DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Evolutionary Responses of Plants to Urban Environments

Cities are among the most heavily altered of human environments. They are hotter, drier, and differ in in air quality than neighboring rural areas and thereby city-dwelling organisms experience environments distinctly different than those experienced in rural areas. Therefore, urban environments are likely similar to predicted future climate conditions. Understanding how adaptations by plants allow them to thrive in cities will not only provide insight into how plant populations have survived in urban environments but also help us understand the potential effects of future climates on plant growth. A greenhouse study using seeds collected from Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN and neighboring rural areas revealed that plants from urban areas grow faster and larger than plants from rural areas. The proposed research, which will accompany ongoing manipulative experiments, is to sample multiple plant species from three other urban areas, (Chicago, Detroit and New York), in order to determine if there are similar suites of growth characteristics that differentiate urban from rural plant populations.

Understanding adaptation and acclimation to urban environments, the focus of the proposed research, is important for urban biodiversity and conservation, for management of urban parks and for developing plant varieties that thrive in urban environments. The study of urban plant populations also provides an ideal system for scientific outreach and education. Many people think of ecology as understanding organisms in pristine environments, and evolution as a slow process, but this is not true and this proposed research focuses on understanding the interplay between ecological processes and evolutionary forces in urban environments. This work is being carried out at multiple high schools and community colleges engaging students and community members to get involved in understanding how plant populations may respond to climate change scenarios, which are expected to be characterized by shifts in abiotic factors similar to those experienced by urban plant populations.