Highlights ‧Ecological and evolutionary (hereafter "eco-evolutionary") processes are influenced by urbanization and therefore influence biodiversity in cities ‧ Cities vary in population and geographic size by many orders of magnitude, and we therefore expect both eco-evolutionary and human cultural processes to scale non-linearly with city size ‧We do not expect all processes to scale similarly and correlations among deviations in different attributes (e.g., waterfowl diversity and urban water use) can inform management ‧We develop a mechanistic framework to study how scale influences biodiversity through eco-evolutionary and socio-economic mechanisms, and how these relationships might guide biodiversity management in urban areas
Landscape affordances, what the environment offers an animal, are inherently species-specific to the extent that each taxon has unique needs and responses to landscape characteristics. Wildlife responses to landscape features range on a continuum from avoidance to attraction and quantifying these habits are the backbone of wildlife movement ecology. In anthropogenically modified landscapes, many taxa do not occupy areas heavily influenced by humans, while some species seem to flourish, such as coyotes (Canis latrans) and pigeons (Columba livia). Sufficient overlap in landscapes designed for human purposes (e.g., freeway underpasses, channelized waterways, and cemeteries) but which are also suitable for wildlife (e.g., by providing sources of food, shelter, and refuge) underlies wildlife persistence in urban areas and is increasingly important in the world's largest metropoles. Studying these overlapping worlds of humans and wildlife in cities provides a rich foundation for broadening human perceptions of cities as ecosystems that exhibit emergent hybridity, whereby certain anthropogenic features of urban landscapes can be used by wildlife even as they maintain their utility for humans. By examining scaling dynamics of the infrastructural signature, the phenomena of urban wildlife movement patterns conforming to the shapes of human infrastructural forms, we hope to expand on prior research in wildlife landscape ecology by stressing the importance of understanding the overlapping worlds of humans and wildlife. Further knowledge of the urban ecological commons is necessary to better design cities where emergent hybridity is leveraged toward the management goals of reducing human wildlife conflict and promoting biodiversity.
Many ecological and evolutionary processes are affected by urbanization, but cities vary by orders of magnitude in both their size and degree of development. To quantify and manage urban biodiversity we must understand both how biodiversity scales with city size, and how ecological, evolutionary, and socioeconomic drivers of biodiversity scale with city size. We show how environmental abiotic and biotic drivers as well as human cultural and socioeconomic drivers may act through ecological and evolutionary processes differently at different scales to influence patterns in urban biodiversity. Because relationships likely take linear and non-linear forms, we highlight the need to describe the specific scaling relationships, including deviations and potential inflection points, where different management strategies may successfully conserve urban biodiversity.
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