Journal article
Evolution of life in urban environments
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), v 358(6363), pp 607-607
03 Nov 2017
PMID: 29097520
Abstract
Our planet is an increasingly urbanized landscape, with over half of the human population residing in cities. Despite advances in urban ecology, we do not adequately understand how urbanization affects the evolution of organisms, nor how this evolution may affect ecosystems and human health. Here, we review evidence for the effects of urbanization on the evolution of microbes, plants, and animals that inhabit cities. Urbanization affects adaptive and nonadaptive evolutionary processes that shape the genetic diversity within and between populations. Rapid adaptation has facilitated the success of some native species in urban areas, but it has also allowed human pests and disease to spread more rapidly. The nascent field of urban evolution brings together efforts to understand evolution in response to environmental change while developing new hypotheses concerning adaptation to urban infrastructure and human socioeconomic activity. The next generation of research on urban evolution will provide critical insight into the importance of evolution for sustainable interactions between humans and our city environments.
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Details
- Title
- Evolution of life in urban environments
- Creators
- Marc T J Johnson - University of TorontoJason Munshi-South - Fordham University
- Publication Details
- Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), v 358(6363), pp 607-607
- Publisher
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES)
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000414240500026
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85032790773
- Other Identifier
- 991021903953404721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Ecology