The impact of urbanization on outcrossing rate and population genetic variation in the native wildflower, Impatiens capensis L. Ruth Rivkin and Marc T. J. Johnson Abstract Cities are one of the fastest growing ecosystems on the planet, and conserving urban biodiversity is of primary importance. Urbanization increases habitat fragmentation and may be particularly problematic for... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Recent spread of blue tits into the Barcelona urban environment: morphological differences and the role of balanced dispersal
Recent spread of blue tits into the Barcelona urban environment: morphological differences and the role of balanced dispersal Juan Carlos Senar & Mats Björklund Abstract Rates of phenotypic change are greater in cities than in any other habitat. Consequently, urban habitats are an ideal experimental area to study contemporary evolution and adaptation. A key question... Continue Reading →
New Lit Alert: Bioindicator snake shows genomic signatures of natural and anthropogenic barriers to gene flow
Bioindicator snake shows genomic signatures of natural and anthropogenic barriers to gene flow Damian C. Lettoof, Vicki A. Thomson, Jari Cornelis, Philip W. Bateman, Fabien Aubret, Marthe M. Gagnon, and Brenton von Takach Abstract Urbanisation alters landscapes, introduces wildlife to novel stressors, and fragments habitats into remnant ‘islands’. Within these islands, isolated wildlife populations can... Continue Reading →
Urbanization Leads to Widespread Genetic Connectivity in Pigeons
Urbanization is rapidly transforming the Earth leading to drastic changes in the local ecological communities and changing the evolutionary dynamics of organisms living within cities. Previous research has shown that urbanization can prohibit, facilitate, or have little effect on gene flow but the scale at which these phenomena occur are highly dependent on the organism,... Continue Reading →
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 →
Evolution 2019: Evolution Takes Flight: Population Genetics of Feral Pigeons (Columba livia) in the Northeastern United States
As you may have guessed by now, urbanization changes the natural landscape and this can have consequences for the organisms that live in them. Feral pigeons, which had been domesticated thousands of years ago and transported globally by humans, are not immune to rapid urbanization impacts. Previous studies have shown that there can be inbreeding... Continue Reading →
Urban Rodent Control has Big Genetic Impacts for Rats in Brazil
Most people – both researchers and residents alike – are quickly coming to appreciate that wildlife are increasingly common in cities, and here to stay. Some species are generally considered a welcomed part of the tapestry of an urban environment (think peregrine falcons). Rats clearly fall on the other extreme of the spectrum, maligned for... Continue Reading →