Leveraging publicly available data to facilitate urban ecology and evolution

Shawn Anthony Arreguin, Joseph F Walker, Natalie L.R. Love

The intensifying pace of urbanization has prompted researchers to investigate its ecological and evolutionary consequences more deeply, yet logistic and monetary challenges can impose a barrier to research. Publicly available databases offer scientists from broad backgrounds an opportunity to circumvent those barriers, enhancing participation in urban ecology and evolution. In conjunction with computational advances, these datasets allow research to be done entirely with a computer connected to the internet, which we term Digital Eco-Evo. Throughout this review, we highlight how Digital Eco-Evo approaches allow researchers to test their own hypotheses, thereby radically advancing our understanding of urban evolutionary and ecological processes that shape life in cities. By collating presently used databases, covering emerging tools and resources, and presenting biases and limitations of these data, we hope that this review will act as a guide for interested researchers and highlight the strengths and weaknesses of this approach. Opportunities to take part in this exciting field of research will continue to grow as new databases and associated tools are developed.