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Murray MH, Fidino M, Lehrer EW, Simonis JL, Magle SB. A multi-state occupancy model to non-invasively monitor visible signs of wildlife health with camera traps that accounts for image quality. J Anim Ecol 2021; 90:1973-1984. [PMID: 33942308 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Camera traps are an increasingly popular tool to monitor wildlife distributions. However, traditional analytical approaches to camera trap data are difficult to apply to visible wildlife characteristics in single images, such as infection status. Several parasites produce visible signs of infection that could be sampled via camera traps. Sarcoptic mange Sarcoptes scabiei is an ideal disease to study using cameras because it results in visible hair loss and affects a broad host range. Here, we developed a multi-state occupancy model to estimate the occurrence of mange in coyotes Canis latrans across an urban gradient. This model incorporates a secondary detection function for apparent by-image infection status to provide detection-corrected estimates of mange occurrence. We analysed a multi-year camera trap dataset in Chicago, Illinois, United States, to test whether the apparent occurrence of sarcoptic mange in coyotes Canis latrans increases with urbanization or varies through time. We documented visible signs consistent with current or recovering mange infection and variables we hypothesized would improve mange detection: The proportion of the coyote in frame, image blur and whether the image was in colour. We were more likely to detect coyotes with mange in images that were less blurry, in colour, and if a greater proportion of the coyote was visible. Mangy coyote occupancy was significantly higher in urban developed areas with low housing density and higher canopy cover whereas coyote occupancy, mangy or otherwise, decreased with urbanization. By incorporating image quality into our by-image detection function, we provide a robust method to non-invasively survey visible aspects of wildlife health with camera traps. Apparently mangy coyotes were associated with low-density forested neighbourhoods, which may offer vegetated areas while containing sources of anthropogenic resources. This association may contribute to human-wildlife conflict and reinforces posited relationships between infection risk and habitat use. More generally, our model could provide detection-corrected occupancy estimates of visible characteristics that vary by image such as body condition or injuries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maureen H Murray
- Department of Conservation and Science, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Mason Fidino
- Department of Conservation and Science, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Elizabeth W Lehrer
- Department of Conservation and Science, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | - Seth B Magle
- Department of Conservation and Science, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL, USA
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3
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Fidino M, Gallo T, Lehrer EW, Murray MH, Kay CAM, Sander HA, MacDougall B, Salsbury CM, Ryan TJ, Angstmann JL, Amy Belaire J, Dugelby B, Schell CJ, Stankowich T, Amaya M, Drake D, Hursh SH, Ahlers AA, Williamson J, Hartley LM, Zellmer AJ, Simon K, Magle SB. Landscape-scale differences among cities alter common species' responses to urbanization. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2021; 31:e02253. [PMID: 33141996 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2020] [Revised: 07/27/2020] [Accepted: 08/24/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mason Fidino
- Department of Conservation and Science, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois, 60614, USA
| | - Travis Gallo
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, 22030, USA
| | - Elizabeth W Lehrer
- Department of Conservation and Science, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois, 60614, USA
| | - Maureen H Murray
- Department of Conservation and Science, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois, 60614, USA
| | - Cria A M Kay
- Department of Conservation and Science, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois, 60614, USA
| | - Heather A Sander
- Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 52240, USA
| | - Brandon MacDougall
- Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 52240, USA
| | - Carmen M Salsbury
- Center for Urban Ecology and Sustainability, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46208, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46208, USA
| | - Travis J Ryan
- Center for Urban Ecology and Sustainability, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46208, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46208, USA
| | - Julia L Angstmann
- Department of Biological Sciences, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46208, USA
| | | | - Barbara Dugelby
- Wild Basin Creative Research Center, St. Edward's University, Austin, Texas, 78704, USA
| | - Christopher J Schell
- Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington Tacoma, Tacoma, Washington, 98405, USA
| | - Theodore Stankowich
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, California, 90840, USA
| | - Max Amaya
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, California, 90840, USA
| | - David Drake
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Sheryl H Hursh
- Nelson Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Adam A Ahlers
- Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, 66506, USA
| | - Jacque Williamson
- Department of Education & Conservation, Brandywine Zoo, Wilmington, Delaware, 19802, USA
| | | | - Amanda J Zellmer
- Department of Biology, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California, 90041, USA
- Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy, Pasadena, California, 91102, USA
| | - Kelly Simon
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Austin, Texas, 78774, USA
| | - Seth B Magle
- Department of Conservation and Science, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois, 60614, USA
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Guimarães M, Correa DT, Gaiarsa MP, Kéry M. Full-annual demography and seasonal cycles in a resident vertebrate. PeerJ 2020; 8:e8658. [PMID: 32140310 PMCID: PMC7047866 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2019] [Accepted: 01/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Wildlife demography is typically studied at a single point in time within a year when species, often during the reproductive season, are more active and therefore easier to find. However, this provides only a low-resolution glimpse into demographic temporal patterns over time and may hamper a more complete understanding of the population dynamics of a species over the full annual cycle. The full annual cycle is often influenced by environmental seasonality, which induces a cyclic behavior in many species. However, cycles have rarely been explicitly included in models for demographic parameters, and most information on full annual cycle demography is restricted to migratory species. Here we used a high-resolution capture-recapture study of a resident tropical lizard to assess the full intra-annual demography and within-year periodicity in survival, temporary emigration and recapture probabilities. We found important variation over the annual cycle and up to 92% of the total monthly variation explained by cycles. Fine-scale demographic studies and assessments on the importance of cycles within parameters may be a powerful way to achieve a better understanding of population persistence over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Murilo Guimarães
- Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil
| | - Decio T Correa
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas, Austin, TX, United States of America
| | | | - Marc Kéry
- Swiss Ornithological Institute, Sempach, Switzerland
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