Francis Quang-Hai Dinh spent his initial summer at McGill University exploring Montreal’s parks on his bicycle in search of squirrels. Covering nearly 200 green spaces from Mirabel to Saint-Bruno, he meticulously observed and documented over 800 grey and black squirrels. What began as a university assignment evolved into a personal project to unravel how the city’s geography and waterways influence evolution discreetly.
Expressing his newfound admiration for squirrels, Dinh remarked, “I fell in love with them after I had started staring at them for long enough and just giving them enough thought. We don’t even think of squirrels as being animals. They’re practically just pests, but they are indeed wildlife.” Due to the lack of a car and limited public transportation in suburban regions, Dinh relied on his bike to reach distant locations, becoming the sole researcher known to manually survey squirrels park-by-park throughout the area.
Analyzing his findings, Dinh discovered that approximately 12% of squirrels in Montreal are black on average. However, as he ventured northwards, the prevalence of black squirrels increased significantly. In regions just above Laval, up to 40% of squirrels exhibited black coats, contrasting with only 2-3% on the south shore of Montreal. The study identified three main factors contributing to this distribution, with temperature being the primary influencer. The cooler climate up north favors black squirrels as their dark coloration absorbs heat more effectively than grey squirrels.
The study’s principal investigator, Allison Roth, an assistant professor at the University of Missouri and former postdoctoral fellow at McGill, emphasized that the research focuses on using squirrels as a model to examine how urban settings drive evolutionary adaptations. Montreal’s unique topography, characterized by the St. Lawrence River and its tributaries, creates diverse environmental conditions within the city, fostering genetic and physical changes in animal populations.
Contrary to previous studies that generalized urban-rural comparisons, this research delves into wildlife transformations across neighborhoods, highlighting the nuanced impacts of urbanization on local ecosystems. The study underscores that while urban development influences environmental factors like temperature and vegetation cover, natural barriers like riverways also shape wildlife evolution. Published as part of a special ecological feature, the research showcases the collaborative effort to address significant ecological inquiries using data-driven approaches.
Reflecting on his experience, Dinh shared his altered perspective on wildlife and urban spaces, stating, “We have this kind of dichotomy that city and nature are two completely separate things. And yet the reality is wildlife will continue to live and to persist despite whatever modifications we bring to it.”