environmental science research for everyone
If you’ve been to a busy park during lunch hour, surely, you’ve noticed that many birds are on the prowl for some of your delicious lunch crumbs! Recently, urban ecologists have been interested in learning how much human food animals eat, and how it might affect them. Read on to learn more about how the Australian ibis decides whether to grab some human grub or stick to its natural diet.
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Article: Grutter, A. S., De Brauwer, M., Bshary, R., Cheney, K. L., Cribb, T. H., Madin, E. M. P., …
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Boreal forests of Alaska are expanding north and to higher latitudes due to higher annual temperatures, but the snowshoe hare may be limiting the growth of these forests.
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For many animals, life in the city is no easy task. However, some animals are able to exploit the features of the city and resulting in larger body sizes and more reproductive advantages compared to forest populations. Read more to find out whether a permanent urban resident and an urban newcomer both gain these advantages in the city.
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Hundreds of toxic chemicals were measured in tuna across global oceans to show that location of capture may matter more than other criteria for fish advisories.
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Wildlife may not always struggle when living in the city. For example, many birds and mammals benefit from access to human food and in some cases, encounter fewer predators in the city. Learning more about how wildlife deals with life in the city can help us learn what features of the city benefit or harm different species. Eastern chipmunks are abundant in both forest and urban habitats making them a suitable species to study to determine whether populations living in the city do better or worse. Researchers found that chipmunks in the city were fatter than forest chipmunks and less stressed, highlighting how some animals can thrive because of urbanization.
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Humans have transported plants and animals all over the world, causing dramatic habitat changes. In Australia, the human introduction of cane toads has caused devastating population losses for many Australian predators. Cane toads are deadly prey because their skin produces a lethal toxin. Can Australian predators learn to avoid this new lethal prey and avoid extinction?
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