A review of Szulkin, M., J. Munshi-South, and A. Charmantier, eds. ۲۰۲۰. Urban Evolutionary Biology. Oxford University Press, Oxford, ۳۰۳ pp. ISBN ۹۷۸-۰-۱۹-۸۸۳۶۸۵-۸

In this Anthropocene epoch, where every single ecosystem on Earth is heavily shaped, both in space and time, by human deeds, natural landscapes are being rapidly replaced by urbanization. Henceforth, a new urban biome has arisen displaying certain unique properties, making cities around the globe a perfect place to investigate “natural” processes like ecology, evolution, adaptation, and biodiversity, away from their more natural forested counterparts. Interestingly, despite conurbations, or extended urban habitats, being thought of as adversaries of Mother Nature, organisms in urban environments are learning to adapt and survive, making them novel sources for evolutionary variation. Regrettably, despite advancements in methods to answer questions in ecology and evolutionary biology, there is a lack of knowledge about how urbanization influences evolution and its processes in an urban milieu. There is a dire need to understand issues such as the operational repercussions of urbanization, and the roles of evolutionary transformation in urban community dynamics.

کلیدواژه ها:

Adaptations ، Citizen Science ، industrialization ، micro-evolution ، modifications ، parallel evolution ، urban-ecology ، urbanization