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Content with tag urban environments .

Gulls can disperse seeds from native and alien plants between urban urban green areas

A study leaded by researchers from the Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC) and the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) estimated the seeds dispersed and beyond Barcelona based on the movement of gulls monitored by GPS telemetry and seeds detected in their diet.
Modelling shows that around 30% of the seeds (including native plants but also alien species) were dispersed by gulls within green urban areas, concentrated in two main hotspots (Ciutadella Park and Montjuic), with important...

Urban blackbirds have shorter telomeres

Urbanization, one of the most extreme human-induced environmental changes, represents a major challenge for many organisms. Anthropogenic habitats can have opposing effects on different fitness components, for example, by decreasing starvation risk but also health status. Telomere length is a promising candidate for examining the effects of urbanization on the health status of individuals. Here, telomere length difference between urban and forest-dwelling common blackbirds is investigated.

Role of phenology in favoring or limiting biological invasions

Climate similarity favors biological invasion, but a match between seasonality in the novel range and the timing of life cycle events of the invader also influences the outcome of species introduction. Yet, phenology effects on invasion success have generally been neglected. Whether a phenological mismatch limits the non-native range of a globally successful invader, the Ring-necked parakeet, in Europe, was studied.