Coping with novel environments: how birds have adapted to urban environments

Abstract

Urbanization presents a major threat to biodiversity. However, it also represents a unique opportunity to study evolution in novel environments. As cities are constantly reshaping, birds living in these areas face continuous challenges and, as its co-dwellers, they need to adapt to these changes as they happen using different strategies. Here, we aim to identify some of the traits selected by urban habitats and explore the relationship between brain size and brood value as two forms of plasticity. Identifying these traits may help us mitigate biotic homogenization and it could also be an effective approach for preserving ecosystem functions and services in urban areas, as well as to identify which species are more sensitive to urbanization processes.