Due to rapid homogenization in habitat types as a result of urbanization, some urban birds adapt their nesting strategies to changes in local habitat characteristics. Bird nesting decisions might have been mainly linked to resource constraints and ensuring reproductive success. In this study, we examined patterns of nesting behavior by spotted doves (Spilopelia chinensis) in a rapidly urbanizing area of Nanchang, China using ArcGIS 10.8, satellite tracking, camera traps, and field survey. To explore the mechanisms underlying nesting behavior in urban habitats, we assessed the correlations between nest reuse and reproductive success, and between nest reuse and nest predation. From December 2018 to December 2021, a total of 302 breeding nests were surveyed. The results revealed that the nest reuse rate was 38.08% (n = 115). Nests closer to trunk, with lower nest position and higher large-scale urbanization score tended to have higher reuse rate. In addition, nests with the higher the nest height and percent of canopy cover, and the lower small-scale urbanization score were more likely to reproduce successfully, and the reused nests also reproduce more successfully. The reproductive success associated with nest reuse was significantly higher than that associated with new nests (χ 2 = 8.461, p = .004). High degree of urbanization promoted nest reuse of spotted doves (large-scale urbanization score, z = 2.094, p = .036), which apparently enhanced their reproductive success (nest reuse, z = 2.737, p = .006). In conclusion, a nest structure with good permeability is the material basis for the nest reuse in spotted dove, while the relatively low risk of predation in urban habitat and the scarcity of nest site resources due to urbanization increase the tendency of birds to reuse old nests, which is associated with their reproductive success and evolutionary fitness.

Urban trees have attracted increasing attention to serve as a green prescription for addressing various challenges facing human society like climate change and environmental deterioration. However, without healthy growth of urban trees, they cannot service any environmental, social, and economic benefits in a sustainable manner. By monitoring the canopy development, the tree growth dynamics in different urban habitats can be detected and appropriate management approaches can be executed. Using the Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong, as a case, this study explores how remote sensing data can help monitor and understand the impacts of heterogeneous urban habitats on tree canopy dynamics. Four algorithms based on WorldView-2 satellite image are compared to optimize the canopy segmentation. Then the individual tree canopy is integrated with Sentinel-2 satellite data to obtain canopy growth dynamics for each season from 2016 to 2020. Three indicators are applied to reflect tree canopy status, including the fluorescence correction vegetation index (FCVI, tracking leaf chlorophyll density), the soil adjusted total vegetation index (SATVI, measuring the density of woody branches and twigs), and the normalised difference phenology index (NDPI, capturing canopy water content). And four heterogeneous habitats where urban trees stand are specified. The results revealed that urban trees show varying canopy growth status, in a descending order from natural terrains, parks, residential lands, to road verges, suggesting that urban habitats curtail trees\' growth significantly. Additionally, two super-typhoons in 2017 and 2018, respectively, caused serious damages to tree canopy. Relevant resiliency of tree varies, echoing the sequence of canopy growth status with those in road verges the least resilient. This study shows how remote sensing data can be used to provide a better understanding of long-term tree canopy dynamics across large-scale heterogeneous urban habitats, which is key to monitoring and maintaining the health and growth of urban trees.

Historic centres provide their inhabitants with identity and well-being. Although studies focus on the conservation of the built environment, in recent years the environmental component of historic centres has also been analysed. Issues such as ecosystem services and biodiversity have become more pressing due to rapid population growth, development and the climate crisis. Green spaces in historic centres often conserve biodiversity, as they tend to be protected spaces. This article presents two case studies in Castellón de la Plana (Spain) with the aim of analysing the relationship between the built environment and avian biodiversity. The study uses a four-phase process. The first phase incorporates a review of recent literature to select biodiversity indicators, while the second focuses on open data analysis and incorporation into GIS software. The third phase consists of field data collection and the mapping of biodiversity indicators. Finally, phase four involves the preparation of thematic maps, which allows us to visualize behavioural patterns connecting bird colonies with the morphology of the built environment in order to draw relevant conclusions that can help improve biodiversity. The analysis allowed the calculation of eight indicators and the identification of building typologies, the percentage of green areas and the inspection of features promoting avian biodiversity. In total, 31 bird species were detected, 27 in the historic centre of Castellón and 26 in the historic centre of the Grao district. Among them, the mapping distribution of three endangered species demonstrates their dependence on these historic built habitats. Apus apus, Passer domesticus and Delichon urbicum are present in 97, 82 and 56% of grids, respectively, with ANOVA correlation confirming these species densities found. The study is somewhat limited in the use of the line transect method due to the potential structural biases intrinsic to the unique nature of the districts assessed.

Lizards are hosts of several taxa of unicellular parasites of the phylum Apicomplexa, including Karyolysus, Schellackia, Lankesterella, and Hepatozoon. Parasite prevalence and the impact of infections on lizard biology remain largely unexplored. In this study, blood parasite infections were investigated in sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) from Berlin, Germany. Eighty-three individuals were investigated, and the detected blood parasites were identified as Schellackia sp. The combination of microscopic and molecular screening revealed a prevalence of 14.5%. Parasitemia values were low and most infections were subpatent. Phylogenetic analysis recovered a close relationship of the Schellackia parasites of this study with Schellackia sp. parasites of different Lacerta and Podarcis lizard species from Spain. Monitoring of Schellackia parasite infections in free-ranging lizards contributes to a better understanding of the distribution, diversity, and phylogenetic relationships of the neglected parasite taxon.

Sarcoptic mange epidemics erupted in two of the remaining populations of endangered San Joaquin kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis mutica). Both populations are in urban habitats in the cities of Bakersfield and Taft, California, USA. The risk of disease spread from the two urban populations to nearby nonurban populations, and then throughout the species range, is of considerable conservation concern. To date, mange has not been detected in any nonurban populations despite considerable surveillance effort. The reasons for the lack of detections of mange among nonurban foxes are unknown. We monitored urban kit fox movements using geographic positioning system (GPS) collars to test the hypothesis that urban foxes were not venturing into nonurban habitats. Of 24 foxes monitored December 2018 to November 2019, 19 (79%) made excursions from urban into nonurban habitats from 1-124 times. The mean number of excursions per 30 d was 5.5 (range 0.1-13.9 d). The mean proportion of locations in nonurban habitats was 29.0% (range 0.6-99.7%). The mean maximum distance that foxes traveled into nonurban areas from the urban-nonurban interface was 1.1 km (range 0.1-2.9 km). Mean number of excursions, proportion of nonurban locations, and maximum distance into nonurban habitats were similar between Bakersfield and Taft, females and males, and adults and juveniles. At least eight foxes apparently used dens in nonurban habitats; shared use of dens may be an important mode of mange mite transmission between conspecifics. Two of the collared foxes died of mange during the study and two others had mange when captured at the end of the study. Three of these four foxes had made excursions into nonurban habitats. These results confirm a significant potential for mange to spread from urban to nonurban kit fox populations. We recommend continued surveillance in nonurban populations and continued treatment efforts in the affected urban populations.

Advancements in tracking technologies provide an increasingly important tool in animal monitoring and conservation that can describe animal spatial behavior in native habitats and uncover migratory routes that otherwise may be difficult or impossible to map. In addition, high-resolution accelerometer sensors provide powerful insights into animal activity patterns and can help to identify specific behaviors from accelerometer profiles alone. Previously, such accelerometers were restricted to larger animals due to size and mass constraints. However, recent advances make it possible to use such devices on smaller animals such as the European green toad (Bufotes viridis), the focus of our current study. We deploy custom made tracking devices, that consist of very-high-frequency transmitters and tri-axial accelerometers, to track toads in their native urban environment in Vienna (Austria). A total of nine toads were tracked, ranging from three to nine tracking days per individual during the post-breeding season period. We demonstrate that our devices could reliably monitor toad movement and activity during the observation period. Hence, we confirmed the predominantly nocturnal activity patterns and recorded low overall movement at this urban site. Accelerometer data revealed that toads exhibited brief but intense activity bursts between 10 pm and midnight, resting periods during the night and intermittent activity during the day. Positional tracking alone would have missed the major activity events as they rarely resulted in large positional displacements. This underscores the importance of and value in integrating multiple tracking sensors for studies of movement ecology. Our approach could be adapted for other amphibians or other animals with mass constraints and may become standard monitoring equipment in the near future.

The Covid-19 lockdown reduced drastically human presence outdoors, providing an uncontrolled experiment for disentangling direct and indirect effects of human presence on animal fearfulness. We measured 18,494 flight initiation distances (FIDs, the distance at which individual animals fly away when approached by a human) from 1333 populations of 202 bird species taken in four European cities both before, during and after the lockdown. FIDs decreased during lockdown in rural habitats but increased in urban habitats, especially for singing birds. Height above ground increases during lockdown in non-singing birds only, and birds adjusted horizontal tolerance to approach according to height outside lockdown, in rural habitats and while not singing. Responses showed lagged effects after lockdown in urban but not in rural habitats. Differential responses to lockdown among habitats and between signing and non-singing birds were consistent with relaxation of direct disturbance effects on birds in rural habitats during lockdown, as well as with increased indirect fear effects mediated by predator release in cities. FIDs seemed to measure the balance of direct and indirect effects of humans on predations risk and food needs rather than direct effects of humans on fear.

Exposure to mosquito-borne diseases is influenced by landscape patterns and microclimates associated with land cover. These influences can be particularly strong in heterogeneous urban landscapes where human populations are concentrated. We investigated how land cover and climate influenced abundances of Ae. albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae) and Cx. quinquefasciatus (Say) (Diptera: Culicidae) in Norman, Oklahoma (United States). From June-October 2019 and May-October 2020 we sampled mosquitoes along an urban-rural gradient using CO2 baited BG Sentinel traps. Microclimate sensors at these sites measured temperature and humidity. We mapped environmental variables using satellite images from Landsat, Sentinel-2, and VIIRS, and the CHIRPS rainfall dataset. We also obtained meteorological data from the closest weather station. We compared statistical models of mosquito abundance based on microclimate, satellite, weather station, and land cover data. Mosquitoes were more abundant on trap days with higher temperature and relative humidity. Rainfall 2 wk prior to the trap day negatively affected mosquito abundances. Impervious surface cover was positively associated with Cx. quinquefasciatus and tree cover was negatively associated with Ae. albopictus. Among the data sources, models based on satellite variables and land cover data had the best fits for Ae. albopictus (R2 = 0.7) and Cx. quinquefasciatus (R2 = 0.51). Models based on weather station or microclimate data had weaker fits (R2 between 0.09 and 0.17) but were improved by adding land cover variables (R2 between 0.44 and 0.61). These results demonstrate the potential for using satellite remote sensing for mosquito habitat analyses in urban areas.

By constructing the two evaluation systems of urban tourism development (TD) and habitat environment (HE), the dynamic response relationship between the two systems in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration from 2001 to 2020 is explored by using panel vector autoregression (PVAR) model and coupled coordination degree model. The study unearthed four intriguing findings: (1) the level of TD in the study area has been continuously rising from 2001 to 2020, with an initial slow growth rate and then fast. The level of HE is increasing steadily at an average annual rate of 7.05%. There exists a reciprocal response relationship between the two systems, with a strong shock effect in the short term and a synergistic evolution in the long term. (2) The coupling degree between the urban TD and HE has an increasing trend, and the coupling coordination degree of the two systems has an average annual rate of 4.165%, implying the interaction and promotion effect between the two systems is improving. (3) Most of the cities in the Yangtze River Delta gradually realize the evolution from dysfunctional type to coordinated type, but the overall coordination intensity is low. (4) The barrier degrees of TD system indicators show a small annual increasing trend, while the barrier degrees of HE system indicators show a substantial and continuous decreasing trend. In terms of the barrier degree factors, some important factors that restrict the coupled and coordinated development of the two systems are also reported. This research can provide a useful reference for the synergistic improvement of urban tourism economy and habitat environment.

Increasingly, the human existence in urban environments is growing. In addition, anthropogenic activity has altered the global carbon (C) cycle and triggered climate change. Soil is the largest pool of organic C in terrestrial ecosystems, but its ability to retain and store C varies. As humans move forward to mitigate climate change, there is a growing need to understand the C storing capacity of soils and their interactions with factors like climate, vegetation or a footprint of human activity. Here, we constructed a meta-analysis which focused on 30 cm soil depth by collecting data from over 191 studies measuring soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks across natural, urban green space, and urban intensive habitats. We then compared the SOC data between different climatic zones, vegetation types, and anthropogenic influences with the human footprint index. The results indicate that SOC stocks in natural habitats (98.22 ± 49.10 Mg ha-1) are significantly higher than those of urban green spaces (54.61 ± 22.02 Mg ha-1) and urban intensive habitats (65.88 ± 35.27 Mg ha-1). We find a significant and negative relationship between the human footprint and SOC stocks of natural habitats but not between the human footprint and either of the urban habitats. Urban intensive and urban green space habitat soils store less C than natural ones. However, when compared across climatic zones or vegetation types, the capacity of natural soils to store C is variable and vulnerable to human activity. Carbon storage in urban soils is likely limited by persistent and stable anthropogenic influences keeping variability low. This is most pronounced in urban green spaces where human management is high (i.e. a golf course) and SOC is low. A comprehensive understanding of C storage in soils is essential to land management and climate mitigation measures.