Jesko Partecke Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Andechs/Seewiesen, D Title Urbanization and its ecological and evolutionary consequences for wildlife Abstract Humans are dramatically altering environmental conditions throughout the world. One of the most striking man-made environmental changes is the existence and rapidly ongoing spread of urban areas. Besides the fact that urbanization results in a loss of species diversity, many native and non-native species have successfully colonized urban areas. Species that have settled in urban areas may benefit, on the one hand, from the warmer microclimate and from additional anthropogenic food supply in cities. However, they are also confronted with many novel and potentially stressful anthropogenic perturbations. Whereas ecological effects of human-induced habitat alteration are receiving increasing attention, less is known about the evolutionary force of urban settings. We use the partially migratory European blackbird as a model species to investigate the ecological and evolutionary consequences of urban life. Urban populations of this species responded to the environmental conditions of urban ecosystems and have become significantly different from the original forest populations in several aspects: urban blackbird populations have, for instance, a higher breeding density, an extended daily activity pattern, a higher incidence of albinism, a lower migratory tendency, an extended breeding season and are tamer than their rural conspecifics. In this talk I will focus on phenotypic responses in migratory behaviour, timing of reproduction and stress physiology following the colonization of urban areas and will elucidate whether these changes are the result of micro-evolutionary responses to different selection pressures that urban individuals experience or whether they are the result of phenotypic plasticity of individuals exposed to the different environmental conditions. CV 2003: PhD, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Andechs/Erling, Germany, PhD thesis title: Annual cycles of urban and forest-living European Blackbirds (Turdus merula): Genetic differences or phenotypic plasticity? Advisors: Dr. Eberhard Gwinner, Dr. Dr. h.c. Gerhard Neuweiler 1997: Diploma, Biology (M. Sc.), Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and Max Planck Institute for Behavioural Physiology, Seewiesen, Germany Thesis title: Territory establishment in lekking marine iguanas, Amblyrhynchus cristatus: support for the hotshot mechanism. Advisors: Dr. Martin Wikelski, Dr. Wolfgang Wickler Professional experience 2006-present: Research scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology Seewiesen, Germany 2004-2006: Postdoctoral research fellow at Washington State University, School of Biological Sciences, Pullman, WA, USA 2003: Postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Andechs/Erling, Germany Research interests Evolutionary and Ecological Physiology of Vertebrates Selected recent publications Partecke, J., T. Van't Hof, and E. Gwinner. 2004. Differences in the timing of reproduction between urban and forest European blackbirds (Turdus merula): result of phenotypic flexibility or genetic differences? Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences Series B 271:1995-2001 Partecke, J., T. Van't Hof, and E. Gwinner. 2005. Underlying physiological control of reproduction in urban and forest-dwelling European blackbirds Turdus merula. Journal of Avian Biology 36:295-305 Partecke, J., I. Schwabl, and E. Gwinner. 2006. Stress and the city: Urbanization and its effects on the stress physiology in European blackbirds. Ecology 87:1945-1952 Partecke, J., E. Gwinner, and S. Bensch. 2006. Is urbanisation of European blackbirds (Turdus merula) associated with genetic differentiation? Journal of Ornithology 147: 549-552 Partecke, J. and E. Gwinner. 2007. Increased sedentariness in European blackbirds following urbanization: A consequence of local adaptation? Ecology, in press. Institution address Jesko Partecke Max Planck Institute for Ornithology Von-der-Tannstr. 7 D-82346 Andechs/Erling Phone: +49-8152-373-130, Fax: +49-8152-373-133 partecke@orn.mpg.de