Lead journey this week on d. W ah ah. Busy in a lot of ways you can think of cities as. Busy one of the largest unplanned experiments of all time with that these are places we call them extreme habitats. Really, there are places where there is a lot of opportunity and at the same time, theres also challenges as all cities. Sprint, how will nature respond . Well, plants and animals dwindle. Oh, well, they adapt to up in my life. And what kind of new interactions, what we see in the city in the historic french town up, ill be biologist frederick on to keep an eye on his catfish. In 1983 fisherman released these Eastern European fish into the river time to day there at the top of the rivers food chain where he seduced, passing on to buff. This is the fascinating species, because we know so little about them. There are many myths that people believe even that they eat dogs. There are many stories like this yank, or you could just walk. The biologist is interested in the behavior of the large fish that circled the reservoir basins on 5th, on a, to kentucky. But we work with fishermen to tag the fish and ha, they contacted us after observing very strange behavior in the fish here salvage conflict along it cautiously, seattle, me the man my landscape at the city fosters new encounters between species. Busy lip, your eas, latigion, have never had to face predators from the water level gallant 8th. Instead, they scanned the sky for birds of prey. Ginger says the pigeons approached the water to bathe and drink sometimes about misses the narrow strip of safe ground and touches down in open water of it with your the catfish dont really see the pigeons unfit. But once they sense the Birds Movement in the water with their barble silly fuel, then they strike i should offer. Ah, scientists observed the cant fishes new hunting tactic for the 1st time in 2010. Here in al me, pigeons are no longer safe on the water. The city is bringing together new predators and pray ah, for some catfish here, pigeons now account for up to 40 per cent of their prey. Blue, theyre suddenly this ecological interaction which allows for evolution to start to improve the bird catching ability of the catfish and also to improve the escape ability of the pension. So you can expect that all these new interactions are also causing new evolutionary dynamic dont, evolutionary biologist, minnow. Shell thompson researches the adaptation of wildlife to the city. Darwins theory he believes has gone up and ah, ebony pollution is evolutionary change. So really genetic change in wild animals and plants in cities. Its all about understanding how species will be able to survive in this very human dominated context. Cities, a homo sapiens, most extreme intervention in nature with concrete and steel. We create new landscapes and alter the face of the us. Ready already, most people live in cities rather than in the countryside. How does this influence evolution, the development of new species . What selection pressures does the city create . A summer evening in the dodge capital amsterdam in the foam dell park in the center of the city biologist, men oh, shoot 1000 uses a light trap to catch insects. Oh ah, hes leading a Citizen Science project to explore urban nature, o, 4 insects. And for some smaller plans, the diversity today in cities seems to be higher than in intensively managed agricultural area. All today, Agricultural Land is so intensively managed and every last bit of production is squeezed out of every square meter of surface area that theres no space for nature anymore in the countryside. And at the same time, cities get more, they get greener, people pay more attention to nature and to and to urban nature. So its actually becoming a very rich environment with, with a higher by diversity than outside of the c o n. We are rapidly losing bio diversity, both within and outside ounce. It is for insect. The declines are particularly severe. Ah, in this way sounds me as eric scientists to fully an ultimate has set up his light trucks. Ever since humans began to light up the night, millions of nocturnal insects have been dying off every year. And its all species like this. Being attracted by light is problematic, because then its confused. A few short days. It has is a month to lags, come. Light pollution is one of the major trends demands. Scientists are even going, is found to describe it as an insect apocalypse. Thank you. Can yes, i think the declines we are seeing now are already quite worried. The studies show a 60 to 80 percent decline and biomass. How about sometimes even in nature reserves that these are incredibly large numbers. Obviously, its all and in my childhood they used to observe must select from the colman. I would set up this trap next to my parents house and attract months actually quite large numbers. But today i would probably not find many of them. Often i start to hit solemn thought with short notice miss mitre living, but might in fact be capable of adapting to life in the perpetual night of our it is slowly an alternate. Wanted to find out his test, subject the spindle and monks whose caterpillars develop on the european spindle tree. Not of what i actually was a coincidence. While i was working on my ph. D thesis. Every day i walked through a park that had these european spindle bushes. And i noticed that with these caterpillars, these moths, which must have lived there for years in a city park with permanent Light Pollution in the east. I thought i could just collect them, raised them, and test how much the adult months are attracted by light, video locked up and formalist with these experiments in 2006 altamont pioneered research into urban evolution. He released the mouth in a darkened room. The next morning he counted how many had flown into the light tramp . Anything on the russells showed a difference about 20 percent fewer urban lots had flown into the trump hall station around working on saturday. But also i was very surprised. It was widely known that matson retracted by lights. Something with another sheet about these differences ive always been observed between different species. In the hall, i seen variations within a single species that weve never seen before. But the experiment clearly demonstrated an hereditary adaptation life in a city. Direct proof of urban evolution for dodge biologist mentorship 1000. The findings confirm a larger picture in amsterdam. He and his group of citizen scientists debate whether we might soon observe even more and greater adaptations of animals and plans to the city. Ready ready we see that ignition our processes are starting, which will eventually or eventually produce new the lease that are specialized on living in the 50. Ah, the nano shield housing. Its not is but went. Every organism that lives in the city will show this urban evolution, these rapid changes in their behavior, in their physiology, in their appearances, to optimize their life in an urban environment. But what elements of landscapes prompt wildlife to adapt evolutionary biologist, jason mon, she south is an expert on animals found in the parks of new york. For years he has been studying how rodents that down to the city along with human immigrants from europe, rats also voyage to the new world. Today they rode the city and subway tunnels most native wrote in species. However, dan tried to unlock crossing town. This distinction sparked the scientists interest. Ah, i used to be a tropical biologist, but then i moved to new york city for my 1st academic job. After graduate school and i decided i wanted to do some local work. That would be interesting to the people of new york city and to my, myself. And i found out that there were these small mammal living in the island or in the video. But its interesting, nobodys really ever looked at these are they become exactly different from night outside the city or the happening. And thats how it all started in central park opened in 18. 73. Its still host animal species that lived here long before the city was built. Right now were in the middle of central park. Were going to be traveling to the north end of the park where theres a very nice for, its called the northwood. And there will be setting up traps, hopefully to capture white put in my one of the things that inspired me when i 1st started this work is if you look at a new york city, subway map, you see the subway lines. Then there are these large green shapes, rectangles and ovals, and so forth that are the, the parkland. And they put those on the map so you know where they are. But you also see that they are almost like a chain of islands that are scattered in the concrete and roads and buildings and you know, 8 and a half 1000000 people. So in a sense, if its a species like a mouse that cant leave the forest cross, you know, neighborhoods and buildings and roads and make it to the other patch. It is essentially the same biologically as if they were on an island in terms of them not being able to move and spread their genes with the other patches. And these urban patches, once they become sufficiently isolated, operate like a mini galapagos and may be driving the evolution of many species that are, you know, stuck there. Now, the evolutionary biologists investigating whether the white footed mice actually develop indistinct ways in each of the various palms. Would be a really nice spot for white, for the might. They like to move next to log, so theyre not completely out in the open. They might actually even be living inside the log where its rotting or in holes underneath the log. So this is pretty much the ideal spot. This forest is encircled by the big apple. Have the mice already adapted to this unique environment . What traits do they need to survive here . Ah, no shortage of good trapping spots. Later ill be going to one of our more suburban almost rural sites for the larger, more intact forests, less urban ization. And ill be setting out, you know, an equal number of traps of the hope we catch mice there as well. Jason mankey south will search within the animals genetic codes for the marcus of life in the big city. Oh, i think whats been most interesting to me is thinking about how the things that we are all doing in our daily lives, where we put our garbage, what were choosing to eat and what we generate as ways where we choose to live. How we choose to go to work or how to restaurant or something. All of these things we are doing are now influencing other species in a way that were just starting to understand it. But its not only animals that adapt to human intervention in the natural world, plans to the same in southern france, the yellow flowers crap. His sanctum is being studied by biologist pierre olivia ship to give you. So does the news crept . The santa is a very common species in the mediterranean regions, a kind of mediterranean dandelion from the same family from you. And its essential advantage as a model is that it produces 2 types of seeds would read the large ones and small ones and dig also. The small wild flower produces both lighter seats with parachutes, allowing them to glide and heavy, a seeds that simply fall to the ground once from a device. Oh, im interested in the process of adaptation to an urban environment. And in particular, what happens when a species 1st arrives in the city . It is recently colonized certain areas of montpelier, in my comparison between rural and urban populations. If i focus on the traits related to seeds, lee, thank you again. The idea of studying the adaptation of the plant to the city came to shift to almost by chance. When he came back from abroad, he noticed the inconspicuous flowers growing in the city. Aid of japan demoya adie nija. I had left montreal in the middle of a blizzard dodge. I took the plain for paris, l u m. Then i took the bus to downtown montpelier, where it was sunny with a Clear Blue Sky is all of young also. And then i noticed there were crap as sunk to flowers everywhere, and those tiny urban patches. And suddenly it struck me that there was something to figure out here for demila. But i didnt yet know exactly what miss lucy, antique. Because actually, the crap is sank to thrives in rural areas and not in the asphalt deserts of the city. Led to me not to ignore the predominant component in cities, especially in european cities, is concrete to children. Concrete exerts a powerful, fragmenting force on the habitats of plants, the police. They have to survive in many by a tow priscilla feudal the put is a beat up. Sometimes the cities constraints on a plans habitat can be extreme. How will evolution respond else suggested of im looking at how urban fragmentation will modify the dispersal traits of the species. His, i expect plans that produce more of the larger seeds, which will be more successful at reproduction in urban areas than they would be in the open country. Ah, the heaviest seeds are less likely to be swept onto the asphalt. And indeed, the biologists discovered that far more plants in the city produced the heavier seeds and thus better able to survive a difference of 15 percent. But what stands out most is the speed of this adaptation. Infected rachelle. Evelyn, and weve seen, has taken about 15 years. So this is extremely brief, though. It was the 1st demonstration of such a rapid evolution of see traits for plants. And this is due to the highly fragmented composition of the urban environment and mall gilba. It, did you talk about the exciting genetic changes occurring at such a rate of long been considered unlikely, even impossible by science or i think darwin would have been amazed by the fastness by which these changes take place. He was, it was sort of underestimating the power of Natural Selection himself. He said that you could never see any of these changes in progress. You cannot actually observed them. You can only deduce them from the fossil from the patterns that you see in nature. You said that the illusion is too slow to see it happening in real time and effect that now today, especially in cities, we see these changes taking place under our eyes in the streets where we live right around us. I think darwin would have been thrilled. But what if man made pollutants substantially distort the biochemistry of organisms in the 1970s, the water New Bedford Harbor, the boston was severely polluted with p. C. Bs. The u. S. Environmental protection agency. Wanted to know just how bad the pollution really was. The original focus was on what must be wrong with all the fish that live in that harbor because of the toxic chemicals. Instead, we came here looking, trying to understand what must be right about those fish that could survive here. Mm. So theyve become a natural experiment for us to study how animals can adapt to toxic human made pollutants. Just what were looking for. Lets get him into a net. Bring him back to the lab. Diane not, she had the Environmental Protection agency lab in narragansett, rhode island in their reading facility. The scientists want to unravel the mechanism that allows this population of kili fish species to survive in the p. C. B polluted water of New Bedford Harbor. So lets see if they left any eggs flora. They planned to compare eggs from the new bedford hob, a fish with those of a fish population from a clean a site. Oh, i started fast and see what they do when we expose them the chemical this killer fish species that cause all along the north American Atlantic coast to killy. Fish has been a favorite of biology literally for centuries at they are quite common. They are non migratory, so they reflect their local environments. And each population is unique in that it is genetically different. It is adapted to its local environment. So it gives us opportunity for lots of studies. The researchers need to observe the development of the fish embryos in the ag, in order to understand at which stages the environmental talks and disrupt the animals, biochemistry or not. Ah, so well look at the rate at which the embryo is developed and certain features that we know that p. C. Bees can disturb, like a Proper Development of the heart. Evidence of Proper Development of the circulatory system and proper body side. Mm. Why these particular fish able to resist deadly in her mental talk sense . What are the factors that allow individual species to adapt to the city . All parallel developments taking place in cities wild white. At the university of toronto, mississauga, evolutionary biologist, mark johnson, pursues these questions. In a lot of ways, you can think of cities as one of the largest unplanned experiments of all time. The problem is, is theres very few organisms where you could study annotation to urban environments on a global scale and white clover is one of those very few organisms where you can actually do that. So now this then becomes the model to understand whether organisms in general can adapt to the convergent environmental change. So she was cities throughout the world. Research is across the globe by working together in this study, evolutionary biologist, stephan guyana. And his team are collecting the white clover in berlin. In cities, the plant face is a different habitat, temperatures a higher than in the suburbs, and the countryside was one avenue in con, is what you can expect is that as humans creates new environmental conditions mindful adapt on and to be able to showed up on a global scale, thats a real scientific benefit, and that is why were dedicating a free time to this project runs on, filed them as they proceed from the countryside to the city center of berlin, ghana and his team collect specimens at 35 locations. This gives them a sufficiently broad range of data to compare with that of other global cit, is they fine to have final samples at the foot of the Television Tower spot. Thats it all done in all we have a 168 cities right now and over 250. 00 collaborators all working on the same project together. Theres never been a collaborative project on evolutionary biology of this scale. And so this is the largest collaborative project in evolutionary biology ever. So is clover developing in the same way all over the world, into a kind of global citi. Clover from the vast set of data, the research is hope to find an answer. Or in the grounds of a research institute, north of new york, geneticist, jason mankey south wants to catch white footed mice to compare that dna with that of those in the city. But its not easy. Ready okay, ah ah, so this is a trap that was opened, it didnt catch anything. Obviously. Thats a toad at that it was a map day for me while i think youre really surprised that almost every park was different from every other park. Its always to the point where you could take a mouse from one park, give it to our lab, and we could just look at a small segment of his genome and tell you where its it came from. Thats how much they had changed just randomly over time from being isolated. And thats when we started our current studies looking at, you know, over 20000 genes to see what genes and potentially what functions change when they adapt to living in, inside of new york city. Ah, theres one 1st wait for the math of the day. With a new study, jason mankey south and his team, ive already caught more than 100. 00 mice. And to analyze that genetic compositions, they try to take their samples as gently as possible, so as not to ha, the animals. Mm hm. We take a jack sample in this case, we will be using this small tool. Its like a paper punched, but for tissue and i, we store that for genetic analysis and we want to be able to tie that tissue sample to a location because thats important for understanding how they vary when theyre in a more urban or less urban population. So now theyre pretty m o, well this is a male. This young male are, why dont we take the air punch and well start on the other one had isnt suitable for comprehensive genetic analysis. So the research is take a tissue sample from the ear. Mm. Yeah, he gets off to collecting the samples and some measurements of the scientists release the mice. Genetic analysis can reveal the evolutionary trajectories of the mice. There we go. They point to a variety of physical and Behavioral Changes spreading among the animals. Each of them unique to the challenges of each city park environment. So were starting to fill in our gradient really nicely. Ok, so here are the mice we have today from the color center. And you can see its right in between highly urbanized new york city and then all these sites we have up here and one out here. So central park seems to be our most distinct population. Me to date. It makes sense. Yeah, yeah. Most urban, probably the most isolated. So if you took a mouse from central park, some of its genes will be different from a mouse outside in the countryside, in a big park some way. So for this one, particularly the food supply in central park and much of it, human food waste might have triggered a genetic response in the city near federal park. What weve learned so far is that one set of genes that are changing in the city have to do with metabolism. So these why food of mice are eating things, and they have to digest them and assimilate the nutrients. And we know its evolution because of heritable change in dna sequences. Evolution central pock my seem to have genetically altered their metabolism to better digest fast food in res several like broader questions about what we are doing as a species as we modify the earth habitat for our needs. How are we changing the future of other species . Not only were affected, take p. C. Bees have developed high going really well. So this is the study thats comparing for creek and New Bedford Harbor experts to pcb 126. 00. So this one is the group that was treated with pcb. And also from the clean site sport and creek. And as you can see that you have had a pretty dramatic effect on the development, which is what we expect with these very toxic chemicals. Yeah, and in my experience when i see this, this constellation of anomaly, its absolutely lethal. Theres no way that an animal would even hatch, nevermind, survive after hatching. If the heart is not functional and the blood is essentially not circulating around the body. So lets take a look at that biochemical end point to see if they are also responsive. Ok, at the biochemical level, using a special contrast agent. The scientists can trace enzyme activity in the hatched fish are so you can see that the and the substrate is flora thing in the bladder showing that this enzyme system is working. And were, were getting the expected metabolites of water. Thats a very dramatic demonstration of enzyme activity in a living organism. The active enzymes in the fish embryo reveal how the organism tries to break down the thompson, but perishes in the process. Then the team observes how the offspring of the fish from New Bedford Harbor have developed. Ok, so these are fish from New Bedford Harbor that were exposed to the same level of p c. B that we were just looking at. As you can see, what this embryo doesnt seem to have any effect, the heart is still beating normally and healthy, and its developed really well. Now, looks like an embryo thats about ready to hatch. Some of them actually already patch these fish should be dead poisoned by one of the most lethal environmental toxins. But life it seems, has found away one thing we know about this class of chemicals is that in all vertebrates, clothing people the, it turns on a certain enzyme pathway. So a normally responsive person, or in this case of fish, should have that enzyme system turned on if they were exposed to pcb. The contrast enhanced image shows how the end times that normally respond to the toxin remain silent. So in this case, i see very little thats glowing brightly, is a dramatic visual difference that suggests that that enzyme system is broken in the new bedford fish. The killing fish from New Bedford Harbor has changed their metabolism. The poisoned can no longer hamden, but which genetic modifications lead to the fishes toxin resistance. Thats why geneticist ma com of the woods whole Oceanographic Institute wants to find out. Could this be a key to understanding how nature might resist human interference. Ready in that of oratory, he uses the crisper cast method. Its an incredibly powerful way to modify the genetics of an experimental fish like this to ask questions about the roles of certain genes. And in fact, the roles of even single amino acids in the protein can be investigated with this crisper passed to test their assumptions about the resistant kelly fish market and his team experiment with that profession. I want to find out exactly what are the changes in those genes and to be able to actually 0 in on the specific molecular changes that are responsible for the resistance. And to be able to recreate that in the laboratory, to actually prove that thats the mechanism of resistance. Where inserting portions of dna taken from the resistant killing fish into embryos of that pro fish. Are you good . Which ones injecting a p exxon to malcolm and his colleague neal alu are using the most up to date genetic engineering techniques. Here we are interested to steady a function of g known as a p. So we are trying to delete this gene in this particular species. And then tried to steady, what is the function of this t . And i read that that will audited that assistance to p. C. B. With these experiments, science is venturing deep into the source code of creation. The scientists believe this research could yield a secret of lifes ability to adapt to the most extreme conditions. And this knowledge could also help other creatures to adapt and survive in a rapidly changing world. Ah, i think we will understand the extent to which we can extrapolate our knowledge from the kill a fish system out beyond to other fish and even other vertebrates. So a broader understanding of the toxicology of pollutants and how that will impact the natural world. How we can understand what will be the most vulnerable species at the max planck institute. In potsdam, the Research Team processes the clover samples from berlin. They go to find cyanide clever plants that produce cyanide, a better protected against predators, but are less able to tolerate cold. Its warmer in city centers. So this clover might be more common that this isnt a glass, is a qualitative test yet by isnt, i mean, we use it to indirectly detect a specific gene that generates the cyanide does come out your different office. You look like theyre both 11 lindsey, one of the city. Yeah. Theyre both still roll dinah and his team send their results and other clover specimens to mark johnson in his toronto lam again. Hows it going . Good peter. How did that extractions of yesterday . Yeah, so remind me this is berlin and buenos aris. The team prepares the clover for gene sequencing, but the cyanide values taken by the team and germany show whether the clover has adapted to an up and existence already. Okay, better did we get the data from berlin . Yes, we did. Okay, the screen here, it is so great. Thank james. Have you had a chance to look at the data from berlin . So we can understand how the environments changing from downtown berlin, through the suburbs and into the rural areas. Got it. All right, so lets take a look at so berlins one of the, the cities where we see white clover adapting to urban rural gradients. Yeah, nice and so now were at about 33 percent of cities where why clover adapts. Yeah. But yeah, fair enough about that. Okay. So then next i think what were gonna have to do is figure out what are the drivers environmental drivers of this adaptation. So thats really cool. In berlin plans from the city center, a more likely to produce cyanide, as is the case in a 3rd of the cities surveyed so far an indication of parallel evolution. Mm. Some of that preliminary insights are fascinating. So it really looks like, regardless of where you are in the world, whether youre in europe, north america, japan, china, australia, you zealand. We see the ability for this humble, why clover to death to these cities in the warmth that the city sinai producing clover stands a better chance of survival. But to survive in the city in organisms must adapt to higher temperatures. What scientists call heat islands and cities, humans and their machinery creates a lot of heat. And we have a, a bumble of hot air in large fifties, in a city of more than a 1000000 people can be 78 Degrees South celsius halter in the center of the city than outside of the city. With this men, oh shoot cows and believes now it also influences the evolution of the white lipped snail. There shells coming many shades from brown to pale yellow. A single gene determines the color. So they basically carry their genes on their back. The shell caller determines the internal temperature of the snail to some extent, the difference in temperature inside can be 2 degrees under the same conditions. And that could be just the difference between life or death on a hot summer day. And you know, it was 14 degrees in amsterdam a few weeks ago. It could be that some of these yellow snails survived, but many of the brown ones died because they got to help they overheated and they died. But well, the statistics support this hypothesis or so the plan is now to to just add some data through the dataset. So left got me in order to collect and evaluate as many snails as possible throughout europe. Men. Oh, shield housing is helped by volunteers. You know, you dont have to go through the galapagos to study evolution or be come upon, paleontologist is happening everywhere all the time. Its a continuous, very normal biological process. Ah, the group only finds a few snails but even empty. Now shells can also provide data there photographed and added to the database with an app that anyone can install on a mobile phone. Ah, if were looking at the adaptations of urban animals and plants to the urban heat islands, which of course is happening has been happening more rapidly than Global Climate change. We can probably predict whats going to happen globally in response to Climate Change up and eyes ation. And Climate Change pose a threat to all plant and animal species, including the Monarch Butterfly, which gather in and millions in the forests of mexico. Every october. Theyve completed a 5000 kilometer journey to their Winter Quarters and increasingly perilous odyssey for the insects lindsey miles studies the butterflies in toronto. Monarch butterflies are these really great insect. Unfortunately, right now theyre in decline. The in the united states, theyve experienced 80 percent population decline in the Industrial Area of toronto. Monarch butterflies take a rest stop before flying on. They also take the opportunity to mate and reproduce. Really vague caterpillar. This is an let that baby monarch. This ones probably a day or 2 away from that going into its chrysalis, and then becoming a Monarch Butterfly whose cool one other species had the ability to switch to other food sources. Monarch butterflies remain dependent on a single plant. Got one. Lets check it out. You found a monarch in the butterflies laid eggs on the milk weight that caterpillars feet exclusively on this plant. At many cities, the land on which milkweed can grow is disappearing. Unfortunately, a lot of the cities are providing these barriers. I just dont have the resources that they need. And so it would basically be if youre driving along the road and you dont have any fuel stations and you run out of gas, youre stuck the knots. Whats happening with these butterflies . Not all species can adapt as our cities continue to expand, accommodating wild life might be crucial how we shape our cities in the future may prove decisive for the course of life on earth. Biodiversity helps us with the food that we eat. It helps us with the air that we breathe. So if we continue along the path that we have many different populations including human populations, well start to crash. Urban evolution can help us design green cities in a darwinian way. As humans become more urban, we have the potential to, you know, allow some species live in the city and adapt to our cities. But then put less pressure on the other habitats which allow, you know, the species that cant survive in the city to continue to thrive. Mm, were going to see more and more of the realization that we are part of nature. And thats is actually probably going to help us survive. Mm mm. Mm ah, with little odessa on the spanish, olga and hook honey to found a new home in the port city of cut in when the war broke out the ukrainians were here on a business trip. Now village life is enriched by the young families who want to stay in europe. In 30 minutes on d. W is the end of the pandemic in site. We show what it could look like will return to normal and we visit those who are finding it difficult with success in our weekly coping. 19 special 910 minutes on d. W. O. Goal in into the to day this means flying to a foreign planet. In the 16th century, it meant being a captain and setting sail to discover a route a race linked to military interests, a race linked to political and military facilities, but also linked to my financial and adventure full of hardships, dangers and death, magellan journey around the world starting september 7 on d w ah, this is dw news, and these are our top stories. Un secretary general, antonio quoterush, has called for all troops to be withdrawn from around ukraines upper region Nuclear Power station. The plant has come under repeated shelling in recent days that you would leader with