Organized Oral Session
Alessandro Filazzola
University of Toronto, Canada
J. Scott MacIvor
Assistant Professor
Biological Sciences, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto
J. Scott MacIvor
Assistant Professor
Biological Sciences, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto
Home to over 65% of the world’s population and increasing, cities are the fastest growing environments worldwide. Urban ecosystems have a unique relationship with climate relative to rural areas including warmer temperatures, controlled precipitation flow (i.e., stormwater), and high climate heterogeneity. These unique climate conditions - in conjunction with a human-dominated landscape - strongly affects biodiversity patterns in cities. Some ecological and evolutionary processes have adapted to urban ecosystems, but with anthropogenically-caused climate change, ‘A Change is Gonna Come’, threatening many of the resident urban species we appreciate, interact with, and have grown accustomed to. However, research on the biology of urban ecosystems, particularly in response to climate change, has been relatively limited. Clearly, there is a need to highlight leading research on urban ecosystems in a changing climate in an effort to identify knowledge gaps. The goal of this organized oral session is to present leading research on multiple aspects and perspectives of urban ecosystems in response to climate. The research shared in this session offers some of the first insights into how the biology of the world’s most inhabited ecosystem is expected to change in the coming decades. Cities are heavily reliant on urban species for the delivery of ecosystem services, such as pest management, stormwater retention, mitigation of the urban heat island effect, and supporting physical, psychological, and mental well-being. Thus, the presented research will have broader benefits for society by exploring how the human-nature interface will be changing for cities and the implications for human residents. We believe this session will have a wide appeal to the membership of both ESA and CSEE describing research at the intersection of ecology, human-wildlife interactions, conservation, and climate science, to those that attend the session.
Presenting Author: Alessandro Filazzola – University of Toronto
Co-author: Marc TJ Johnson – University of Toronto Mississauga
Co-author: Kimberly barrett – Conservation Halton
Co-author: Sue Hayes – Toronto and region Conservation authority
Co-author: Namrata Shrestha, PhD – Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, 5 Shoreham Drive, Toronto, Ontario, M3N 1S4, Canada
Co-author: Laura Timms – Credit Valley Conservation
Co-author: J. Scott MacIvor – Biological Sciences, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto
Presenting Author: Alexandra Wright – Cal State LA
Co-author: John English – University of Toronto- Scarborough
Presenting Author: Emily Meineke – University of California - Davis, CA
Co-author: Richard K. Karban – University of California Davis
Co-author: David S. Eng – Department Of Entomology And Nematology, UC Davis
Presenting Author: Françoise Cardou – University of Toronto Scarborough
Co-author: Namrata Shrestha, PhD – Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, 5 Shoreham Drive, Toronto, Ontario, M3N 1S4, Canada
Co-author: Marc William Cadotte, PhD – University Of Toronto
Presenting Author: David Murray-Stoker – University of Toronto Mississauga
Co-author: David Murray-Stoker – University of Toronto Mississauga
Co-author: James Santangelo – University of Toronto
Co-author: Marc TJ Johnson – University of Toronto Mississauga
Co-author: Marta Szulkin – University of Warsaw
Presenting Author: Carly D. Ziter, PhD – Concordia University
Co-author: Carly D. Ziter, PhD – Concordia University
Co-author: Kayleigh Hutt-Taylor, MSc – Concordia University