title: Global urban signatures of phenotypic change in animal and plant populations.
abstract: Humans challenge the phenotypic, genetic, and cultural makeup of species by affecting the fitness landscapes on which they evolve. Recent studies show that cities might play a major role in contemporary evolution by accelerating phenotypic changes in wildlife, including animals, plants, fungi, and other organisms. Many studies of ecoevolutionary change have focused on anthropogenic drivers, but none of these studies has specifically examined the role that urbanization plays in ecoevolution or explicitly examined its mechanisms. This paper presents evidence on the mechanisms linking urban development patterns to rapid evolutionary changes for species that play important functional roles in communities and ecosystems. Through a metaanalysis of experimental and observational studies reporting more than 1,600 phenotypic changes in species across multiple regions, we ask whether we can discriminate an urban signature of phenotypic change beyond the established natural baselines and other anthropogenic signals. We then assess the relative impact of five types of urban disturbances including habitat modifications, biotic interactions, habitat heterogeneity, novel disturbances, and social interactions. Our study shows a clear urban signal; rates of phenotypic change are greater in urbanizing systems compared with natural and nonurban anthropogenic systems. By explicitly linking urban development to traits that affect ecosystem function, we can map potential ecoevolutionary implications of emerging patterns of urban agglomerations and uncover insights for maintaining key ecosystem functions upon which the sustainability of human well-being depends.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195; malberti@uw.edu.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1920-309X
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alberti
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Conservación, Biodiversidad y Territorio, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile.
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Correa
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Marzluff
authors.affiliation: Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada H3A0C4.|Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada H3A0C4.
authors.forename: Andrew P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Hendry
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060.
authors.forename: Eric P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Palkovacs
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Kiyoko M
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3666-0700
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Gotanda
authors.affiliation: Department of Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
authors.forename: Victoria M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95060.
authors.forename: Travis M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Apgar
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011.
authors.forename: Yuyu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010641:Phenotype; D063245:Plant Development; D010944:Plants / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D011157:Population Dynamics; D014507:Urbanization
keywords: anthropocene; ecoevolution; ecosystem function; sustainability; urbanization