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Ecological impacts of urbanization include the loss of biodiversity and changes in species composition and population densities. However, how the urban environment affects fundamental physiological parameters is largely unknown. Here, we investigated physiological components related to health and nutrition, namely, plasma fatty acids (FA) and lipid peroxidation at inter-habitat and interspecific levels. Specifically, we compared four passerine bird species-the great tit (Parus major), the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), and the tree sparrow (P. montanus)-from urban and rural environments. Significant interactions between species and habitat were revealed for the majority of the FAs. Interestingly, the observed inter-habitat variation in FAs was frequently in opposite directions when comparing species from the two families (tits, Paridae; sparrows, Passeridae). These patterns suggest that sparrows and tits feed on different food sources, or modulate their FA metabolism differently, across the urban-rural gradient. By using canonical discriminant analyses (CDA), we further demonstrated species-specific signals in FA composition, with misclassification of species being <1% within habitats and <7% between habitats. Finally, the urban-rural FA differences between species and families were manifested in two indices of health. Firstly, urban blue tits had a higher total ω-6/ω-3 polyunsaturated FA ratio than rural conspecifics, which is believed to increase inflammatory responses. Secondly, urban sparrows of both species showed higher lipid peroxidation indices (indicating a higher susceptibility to lipid peroxidation if exposed to pro-oxidants), and consequently, a higher level of lipid peroxidation compared to their rural conspecifics. Collectively, the speciesand habitat-specific differences in plasma FA composition, which are linked to nutrition and metabolism, suggest that the urban environment affect tits and sparrows primarily via two different pathways-inflammation and oxidative stress, respectively,-with potential consequences for the health of urban populations.

The ongoing wide‐scale introduction of nonnative plants across the world may negatively influence native invertebrate fauna, due to a lack of coevolved traits related to the novel plants, e.g., unique phytochemicals or shifted phenology. Nonnative plants, specifically trees, are common in urban environments, areas that already pose novel habitats to plants and wildlife through a wide array of anthropogenic factors. For example, impervious surfaces contribute to increased ambient temperatures, the so‐called urban heat island effect (UHI), which can affect local plant phenology. Yet, few studies have simultaneously studied the effects of urbanization and tree species origin on urban invertebrate communities. We measured the city‐level UHI and phenology of nine native and seven nonnative tree species in five city‐center parks in southern Sweden, as well as four common native species in a rural control forest. We quantified the abundance of invertebrates on a subset of native and nonnative tree species through shake sampling, sticky traps, and frass collection. In the urban environment, nonnative trees hosted significantly fewer invertebrates compared to native trees. Furthermore, the nonnative trees had a delayed phenology compared to native species, while the peak of caterpillars associated with the subset of trees surveyed for this measure was significantly earlier compared to that of the native species studied. The effect of tree species origin on urban invertebrate abundance was of a greater magnitude (effect size) than the effect of urbanization on invertebrate abundance in native tree hosts. Hence, the results indicate that the impact of nonnative vegetation may be a stronger driver of invertebrate declines in urban areas than other factors. As the effect of species origin on tree phenology was at a level comparable to the urban effect, increasing prevalence of nonnative vegetation can potentially obscure effects of urbanization on phenology in large‐scale studies, as well as induce mismatches to invertebrate populations. Since parks harbor a large proportion of urban biodiversity, native trees play a crucial role in such habitats and should not be considered replaceable by nonnative species in terms of conservation value.

In many birds, carotenoids have dual functions as irreversible plumage pigments and as physiologically essential vitamins and antioxidants. They must be obtained through the diet and may therefore be a limiting resource, a constraint that is likely to vary with factors such as sex, habitat, and time of year. In the present study, we investigated signs of carotenoid limitation in great tits, Parus major, in relation to sex, season, year, and within an urban versus a rural habitat. The two main carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, were analysed by highperformance liquid chromatography in the plasma and in the yellow carotenoid-based breast feathers. We found that plasma carotenoid concentrations were significantly influenced by sex, season, and year, but not by urban versus rural habitat. At moult, plasma concentration was positively correlated with feather pigmentation, independent of body condition and sex. During the breeding season, however, circulating carotenoid concentrations were negatively related to the feather pigmentation (i.e. from previous autumn moult). We suggest that great tits are carotenoid deprived before leaf emergence, and that carotenoid utilization and limitations are sex-specific, but that there are neither any obvious honesty-maintaining costs of pigmentation, nor any fitness consequences of the colour variation.

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Green infrastructure (GI) is increasingly used in policymaking to promote biodiversity and enhance ecosystem services through the protection, creation, restoration and connection of natural and man‐made green areas. The EU Commission adopted in 2013, the concept as a strategy. When member states apply the policy, it is translated into specific bureaucratic and political systems, creating different ‘policy assemblages’ of ideas and institutional features. We analyse the Swedish GI policy to draw conclusions about how it has been assembled in one particular member state and what that particular assemblage will imply for biodiversity conservation. In combination with understanding policies as assemblages, we use the ‘What's the problem represented to be’‐approach as method. We show that the Swedish GI policy assemblage consists of a mix of policy ideas developed in Sweden and the EU. Despite the current strong focus on biodiversity conservation, the notion of land's multifunctionality, characterizing the EU strategy and the possibility to conserve biodiversity on land used for purposes other than conservation increasingly influence the Swedish policy as it is formed. Although the policy has the potential to mainstream biodiversity conservation measures across different sectors, based on our analysis of current discourse, its implementation will likely promote GI measures less disruptive to existing land use activities, making its capacity to halt biodiversity loss marginal. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.