Diego Gil

Caroline Isaksson

Amanda D. Rodewald

Urbanization is next to global warming the largest threat to biodiversity. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly evident that many bird species get locally extinct as a result of urban development. However, many bird species benefit from urbanization, especially through the abundance of human-provided resources, and increase in abundance and densities. These birds are intriguing to study in relation to its resilience and adaption to urban environments, but also in relation to its susceptibility and the potential costs of urban life. This Research Topic consisting of 30 articles (one review, two meta-analyzes and 27 original data papers) provides insights into species and population responses to urbanization through diverse lenses, including biogeography, community ecology, behaviour, life history evolution, and physiology.

Behavioural and Ecological Consequences of Urban Life in Birds

Henrik Brumm

As natural habitat continues to be lost and the world becomes more urbanized, biologists are increasingly studying the effect this has on wildlife. Birds in particular are good model systems as many of their life history, behaviour, and physiology traits are intrinsically linked to measurable environmental factors, and it is relatively easy to compare urban individuals and populations to their rural counterparts. This edited volume adopts an evolutionary frameworkto explore how pre-existing differences between individuals and populations may determine the course of adaptations, and focuses on the evolutionary process by which adaptation to urban habitats mayhappen. It discusses topics such as acoustics, reproductive cues, disease, and artificial feeding, and includes some additional case studies of cutting edge research on these areas. This is an accessible text suitable for professional avian biologists and ornithologists as well as graduate students of avian ecology, evolution, and conservation. A secondary market will exist amongst a more general audience of urban ecologists and conservation biologists.

Diego Gil

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