Cities pose many challenges to biodiversity, but life could evolve in response to these changes. Many animals make seasonal decisions using daylength, but urban warming and light pollution artificially change the relationship between daylength and season. To test if evolution has changed how urban butterflies from cities across Europe respond to daylength, I will measure at what daylengths they enter diapause, their overwintering state and a critical seasonal decision. In collaboration with students at Helsinki schools, I will also raise larvae outdoors in urban and rural habitats to test if urban evolution helps them make the right seasonal decision. My work with students will develop new ways to combine research and science education. My research will help understand how urban evolution varies among cities, knowledge needed to identify which changes in cities have the greatest impact on urban biology. This will allow us to better plan urban conservation and development efforts.

2023

2027