Data from: Human activities and landscape features interact to closely define the distribution and dispersal of an urban commensal.

The rock pigeon, Columba livia, is a cosmopolitan human commensal,
domesticated thousands of years ago. However, the human-mediated factors
governing its distribution and dispersal are not well understood. In this
study, we performed (1) hierarchical distance sampling on ~400 island-wide
point transects, (2) a population genomic inquiry based on ~7000 SNPs from
almost 150 individuals, and (3) landscape-genomic analyses on the basis of
extensive ecological and social-economic databases to characterize the
distribution and dispersal patterns of rock pigeons across Singapore. Our
distance sampling results indicated that the volume of intentional ‘mercy
feeding’ and availability of high-rise buildings are the most reliable
predictors of high pigeon densities in Singapore. Genomic analyses
demonstrated that rock pigeons in Singapore form a single population
possibly derived from rapid expansion from a genetically homogenous group
of founder individuals. Specifically, rock pigeons in Singapore lack
sex-biased dispersal and are clustered with a genetic patch size of ~3km.
Landscape genomic analyses of great precision pointed to the presence of
dense trees as agents of resistance to dispersal whereas a high road
density reduces this resistance. By pinpointing a range of ecological and
socio-economic variables determining the distribution and dispersal of
pigeons, our study provides urban planners with the tools for optimal
management of this human commensal, such as a curtailment of the practice
of mercy feeding and modifications to the urban landscape to reduce pigeon
density and to lower the likelihood of repopulation by dispersal.