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Martín J, Ortega J, García-Roa R, Rodríguez-Ruiz G, Pérez-Cembranos A, Pérez-Mellado V. Effects of Anthropogenic Disturbance of Natural Habitats on the Feeding Ecology of Moorish Geckos. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:1413. [PMID: 37106976 PMCID: PMC10135194 DOI: 10.3390/ani13081413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2023] [Revised: 04/15/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Urbanization and anthropic influences can drastically modify a natural habitat and transform it into an easily recognizable "urban habitat". Human activities can also induce less severe modifications of what apparently might still look like natural habitats. Therefore, these subtle alterations may be hidden but can still cause important negative effects on plant and animals. In contrast, some species seem able to take advantage of these anthropic alterations. Here, we examined the possible effects of the anthropogenic disturbance of an apparent natural habitat on the feeding ecology and body condition of Moorish geckos, Tarentola mauritanica. For this, we compared microhabitat structure, invertebrate availability, the diet composition (estimated from fecal contents), diet selection patterns and body condition of the two populations of geckos inhabiting two contiguous small islands. These islands have similar environmental characteristics, but highly contrasting differences in urbanization and anthropogenic influence. We found that, although the abundance of potential invertebrate prey was similar on both habitats, the diversity of invertebrate prey was lower in the altered habitat. As a consequence, although composition of the diet of geckos was similar on both islands, the diversity of prey and food niche breadth were lower in the altered habitat, and patterns of diet selection changed. However, these inter-habitat differences did not seem to affect the body size and body condition of geckos. We discuss how flexibility in feeding ecology may allow some species to cope with small anthropic disturbances of the habitat.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Martín
- Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
| | - Jesús Ortega
- Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
- Ethology Lab, Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, 46980 Valencia, Spain
| | - Roberto García-Roa
- Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
- Ethology Lab, Cavanilles Institute of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, University of Valencia, 46980 Valencia, Spain
| | - Gonzalo Rodríguez-Ruiz
- Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ana Pérez-Cembranos
- Departamento de Biología Animal, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
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Ayala F, Zeta-Flores M, Ramos-Baldárrago S, Tume-Ruiz J, Rangel-Vega A, Reyes E, Quinde E, De-la-Torre GE, Lajo-Salazar L, Cárdenas-Alayza S. Terrestrial mammals of the Americas and their interactions with plastic waste. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2023; 30:57759-57770. [PMID: 36971935 PMCID: PMC10040927 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-26617-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
Plastics have brought many benefits to society, but their mismanagement has turned them into a serious environmental problem. Today, the effects of plastic waste on wildlife are becoming increasingly evident. Since studies on plastic pollution have focused on species in marine ecosystems, here we review current knowledge on interactions between terrestrial mammals and plastic waste in the countries of the Americas, which is a global hotspot of mammalian biodiversity and in turn has, among its member countries, nations with high per capita generations of plastic waste globally. We identified 46 scientific articles documenting plastic ingestion in 37 species and four species that used plastic waste for nest or burrow construction. Of the 46 investigations, seven focused on plastic contamination, while the others reported on the presence of plastics in wildlife, even though this was not the primary focus of the research. However, these publications lack analytical methods commonly used in plastic studies, and only one study applied a standardized methodology for plastic detection. Therefore, in general, plastic pollution research on terrestrial mammals is limited. We extend several recommendations such as designing methodologies that are adapted to terrestrial mammals for the identification of plastics in fecal matter or gastrointestinal contents, carrying out species-specific analyzes on the impacts of plastics in nests or burrows, and giving further attention to this understudied issue and taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Félix Ayala
- Centro para la Sostenibilidad Ambiental, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru.
- Subgerencia de Salud y Medio Ambiente, Municipalidad Provincial de Sechura, Piura, Peru.
| | - Martín Zeta-Flores
- Facultad de Ingeniería de Minas, Universidad Nacional de Piura, Piura, Peru
| | | | - Juan Tume-Ruiz
- Facultad de Ingeniería Pesquera, Universidad Nacional de Piura, Piura, Peru
| | - Antia Rangel-Vega
- Facultad de Ingeniería Pesquera, Universidad Nacional de Piura, Piura, Peru
| | - Eddy Reyes
- Facultad de Ingeniería Pesquera, Universidad Nacional de Piura, Piura, Peru
| | - Edgardo Quinde
- Facultad de Ingeniería Pesquera, Universidad Nacional de Piura, Piura, Peru
| | - Gabriel Enrique De-la-Torre
- Grupo de Investigación de Biodiversidad, Medio Ambiente y Sociedad, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola, Lima, Peru
| | - Leticia Lajo-Salazar
- División de Mastozoología, Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad (CORBIDI), Lima, Peru
| | - Susana Cárdenas-Alayza
- Centro para la Sostenibilidad Ambiental, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
- Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Fisiológicas, Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofía, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
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Davenport RN, Weaver M, Weiss KCB, Strauss EG. Spatiotemporal relationships of coyotes and free-ranging domestic cats as indicators of conflict in Culver City, California. PeerJ 2022; 10:e14169. [PMID: 36225908 PMCID: PMC9549883 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
As habitat generalists, urban coyote (Canis latrans) populations often utilize an abundance of diverse food sources in cities. Within southern California, domestic cats (Felis catus) comprise a higher proportion of coyote diets than in other studied urban areas throughout the United States. However, it is unclear which ecological factors contribute to higher rates of cat depredation by coyotes in this region. While previous research suggests that coyote presence may have a negative effect on free-ranging domestic cat distributions, few studies have determined whether urban green spaces affect coyote or free-ranging domestic cat occurrence and activity within a predominantly urbanized landscape. We placed 20 remote wildlife cameras across a range of green spaces and residential sites in Culver City, California, an area of Los Angeles County experiencing pronounced coyote-domestic cat conflict. Using data collected across 6 months from 2019-2020, we assessed the influence of green space and prey species (i.e., cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus spp.) and domestic cats) on coyote habitat use and activity. Coyotes exhibited a preference for sites with higher amounts of green space, while domestic cat habitat use was high throughout our study region. Although cottontail rabbit habitat use was also highly associated with urban green space, neither cottontails nor domestic cats appeared to temporally overlap significantly with coyotes. Unlike other cities where coyotes and domestic cats exhibit strong habitat partitioning across the landscape, domestic cats and coyotes spatially overlapped in green space fragments throughout Culver City. We suggest that this pattern of overlap may be responsible for the frequent cases of domestic cat depredation by coyotes in Culver City.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca N. Davenport
- Center for Urban Resilience, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California, United States,Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, United States
| | - Melinda Weaver
- Center for Urban Resilience, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California, United States
| | | | - Eric G. Strauss
- Center for Urban Resilience, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California, United States
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Henger CS, Hargous E, Nagy CM, Weckel M, Wultsch C, Krampis K, Duncan N, Gormezano L, Munshi-South J. DNA metabarcoding reveals that coyotes in New York City consume wide variety of native prey species and human food. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13788. [PMID: 36164598 PMCID: PMC9508883 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2022] [Accepted: 07/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Carnivores are currently colonizing cities where they were previously absent. These urban environments are novel ecosystems characterized by habitat degradation and fragmentation, availability of human food, and different prey assemblages than surrounding areas. Coyotes (Canis latrans) established a breeding population in New York City (NYC) over the last few decades, but their ecology within NYC is poorly understood. In this study, we used non-invasive scat sampling and DNA metabarcoding to profile vertebrate, invertebrate, and plant dietary items with the goal to compare the diets of urban coyotes to those inhabiting non-urban areas. We found that both urban and non-urban coyotes consumed a variety of plants and animals as well as human food. Raccoons (Procyon lotor) were an important food item for coyotes within and outside NYC. In contrast, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were mainly eaten by coyotes inhabiting non-urban areas. Domestic chicken (Gallus gallus) was the human food item found in most scats from both urban and non-urban coyotes. Domestic cats (Felis catus) were consumed by urban coyotes but were detected in only a small proportion of the scats (<5%), which differs markedly from high rates of cat depredation in some other cities. In addition, we compared our genetic metabarcoding analysis to a morphological analysis of the same scat samples. We found that the detection similarity between the two methods was low and it varied depending on the type of diet item.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carol S. Henger
- Louis Calder Biological Field Station, Fordham University, Armonk, New York, United States
| | - Emily Hargous
- Louis Calder Biological Field Station, Fordham University, Armonk, New York, United States
| | | | - Mark Weckel
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States
| | - Claudia Wultsch
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States,Bioinformatics and Computational Genomics Laboratory, City University of New York, Hunter College, New York, New York, United States
| | - Konstantinos Krampis
- Bioinformatics and Computational Genomics Laboratory, City University of New York, Hunter College, New York, New York, United States,Department of Biological Sciences, City University of New York, Hunter College, New York, New York, United States,Institute of Computational Biomedicine, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York, United States
| | - Neil Duncan
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States
| | - Linda Gormezano
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States
| | - Jason Munshi-South
- Louis Calder Biological Field Station, Fordham University, Armonk, New York, United States
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Bandyopadhyay M, Burton AC, Gupta SK, Krishnamurthy R. Understanding the distribution and fine-scale habitat selection of mesocarnivores along a habitat quality gradient in western Himalaya. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13993. [PMID: 36132214 PMCID: PMC9484455 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2022] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Human activities have resulted in a rapid increase of modified habitats in proximity to wildlife habitats in the Himalaya. However, it is crucial to understand the extent to which human habitat modification affects wildlife. Mesocarnivores generally possess broader niches than large carnivores and adapt quickly to human activities. Here, we use a case study in the western Himalaya to test the hypothesis that human disturbance influenced mesocarnivore habitat use. Methods: We used camera trapping and mitochondrial DNA-based species identification from faecal samples to obtain mesocarnivore detections. We then compared the responses of mesocarnivores between an anthropogenic site and a less disturbed park along a contiguous gradient in habitat quality. The non-linear pattern in species-specific habitat selection and factors responsible for space usage around villages was captured using hierarchical generalized additive modelling (HGAM) and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination. Results: Wildlife occurrences along the gradient varied by species. Leopard cat and red fox were the only terrestrial mesocarnivores that occurred in both anthropogenic site and park. We found a shift in habitat selection from less disturbed habitat in the park to disturbed habitat in anthropogenic site for the species detected in both the habitat types. For instance, red fox showed habitat selection towards high terrain ruggedness (0.5 to 0.7 TRI) and low NDVI (-0.05 to 0.2) in the park but no such specific selection in anthropogenic site. Further, leopard cat showed habitat selection towards moderate slope (20°) and medium NDVI (0.5) in park but no prominent habitat selections in anthropogenic site. The results revealed their constrained behaviour which was further supported by the intensive site usage close to houses, agricultural fields and human trails in villages. Conclusions: Our results indicate shifts in habitat selection and intensive site usage by mesocarnivores in the human-modified habitat. In future, this suggests the possibility of conflict and disease spread affecting both the people and wildlife. Therefore, this study highlights the requisite to test the wildlife responses to rapidly growing human expansions in modified habitats to understand the extent of impact. The management strategies need to have an integrated focus for further expansions of modified habitat and garbage disposal strategies, especially in the human-wildlife interface area.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - A. Cole Burton
- Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | | | - Ramesh Krishnamurthy
- Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India,Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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Porter SM, Hartwig AE, Bielefeldt-Ohmann H, Bosco-Lauth AM, Root JJ. Susceptibility of Wild Canids to SARS-CoV-2. Emerg Infect Dis 2022; 28:1852-1855. [PMID: 35830965 PMCID: PMC9423904 DOI: 10.3201/eid2809.220223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
We assessed 2 wild canid species, red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and coyotes (Canis latrans), for susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2. After experimental inoculation, red foxes became infected and shed infectious virus. Conversely, experimentally challenged coyotes did not become infected; therefore, coyotes are unlikely to be competent hosts for SARS-CoV-2.
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The effects of red fox scent on winter activity patterns of suburban wildlife: evaluating predator-prey interactions and the importance of groundhog burrows in promoting biodiversity. Urban Ecosyst 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s11252-020-01056-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
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