urban neighbours
A global meta-analysis reveals higher variation in breeding phenology in urban birds than in their non-urban neighbours Pablo Capilla-Lasheras, Megan J. Thompson, Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar, Yacob Haddou, Claire J. Branston, Denis Réale, Anne Charmantier, Davide M. Dominoni Abstract Cities pose a major ecological challenge for wildlife worldwide. Phenotypic variation, which can result from underlying genetic variation... Continue Reading →