Urban Ecology and Evolution

optional courses

Classroom and field classes

Urban Ecology & Evolution is a fast-growing field of research. It stands at an interdisciplinary crossroads, and enriches evolutionary biology, ecology and conservation with fascinating and little explored research topics occurring in the city. In my lectures, I will introduce students to the main framework of this subject, and use diverse taxonomical examples and analytical methods.

In the practical sessions complementing the lecture series “Urban Ecology & Evolution”, I will combine short lectures on specific aspects of the urban environment, with field outings and laboratory work. When in the lab, we will quantitatively assess and synthesise key dimensions of the urban environment – such as noise, temperature, food and waste variation in the environment. Finally, I will focus on the fundaments of research project design in the urban environment, which will result in a student presentations and feedback session.

LECTURES

Fundaments of Urban Ecology

• How are cities different relative to natural habitat?

• Urban ecology

• Historical background

• Biophysical Environment of cities

• Urban Metabolism

Urban Ecology & Evolution

• Key concepts in eco-evo research

• Urban avoiders, adapters, exploiters

• Urban physiology

Urban Evolutionary Biology

• Phenotypic plasticity

• Genetic change

• 4 forces of evolution in an urban context

• Epigenetic modifications

• Observational vs experimental approaches

• Challenges and Misconceptions in Urban Adaptation research

The Human Niche

• Green Infrastructure

• Socio-eco-evo interactions

• Human Evolution

The Warsaw Study System: Urban Eco-Evo in Practice

• Growth, survival & reproduction in a gradient of urbanisation

• The gut microbiome in a gradient of urbanisation

• Life in thrash

• Life in the city under climate change

PRACTICALS

Urban Light at Night

• Short lecture on urban artificial light at night (ALAN)

• Data visualisation & synthesis in Excel / R

Urban Noise

• Short lecture on urban noise

• Sampling of noise heterogeneity in the field

• Data visualisation & synthesis in Excel / R

The urban heat island

• Short lectures on urban heat island & mitigation

• Termochrone setup, termochrone dispatch in heterogeneous urban areas

• Data visualisation & synthesis in Excel / R

Urban trophic systems

• Short lecture on urban trophic systems

• Lab work on caterpillar frass

• Data visualisation in Excel / R

Plastic pollution

• Short lecture on plastic pollution

• Lab dissection of avian nests & quantification of anthropogenic solid waste in avian nests

• Data visualisation in Excel /R

Urban Research Project Planning

• Literature search

• Designing your project

• Presenting your project

• Discussion & Feedback

Szulkin M, Munshi-South J & Charmantier A (Editors). 2020. Urban Evolutionary Biology. 303 pages. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

The Second Edition of the Routledge Handbook of Urban Ecology (2nd edition; Editors: Anderson P, Douglas I, Goode D, Houck M, Maddox D, Nagendra H, Yok TP). pp. 383-398. Routledge.

Longcore & Rich 2004. Ecological light pollution. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. DOI: 10.1890/1540-9295(2004)002[0191:ELP]2.0.CO;2

Błażejczyk et al. 2014. Miejska wyspa ciepła w Warszawie : uwarunkowania klimatyczne i urbanistyczne. https://rcin.org.pl/igipz/dlibra/publication/74963/edition/56055?language=en

Jagiełło Z, Corsini M, Dylewski Ł, Ibáñez-Álamo JD & Szulkin M. 2022. The extended avian urban phenotype impact of anthropogenic debris pollution on nest design and fitnes. Science of the Total Environment. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.09.009

KRK B1 – Level I

KNOWLEDGE

K1_W09: Understands natural phenomena and processes occurring at the individual, population and ecosystem levels

K1_W12: Knows the history of life on Earth and describes the mechanisms of evolution including their molecular basis

K1_W01. Identifies the tools of mathematics, physics and statistics necessary to understand the laws of nature and to describe life processes and gives examples of their application

K1_W016. Knows the basic techniques and tools used in biology and environmental field experiments and research

K1_W017. Knows the relevant statistical methods and computer techniques to describe phenomena and analyse data

SKILLS

K1_U03. Reads with understanding scientific and popular science biological texts in native language and English and communicates in English at B2 level.

K1_U10. Learns independently the issues indicated by the tutor

K1_U02. Uses basic methods and techniques used in fieldwork in the natural environment

K1_U04. Is able to analyse obtained results and discuss them based on available literature

SOCIAL ABILITIES

K1_K01. Expands interests within the natural sciences

K1_K08. Critically analyses information appearing in the mass media and in the professional litterature

K1_K03. Recognizes what is research ethics and reliability in conducting research and interpretation of obtained results for the functioning of society

KK07. Demonstrates the ability to work in a team and is open to new ideas

LEARNING OUTCOMES IN ENGLISH

K_U03 Bi2. Uses scientific and popular science biological texts in Polish and English and communicates in English at the B2+ level

K_U11 Bi2. Has the ability to prepare and deliver oral presentations in Polish and English at the B2+ level

KRK Bl – Level II

KNOWLEDGE

K2_W01. Understands the complexity of processes and phenomena in nature, the solution of which requires an interdisciplinary approach based on empirical data

K2_W18. Recognizes the dynamic development of natural sciences and the emergence of new research disciplines, and identifies the most significant trends in the development of biological sciences in the field of specialization studied by him/her

K2_W10. Knows a variety of techniques and research tools used in biological sciences and appropriately plans their use to solve the set tasks

K2_W13. Knows the principles of planning research and performing experiments using specialized methods applied in the studied specialty of biological sciences.

SKILLS

K2_U01. Selects and applies research techniques and tools adequate to the problems of the studied speciality of biological sciences

K2_U08. Is able to critically develop a selected biological problem on the basis of literature data and results of own research, formulating own opinions and conclusions

K2_U02. Uses specialised methods and techniques used in fieldwork in the natural environment

K_U03. Uses scientific and popular science biological texts proficiently in native language and English and communicates in English at B2+ level

K2_U11. Has the ability to prepare and deliver oral presentations in Polish and English in accordance with the requirements specified for level B2+

SOCIAL ABILITIES

K2_K01. Understands the need for lifelong learning, inspiring the development of this need in others

K2_K03. Is able to convey knowledge on the latest achievements of natural sciences to the society and explain the rationale of conducting basic scientific research

K2_K04. Is able to work in a team, realizing own research, co-organizing the work of the whole team

K2_K11. Show initiative and independence of action, can think and act in an entrepreneurial way

LEARNING OUTCOMES IN ENGLISH

K_U03 Bi2. Uses scientific and popular science biological texts in Polish and English and communicates in English at B2+ level

K_U11 Bi2. Has the ability to prepare and deliver oral presentations in Polish and English at B2+ level.

LECTURES

Course credit is based on a graded exam (multiple choice and open questions).

PRACTICALS

Criteria for passing consist of team-based and invidual contributions:

Team-based reports in:

• Urban light & noise (20%)

• Urban heat island (10%)

• Urban trophic systems (10%)

• Plastic pollution (10%)

Individual presentation in:

• Urban research project planning (50%)

LECTURES

To pass the written exam, students must achieve a minimum grade of 60%.

PRACTICALS

Evaluation is based on grading team-based reports (50% of the total score) and individual presentation (50% of the total score)