Urban evolutionary ecology: new perspectives on (mal)adaptation in a rapidly changing world

22 November 2022

Plenary session, Plenary Session

• P1 • 09:00 > 09:45 • Urban evolutionary ecology: new perspectives on (mal)adaptation in a rapidly changing world • Auditorium
There is a rising tide of interest in urban environments: with the world’s human population still growing and UN habitat predictions forecasting that by 2050, 7 people out of 10 will be living in urban areas, the urban space is of intrinsic focal interest to humans worldwide, biologists included. With its conspicuously altered ecological dynamics, the urban environment stands in stark contrast to the natural environment that has been used as research ground for virtually all long-term studies of vertebrates investigated in the wild and used as cornerstones in evolutionary ecology research.
In this talk, Dr Charmantier will present a nascent, yet fast-growing field of research: Urban Evolutionary Ecology. She will present a diversity of studies in a large range of taxa, including work of her group on forest and urban great tits. She will argue that the city offers unique opportunities to study fundamental eco-evolutionary processes and will show how this work can provide novel insight for urban conservation planning.

• INT1 • > A. Anne CHARMANTIER