Mammal diversity and metacommunity dynamics in urban green spaces: implications for urban wildlife conservation

Gallo, Travis; Fidino, Mason; Lehrer, Elizabeth W.; Magle, Seth B.

doi:10.1002/eap.1611

Cited by 116 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…We detected cats in less than half of our preserves and at less 422 than 20% of monitoring points, although cats were likely to be present at more preserves 423 due to the relatively low detection probability across much of the preserve network (see 424 section 4.2 below). In contrast, raccoons, opossums, skunks, and coyotes were widely dis-425 tributed, and we documented their presence in nearly every preserve, consistent with re-426 gional predictions (Gallo et al 2017, Greenspan et al 2018). There are few landscape level 427 reports of urban biodiversity (but see Gallo et al 2017 andMagle et al 2019), and our 428 work provides important baseline data for land managers and conservation planners.…”

Section: Discussion 419supporting

confidence: 72%

Anthropogenic factors influence the occupancy of an invasive carnivore in a suburban preserve system

Vanek

Rutter

Preuss

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Domestic cats (Felis catus) are one of the world’s most damaging invasive species. Free-ranging cats kill billions of wild animals every year, spread parasites and diseases to both wildlife and humans, and are responsible for the extinction or extirpation of at least 63 species. While the ecology and conservation implications of free-ranging cats have well studied in some locations, relatively little is known about cats inhabiting urban nature preserves in the United States. To address this knowledge gap, we used camera traps to study the occupancy and activity patterns of free-ranging cats in 55 suburban nature preserves in the Chicago, IL metropolitan area. From 2010–2018 (4,440 trap days), we recorded 355 photos of free-ranging cats across 26 preserves (ψnaïve = 0.45) and 41 randomly distributed monitoring points (ψnaïve = 0.18). Cats were detected every year, but rarely at the same point or preserve, and cats were largely crepuscular/diurnal. Using single-season occupancy models and a “stacked” design, we found that cat occupancy increased with building density and detectability was highest near the urban/preserve boundary. Based on our top-ranked model, predicted occupancy within individual preserves ranged from 0.09 to 0.28 (ψmean = 0.11) and was poorly correlated with preserve size or shape. Overall, our results suggest that free-ranging cats are rare within suburban preserves in our study area, and that these cats are most likely owned or heavily subsidized by people (which pose different risks and management challenges than truly feral cats). We discuss the conservation and management implications for urban natural areas.HighlightsWe surveyed for domestic cats across 55 suburban preserves from 2010-2018.We modeled occupancy and detectability as a function of urban covariates.Cat occupancy was low overall and best predicted by building density.The risk to native species is highest near preserve boundaries bordered by built environments.

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Section: Discussion 419supporting

confidence: 72%

Anthropogenic factors influence the occupancy of an invasive carnivore in a suburban preserve system

Vanek

Rutter

Preuss

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…These varying results may suggest different sources that induce vigilance behaviour in eastern cottontails along an urbanization gradient. In Chicago, cottontail rabbits are likely to occupy green spaces in the urban core (e.g., city parks; Gallo et al., ) where coyote occupancy is low (Figure c, Supporting Information Table S4) but visitation by humans and their pets is high. While these urban locations may provide potential refuge for eastern cottontails from coyote (i.e., human‐shield effect), they potentially come with trade‐offs in the form of increased interactions with humans and their pets.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our study design follows an urban to suburban gradient (Figure a). To characterize the varying levels of urbanization surrounding a site, we calculated an urbanization index using a principal components analysis consisting of the per cent tree cover, per cent impervious cover and mean housing density, each within a 500 m fixed‐radius buffer around a sampling site (Gallo, Fidino, Lehrer, & Magle, ). Tree cover and impervious cover were included in the urbanization index calculation because together they represent the conversion of natural habitats to impervious surfaces (Grimm et al., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Housing density was also included as it represents the inherent human element of urban ecosystems (Foley et al., ; Grimm et al., ). We chose a 500 m radius because it encompasses the home range of eastern cottontail (Hunt et al., ) and the majority of white‐tailed deer home range (Etter et al., ) without creating significant overlap between independent sampling sites (Gallo et al., ). We calculated these metrics using QGIS ver 2.14 (QGIS Development Team, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Urbanization alters predator‐avoidance behaviours

Gallo

Fidino

Lehrer

et al. 2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Urbanization is considered the fastest growing form of global land‐use change and can dramatically modify habitat structure and ecosystem functioning. While ecological processes continue to operate within cities, urban ecosystems are profoundly different from their more natural counterparts. Thus, ecological predictions derived from more natural ecosystems are rarely generalizable to urban environments. In this study, we used data from a large‐scale and long‐term camera trap project in Chicago IL, USA, to determine whether urbanization alters predator‐avoidance behaviour of urban prey species. We studied three behavioural mechanisms often induced by the fear of predation (spatial distribution, daily activity patterns and vigilance) of white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) when coyote (Canis latrans)—an urban apex predator—was present. We found no evidence of spatial segregation between coyote and either prey species. Furthermore, neither white‐tailed deer nor eastern cottontail changed their daily activity or increased vigilance in urban areas when coyotes were present. Eastern cottontail, however, had their uppermost level of vigilance in highly urban sites when coyotes were absent. Our study demonstrates that predator–prey dynamics might be modified in urban ecosystems—moving from what is traditionally thought of as a two‐player system (predator and prey) to a three‐player system (predator, prey and people).

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“…Moreover, native vegetation remnants also represent an important reservoir of local and regional biodiversity (Angold et al, 2006;Aronson et al, 2014;Ives et al, 2016). Much of what we know about the effects of urbanization is influenced by the large amount of data available on birds and mammals (e.g., Aronson et al, 2014;Gallo, Fidino, Lehrer, & Magle, 2017;Magle, Hunt, Vernon, & Crooks, 2012), the responses of which may not be representative of many other taxa. Arthropods, for instance, are still an understudied group in urban areas (Magle et al 2012), and we still have gaps in our knowledge on how urbanization affects insects (Leather, 2018;Mata et al, 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban forest fragments as unexpected sanctuaries for the rare endemic ghost butterfly from the Atlantic forest

Andrade

Medeiros

Adams

2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Anthropogenic land expansion, particularly urbanization, is pervasive, dramatically modifies the environment and is a major threat to wildlife with its associated environmental stressors. Urban remnant vegetation can help mitigate these impacts and could be vital for species unable to survive in harsh urban environments. Although resembling nonurban habitats, urban vegetation remnants are subject to additional environmental stresses. Here, we evaluate the occurrence and density of the endemic ghost butterfly (Morpho epistrophus nikolajewna) that was once common, in the highly fragmented Atlantic forest of NE Brazil. We tested whether this butterfly would be found at lower densities in urban forest fragments of contrasting sizes as opposed to rural ones, given the number of environmental stressors found in urban areas. We surveyed 14 forest fragments (range 2.8 to over 3,000 ha) of semideciduous Atlantic forest in rural and urban locations using transect based distance sampling. The ghost butterflies showed strong seasonality; flying only from April to June. They were only identified in an urban fragment (515 ha), with an estimate of 720 individuals and a density 1.4 ind/ha. All forest fragments had experienced some level of logging in the past, which might have had an effect in the butterfly population. Nevertheless, rural forest fragments were subject to increased particulate matter concentrations, associated to biomass burning that we suggest might have had a more influential role driving the collapse of rural populations. Our findings show the importance of urban forest remnants to sustain population of this endangered species.

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Mammal diversity and metacommunity dynamics in urban green spaces: implications for urban wildlife conservation

Cited by 116 publications

References 45 publications

Anthropogenic factors influence the occupancy of an invasive carnivore in a suburban preserve system

Anthropogenic factors influence the occupancy of an invasive carnivore in a suburban preserve system

Urbanization alters predator‐avoidance behaviours

Urban forest fragments as unexpected sanctuaries for the rare endemic ghost butterfly from the Atlantic forest

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