Urbanization is one of the major causes of the global biodiversity crisis with reptiles being particularly vulnerable, due to factors such as habitat loss and road mortality. Behaviour plays a crucial role in determining the success of urban animals, but behavioural responses to urbanization are rarely studied in reptiles. I studied the differences in aggression, boldness, and exploration in painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) living in urban and undisturbed areas. I hypothesized that aggression, boldness, and exploration would increase in urban painted turtles. I studied painted turtles from 24 sites across an urban to undisturbed gradient in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada over the summers of 2021 and 2022. I captured turtles with hoop nets and tested their behaviour in the field, and the repeatability of their behaviour in the laboratory. I found that urbanization had a statistically significant, positive effect on painted turtle aggression and boldness, and no effect on exploration. Overall, I determined that urbanization is affecting painted turtle behaviour, but further research is required to better understand the factors behind this.

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Urbanization is a growing threat to biodiversity across the globe. As more and more habitats are being destroyed and species extinction rates are rising, we have started looking at how we might decrease this loss of biodiversity. One answer is changing our urban environments to more biodiversity friendly ones. Since conditions within a city and a natural landscape might differ, it is important to understand how landscape variables affect biodiversity in urban areas. The purpose of this study was to investigate how landscape variables (Coniferous/mixed forest, Open uncultivated land, Fields, Deciduous forest, Water, High and Low urban development, and Industrial area) affect bird diversity, richness, and community assembly in a small city in central Sweden. Surveys were conducted on 33 sites. Results from a multiple regression comparing the environmental variables to richness or diversity showed that Water was positively correlated to both diversity and richness. A redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that bird species assemblage was significantly affected by Coniferous/mixed forest, Water, and Fields when the whole bird community was considered. However, when only passerines were included in the RDA, Urban development and Coniferous/mixed forest had the strongest impact. When conservation efforts are made in urban areas, these variables need to be considered since they are correlated with different species and they might not be the same ones that are associated with richness or diversity of birds.

Kennecott copper mine is one of the largest producers of pollution in the United States: it has contaminated over 72 square miles in the Salt Lake Valley. In 1998 alone, Kennecott, which is located only 25 miles southwest of downtown Salt Lake City, released 439 million pounds of toxic material into the Salt Lake Valley. Kennecott was proposed as a Superfund site by the EPA in 1994. Today it is the largest manmade excavation in the world. When mining operations began in 1863 at what is now Kennecott, Salt Lake City was a small city of just over 8,000 (Census, 1860). In recent years, the city has expanded toward Kennecott, so that once distant hazards are now literally in Salt Lake City’s residents’ backyards. According to the basic patterns commonly identified in the academic literatures on environmental justice and urban growth, as the Salt Lake City metropolitan area grows towards Kennecott the assumptions would be (1) Kennecott’s mining activities would be severely hindered by the influence of the EPA or would be forced to close due to the proximity of residents. (2) Those living/moving nearest to the area would most likely be low income people with no other options. (3) Arousal of community opposition to Kennecott as residents continue to move closer, which in this paper is referred to as “reverse” NIMBYism. However, none of the assumptions are the case. Why is it that Kennecott continues to function at full capacity without direct influence by the EPA and those residents encroaching upon it are not of low income and are not in opposition? This study of social, urban and historical geography will address these questions by exploring the spatial, economic and political history of Kennecott, Salt Lake City and the EPA, with a focus on the recent and ongoing development of 20,000 new homes in the area called Daybreak. The analysis will draw on analytical and theoretical approaches common to geographical analyses of urban growth and sprawl, environmental perception and environmental justice in relation to the nexus of spatial, economic and political circumstances which have led to the development of a new housing area on previously polluted land.

Many insights into ecological and evolutionary processes have come from studies of island systems. Diversity, abundance, and movement of species are restricted on smaller islands, but these dynamics can become increasingly complex as island size increases. In recent decades urbanization and the human population on the Galápagos islands has increased rapidly, affecting wildlife in unknown ways. During 2005 and 2006, we sampled birds along a 4-km transect extending northeast of the city of Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island. This allowed us to collect data on the potential impacts of rapidly growing urban center on passerine bird diversity and abundance. We also documented movement patterns of the medium ground finch (Geospiza fortis), the most abundant species on the transect, with a mark/recapture protocol. Although Darwin's finches have been an influencial model for the last 150 years, little is known about their movements on larger islands. Avian species diversity did not vary significantly along a transect from a periurban area into more remote habitat. Avian abundance, however, was inversely correlated with distance from the urban center. This latter finding is consistent with a well-documented trend in urban ecology, in which periurban areas show higher abundance as compared to adjacent, less developed regions. We also found recapture/re-sight rates for G. fortis within years were 7% and 11% in 2005 and 2006, respectively. The mean distance traveled by individual birds between recaptures or re-sightings was 430.4 m. The majority of movements were less than 500 m from the location of previous sighting. There was no relationship between the distance moved and the time between captures or re-sightings; birds were equally likely to move large distances over short intervals (days) as over longer intervals (years). There was no significant difference in movement distances between males and females. These data document the movement of G. fortis on a larger island. Further studies of gene flow among populations may provide further insight into the genetic and evolutionary consequences of movement patterns documented here.

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How we organize cities and design their spatial configuration is always relevant because it reflects politics, financial interests, and territorial dynamics. But the city is also a powerful spatial system as its framework defines the domesticity that is possible within it. This report aims to investigate the relationship between urbanization and domesticity. How can urbanization be reframed, theoretically and spatially, in relation to domesticity? The research is conducted using a subjective and feminist approach. This entails acknowledging the authors position in the research, both emotionally and politically. It also uses a non-binary approach, which refers to an active stance against the false dichotomization of concepts and abandoning restrictive binary modes of discussing, developing, and thinking about spatial concepts. Using literature review, case studies, design explorations, and photography, this report seeks to reframe urbanization beyond the urban-rural dichotomy, situate the discourse in the arctic region, and eventually propose a framework for a new urbanism in northern Sweden which is based in domesticity. The report argues that we must understand all landscapes as devices of urbanism, that urbanization is a domestication of territory, and that strong connections and shared infrastructures across all territory would allow for a more sustainable relationship between urban and rural conditions. This discourse resulted in an architectural proposal of a new framework for urbanization and domesticity in coastal Västerbotten. As conclusion, the report reflects on the danger of its theoretical nature and the interesting possibility to implement the project in a larger territory. Finally, it restates the significance of our urban frameworks.

The rate of global urbanization is increasing rapidly as the human population expands, leading to species loss and biotic homogenization. Less studied, however, is the effect of urbanization on the frequency and efficiency of species interactions. Animal-based seed dispersal interactions may be especially sensitive to urbanization because they depend on several factors: 1) the rate of seed dispersal interactions (feeding), 2) diversity of disperser species, 3) the probability of seed dispersal and 4) the probability of germination after seed dispersal. However, how urbanization disrupts species interactions, including seed-dispersal, is still poorly known. In this study, we evaluate differences in the frequency and efficiency of seed dispersal between urban and natural sites using Eastern Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) as the focal species. Individual T. radicans lianas within natural and urban sites were observed in twelve-minute intervals (total 185.8 hours) at urban and natural sites during which the number and identity of feeding avian species was recorded. A total of 9500 fruits between natural and urban sites were marked with a UV fluorescent dye. Undispersed marked fruits were recovered via seed traps to estimate probability of dispersal. Defecated fruits were collected from natural and urban sites to evaluate germination efficiency after dispersal. Feeding rate was twice as high in urban compared to natural sites (P=0.007). Additionally, seed disperser diversity was on average twice as high in urban sites and species composition was significantly different between natural and urban sites. However, probability of seed dispersal was not significantly different between urban and natural sites (P=0.3). Interestingly, germination rate was 20% higher in defecated seeds collected from natural sites compared to defecated seeds from urban sites (P=0.005). Our results suggest that while T. radicans attracts a higher number and greater diversity of seed dispersers in urban areas, overall dispersal success is the same or even greater at natural sites, as seeds have a higher chance of germinating after being consumed by dispersers at natural compared to urban sites. Species composition differences between sites may play an important role in germinability of seeds; differences in species’ feeding strategies result in differences in their ability to scarify seeds in their digestive systems, a necessary step for seeds that rely on animal seed dispersers. Urbanization can thus negatively affect seed dispersal interactions by altering the composition of disperser species. Other animal-based interactions may be similarly affected by urbanization, and thus we emphasize the need for further studies.

Urbanization, the conversion of natural habitat into area fit for human exploitation, is the greatest contemporary threat to natural ecosystems. With urbanization only projected to increase in magnitude as human populations continue to grow it is becoming increasingly important to evaluate the potential negative impacts urbanization can have on vital ecosystem functions and services. One such important ecosystem service is pollination. Roughly 87.5% of flowering plants are animal pollinated, with pollination contributing over $175 billion dollars to the global economy each year. The fundamental ecologic and economic importance of pollination, coupled with the growing threat of urbanization, makes it important to better understand how pollination success may be impacted by urban development. Though, studies on the impact of urbanization on pollination success vary wildly in their findings, with some studies finding a negative impact of urbanization, while others find a negligible or even positive impact. This discordance in past studies is likely due to the fact that pollination studies typically focus on just one aspect of the pollination process, whether that be pollinator community, pollen removal/deposition, or fruit/seed production. Urbanization, however, may induce differential impacts across different stages of the pollination process. Focusing on just one pollination aspect may limit our understanding of the potential underlying mechanisms urbanization may impart on different stages of the pollination process. The goal of this study was to evaluate multiple aspects of pollination success across an urbanization gradient. Specifically, pollinator community (in terms of visitation rate and community composition), pollen removal/deposition, and fruit/seed production were surveyed across 12 common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) populations, six of which were in natural habitats and six of which were in areas of moderate urbanization. By evaluating all pollination aspects together we can pinpoint which step(s) of the pollination process are impacted by urbanization, which will inform decisions on how to best conserve the integrity of pollination in anthropogenically disturbed environments. Overall, urbanization increased pollinator visitation rate (0.151 visits per minute per flower in urban populations, compared to 0.067 at natural populations), and altered pollinator composition, with more small bees and beetles present in more urbanized areas. Pollen removal also increased with urbanization (2.00 pollen removals per flower in urban populations, compared to 1.41 at natural populations), while pollen deposition, fruit production, and seed production were unchanged by urbanization. Thus, suggesting that the more abundant pollinators in more urbanized areas were effective at removing pollen, but ineffective at depositing pollen, resulting in no change in reproductive output (i.e., equal fruit and seed production). The results of this study suggest that increased urbanization can variably impact various steps in the pollination process, thus stressing the importance of studying multiple pollination aspects in tandem.

This project focuses on making a “Folkets hus”, a form of community centre available for its surrounding inhabitants to express their identities and experience different cultures, these buildings usually contain libraries, theatre, restaurants, art centre, educational spaces, a child section and more. The city chosen for this project was Arboga, a small old industrial town from the 13th century a few miles west about Eskilstuna. Approximately 14,100 inhabitants, of which 11,400 live in the city. Arboga has identified that the after school-centre and culture school needs to be expanded and renovated, due to a higher demand. There is also a demand for more houses and living space adapted for the elderly. I picked an old abandoned silo industry building next to a very old beautiful park to work on. The building has not been standing for more than 50 years and is already abandoned. I saw an opportunity to urbanise the building and give locals the chance to use its height to see their city from above. My project called  “SILO” is a six floor community centre and a ten floor high apartment building. The community centre contains: restaurants, library, dance rooms, theatre room, music and radio room, art room, after school-centre, art gallery, lecture room, rooftop with a garden, an office floor and lots of spaces focusing on creative activities for all ages. The apartment building to the east contains eighteen 1 room apartments and eighteen 3 room apartments. / Projekt fokuserar på ”Folkets hus”, en plats för invånare för att uttrycka sin identitet och uppleva olika kulturer, dessa byggnader innehåller vanligtvis bibliotek, teater, restauranger, konsthall, utbildningslokaler, en barnavdelning och mer. Staden som valdes för detta projekt var Arboga, en liten gammal industristad från 1200-talet några mil väster om Eskilstuna. Cirka 14 100 invånare därav 11 400 bor I staden. Arboga har identifierat att fritidshemmet och kulturskolan behöver byggas ut och renoveras, på grund av en högre efterfrågan. Det efterfrågas också fler hus och bostadsrätt anpassade för äldre. Jag valde en gammal övergiven silo industribyggnad som låg bredvid en fin gammal park. Byggnaden har inte stått på mer än 50 år och är redan övergiven. Jag såg en möjlighet att urbanisera byggnaden och ge Arbogaborna chansen att använda dess höjd för att se sin stad från ett nytt perspektiv. Mitt projekt som heter "SILO", ett sexvåning högt kulturhus och ett tio våningar högt lägenhet hus. Folkhuset innehåller: restauranger, bibliotek, dansrum, teaterrum, musik- och radiorum, konstrum, fritidshem, konsthall, föreläsningssal, takterrass med örtagård, kontorsvåning och massor av utrymmen som fokus på kreativa aktiviteter för alla åldrar. Hyreshuset i öster innehåller arton anpassade 1:or och arton loft 3:or.