Caspi Tal, Johnson Jacob R, Lambert Max R, Schell Christopher J, Sih Andrew
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
Trends Ecol Evol. 2022 Dec;37(12):1092-1103. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2022.08.002. Epub 2022 Sep 1.
Plasticity-led evolution is central to evolutionary theory. Although challenging to study in nature, this process may be particularly apparent in novel environments such as cities. We document abundant evidence of plastic behavioral changes in urban animals, including learning, contextual, developmental, and transgenerational plasticities. Using behavioral drive as a conceptual framework, our analysis of notable case studies suggests that plastic behaviors, such as altered habitat use, migration, diurnal and seasonal activity, and courtship, can have faciliatory and cascading effects on urban evolution via spatial, temporal, and mate-choice mechanisms. Our findings highlight (i) the need to incorporate behavioral plasticity more formally into urban evolutionary research and (ii) the opportunity provided by urban environments to study behavioral mechanisms of plasticity-led processes.
可塑性驱动的进化是进化理论的核心。尽管在自然环境中研究这一过程具有挑战性，但在城市等新环境中，这一过程可能尤为明显。我们记录了城市动物中丰富的行为可塑性变化证据，包括学习可塑性、情境可塑性、发育可塑性和跨代可塑性。以行为驱动为概念框架，我们对显著案例研究的分析表明，诸如栖息地利用改变、迁徙、昼夜和季节性活动以及求偶等可塑性行为，可通过空间、时间和配偶选择机制对城市进化产生促进和级联效应。我们的研究结果强调了（i）将行为可塑性更正式地纳入城市进化研究的必要性，以及（ii）城市环境为研究可塑性驱动过程的行为机制提供的机遇。
