Data from: City sicker? a meta-analysis of wildlife health and urbanization

Urban development can alter resource availability, land use, and community
composition, in turn influencing wildlife health. Generalizable
relationships between wildlife health and urbanization have yet to be
quantified, and could vary across health metrics and animal taxonomy. We
present a phylogenetic meta-analysis of 516 records spanning 81 wildlife
species from 106 studies comparing the toxicant loads, parasitism, body
condition, or stress of urban and non-urban wildlife populations in 30
countries. We find a significantly negative relationship between
urbanization and wildlife health, driven by higher toxicant loads and
greater parasitism by parasites transmitted through close contact.
Invertebrates and amphibians were particularly affected, with higher
toxicant loads and physiological stress in urban populations as compared
to their non-urban counterparts. We also found strong geographic and
taxonomic bias in research effort, highlighting future research needs. Our
results suggest urban wildlife experience several health risks with
potential threats to conservation.