Synanthropic nesting behavior of the Eastern Phoebe

[urbpan]

So how come after 7 years of researching urban wildlife, it wasn't until this week that I learned the word "Synanthropy?" Perhaps one of my scientist friends can enlighten me: Is it one of those science words that has gone out of vogue, like "symbiosis," or is it only used by Brazilian mosquito researchers? Anyway, this phoebe (or several generations of phoebe) nests in a pedestrian tunnel at my work, on a light fixture, every year:

Comments

[dragondazd.livejournal.com]

maybe it's because there were 28800 hits and 0 definitions...

[anais2.livejournal.com]

The only definition I can find is "Synantropic - seeking sites heavily influenced by man."
I've not seen it used very often at all.

[artemii.livejournal.com]

similarly, my dictionary provides no definition.

i've never read the term, either (well, till now!).

[badnoodles.livejournal.com]

I've pretty much only heard it in reference to mosquitoes that specifically prefer human hosts over animals.

Another good word is "anthrozoonoses": diseases that affect both humans and animals (such as malaria and west nile virus)

[dragondazd.livejournal.com]

that can't be the only term for it... I can't recall it, but it certainyl wasn't that freaking long

[ssejooz.livejournal.com]

Synanthropic species are those that associate with humans and human dwellings. I have seen synanthropic used in place of "domestic."

I have also seen this term used in papers on Collembola, Orthoptera, Diptera, mammals and ruderal plant species. It is generally plants, animals and vectors that tend to colonize places when/where humans do.

I think the term is used more in European journals than American journals. I think it is a term, such as zoonoses, that we will see a lot more of. Especially since zoonoses have been given so much attention lately.

:)

anthrozoonoses

[(Anonymous)]

hello, i am/was studying for a medical entomology exam, this is one of the terms i was required to know. Anthrozoonoses and zoonoses used to be seperate terms, but because scientific community used them so interchangably/incorectly they have been grouped to one term. An example of anthrozoonoses would be west nile. It primarly effects birds, but humans are also effect, though they are often referd to as "dead-end" vectors for the disease because they cannot retransmit to mosquitoes

Re: anthrozoonoses

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

So, synanthropy is a term used in a medical context, then? I think it has potentially important applications in conservation as well.

My suspicion

[(Anonymous)]

I suspect that the term is more often used in European studies because it reflects species that have adapted to the long span of old world housing and land-use development practices. By acknowledging the "normalcy" of this fact, European studies integrate human settlements and habitations in their conception of ecology and are subsequently considered "just another" manifestation of habitat with its own unique ecology.

For whatever reason, we [North-]Americans have not yet made peace with the fact that although we live on a different continent that we are still histori-culturally descended from our old-world forbears which is reflected in our continued use of old-world land-use practices (ie, permanent stone and mortar housing and street paving.)

This is helpful for understanding why it is that we see more Eur-Asian plant and animal species in our urban and suburban landscapes.
It stands to reason that their presence reflects a longer exposure to old world housing and land-use practices than the species which lived in the pre-Columbian new world.

As I see it, your photo of this Eastern Phoebe nest reflects the ongoing adaptation of new world species to our old world land-use style thus enriching the world-wide list of synanthropic species joining other North American species on the list including among others the American Robin, the Peregrine Falcon, the Eastern Gray Squirrel, the Bullfrog, the Eastern-tailed Blue Butterfly, and White-tailed Deer.

Re: My suspicion

[(Anonymous)]

Signed, Thomas of Baltimore City (CityEcology@gmail.com)

And, so...

[(Anonymous)]

Adding to what I said earlier, In human-dominated environments, the competitive advantage goes to those species that have already adapted to old world human land-use practices.

(Thomas of Baltimore, CityEcology@gmail.com)