Landscape-scale differences among cities alter common species' responses to urbanization

Mason Fidino¹, Travis Gallo², Elizabeth W Lehrer¹, Maureen H Murray¹, Cria A M Kay¹, Heather A Sander³, Brandon MacDougall³, Carmen M Salsbury^{4

5}, Travis J Ryan^{4

5}, Julia L Angstmann⁵, J Amy Belaire⁶, Barbara Dugelby⁷, Christopher J Schell⁸, Theodore Stankowich⁹, Max Amaya⁹, David Drake¹⁰, Sheryl H Hursh¹¹, Adam A Ahlers¹², Jacque Williamson¹³, Laurel M Hartley¹⁴, Amanda J Zellmer^{15

16}, Kelly Simon¹⁷, Seth B Magle¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Conservation and Science, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois, 60614, USA.
² Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, 22030, USA.
³ Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 52240, USA.
⁴ Center for Urban Ecology and Sustainability, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46208, USA.
⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46208, USA.
⁶ The Nature Conservancy, Austin, Texas, 78701, USA.
⁷ Wild Basin Creative Research Center, St. Edward's University, Austin, Texas, 78704, USA.
⁸ Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington Tacoma, Tacoma, Washington, 98405, USA.
⁹ Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, California, 90840, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA.
¹¹ Nelson Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA.
¹² Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, 66506, USA.
¹³ Department of Education & Conservation, Brandywine Zoo, Wilmington, Delaware, 19802, USA.
¹⁴ University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colorado, 80217, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Biology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California, 90041, USA.
¹⁶ Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy, Pasadena, California, 91102, USA.
¹⁷ Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Austin, Texas, 78774, USA.

PMID: 33141996
DOI: 10.1002/eap.2253

Landscape-scale differences among cities alter common species' responses to urbanization

Mason Fidino et al. Ecol Appl. 2021 Mar.

. 2021 Mar;31(2):e02253.

doi: 10.1002/eap.2253. Epub 2020 Dec 22.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Conservation and Science, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois, 60614, USA.
² Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, 22030, USA.
³ Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 52240, USA.
⁴ Center for Urban Ecology and Sustainability, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46208, USA.
⁵ Department of Biological Sciences, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46208, USA.
⁶ The Nature Conservancy, Austin, Texas, 78701, USA.
⁷ Wild Basin Creative Research Center, St. Edward's University, Austin, Texas, 78704, USA.
⁸ Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington Tacoma, Tacoma, Washington, 98405, USA.
⁹ Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, California, 90840, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA.
¹¹ Nelson Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA.
¹² Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, 66506, USA.
¹³ Department of Education & Conservation, Brandywine Zoo, Wilmington, Delaware, 19802, USA.
¹⁴ University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colorado, 80217, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Biology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California, 90041, USA.
¹⁶ Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy, Pasadena, California, 91102, USA.
¹⁷ Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Austin, Texas, 78774, USA.

PMID: 33141996
DOI: 10.1002/eap.2253

Abstract

Understanding how biodiversity responds to urbanization is challenging, due in part to the single-city focus of most urban ecological research. Here, we delineate continent-scale patterns in urban species assemblages by leveraging data from a multi-city camera trap survey and quantify how differences in greenspace availability and average housing density among 10 North American cities relate to the distribution of eight widespread North American mammals. To do so, we deployed camera traps at 569 sites across these ten cities between 18 June and 14 August. Most data came from 2017, though some cities contributed 2016 or 2018 data if it was available. We found that the magnitude and direction of most species' responses to urbanization within a city were associated with landscape-scale differences among cities. For example, eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) responses to urbanization changed from negative to positive once the proportion of green space within a city was >~20%. Likewise, raccoon (Procyon lotor) and Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) responses to urbanization changed from positive to negative once the average housing density of a city exceeded about 700 housing units/km² . We also found that local species richness within cities consistently declined with urbanization in only the more densely developed cities (>~700 housing units/km² ). Given our results, it may therefore be possible to design cities to better support biodiversity and reduce the negative influence of urbanization on wildlife by, for example, increasing the amount of green space within a city. Additionally, it may be most important for densely populated cities to find innovative solutions to bolster wildlife resilience because they were the most likely to observe diversity losses of common urban species.

Keywords: camera trap; mammal; multi-city survey; occupancy; species richness; urbanization; wildlife.

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References

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Landscape-scale differences among cities alter common species' responses to urbanization

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Landscape-scale differences among cities alter common species' responses to urbanization

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