Evolution in an Urbanizing World
Increasing artificial light In recent decades, the urban population has grown exponentially worldwide, with the expectation that the urban population will continue to increase the next decades. As cities expand, so does the reliance on artificial light sources to illuminate the night. This increases the visibility for humans when it is dark, but it can... Continue Reading →
Variation in Hematological Indices, Oxidative Stress, and Immune Function Among Male Song Sparrows From Rural and Low-Density Urban Habitats Christopher G. Goodchild, Isaac VanDiest, Samuel J. Lane, Michelle Beck, Hallum Ewbank and Kendra B. Sewall Abstract A central theme in the field of ecology is understanding how environmental variables influence a species’ distribution. In the last... Continue Reading →
Which Traits Influence Bird Survival in the City? A Review Swaroop Patankar, Ravi Jambhekar, Kulbhushansingh Ramesh Suryawanshi, and Harini Nagendra Abstract Urbanization poses a major threat to biodiversity worldwide. We focused on birds as a well-studied taxon of interest, in order to review literature on traits that influence responses to urbanization. We review 226 papers... Continue Reading →
Urban areas are hot. The urban heat island effect causes urbanized regions to be significantly warmer than nearby forested areas, and the tropical islands of the Caribbean are no exception to this pattern. Just spend a few minutes in the noon heat in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and you will beg for the cool reprieve... Continue Reading →
The Common European Toad, Bufo bufo, is a pond-breeding amphibian found throughout Europe, including in urban environments. Ecological changes (e.g., predator communities) in anthropogenic habitats present novel challenges to the common toad, but abiotic changes (e.g., pollution) may also influence phenotypes in these landscapes. Nevertheless, we know relatively little about how these urban-dwellers (and specifically their toxins)... Continue Reading →
Above: (c) Erin Walsh for Journal of Conservation Physiology on the evolution of heat tolerance in Daphnia Earlier this week, I introduced you to the aquatic flea, Daphnia magna, and its habitat in urban environments. I'll pick up where I left off and tell you now about the research I've been doing with these aquatic organisms. After... Continue Reading →
One way that animals may adapt to urban environments is by expanding their diet to include anthropogenic food, as discussed in the earlier post “Is Anthropogenic Food Waste Driving the Evolution of Urban Animals?”. But how can we tell if urban animals are actually consuming enough anthropogenic food to change physiology and drive evolution? We... Continue Reading →
In their recent contribution to the special issue on urban evolution in Proceedings B, Sarah Diamond and team share their exciting results on detecting parallel and non-parallel physiological responses to the urban heat island in acorn ants (paper here). This is the first of several posts to come on the recent special issue on urban evolution... Continue Reading →
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