Jason Munshi-South

Many urban wildlife species are relatively rare, difficult to capture, and not routinely observed. Over the last 30 years, molecular genetic tools have been adopted for a wide range of ecological, evolutionary, and management applications. This work reviews how these tools are used and highlights how these approaches can guide urban conservation decision-making. Further, it highlights how molecular tools are integral to understanding how human societal conditions allow us to describe biodiversity patterns within cities at the scale of individual buildings, city blocks, or neighborhoods. This work underscores a need for better incorporating human social and economic variation into understanding genetic connectivity in biodiversity within and across urban areas. This synthesis demonstrates the power of modern molecular methods for conservation in general but especially in cities and provides a framework for prioritizing and achieving urban biodiversity conservation goals.