SynthesisEcology letters2022
A global meta-analysis reveals higher variation in breeding phenology in urban birds than in their non-urban neighbours.
Synthesis in Ecology letters, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 63 citations in OpenAlex.
- Global meta-analysis reveals urban-associated behavioural differences among wild populations.The Journal of animal ecology · 2026Pooled it
- Phenotypic Flexibility in the City: A Meta-Analysis on Variation.Ecology letters · 2026Pooled it
- Artificial Light at Night Consistently Impacts Avian Physiology and Behaviour: A Meta-Analysis.Ecology letters · 2026Pooled it
- Biological traits and biome features mediate responses of terrestrial bird demography to droughts.The Journal of animal ecology · 2024Pooled it
- The impact of urbanization on health depends on the health metric, life stage and level of urbanization: a global meta-analysis on avian species.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Pooled it
- A global meta-analysis reveals higher variation in breeding phenology in urban birds than in their non-urban neighbours.Ecology letters · 2022Pooled it
- Evolution under the city's shadow: reproductive divergence of urban and rural great tits revealed by a common garden experiment.Evolution letters · 2026Article
- Article
- Beyond first clutches: Second broods reshape selection on breeding timing in forest and urban great tits.The Journal of animal ecology · 2026Article
- PEP725: 15 years of driving European and global phenology science.The New phytologist · 2026Review
- Behavioral convergence under urbanization: An overlooked dimension of biotic homogenization.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Flexibility of Territorial Aggression in Urban and Rural Chaffinches.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Native trees are related to advanced bird breeding phenology and increased reproductive success along an urban gradient.Ecology · 2026Article
- Gut microbiome variation in juvenile blue tits in a European urban mosaic.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Identification of Keystone Plant Species for Avian Foraging and Nesting in Beijing's Forest Ecosystems: Implications for Urban Forest Bird Conservation.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Continental Patterns of Phenotypic Variation Along Replicated Urban Gradients: A Mega-Analysis.Ecology letters · 2025Review
- Urban effects on timing and variability of diel activity differ across passerine species and seasons.The Journal of animal ecology · 2025Article
- Environmental constraints can explain clutch size differences between urban and forest blue tits: Insights from an egg removal experiment.The Journal of animal ecology · 2025Article
- Same data, different analysts: variation in effect sizes due to analytical decisions in ecology and evolutionary biology.BMC biology · 2025Article
- A multidimensional framework to quantify the effects of urbanization on avian breeding fitness.Ecology and evolution · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Cities pose a major ecological challenge for wildlife worldwide. Phenotypic variation, which can result from underlying genetic variation or plasticity, is an important metric to understand eco-evolutionary responses to environmental change. Recent work suggests that urban populations might have higher levels of phenotypic variation than non-urban counterparts. This prediction, however, has never been tested across species nor over a broad geographical range. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of the avian literature to compare urban versus non-urban means and variation in phenology (i.e. lay date) and reproductive effort (i.e. clutch size, number of fledglings). First, we show that urban populations reproduce earlier and have smaller broods than non-urban conspecifics. Second, we show that urban populations have higher phenotypic variation in laying date than non-urban populations. This result arises from differences between populations within breeding seasons, conceivably due to higher landscape heterogeneity in urban habitats. These findings reveal a novel effect of urbanisation on animal life histories with potential implications for species adaptation to urban environments (which will require further investigation). The higher variation in phenology in birds subjected to urban disturbance could result from plastic responses to a heterogeneous environment, or from higher genetic variation in phenology, possibly linked to higher evolutionary potential.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.