Why do Some Species Thrive in Cities?

Urban development can be tough on wildlife. But some plants and animals are adapting to our cities in surprising ways. Thanks to squarespace.com for supporting this video. Go build a website! http://www.squarespace.com/minuteearth (use your 10% discount code: EARTH) Please support MinuteEarth on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/minuteearth And subscribe! - http://www.youtube.com/user/minuteearth?sub_confirmation=1 Thanks to our Patreon patrons: - Emil Kampp - @TodayIFoundOut1 - @AntoineCoeur ________________________ Created by Henry Reich Production and Writing Team: Alex Reich, Peter Reich, Emily Elert, Ever Salazar, Kate Yoshida, and Henry Reich Music by Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder ________________________ Free iTunes podcasts of MinuteEarth! - https://goo.gl/sfwS6n Facebook - http://facebook.com/minuteearth Twitter - http://twitter.com/MinuteEarth MinuteEarth provides an energetic and entertaining view of trends in earth’s environment – in just a few minutes! ________________________ References: Cheptou, P., Carrue, O., Rouifed, S., and Cantarel, A. (2008) Rapid evolution of seed dispersal in an urban environment in the weed Crepis sancta. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109: 3796–9. http://www.pnas.org/content/105/10/3796 DeCandido, R., Muir, A.A., & Gargiullo, M.B. (2004) A first approximation of the historical and extant vascular flora of New York City: implications for native plant species conservation. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 131:243–251. http://birdingbob.com/NYC.Flora.Final.Paper.pdf Donihue, C.M., and Lambert, M.R. 2014. Adaptive evolution in urban ecosystems, AMBIO 44(3): 194-203. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13280-014-0547-2 Fattorini, S. (2011) Insect extinction by urbanization: a long term study in Rome. Biological Conservation 144:370–375.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320710003952 Harris, S.E., Munshi-South, J., Obergfell, C., & O’Neill, R. (2013) Signatures of rapid evolution in urban and rural transcriptomes of white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) in the New York metropolitan area. PLoS One 8(8):e74938. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0074938 Tait, C.J., Daniels, C.B. & Hill, R.S. (2005). Changes in species assemblages within the Adelaide metropolitan area, Australia, 1836–2002. Ecology 15: 346-359. http://www.planta.cn/forum/files_planta/changes_in_species_assemblages_within_the_adelaide_metropolitan_area_australia_1836c2002_796.pdf. Wirgin, I., Roy, N.K., Loftus, M., Chambers, R.C., Franks, D.G. & Hahn, M.E., (2011) Mechanistic Basis of Resistance to PCBs in Atlantic Tomcod from the Hudson River, Science 331(6022): 1322-1325. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/331/6022/1322 White Footed Mouse photo by Melinda Fawver / Courtesy Shutterstock