Adaptation to urban environments.

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary Biology
• Urban Ecology
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Urban environments drive evolutionary changes.
• The adaptive significance of these changes requires further investigation.
• Assessing urban adaptation involves diverse evidence, each with limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review methods for assessing urban adaptation.
• To synthesize evidence for local adaptation in urban and rural settings.
• To explore factors influencing variation in urban-rural adaptation.

Main Methods:

• Phenotypic reciprocal transplant studies.
• Analysis of molecular data.
• Review of existing literature on urban adaptation.

Main Results:

• Evidence supports local adaptation to both urban and rural environments.
• Urban adaptation is less prevalent than rural adaptation, indicating ongoing adaptation.
• Significant variation exists among study systems, influenced by environmental heterogeneity and adaptation costs.

Conclusions:

• Urban populations are actively adapting to novel environments.
• Future research should consider diverse selective agents like heat islands and pollutants.
• Understanding adaptation dynamics is crucial for predicting species' responses to urbanization.