The Resiliency of Urban Wildlife

New research from the University of Melbourne identifies four distinct sets of traits that help urban wildlife adapt and survive in environments that seem hostile to animals. Writing in Wired, Maria Paula Escobar-Tello describes the findings. “The researchers looked at four animal characteristics—diet, body size, mobility, and reproductive strategy—that can vary according to what a city has to offer and how flexible a species can be.”

The study, which compiled data from 379 global cities, found that animal species fell into different categories. Some, the “mobile generalists,” do keep their options for diet and resting places open and move around frequently as needed. Others, termed “central place foragers,” nest and sleep in the same place, but forage for food over a broad range.

Then there are the “site specialists,” the study adds. “Reptiles and amphibians adopt a different strategy again: Faced with scarcer food, higher vulnerability to predators, road accidents, and pollution, they respond to urbanization by specializing their diets, moving around smaller areas, and reducing the size of their clutches.”

Why is biodiversity important for cities at all? “Greater biodiversity provides knock-on benefits, what are known as ‘ecosystem services,’” the article explains. A greater diversity of species can maintain healthier ecosystems, from microorganisms that clean the soil to local wildlife that keep disease-spreading pests like mosquitoes in check. “If you look at the traits animals are adopting to survive in urban environments, you can see how cities could be modified to become more habitable to a wider variety of species.”