Brains and the city: Big-brained passerine birds succeed in urban environments
Por:
Maklakova A.A., Immler S., Gonzalez-Voyer A., Rönn J., Kolm N.
Publicada:
1 ene 2011
Categoría:
Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
Resumen:
Urban regions are among the most humanaltered environments on Earth and they are poised for rapid expansion following population growth and migration. Identifying the biological traits that determine which species are likely to succeed in urbanized habitats is important for predicting global trends in biodiversity. We provide the first evidence for the intuitive yet untested hypothesis that relative brain size is a key factor predisposing animals to successful establishment in cities. We apply phylogenetic mixed modelling in a Bayesian framework to show that passerine species that succeed in colonizing at least one of 12 European cities are more likely to belong to big-brained lineages than species avoiding these urban areas. These data support findings linking relative brain size with the ability to persist in novel and changing environments in vertebrate populations, and have important implications for our understanding of recent trends in biodiversity. © 2011 The Royal Society.
Filiaciones:
Maklakova A.A.:
Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Norbyvägen 18d, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
Immler S.:
Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Norbyvägen 18d, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
Gonzalez-Voyer A.:
Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Norbyvägen 18d, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
Integrative Ecology Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana, (EBD-CSIC), Av Américo Vespucio S/N, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
Rönn J.:
Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Norbyvägen 18d, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
Kolm N.:
Animal Ecology, Department of Ecology and Genetics, Norbyvägen 18d, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
Bronze
|