Seasonal comparisons of daily activity budgets of gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) in urban areas

Parker, Tommy S.; Gonzales, Shinelle K.; Nilon, Charles H.

doi:10.1007/s11252-014-0371-2

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Although they are sensitive to the forest destruction (Thorington Jr et al 2012), they are also likely to thrive in urban environments. For example, squirrels in urban habitats exhibit higher population density (Parker and Nilon 2008), increased boldness, (Uchida et al 2016) higher aggressiveness (Parker and Nilon 2008), and increased activity levels (Parker et al 2014) compared to conspecifics in non-urbanized habitats, which could be attributed to reduced predation risk and high abundant resources. In addition, while humans are the main stressor for many animals, squirrels in urban areas often interact with humans and are highly habituated (Uchida et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of multiple behavioral traits between urban and rural squirrels

et al. 2020

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Recent rapid urbanization has imposed novel challenges to animals. Urban animals alter their behaviors such as increased boldness, exploration, and aggressiveness to cope with anthropogenic disturbance. However, most previous studies were highly biased toward birds and examined a limited number of behavioral traits, often employing species-specific methods. Thus, we still do not fully understand how other taxa behaviorally adjust to urbanization. In this study, we investigated multiple behavioral traits between urban and rural Eurasian red squirrels, Sciurus vulgaris, which is one of the typical urban colonizers across northern Eurasia. The open field test (OFT) and mirror image stimulation (MIS), two well-established methods for quantifying animal personality, were employed for behavioral comparisons. We also used several other measurements, such as flight distances and the number of mobbing calls directed at humans. The principal component analysis approach for OFT and MIS provided an activity-shyness axis and stress response axis in OFT and sociability-avoidance axis in MIS, which had significant repeatability within individuals. However, most axes were not significantly different between urban and rural areas, while the stress response of urban squirrels was significantly weaker than that of rural conspecifics. On the contrary, human-related behaviors such as flight distance and the number of mobbing calls toward humans were significantly different between urban and rural habitats. Therefore, behavioral modifications reported in previous studies might reflect only human-related disturbances: some urban animals such as mammals may be able to flexibly change behaviors depending on the situation, while their innate character or personality remains unchanged. This study underscores the importance of measuring multiple behaviors using different methods in non-avian species, focusing especially on human-associated behaviors.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of multiple behavioral traits between urban and rural squirrels

et al. 2020

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“…Time budgets provide a useful method to test ecological hypotheses (Isbell & Young, 1993) as they allow the representation of time allocation where trade-offs in behaviors are illustrative of the resources and time available (Dunbar, Korstjens & Lehmann, 2009). Time budget analyses have been employed across urban wildlife to demonstrate the effects of urbanization and landscape changes (burrowing owls, Athene cunicularia hypugaea : Chipman et al, 2008; gray squirrels, Sciurus carolinensis: Parker, Gonzales, & Nilon, 2014; bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops aduncus: Steiner, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic influences on the time budgets of urban vervet monkeys

Thatcher

Downs

Koyama

2019

Landscape and Urban Planning

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Continuing urban developments are ecologically changing many landscapes. A greater understanding of how wildlife adapt behaviorally to these changes is necessary to inform management decisions. Time is a valuable resource to wildlife and a reflection of ecological pressures on the behavioral repertoire of an animal. Data on urban vervet monkey, Chlorocebus pygerythrus, time budgets are generally limited and dated. We aimed to investigate the effect of anthropogenic influences, both human food consumption (positive) and human-monkey conflict (negative) on the time budgets of vervet monkeys in an urban landscape. We collected 20 min. focal animal observations and used generalized linear mixed models to assess the variation in time budget between five urban vervet monkey groups differing in anthropogenic contact over one year. We recorded anthropogenic interactions ad lib. as positive and negative. Our results showed seasonal influences across all behaviors. Furthermore, anthropogenic disturbance influenced all aspects of time budget to some degree. We found a positive interaction effect between positive and negative human incidents on foraging, and a negative interaction effect on movement and social behavior. Overall, vervet monkeys exhibited behavioral flexibility in the urban landscape. We suggest a complex association of costs and benefits to urban living.

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“…When ambient temperatures increased, less squirrels were observed on and inside trash bins and they retrieved less food items. Squirrels are usually less active during periods of the day with high ambient temperatures (Skibiel et al 2002 ; Parker et al 2014 ), likely explaining the negative relationship between temperature and trash bin usage. Another explanation for this finding might be that squirrels likely have a lower requirement for high caloric food when ambient temperatures are high (i.e., summer), due to decreased energy requirements for thermoregulatory heat production to maintain body temperature at high ambient temperatures (Heldmaier et al 1990 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gray squirrels consume anthropogenic food waste most often during winter

et al. 2022

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Urban habitats provide wildlife with predictable, easily accessible and abundant food sources in the form of human food waste. Urban eastern gray squirrels ( Sciurus carolinensis ) are commonly observed feeding in trash bins, but we lack data regarding the type, quantity and seasonal changes in food waste usage. We observed five trash bins on an urban university campus during four different observation periods. We recorded the time squirrels spent on and inside trash bins and type of retrieved food items. We also recorded ambient temperature, human presence and trash bin filling. Moreover, we determined changes in squirrel population density in a natural and three anthropogenic habitats during the same periods. Trash bins were fuller when human presence was higher. The higher human presence, the more squirrels went on and inside the bin, but there was no effect on number of retrieved food items. Trash bin usage by squirrels decreased when ambient temperature and bin filling increased. Most food items were retrieved during the coldest observation period, a period of high human presence, and the majority of retrieved food items were starchy foods (e.g., bread, French fries). The relationship between the number of squirrels observed along transects and a measure of urbanization, the normalized difference built-up index, was negative in periods with high ambient temperatures and positive in periods with low ambient temperatures, indicating winter may be less challenging in urban areas, likely facilitated by the availability of anthropogenic food sources, allowing a higher level of activity throughout winter. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42991-022-00326-3.

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Seasonal comparisons of daily activity budgets of gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) in urban areas

Cited by 11 publications

References 39 publications

Comparison of multiple behavioral traits between urban and rural squirrels

Comparison of multiple behavioral traits between urban and rural squirrels

Anthropogenic influences on the time budgets of urban vervet monkeys

Gray squirrels consume anthropogenic food waste most often during winter

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