Human-wildlife conflicts and sensory disinformation, a review of evolutionary trajectories caused by human land-management and rapidly expanding urban landscapes

Urban environments are infamous for producing ecological traps. Anthropogenic land uses lure organisms with abundant food resources and entrap them in fitness sinks. Ecological traps can either drive extirpation, or alternately cause rapid evolutionary changes to entrapped populations. We establish how the urban environment generates traps and discuss the drivers contributing to each type of trap. Specifically, we focus on how anthropogenic activity disrupts the information gathered by wildlife cohabitating with humans, and the evolutionary adaptations and consequences of these disturbances. We highlight four groups of organisms that benefit from the ecosystem engineering practices of humans: namely invasive species that thrive in disturbance and harsh conditions, mesocarnivores that tend to show flexibility in diet, bold-acting and disturbance-loving species that can handle repeated displacement, and aggressive nuisance species (pests). We predict, and show examples, that species belonging to these groups are rapidly adapting to human activity. We conclude that these adaptive traits allow these species to become the seeds of post-Anthropocene biodiversity, while species incapable of managing human-generated risks will remain in decline.