Urbanisation generates multiple trait syndromes for terrestrial animal taxa worldwide.

Cities can host significant biological diversity. Yet, urbanisation leads to the loss of habitats, species, and functional groups. Understanding how multiple taxa respond to urbanisation globally is essential to promote and conserve biodiversity in cities. Using a dataset encompassing six terrestrial faunal taxa (amphibians, bats, bees, birds, carabid beetles and reptiles) across 379 cities on 6 continents, we show that urbanisation produces taxon-specific changes in trait composition, with traits related to reproductive strategy showing the strongest response. Our findings suggest that urbanisation results in four trait syndromes (mobile generalists, site specialists, central place foragers, and mobile specialists), with resources associated with reproduction and diet likely driving patterns in traits associated with mobility and body size. Functional diversity measures showed varied responses, leading to shifts in trait space likely driven by critical resource distribution and abundance, and taxon-specific trait syndromes. Maximising opportunities to support taxa with different urban trait syndromes should be pivotal in conservation and management programmes within and among cities. This will reduce the likelihood of biotic homogenisation and helps ensure that urban environments have the capacity to respond to future challenges. These actions are critical to reframe the role of cities in global biodiversity loss.

Microbiome analysis among bats describes influences of host phylogeny, life history, physiology and geography.

Metagenomic methods provide an experimental approach to inform the relationships between hosts and their microbial inhabitants. Previous studies have provided the conceptual realization that microbiomes are dynamic among hosts and the intimacy of relation between micro- and macroorganisms. Here, we present an intestinal microflora community analysis for members of the order Chiroptera and investigate the relative influence of variables in shaping observed microbiome relationships. The variables ranged from those considered to have ancient and long-term influences (host phylogeny and life history) to the relatively transient variable of host reproductive condition. In addition, collection locality data, representing the geographic variable, were included in analyses. Results indicate a complex influence of variables in shaping sample relationships in which signal for host phylogeny is recovered at broad taxonomic levels (family), whereas intrafamilial analyses disclosed various degrees of resolution for the remaining variables. Although cumulative probabilities of assignment indicated both reproductive condition and geography influenced relationships, comparison of ecological measures among groups revealed statistical differences between most variable classifications. For example, ranked ecological diversity was associated with host phylogeny (deeper coalescences among families were associated with more microfloral diversity), dietary strategy (herbivory generally retained higher diversity than carnivory) and reproductive condition (reproductively active females displayed more diverse microflora than nonreproductive conditions). Overall, the results of this study describe a complex process shaping microflora communities of wildlife species as well as provide avenues for future research that will further inform the nature of symbiosis between microflora communities and hosts.