Impact of Urbanization on Birds

Abstract

Urban habitats and landscapes are markedly different from nonurban "natural" habitats. The major difference is the transformation of the land, from natural green areas to anthropogenic structures and impervious surfaces. To survive in the urban habitat, birds are forced to either accept or avoid the new conditions. In addition, the urban sprawl has led to a highly fragmented landscape, with islets of suitable bird habitat surrounded by highways and buildings that frequently act as barriers, even for mobile creatures such as birds. These altered conditions have changed the avifauna dramatically, with many species vanishing once an area is urbanized, thus resulting in a significant loss of local biodiversity. However, some species seem to thrive in the city, and these urban-dwelling species often show pronounced phenotypic differences (e.g., in behavior, physiology, and morphology) to their rural conspecifics. These phenotypic changes have been linked to specific urban selective drivers such as air pollution, artificial light at night, noise, different kinds of food, different predation pressures, and human disturbances. However, these drivers are often confounded, and it is hard to separate one urban factor as the main driver for the differentiation. Although the urban habitat is a large threat to biodiversity, it is also an exciting environment for studies of population divergence, evolutionary responses, and ultimately speciation in real time.

Rapid behavioural response of urban birds to COVID-19 lockdown

“…During the last century, urbanization has experienced exponential growth across the world and it is expected to continue as more people will move from rural to urban areas [1–4]. As a result, urbanization has become one of the most important drivers of global change and a major threat to biodiversity [2,4,6,7]. Novel, human created environments, such as urban areas, represent a formidable challenge for organisms because the magnitude and peace of the environmental alterations imposed by humans usually exceed their limits of tolerance leading to populations shrinkage and extinction [6,8].…”

“…As a result, urbanization has become one of the most important drivers of global change and a major threat to biodiversity [2,4,6,7]. Novel, human created environments, such as urban areas, represent a formidable challenge for organisms because the magnitude and peace of the environmental alterations imposed by humans usually exceed their limits of tolerance leading to populations shrinkage and extinction [6,8]. Urban challenges include combating chemical [3], acoustic [9,10] and light pollution [11, 12], human disturbance [6,13], new pathogens [14,15] and predators [16,17], and human infrastructures [16,18].…”

“…Novel, human created environments, such as urban areas, represent a formidable challenge for organisms because the magnitude and peace of the environmental alterations imposed by humans usually exceed their limits of tolerance leading to populations shrinkage and extinction [6,8]. Urban challenges include combating chemical [3], acoustic [9,10] and light pollution [11, 12], human disturbance [6,13], new pathogens [14,15] and predators [16,17], and human infrastructures [16,18]. However, some species are able to overcome these challenges and thrive in urban environments [4,8,13].…”

Análisis de la Diversidad de la Avifauna en Tres Parques Urbanos de Guayaquil

“…13, marzo 2020, pp. 25-40, ISSN: 1390-6399 • ISSN-e: 2602 estrés oxidativo en aves, esto es debido por compuestos químicos presentes en ambientes urbanos tales como el hollín y NOx, causando daño a las moléculas como proteínas, lípidos y ADN, conduciendo a la muerte prematura de las aves y por último, la variable antrópica más importante es la presencia humana en los parques urbanos, produce estrés a las aves durante la etapa reproductiva y alteran su dieta nutricional debido que los transeúntes brindan alimentos altos en grasas y azúcares (Isaksson, 2018).…”

Annual dynamics of bird communities in urban parks in Lviv, Ukraine: preliminary analysis of diversity and composition variability

“…The consequences of urbanization processes on wildlife are known widely: economic growth in human society could be one of the reasons of species endangerment [11], habitat loss and fragmentation are thought to be the main reasons of biodiversity declining and populations extinction [7,13]. In those conditions species have two possible options -to avoid urban habitats or to accept new conditions [16]. Accepting new conditions, or synurbization sensu M. Luniak [4,25], provides the species with some benefits such as a milder microclimate, food, places to hide etc.…”