Dear colleagues,

a reminder: Biology Thursday seminar continues today, 8th Feb, at 12:15 in zoom (link below),

with prof. Caroline Isaksson from the University of Lund, on:

"From macro-to microscale: The impacts of urban greenery, pollution and nutrition on birds’ performance"

Urban habitats and landscapes are markedly different from non-urban “natural” habitats. The major difference is the transformation of the land, from natural green areas to anthropogenic structures and impervious surfaces. These altered conditions have changed the fauna dramatically, with many species vanishing once an area is urbanized, thus resulting in a significant loss of biodiversity. However, some species seem to cope or even thrive in the city and these urban-dwelling species often show pronounced phenotypic differences compared to their rural conspecifics. In this talk I will start broad by presenting a European-wide study on urban adaptation in the great tit (Parus major) and discuss what functions and potential traits that are likely to be under selection. This large-scale urban/rural comparison has been fruitful to reveal changes, yet no specific urban factor can be singled out to be the driving force of change. Hence, I will then continue to zoom in on the habitat heterogeneity that we find at the micro-scale (across territories within a city) and how this scale can provide a more detailed picture about constraints and selective pressures for urban-life of this small passerine. To not reveal my whole talk, I will finish by saying that the results on the macro-and microscale put us in the direction to test David Lack’s old “Food limitation hypothesis”, yet, once again the Devil is in the details!