Socio-Eco-Evo

Cities are not just ecological environments — they are products of human societies, histories and choices. Our research explores socio-eco-evolutionary dynamics: the intertwined relationships between human society, ecological processes and evolution. We ask how culture, economics, politics and human behaviour shape the environments in which urban wildlife lives — and how ecological and evolutionary change can, in turn, feed back into human societies. We are particularly interested in the long shadow of history, where past social and political processes can leave lasting marks on urban landscapes and the wildlife inhabiting them. We also bring ideas from the social sciences into ecology itself — from historical perspectives to criminological theory — to better understand how people interact with urban environments. By crossing disciplinary boundaries, we aim to understand cities for what they really are: dynamic systems in which human and non-human lives are deeply interconnected.

 

Selected publications on the topic:

2025

Carlen, Elizabeth J; Caizergues, Aude E; Jagiello, Zuzanna; Kuzyo, Hanna; Munshi-South, Jason; Alberti, Marina; Angeoletto, Fabio; Bonilla-Bedoya, Santiago; Booth, Warren; Charmantier, Anne; Cocciardi, Jennifer M; Cook, Elizabeth M; Gotanda, Kiyoko M; Govaert, Lynn; Johnson, Lauren E; Li, Daijiang; Malesis, Anna N; Martin, Ella; Marzluff, John M; Mazurek, Małgorzata; Miles, Lindsay S; Phifer-Rixey, Megan; Salazar-Valenzuela, David; Savage, Amy; Snyder, Rebecca; Stadnicki, Ignacy; Vergeles, Yuriy; Verrelli, Brian C; Villar, Daniel A; Wilhelm-Solomon, Matthew; Willmott, Meredith; Winchell, Kristin M; Yates, Shannan S; Zhou, Yuyu; Garroway, Colin J; Szulkin, Marta

Legacy effects of religion, politics and war on urban evolutionary biology Journal Article

In: Nature Cities, vol. 2, iss. 7, pp. 593-602, 2025.

Links | BibTeX

2024

Stadnicki, Ignacy; Corsini, Michela; Szulkin, Marta

Application of criminology in urban ecology and evolution: Routine Activity Theory and field equipment disappearance dynamics Journal Article

In: Ecological Indicators, vol. 165, pp. 112095, 2024.

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2021

Roches, Simone Des; Brans, Kristien I; Lambert, Max R; Rivkin, L Ruth; Savage, Amy Marie; Schell, Christopher J; Correa, Cristian; Meester, Luc De; Diamond, Sarah E; Grimm, Nancy B; Harris, Nyeema C; Govaert, Lynn; Hendry, Andrew P; Johnson, Marc TJ; Munshi‐South, Jason; Palkovacs, Eric P; Szulkin, Marta; Urban, Mark C; Verrelli, Brian C; Alberti, Marina

Socio‐eco‐evolutionary dynamics in cities Journal Article

In: Evolutionary Applications, vol. 14, iss. 1, pp. 248-267, 2021.

Links | BibTeX