Synurbization – adaptation of animal wildlife to urban development. Term created by theriologists – ecologists. It denotes an adjustment animal populations to specific conditions of the urban environment, in the connection with regular existence there in the wild state. The term is not applied to individual animals which have come to an urban area accidentally and witch live there for limiter time. Synurbization is related to two other terms used in the field : synanthropization (refers to the adaptation of animal populations to human – created conditions in general )and urbanization (refers to changes in landscape coursed by urban development).
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The phenomenon
The phenomenon of synurbization has been described mainly for birds and mammals, but it is known also in other animal groups(e.g. amphibians). Examples of synurbization of mammal in European cities are provided by :
Processes of synurbization also concern wild populations of birds introduced to cities by man . The best known example is the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), which has been successfully introduced, in the last two decades, to cities in North America and in Germany, as well as Prague, Warsaw and Moscow.
Changes in the behavior
Adaptation to urban ecological niches requires changes in the behavior and ecology of synurbic populations, in comparison with non – urban ones. Several studies indicate that the most characteristic adjustments of synurbic populations are the following:
Consequences of urban development
The main consequence of urban development for wildlife is a decrease in its species and ecological diversity. The growing tendency towards synurbization observed in birds and mammals is a chance for enriching diversity of urban wildlife. Synurbization of some species could cause practical problems when their populations grow to high concentrations. An example of such problems is Canada goose in North American cities.