Urban Food Webs: Predators, Prey, and the People Who Feed Them

Warren, Paige S.; Tripler, Chris; Bolger, Douglas T.; Faeth, Stanley H.; Huntly, Nancy J.; Lepczyk, Christopher A.; Meyer, Judith; Parker, T. Jeffery; Shochat, Eyal; Walker, Jason

doi:10.1890/0012-9623(2006)87[387:ufwppa]2.0.co;2

Cited by 27 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Moreover, compared with the surrounding Sonoran Desert, Phoenix landscapes have abundant resources and reduced predator risks. Reduced predation risk has been shown to elevate the abundance of urban birds and alter their foraging behavior such that they exert increased topdown effects on arthropods (Warren et al 2006). Finally, population dynamics and tree root colonization patterns of soil borne arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in Phoenix landscapes has been shown to be reduced likely by landscape irrigation and higher levels of soil nutrients, especially soil P (Stabler et al 2001).…”

Section: Landscape Management Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape Sustainability in a Sonoran Desert City

Martin¹

2008

CATE

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The objective of this paper is to discuss concepts of landscape sustainability in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Phoenix is situated in the greater Salt River Valley of the lower Sonoran Desert in the southwest United States. In this paper I use the ecological frameworks of ecosystem services and resiliency as a metric for understanding landscape sustainability. An assessment of landscape sustainability performance benchmarks were made by surveying research findings of scientists affiliated with the Central Arizona Phoenix Long Term Ecological Research Project (CAP LTER). In Phoenix, present day emphases on cultural, aesthetic, and habitat formation ecosystem services within an arid ecoregion of low natural resilience coupled to a complex matrix of socioeconomic stratification, excessive landscape water use and pruning practices has had the undesired effect of degrading landscape sustainability. This has been measured as mixed patterns of plant diversity and human-altered patterns of carbon regulation, microclimate control, and trophic dynamics. In the future, sustainable residential landscaping in desert cities such as Phoenix may be fostered through use of water-conserving irrigation technologies, oasis-style landscape design motifs, recycling of landscape green waste, and conservative plant pruning strategies.

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Section: Landscape Management Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape Sustainability in a Sonoran Desert City

Martin¹

2008

CATE

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“…The "urban wildlife syndrome", increased density, increased intraspecific aggression, and a reduced fear of humans have been suggested as the more observable and frequently described characteristics of wildlife species undergoing synurbization, the process of becoming urbanized (Warren et al 2006). This suite of characteristics has been described in urban populations of gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis ;Flyger 1970), rock doves (Columba livia; Cooke 1980), coyote (Canis latrans; Shargo 1988), striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius; Gliwicz et al 1994), blackbirds (Turdus merula; Gliwicz et al 1994), raccoons (Procyon lotor;Smith and Engeman 2002), and northern water snakes (Nerodia sipedon; Burger 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gray squirrel density, habitat suitability, and behavior in urban parks

Parker

Nilon

2008

Urban Ecosyst

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Increased density, increased intraspecific aggression, and a reduced fear of humans have been suggested as the more observable and frequently described characteristics of wildlife species undergoing synurbization, the process of becoming urbanized. The relationship among these variables and how they may be related to environmental variables that change with urbanization is poorly understood. In this paper we explore the relationship between density, intraspecific aggression, and reduced fear of humans in urban populations of gray squirrel. In the summer and fall of 2003 and 2004, we studied a park with a documented high density of gray squirrels, Lafayette Park, Washington, DC, and six urban parks in Baltimore, MD with unknown squirrel densities. We used linear regression (SAS Institute, SAS/STAT user's guide. SAS Institute, Cary, NC, 2005) to determine if there was a relationship (P<0.05) between squirrel density and intraspecific aggression, squirrel density and reduced fear of humans (wariness), and squirrel density and habitat suitability. We found a positive association between density and intraspecific aggression (R 2 =0.81, P<0.00). A negative relationship between density and wariness (R 2 adj ¼ 0:71, P<0.00). However, no relationship was evident between habitat suitability and squirrel density (R 2 adj ¼ À0:50, P=0.437).

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“…Human settlements provide food to urban wildlife via garbage, non-native plants, pet food, road kill, and intentional feeding such as birdseed (Chaps. 4, 6;Warren et al 2006a). Of these food sources, garbage is the predominant source of food for most urban mammals and some birds ( Fig.…”

Section: Foraging Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban Wildlife Behavior

Ryan

Partan

2014

Urban Wildlife

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Wild animals in urban areas face unique challenges. They live in environments modified by and for humans without having evolved in them, but unlike domesticated animals, they remain under the auspices of natural selection. We do not yet know how living in urban areas will ultimately affect the animals that share our urban environments, but we are at the beginning of a new and important scientific effort to study the effects of urbanization on wildlife. Early signs suggest that animals that can tolerate urbanization are quite different in behavior and physiology than those that are limited in distribution to natural areas .In this chapter, we focus on how animal behavior changes in response to urbanization. We use the term urban to refer to habitats undergoing intense human development for purposes of human residency, as seen in cities and suburbs (see Gehrt 2010). Understanding why some animals successfully adapt their behavior to urban areas and others do not can contribute to both the management of urban wildlife and the conservation of species that do not fare well during urbanization. After addressing the behavioral effects of urbanization, we conclude with implications for evolution and biodiversity of animals in urban environments. We have limited our review to terrestrial vertebrates with a few exceptions. Aquatic animal

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Urban Food Webs: Predators, Prey, and the People Who Feed Them

Cited by 27 publications

References 2 publications

Landscape Sustainability in a Sonoran Desert City

Landscape Sustainability in a Sonoran Desert City

Gray squirrel density, habitat suitability, and behavior in urban parks

Urban Wildlife Behavior

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