Urban wildlife research: Past, present, and future
Publication Type: |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication: |
2012 |
Authors: |
Seth B. Magle, Victoria M. Hunt, Marian Vernon, Kevin R. Crooks |
Publication/Journal: |
Biological Conservation |
Keywords: |
geographic, literature review, publication, temporal trends, urban, wildlife |
ISBN: |
00063207 |
Abstract:
Despite expanding urban areas and increased awareness of urbanization impacts on wildlife, trends in urbanwildlife studies have not been evaluated systematically. We performed a thorough assessment of such research, evaluating urbanwildlife publications from 16 leading journals in animal behavior, conservation, ecology, general science, landscape ecology, and wildlife biology from 1971 to 2010. Using a systematic review process, we quantified trends in urbanwildlife research over time and in different scientific fields, and also assessed author affiliations, geographic and taxonomic focus, research topics, and study site types. In general, rates of publication for urbanwildlife research have been increasing, although still remain low (<2% of publication volume) considering urban growth and its impacts on biodiversity are accelerating globally. Landscape ecology and wildlife biology journals, followed by conservation journals, published the highest percentage of urbanwildlife publications, whereas such studies were rare in animal behavior, ecology, and general science journals. Academics were first-authors on ca. 75% of urbanwildlife publications, whereas research directed by government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private industry were less common, with little evidence of temporal shifts in these patterns. The majority of urban research studied birds or mammals, and nearly all was conducted in North America, Europe, or Australia, as expected given expansive urban development and associated research focus. Animal behavior was the most common scientific topic in urbanwildlife research, followed by conservation, landscape ecology, wildlife management, and population ecology. While suburban and exurban development have been recently identified as an important issue, we found no evidence that research in these study systems has increased. Author affiliation, geographic location, taxonomic focus, and research topics of urbanwildlife studies were generally similar to those conducted in non-urban systems, although avian studies were more common, and African and community ecology studies less common, in urban compared to non-urban areas. We suggest that the most critical gaps for urbanwildlife researchers are in rapidly urbanizing areas in South America, Africa, and Asia, and on understudied taxa such as herpetiles, fish, and arthropods. Research conducted on multiple taxa and across continents is also rare, but will be necessary for global understanding of ecological dynamics of urban systems.