Download or read book The Influence of Coyotes on an Urban Canada Goose Population in the Chicago Metropolitan Area written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Canada geese (Branta canadensis) have become common in many urban areas, often creating nuisance problems for human residents. The presence of urban geese has raised concerns about the spread of disease, increased erosion, excessive noise, eutrophication of waterways, and general nuisance problems. Goose populations have grown due to an increase in urbanization resulting in an abundance of high quality food (urban grass) and suitable nesting sites, as well as a decrease in some predators. I monitored nest predation in the Chicago suburbs during the 2004 and 2005 nesting seasons using 3 nest monitoring techniques to identify predators: video cameras, plasticine eggs, and sign from nest using a classification tree analysis. Of 58 nests monitored in 2004 and 286 in 2005, only raccoons (Procyon lotor) and coyotes (Canis latrans) were identified as nest predators. Raccoons were responsible for 22-25% of depredated nests, but were rarely capable of depredating nests that were actively defended by a goose. Coyotes were responsible for 75-78% of all Canada goose nest depredation and were documented killing one adult goose and feeding on several others. The coyote is a top-level predator that had increased in many metropolitan areas in recent years. To determine if coyotes were actively hunting geese or eggs during the nesting season, I analyzed coyote habitat selection between nesting and pre-nesting or post-nesting seasons. Coyote home ranges (95% Minimum Convex Polygon) were calculated for 19 coyotes to examine third order habitat selection related to goose nest abundance. A 100 m buffer (buffer habitat) was created and centered on each waterway edge and contained 90% of all nests. Coyotes showed selection for habitats during all seasons. Buffer habitat was the top ranked habitat in both pre-nesting and nesting seasons, but dropped to third ranked in post-nesting season. Habitat selection across seasons was compared using a repeated measures MANOVA. Habitat selection between pre-nesting and nesting seasons (P=0.72) were similar, while between post-nesting and nesting seasons there was a nearly significant difference (P=0.07). The insignificant change in habitat use across seasons suggests that coyotes did not switch habitat use to take advantage of goose nests. Alternatively, the change in ranking of buffer habitat across seasons suggests that coyotes may have switched habitat use to take advantage of goose nests. The results are not clear as large individual variation between coyotes due to differences in habitat availability, and social status interfere with the results of the analysis. Even though I failed to find strong support for coyotes actively hunting goose nests, they nevertheless were the primary nest predator in the area and may influence Canada goose populations. To determine the potential influence of coyotes on the Canada goose population, I created a Canada goose matrix population model that included variables such as coyote predation on adults and nests as well as coyote influence on nest desertion. Using the base population model I calculated the Canada goose population to be increasing with [lambda] = 1.055. The removal of all coyote influence on the goose population would allow [lambda] to increase to 1.214. Nest predation was the most important factor related to coyotes: the removal of coyote nest predation from the model resulted in a population growth rate [lambda] = 1.157. Modeling results suggest coyotes are serving as a limiting factor for the Canada goose population within the Chicago metropolitan area.
Download or read book The Influence of Coyotes on an Urban Canada Goose Population in the Chicago Metropolitan Area written by Justin L. Brown and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Canada geese (Branta canadensis) have become common in many urban areas, often creating nuisance problems for human residents. The presence of urban geese has raised concerns about the spread of disease, increased erosion, excessive noise, eutrophication of waterways, and general nuisance problems. Goose populations have grown due to an increase in urbanization resulting in an abundance of high quality food (urban grass) and suitable nesting sites, as well as a decrease in some predators. I monitored nest predation in the Chicago suburbs during the 2004 and 2005 nesting seasons using 3 nest monitoring techniques to identify predators: video cameras, plasticine eggs, and sign from nest using a classification tree analysis. Of 58 nests monitored in 2004 and 286 in 2005, only raccoons (Procyon lotor) and coyotes (Canis latrans) were identified as nest predators. Raccoons were responsible for 22-25% of depredated nests, but were rarely capable of depredating nests that were actively defended by a goose. Coyotes were responsible for 75-78% of all Canada goose nest depredation and were documented killing one adult goose and feeding on several others. The coyote is a top-level predator that had increased in many metropolitan areas in recent years. To determine if coyotes were actively hunting geese or eggs during the nesting season, I analyzed coyote habitat selection between nesting and pre-nesting or post-nesting seasons. Coyote home ranges (95% Minimum Convex Polygon) were calculated for 19 coyotes to examine third order habitat selection related to goose nest abundance. A 100 m buffer (buffer habitat) was created and centered on each waterway edge and contained 90% of all nests. Coyotes showed selection for habitats during all seasons. Buffer habitat was the top ranked habitat in both pre-nesting and nesting seasons, but dropped to third ranked in post-nesting season. Habitat selection across seasons was compared using a repeated measures MANOVA. Habitat selection between pre-nesting and nesting seasons (P =0.72) were similar, while between post-nesting and nesting seasons there was a nearly significant difference (P=0.07). The insignificant change in habitat use across seasons suggests that coyotes did not switch habitat use to take advantage of goose nests. Alternatively, the change in ranking of buffer habitat across seasons suggests that coyotes may have switched habitat use to take advantage of goose nests. The results are not clear as large individual variation between coyotes due to differences in habitat availability, and social status interfere with the results of the analysis. Even though I failed to find strong support for coyotes actively hunting goose nests, they nevertheless were the primary nest predator in the area and may influence Canada goose populations. To determine the potential influence of coyotes on the Canada goose population, I created a Canada goose matrix population model that included variables such as coyote predation on adults and nests as well as coyote influence on nest desertion. Using the base population model I calculated the Canada goose population to be increasing with [lambda] = 1.055. The removal of all coyote influence on the goose population would allow [lambda] to increase to 1.2 14. Nest predation was the most important factor related to coyotes: the removal of coyote nest predation from the model resulted in a population growth rate [lambda] = 1.157. Modeling results suggest coyotes are serving as a limiting factor for the Canada goose population within the Chicago metropolitan area.
Download or read book Feral Cities written by Tristan Donovan and published by Chicago Review Press. This book was released on 2015-04-01 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We tend to think of cities as a realm apart, somehow separate from nature, but nothing could be further from the truth. In Feral Cities, Tristan Donovan digs below the urban gloss to uncover the wild creatures that we share our streets and homes with, and profiles the brave and fascinating people who try to manage them. Along the way readers will meet the wall-eating snails that are invading Miami, the boars that roam Berlin, and the monkey gangs of Cape Town. From feral chickens and carpet-roaming bugs to coyotes hanging out in sandwich shops and birds crashing into skyscrapers, Feral Cities takes readers on a journey through streets and neighborhoods that are far more alive than we often realize, shows how animals are adjusting to urban living, and asks what messages the wildlife in our metropolises have for us.
Download or read book Urban Carnivores written by and published by JHU Press. This book was released on with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Urban Coyotes written by Mary Kay Carson and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2024-08-13 with total page 83 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new addition to the acclaimed Scientists in the Field series, Urban Coyotes follows the scientists of the Urban Coyote Research Project as they track, study, and care for coyotes living among humans in one of America's largest cities, Chicago. But that’s the thing about coyotes. They don’t necessarily do what’s typical or usual, nor what’s expected or predicted. Coyotes are rule breakers. The fourth largest metropolitan area in North America is home to more than nine million people and a surprisingly large population of coyotes. Join the wildlife scientists of the Urban Coyote Research Project as they carry on their twenty-five-year mission: Studying the coyotes of Cook County, Illinois, home to the city of Chicago. Explore questions such as "Where did the coyotes come from—and why?," "Are they a danger to Chicagoans?," and "Do predators create healthier urban ecosystems?" with real-life scientists in the field. Started by urban ecologist Stan Gehrt in the late 1990s when coyotes were first noticed entering the Chicago region, the Urban Coyote Research Project's mission is to help coyotes and human city dwellers live together in peace. With stunning up-close photography by Tom Uhlman, author Mary Kay Carson offers an in-depth look into how these mystifying wild creatures, and those dedicated to studying and protecting them, navigate urban spaces.
Download or read book Animals in the City written by Laura A. Reese and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-11-15 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents interdisciplinary research to examine the ongoing debates around nonhuman animals in urban spaces. It explores how we can better appreciate and accommodate animals in the city, while also exploring the ecological, health, ethical, and cultural implications of the same. The book addresses seven interrelated themes such as blurred boundaries between the human and the nonhuman, the right of nonhuman species to the city, interactions between the human and nonhuman animals, the fabric of urban space, human and nonhuman complex systems, and collective welfare that forms the basis of a transspecies urban theory. It explains how a holistic understanding of the city requires that these blurred boundaries are acknowledged and critically examined. Chapters analytically consider the need to bring interspecies relationships to the fore to tackle questions of legitimacy and who has the "right" to the city. These also consider important intersections between the economic, political, social, and cultural aspects of the urban experience. The research contained in this book focuses on the development of an urban theory that would eradicate the divide between humans and other species in cities, and it depicts nonhuman animals as social actors that have voices within urban spaces. With global insights on human–animal relationships in a contemporary context, this book will be useful reading for scholars and students of urban studies, animal sciences, animal law, animals and public policy, anthropology, and environmental studies who are interested in the study of animals in cities.
Download or read book Urban Coyote Ecology and Management written by Stanley D. Gehrt and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Field Guide to Urban Wildlife written by Julie Feinstein and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2011-01-13 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Identify and understand the wildlife most commonly found living near humans--and how they've adapted to thrive in cities and suburbs.
Download or read book Boldness Behavior and Chronic Stress in Free ranging Urban Coyotes Canis Latrans written by Katie E. Robertson and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wildlife have responded to urbanization in a variety of ways. While some species have been displaced from developed areas, others have learned to tolerate and even thrive in anthropogenic landscapes. Even within a single species, there are inter-individual variations in behavior. Such variations are sometimes attributed to the presence of behavioral syndromes (i.e., suites of correlated behaviors in response to a common stimuli). Behavioral syndromes imply that while a population may contain variations in behavior, each individual has a limited amount of behavioral plasticity. If individuals consistently respond to stressors in a particular manner and some responses are more beneficial than others, the environment may influence which behavioral tendencies dominate in a given location. One commonly-studied set of behavioral syndromes are those associated with the bold-shy spectrum. Bolder individuals are typically defined as being more risk-prone, more exploratory, less neophobic, and less sensitive to stressors. In urban environments, high levels of disturbance, increased human activity, and large quantities of novel items may favor bolder, less anxious individuals over shy individuals. If that is the case, one would expect to find a greater proportion of bold individuals in areas with increased development. Using the Greater Chicago Metropolitan Area as a case study location, we conducted flight initiation distance (FID) tests (n= 78) and novel object tests (n=50) on free-ranging coyotes from 2015-2017. Additionally, hair cortisol concentrations (n= 198) were measured from coyote hair samples that were collected from 2014-2018. We found that coyotes in more developed locations tended to have lower FIDs, behave less cautiously around novel objects, and show slightly higher hair cortisol concentrations than coyotes in more natural settings. Flight initiation distances were consistent across trials for individuals who were tested more than once (n= 18) and coyote responses to two different novel objects (i.e., a garden gnome and a ring stacker toy) were similar, thus providing further evidence that individuals may be predisposed to behave in a particular way each time they are presented with a similar stimulus. The relationship between hair cortisol concentration and behavioral measures was not clear. In addition to urbanization level, coyote social status, health condition, and age were significant predictors of hair cortisol concentration. The findings from this study may have ecological and management implications, as they do imply that human activity and development may be indirectly altering coyote boldness behavior and cortisol production. If coyotes are becoming bolder, their increased tolerance of human activities could lead to increased human-wildlife encounters and more difficulties managing nuisance individuals. Further studies are needed to determine what mechanisms led to the observed differences in coyote boldness across the urbanization gradient (i.e., Are bold individuals the ones that are colonizing urban areas first, do they have higher fitness levels in urban areas and thus are selected for by the environment, or are individual coyotes simply habituating to human disturbance over time?). Additional studies are also needed to determine if the patterns we observed in Chicago’s coyotes are similar to those found in other species and/or in other major metropolitan areas.
Download or read book Holt Biology written by Rob DeSalle and published by Holt Rinehart Winston. This book was released on 2008 with total page 1206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Holt Biology: Student Edition 2008"--
Download or read book Techniques for Wildlife Investigations and Management written by Clait E. Braun and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 1008 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Wild Neighbors written by Humane Society of the United States and published by Fulcrum Group. This book was released on 1997 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Homeowners' guide to dealing with wild animals that focuses on "nonlethal conflict resolution." Discusses 32 mammals, birds, and reptiles, giving each creature's natural history, public health concerns, problems and solutions, and additional sources.
Download or read book Press Summary Illinois Information Service written by Illinois Information Service and published by . This book was released on 2000-02 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Ecological Regions of North America written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume represents a first attempt at holistically classifying and mapping ecological regions across all three countries of the North American continent. A common analytical methodology is used to examine North American ecology at multiple scales, from large continental ecosystems to subdivisions of these that correlate more detailed physical and biological settings with human activities on two levels of successively smaller units. The volume begins with an overview of North America from an ecological perspective, concepts of ecological regionalization. This is followed by descriptions of the 15 broad ecological regions, including information on physical and biological setting and human activities. The final section presents case studies in applications of the ecological characterization methodology to environmental issues. The appendix includes a list of common and scientific names of selected species characteristic of the ecological regions.
Download or read book Public Health Significance of Urban Pests written by Xavier Bonnefoy and published by World Health Organization. This book was released on 2008 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century witnessed important changes in ecology, climate and human behaviour that favoured the development of urban pests. Most alarmingly, urban planners now face the dramatic expansion of urban sprawl, in which city suburbs are growing into the natural habitats of ticks, rodents and other pests. Also, many city managers now erroneously assume that pest-borne diseases are relics of the past. All these changes make timely a new analysis of the direct and indirect effects of present-day urban pests on health. Such an analysis should lead to the development of strategies to manage them and reduce the risk of exposure. To this end, WHO invited international experts in various fields - pests, pest-related diseases and pest management - to provide evidence on which to base policies. These experts identified the public health risk posed by various pests and appropriate measures to prevent and control them. This book presents their conclusions and formulates policy options for all levels of decision-making to manage pests and pest-related diseases in the future. [Ed.]
Download or read book Coyotes written by Marc Bekoff and published by . This book was released on 2001-11-01 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1978, this text pulls together much disparate research in coyote evolution, taxonomy, reproduction, communication, behavioral development, population dynamics, and ecological studies in the Southwest, Minnesota, Iowa, New England, and Wyoming. (Animals/Pets)
Download or read book Tracking the Art of Seeing written by Paul Rezendes and published by Camden House Publishing (Ontario, CA). This book was released on 1992 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book will help anyone who is interested to re-enter the ancient dialogue between animals and humans, a dialogue which is at the core of a nondestructive way of being in nature.
