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Cities contain novel, specialized environments that give rise to unique selection pressures on urban plant populations. Very little research has been performed on plant evolutionary ecology in urban landscapes, but it is clear that certain plants species are successful and some cannot survive in urban conditions. However, it is not well known if plants are successful in urban areas due to preadaptation, plasticity, or rapid evolution. Assessing how urbanization selects for particular plant morphological, functional, and phenological traits is the first step toward understanding how cities act as agents of natural selection and evolution. This knowledge can provide tools to address issues related to conservation, design and planning of biodiversity in cities. Students will examine trait and chemical variation in plant populations across urbanization gradients, in the field and in the herbarium.
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