Physiological stress does not increase with urbanization in European blackbirds: Evidence from hormonal, immunological and cellular indicators

Urbanization changes the landscape structure and ecological processes of natural habitats. While urban areas expose animal communities to novel challenges, they may also provide more stable environments in which environmental fluctuations are buffered. Species´ ecology and physiology may determine their capacity to cope with the city life. However, the physiological mechanisms underlying organismal responses to urbanization, and whether different physiological systems are equally affected by urban environments remain poorly understood. This severely limits our capacity to predict the impact of anthropogenic habitats on wild populations. In this study, we measured indicators of physiological…