A global meta-analysis reveals higher variation in breeding phenology in urban birds than in their non-urban neighbours.

ABSTRACT: Cities pose a major ecological challenge for wildlife worldwide. Phenotypic variation, which can result from underlying genetic variation or plasticity, is an important metric to understand eco-evolutionary responses to environmental change. Recent work suggests that urban populations might have higher levels of phenotypic variation than non-urban counterparts. This prediction, however, has never been tested across species nor over a broad geographical range. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of the avian literature to compare urban versus non-urban means and variation in phenology (i.e. lay date) and reproductive effort (i.e. clutch size, number of fledglings). First, we show that urban populations reproduce earlier and have smaller broods than non-urban conspecifics. Second, we show tha

SUBMITTER: Capilla-Lasheras P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9826320 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature