Avian urban ecology : behavioural and physiological adaptations / edited by Diego Gil and Henrik Brumm.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

As natural habitat continues to be lost and the world steadily becomes more urbanized, biologists are increasingly studying the effect this has on wildlife. Birds are particularly good model systems since their life history, behaviour, and physiology are especially influenced by directly measurable environmental factors such as light and sound pollution. It is therefore relatively easy to compare urban individuals and populations with their rural counterparts. This accessible text focuses on the behavioural and physiological mechanisms which facilitate adaptation and on the evolutionary process that ensues. It discusses topics such as acoustics, reproductive cues, disease, and artificial feeding, and includes a series of case studies illustrating cutting edge research on these areas. Avian Urban Ecology is suitable for professional avian biologists and ornithologists as well as graduate students of avian ecology, evolution, and conservation. It will also be of relevance and use to a more general audience of urban ecologists and conservation biologists.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

The loss of natural habitat and its replacement with urban landscapes is an inevitable worldwide phenomenon. The response of avian communities to urbanization is interesting to researchers because the urban-rural gradient creates a convenient study system. These avian communities also provide a challenge for urban planners and conservation biologists because urban avian communities are characterized by low diversity and high density. This book illustrates that scientists are a long way from knowing how to modify urban planning to maximize diversity, but it provides a solid beginning. The text includes two case studies of interest to planners, one modeling the effects of acoustic pollution on communication of an endangered shorebird and another analyzing green spaces. As a whole, the work is a call to action because it highlights how little the scientific community understands about the mechanisms underlying relationships between reproductive physiology, fitness, and uniquely urban variables such as light pollution, stable feeding and nesting opportunities, and microclimate. Most important, each chapter contains solid ideas for future research. Valuable for students, researchers, and faculty in avian physiological ecology and evolution. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. --Memuna Z. Khan, Ripon College