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3,709 results for “urbanization.”
Data from: Genetic diversity and population structure in contemporary house sparrow populations along an urbanization gradient.
House sparrow (Passer domesticus) populations have suffered major declines in urban as well as rural areas, while remaining relatively stable in suburban ones. Yet, to date no exhaustive attempt has been made to examine how, and to what extent, spatial variation in population demography is reflected in genetic population structuring along contemporary urbanization gradients. Here we use putatively neutral microsatellite loci to study if and how genetic variation can be partitioned in a hierarchical way among different urbanization classes. Principal coordinate analyses did not support the hypothesis that urban/suburban and rural populations comprise two distinct genetic clusters. Comparison of FST values at different hierarchical scales revealed drift as an important force of population differentiation. Redundancy analyses revealed that genetic structure was strongly affected by both spatial variation and level of urbanization. The results shown here can be used as baseline information for future genetic monitoring programmes and provide additional insights into contemporary house sparrow dynamics along urbanization gradients.
Data from: Urban warming reduces aboveground carbon storage
A substantial amount of global carbon is stored in mature trees. However, no experiments to date test how warming affects mature tree carbon storage. Using a unique, citywide, factorial experiment, we investigated how warming and insect herbivory affected physiological function and carbon sequestration (carbon stored per year) of mature trees. Urban warming increased herbivorous arthropod abundance on trees, but these herbivores had negligible effects on tree carbon sequestration. Instead, urban warming was associated with an estimated 12% loss of carbon sequestration, in part because photosynthesis was reduced at hotter sites. Ecosystem service assessments that do not consider urban conditions may overestimate urban tree carbon storage. Because urban and global warming are becoming more intense, our results suggest that urban trees will sequester even less carbon in the future.
Data from: Rapid evolution of ant thermal tolerance across an urban-rural temperature cline
Rates of urbanization are accelerating worldwide. The increases in temperature associated with 'urban heat island' effects provide both an ecological imperative and a unique opportunity to explore the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that underlie organismal responses to rapid environmental change. We used the acorn ant, Temnothorax curvispinosus (Mayr 1866), to compare shifts in thermal tolerance of ants from rural and urban habitats throughout Cleveland, USA. Urban warming in the region has been ongoing for the past century which translates to 20 or fewer acorn ant generations. Using a common garden experiment, we found gains in the ability to withstand high temperatures and losses in the ability to withstand cool temperatures among ants in urban habitats. Owing to the greater magnitude of phenotypic change in lower compared with upper tolerances, tolerance breadth decreased in urban habitats. Mechanistically, these shifts in thermal tolerance under urbanization reflected both evolutionary change and phenotypic plasticity, as ants from urban areas exhibited higher thermal tolerances compared with ants from rural areas regardless of rearing temperature, and ants reared in the warmer temperature treatment exhibited higher tolerances than ants reared in the cooler temperature treatment. We also found evidence of evolved plasticity as the slope of the response to warmer and colder rearing environments differed significantly among rural and urban populations. While much of the ecological forecasting literature focuses on plastic responses to environmental change, our study provides evidence of rapid evolution of thermal tolerances, and suggests the importance of including evolutionary responses in forecasts of organismal responses to climatic change.
Data from: Lower bumblebee colony reproductive success in agricultural compared to urban environments
Urbanisation represents a rapidly growing driver of land-use change. While it is clear that urbanisation impacts species abundance and diversity, direct effects of urban land-use on animal reproductive success are rarely documented. Here we show that urban land-use is linked to long-term colony reproductive output in a key pollinator. We reared colonies from wild-caught bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) queens, placed them at sites characterised by varying degrees of urbanisation from inner city to rural farmland, and monitored the production of sexual offspring across the entire colony cycle. Our land-use cluster analysis identified three site categories, and this categorization was a strong predictor of colony performance. Crucially, colonies in the two clusters characterized by urban development produced more sexual offspring than those in the cluster dominated by agricultural land. These colonies also reached higher peak size, had more food stores, encountered fewer parasite invasions and survived for longer. Our results show a link between urbanisation and bumblebee colony reproductive success, supporting the theory that urban areas provide a refuge for pollinator populations in an otherwise barren agricultural landscape.
Data from: A model to identify urban traffic congestion hotspots in complex networks
The rapid growth of population in urban areas is jeopardizing the mobility and air quality worldwide. One of the most notable problems arising is that of traffic congestion. With the advent of technologies able to sense real-time data about cities, and its public distribution for analysis, we are in place to forecast scenarios valuable for improvement and control. Here, we propose an idealized model, based on the critical phenomena arising in complex networks, that allows to analytically predict congestion hotspots in urban environments. Results on real cities' road networks, considering, in some experiments, real- traffic data, show that the proposed model is capable of identifying susceptible junctions that might becomes hotspots if mobility demand increases.
Data from: Taylor's Power Law and its decomposition in urban facilities
As one of the few generalities in ecology, Taylor's power law admits a power function relationship $V=aM^{b}$ between the variance $V$ and mean number $M$ of organisms in a quadrat. We examine the spatial distribution data of seven urban service facilities in 37 major cities in China, and find that Taylor's law is validated among all types of facilities. Moreover, Taylor's law is robust if we shift the observation window or vary the size of the quadrats. The exponent $b$ increases linearly with the logarithm of the quadrat size, i.e., $b(s) = b_0 + A\log(s)$. Furthermore, the ANOVA test indicates that $b$ takes distinct values for different facilities in different cities. We decompose $b$ into two different factors, a city-specific factor (CSF) and a facility-specific factor (FSF). variations in $b$ can be explained to a large extent by the differences between cities and types of facilities. Facilities are more evenly distributed in larger and more developed cities. Competitive interchangeable facilities (e.g. pharmacy), with larger FSFs and smaller $b$s, are less aggregated than complimentary services (e.g., restaurants).
At what spatial scale(s) do mammals respond to urbanization?
<p>Spatial scale is fundamental in understanding species-landscape relationships because species' responses to landscape characteristics typically vary across scales. Nonetheless, such scales are often unidentified or unreliably predicted by theory. Many landscapes worldwide are urbanizing, yet the spatial scaling of species' responses to urbanization is poorly understood. We investigated the spatial scaling of urbanization effects on a community of 15 mammal species using ~ 60,000 wildlife detections collected from a constellation of 207 camera traps across an extensive urban park system. We embedded a bivariate Gaussian kernel in hierarchical multi-species models to determine two scales of effect (a scale of maximal effect and a broader scale of cumulative landscape effect) for two biological responses (occupancy and site visit frequency) across two seasons (winter and summer) for each species. We then assessed whether scales of effect varied according to theoretical predictions associated with biological responses and species traits (body size and mobility). Scales of effect ranged from < 50 m to > 9,000 m and varied among species, but not as predicted by theory. Species' occupancy generally showed a weak response to urbanization and the scale of this effect was both highly uncertain and consistent across species. We did not detect any relationship between scales of effect and species' body size or mobility, nor was there any evident pattern of scaling across biological response or seasons. These results imply that 1) urbanization effects on mammals manifest across a very broad spectrum of spatial scales, and 2) current theories that a priori predict the scale at which urbanization affects mammals may be of limited use within a given system. Overall, this study suggests that developing general theory regarding the scaling of species-landscape relationships requires additional empirical work conducted across multiple species, systems, and timescales.</p>
Ecohydrology of urban trees under passive and active irrigation in a semiarid city
<p>The infiltration of stormwater runoff for use by urban trees is a major co-benefit of green infrastructure for desert cities with limited water resources. However, the effects of this passive irrigation versus regular, controlled moisture inputs, or active irrigation, is largely unquantified. We monitored the ecohydrology of urban mesquite trees (<i>Prosopis spp.</i>) under these contrasting irrigation regimes in semiarid Tucson, AZ. Measurements included soil moisture, sap velocity, canopy greenness, and leaf-area index. We expected both irrigation types to provide additional deep (>20 cm) soil moisture compared to natural conditions, and that trees would depend on this deep moisture for transpiration and phenological activity. Results show that active irrigation supported higher soil moisture throughout the study than passive irrigation. Passive irrigation only provided additional deep moisture when green infrastructure features received impervious runoff from a city street. Sap velocity and greenness were similar under both irrigation types, outside of isolated periods of time. These differences occurred during the extremely wet summer 2017 when passively irrigated trees exhibited a greenness peak, and the dry conditions of spring when actively irrigated trees had higher sap flow and relative greenness. Finally, it was not determined that deep soil moisture had a stronger relationship with mesquite productivity than shallow moisture, but both relationships were stronger in the spring, before summer rains. This study aims to contribute empirical observations of green infrastructure performance for urban watershed management.</p>
Data from: A model of urban scaling laws based on distance dependent interactions
Socio-economic related properties of a city grow faster than a linear relationship with the population, in a log–log plot, the so-called superlinear scaling. Conversely, the larger a city, the more efficient it is in the use of its infrastructure, leading to a sublinear scaling on these variables. In this work, we addressed a simple explanation for those scaling laws in cities based on the interaction range between the citizens and on the fractal properties of the cities. To this purpose, we introduced a measure of social potential which captured the influence of social interaction on the economic performance and the benefits of amenities in the case of infrastructure offered by the city. We assumed that the population density depends on the fractal dimension and on the distance-dependent interactions between individuals. The model suggests that when the city interacts as a whole, and not just as a set of isolated parts, there is improvement of the socio-economic indicators. Moreover, the bigger the interaction range between citizens and amenities, the bigger the improvement of the socio-economic indicators and the lower the infrastructure costs of the city. We addressed how public policies could take advantage of these properties to improve cities development, minimizing negative effects. Furthermore, the model predicts that the sum of the scaling exponents of social-economic and infrastructure variables are 2, as observed in the literature. Simulations with an agent-based model are confronted with the theoretical approach and they are compatible with the empirical evidences.
Data from: Gene flow and genetic drift in urban environments
Evidence is growing that human modification of landscapes has dramatically altered evolutionary processes. In urban population genetic studies, urbanization is typically predicted to act as a barrier that isolates populations of species, leading to increased genetic drift within populations and reduced gene flow between populations. However, urbanization may also facilitate dispersal among populations, leading to higher genetic diversity within and lower differentiation between urban populations. We reviewed the literature on non-adaptive urban evolution to evaluate the support for each of these urbanse urban fragmentation and facilitation models. In a review of the literature with supporting quantitative analyses of 167 published urban population genetics studies, we found a weak signature of reduced within-population genetic diversity, and no evidence of consistently increased between-population genetic differentiation associated with urbanization. In addition, we found that urban landscape features act as barriers or conduits to gene flow, depending on the species and city in question. Thus, we speculate that dispersal ability of species and environmental heterogeneity between cities contribute to the variation exhibited in our results. However, greater than 90% of published studies reviewed here showed an association of urbanization with genetic drift or gene flow, highlighting the strong impact of urbanization on non-adaptive evolution. It is clear that organism biology and city heterogeneity obscure patterns of genetic drift and gene flow in a quantitative analysis. Thus, we suggest that future research makes comparisons of multiple cities and nonurban habitats, and takes into consideration species' natural history, environmental variation, spatial modelling, and marker selection.
Data from: Taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of vascular plants at Ma'anling volcano urban park in tropical Haikou, China: Reponses to soil properties
Anthropogenic processes and socio-economic factors play important roles in shaping plant diversity in urban parks. To investigate how plant diversity of Ma' anling urban volcano park in Hainan Province, China respond to these factors, we carried out a field investigation on the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of vascular plants and soil properties in this area. We found 284 species of vascular plants belonging to 88 families and 241 genera, which included 194 native species, 23 invasive species, 31 naturalized species, 40 cultivars, and 4 rare / endangered plant species. Tree composition and richness significantly varied between different vegetation formations (plantation, secondary forest, and abandoned land). Plant species richness and community composition were significantly affected by elevation (El), soil water content (WC), total soil nitrogen (TN) and soil organic matter (SOM). There were significant diversity differences between plantations and abandoned lands, but not between the plantations and secondary forests. The flora in the study site was tropical in nature, characterized by pantropic distributions. Compared to adjacent areas, floristic composition in the study site was most similar to that of Guangdong, followed by that of Vietnam. Our study revealed the diversity patterns of volcanic plants and provided the basis for future planning of plant conservation, such as preserving plant species, maintaining plant habitats, and coordinating plant management in this region.
Data from: The Urban Heat Island and its spatial scale dependent impact on survival and development in butterflies of different thermal sensitivity
Climate alteration is one of the most cited ecological consequences of urbanization. However, the magnitude of this impact is likely to vary with spatial scale. We investigated how this alteration affects the biological fitness of insects, which are especially sensitive to ambient conditions and well-suited organisms to study urbanization-related changes in phenotypic traits. We monitored temperature and relative air humidity in wooded sites characterized by different levels of urbanization in the surroundings. Using a split-brood design experiment, we investigated the effect of urbanization at the local (i.e., 200 × 200 m) and landscape (i.e., 3 × 3 km) scale on two key traits of biological fitness in two closely related butterfly species that differ in thermal sensitivity. In line with the Urban Heat Island concept, urbanization led to a 1°C increase in daytime temperature and an 8% decrease in daytime relative humidity at the local scale. The thermophilous species Lasiommata megera responded at the local scale: larval survival increased twofold in urban compared to rural sites. Urbanized sites tended to produce bigger adults, although this was the case for males only. In the woodland species Pararge aegeria, which has recently expanded its ecological niche, we did not observe such a response, neither at the local, nor at the landscape scale. These results demonstrate interspecific differences in urbanization-related phenotypic plasticity and larval survival. We discuss larval pre-adaptations in species of different ecological profiles to urban conditions. Our results also highlight the significance of considering fine-grained spatial scales in urban ecology.
Data from: Urbanization as a facilitator of gene flow in a human health pest
Urban fragmentation can reduce gene flow that isolates populations, reduces genetic diversity and increases population differentiation, all of which have negative conservation implications. Alternatively, gene flow may actually be increased among urban areas consistent with an urban facilitation model. In fact, urban adapter pests are able to thrive in the urban environment and may be experiencing human-mediated transport. Here, we used social network theory with a population genetic approach to investigate the impact of urbanization on genetic connectivity in the Western black widow spider, as an urban pest model of human health concern. We collected genomewide SNP variation from mitochondrial and nuclear ddRAD sequence datasets from 210 individuals sampled from 11 urban and 10 non-urban locales across its distribution of the Western U.S. From urban and non-urban contrasts of population, phylogenetic, and network analyses, urban locales have higher within-population genetic diversity, lower between-population genetic differentiation, and higher estimates of genetic connectivity. Social network analyses show that urban locales not only have more connections, but can act as hubs that drive connectivity among non-urban locales, which show signatures of historical isolation. These results are consistent with an urban facilitation model of gene flow, and demonstrate the importance of sampling multiple cities and markers to identify the role that urbanization has had on larger spatial scales. As the urban landscape continues to grow, this approach will help determine what factors influence the spread and adaptation of pests, like the venomous black widow spider, in building policies for human and biodiversity health.
Data from: The preference and costs of sleeping under light at night in forest and urban great tits
Artificial light at night (ALAN) is an increasing phenomenon associated with worldwide urbanisation. In birds, broad-spectrum white ALAN can have disruptive effects on activity patterns, metabolism, stress response and immune function. There has been growing research on whether the use of alternative light spectra can reduce these negative effects, but surprisingly, there has been no study to determine which light spectrum birds prefer. To test such a preference, we gave urban and forest great tits (Parus major) the choice where to roost using pairwise combinations of darkness, white or green dim light at night (1.5 lux). Birds preferred to sleep under artificial light instead of darkness, and green was preferred over white light. In a subsequent experiment, we investigated the consequence of sleeping under a particular light condition, and measured birds' daily activity levels, daily energy expenditure (DEE), oxalic acid as a biomarker for sleep debt, and cognitive abilities. White light affected activity patterns more than green light. Moreover, there was an origin-dependent response to spectral composition: in urban birds the total daily activity and night activity did not differ between white and green light, while forest birds were more active under white than green light. We also found that individuals who slept under white and green light had higher DEE. However, there were no differences in oxalic acid levels or cognitive abilities between light treatments. Thus, we argue that in naïve birds that never encountered light at night, white light might disrupt circadian rhythms more than green light. However, it is possible that negative effects of ALAN on sleep and cognition might be observed only under intensities higher than 1.5 lux. These results suggest that reducing the intensity of light pollution as well as tuning the spectrum towards long wavelengths may considerably reduce its impact.
Contrasting effects of tree origin and urbanization on invertebrate abundance and tree phenology
<p>The ongoing wide-scale introduction of non-native plants across the world may negatively influence native invertebrate fauna, due to a lack of co-evolved traits related to the novel plants, e.g. unique phytochemicals or shifted phenology. Non-native plants, specifically trees, are common in urban environments, areas that already pose novel habitats to plants and wildlife through a wide array of anthropogenic factors. For example, impervious surfaces contribute to increased ambient temperatures, the so-called urban heat island effect (UHI), which can affect local plant phenology. Yet, few studies have simultaneously studied the effects of urbanization and tree species origin on urban invertebrate communities. We measured the city-level UHI and phenology of nine native and seven non-native tree species in five city-centre parks in Southern Sweden, as well as four common native species in a rural control forest. We quantified the abundance of invertebrates on a subset of native and non-native tree species through shake-sampling, sticky-traps and frass collection. In the urban environment, non-native trees hosted significantly fewer invertebrates compared to native trees. Furthermore, the non-native trees had a delayed phenology compared to native species, while the peak of caterpillars associated with the subset of trees surveyed for this measure was significantly earlier compared to that of the native species studied. The effect of tree species origin on urban invertebrate abundance was of a greater magnitude (effect size) than the effect of urbanization on invertebrate abundance in native tree hosts. Hence, the results indicate that the impact of non-native vegetation may be a stronger driver of invertebrate declines in urban areas than other factors. As the effect of species origin on tree phenology was at a level comparable to the urban effect, increasing prevalence of non-native vegetation can potentially obscure effects of urbanization on phenology in large-scale studies, as well as induce mis-matches to invertebrate populations. Since parks harbour a large proportion of urban biodiversity, native trees play a crucial role in such habitats and should not be considered replaceable by non-native species in terms of conservation value. --</p>
Data from:Microgeographic differentiation in thermal performance curves between rural and urban populations of an aquatic insect
The rapidly increasing rate of urbanization has a major impact on the ecology and evolution of species. While increased temperatures are a key aspect of urbanization ("urban heat islands"), we have very limited knowledge whether this generates differentiation in thermal responses between rural and urban populations. In a common garden experiment, we compared the thermal performance curves (TPCs) for growth rate and mortality in larvae of the damselfly Coenagrion puella from three urban and three rural populations. TPCs for growth rate shifted vertically, consistent with the faster-slower theoretical model whereby the cold-adapted rural larvae grew faster than the warm-adapted urban larvae across temperatures. In line with costs of rapid growth, rural larvae showed lower survival than urban larvae across temperatures. The relatively lower temperatures, hence expected shorter growing seasons in rural populations compared to the populations in the urban heat islands likely impose stronger time constraints to reach a certain developmental stage before winter, thereby selecting for faster growth rates. In addition, higher predation rates at higher temperature may have contributed to the growth rate differences between urban and rural ponds. A faster-slower differentiation in TPCs may be a widespread pattern along the urbanization gradient. The observed microgeographic differentiation in TPCs supports the view that urbanization may drive life history evolution. Moreover, because of the urban heat island effect, urban environments have the potential to aid in developing predictions on the impact of climate change on rural populations.
Dataset for "Space use by animals on the urban fringe: interactive effects of sex and personality"
<p>Personality traits shape individual perceptions of risks and rewards, and so, should affect how animals value and use their environment. Evidence is emerging that personality affects foraging, space use and exploitation of novel environments such as urban habitat. But the influence of personality is also hypothesized to be sex-dependent when primary motivation for space use differs between sexes, as often occurs in polygynous species. We tested the influence of personality traits, interacting with sex, on space use by the polygynous common brushtail possum, <i>Trichosurus vulpecula</i>, in an urban-woodland boundary in Sydney, Australia. We quantified personality traits, including exploration, using behavioural assays in an artificial arena. We also GPS-tracked free-ranging individuals, and measured range size, core area: home range, and proportional urban range. We found that personality traits affected space use either as a main effect or, as predicted, an interaction with sex. More exploratory animals, regardless of sex, had higher core area: home range ratios and proportionally larger ranges within urban habitat. However, less exploratory females yet more exploratory males had larger ranges. Our findings provide new insight into movement ecology by demonstrating, for the first time, the sex-dependent influence of personality. The demonstrated influence of personality on urban use by possums also suggests a personality filter for wildlife, as populations transition into urban areas. Finally, as individuals at the interface between urban and natural habitat are also a conduit between the two, a corollary of our findings is that there may be personality-mediated spread of disease across this boundary.</p>
Hydrostatic pressure sensor logger data for floodX urban flooding experiments
<p>Film of pressure sensor loggers for floodX dataset</p>
Persistence of butterfly populations along urban density gradients: motility makes the difference
<p>Simulated genetic data</p>
FIGURE 17 in Description and conservation status of a new species of Australotomurus (Collembola: Entomobryidae: Orchesellinae) from urban Perth remnant bushland
FIGURE 17. Australotomurus morbidus, sp. nov.: dorsal chaetotaxy of abdomen.
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.