Description
Book SynopsisUrban Evolutionary Biology fills an important knowledge gap on wild organismal evolution in the urban environment, whilst offering a novel exploration of the fast-growing new field of evolutionary research. The growing rate of urbanization and the maturation of urban study systems worldwide means interest in the urban environment as an agent of evolutionary change is rapidly increasing.We are presently witnessing the emergence of a new field of research in evolutionary biology. Despite its rapid global expansion, the urban environment has until now been a largely neglected study site among evolutionary biologists. With its conspicuously altered ecological dynamics, it stands in stark contrast to the natural environments traditionally used as cornerstones for evolutionary ecology research. Urbanization can offer a great range of new opportunities to test for rapid evolutionary processes as a consequence of human activity, both because of replicate contexts for hypothesis testing, but also because cities are characterized by an array of easily quantifiable environmental axes of variation and thus testable agents of selection. Thanks to a wide possible breadth of inference (in terms of taxa) that may be studied, and a great variety of analytical methods, urban evolution has the potential to stand at a fascinating multi-disciplinary crossroad, enriching the field of evolutionary biology with emergent yet incredibly potent new research themes where the urban habitat is key. Urban Evolutionary Biology is an advanced textbook suitable for graduate level students as well as professional researchers studying the genetics, evolutionary biology, and ecology of urban environments. It is also highly relevant to urban ecologists and urban wildlife practitioners.
Trade ReviewIn summary, we find the volume to be a valuable resource for summarizing the current state of urban evolutionary biology and helping future researchers to develop new questions that will expand this growing field. * Anthony J. Dant, Alexandra D. Burnett, Leah N. Veldhuisen, and Katrina M. Dlugosch, Quarterly Review of Biology *
Urban Evolutionary Biology fills an important knowledge gap on wild organismal evolution in the urban environment, whilst offering a novel exploration of the fast-growing new field of evolutionary research. * CENTRE OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES, University of Warsaw *
Table of ContentsMarina Alberti: Foreword 1: Marta Szulkin, Jason Munshi-South and Anne Charmantier: Introduction 2: Marta Szulkin, Colin J. Garroway, Michela Corsini, Andrzej Z. Kotarba and Davide Dominoni: How to quantify urbanisation when testing for urban evolution 3: James S. Santangelo, Lindsay S. Miles, Sophie T. Breitbart, David Murray-Stoker, L. Ruth Rivkin, Marc T. J. Johnson and Rob W. Ness: Urban environments as a framework to study parallel evolution 4: Jason Munshi-South and Jonathan L. Richardson: Landscape genetic approaches to understanding movement and gene flow in cities 5: Charles Perrier, Aude Caizergues and Anne Charmantier: Adaptation genomics in urban environments 6: Sarah E. Diamond and Ryan A. Martin: Evolutionary consequences of the urban heat island 7: Rebecca E. Irwin, Elsa Youngsteadt, Paige S. Warren and Judith L. Bronstein: The evolutionary ecology of mutualisms in urban landscapes 8: P.O. Cheptou and S. Lambrecht: Sidewalk plants as a model for studying adaptation to urban environments 9: Amanda J. Gorton, Liana T. Burghardt and Peter Tiffin: Adaptive evolution of plant life history in urban environments 10: R. Brian Langerhans and Elizabeth M.A. Kern: Urbanization and evolution in aquatic environments 11: Kristien I. Brans, Lynn Govaert and Luc De Meester: Evolutionary dynamics of metacommunities in urbanized landscapes 12: Kristin M. Winchell, Andrew C. Battles, Talia Y. Moore: Terrestrial locomotor evolution in urban environments 13: Caroline Isaksson and Frances Bonier: Urban evolutionary physiology 14: Tuul Sepp, Kevin J. McGraw and Mathieu Giraudeau: Urban sexual selection 15: Daniel Sol, Oriol Lapiedra, and Simon Ducatez: Cognition and adaptation to urban environments 16: Emmanuel Milot and Stephen C. Stearns: Selection on humans in cities
