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Research on urban wildlife can help promote coexistence and guide future interactions between humans and wildlife in developed regions, but most such investigations are limited to short-term, single-species studies, typically conducted within a single city. This restricted focus prevents scientists from recognizing global patterns and first principles regarding urban wildlife behavior and ecology. To overcome these limitations, we have designed a pioneering research network, the Urban Wildlife Information Network (UWIN), whereby partners collaborate across several cities to systematically collect data to populate long-term datasets on multiple species in urban areas. Data collected via UWIN support analyses that will enable us to build basic theory related to urban wildlife ecology. An analysis of mammals in seven metropolitan regions suggests that common species are similar across cities, but relative rates of occupancy differ markedly. We ultimately view UWIN as an applied tool that can be used to connect the public to urban nature at a continental scale, and provide information critical to urban planners and landscape architects. Our network therefore has the potential to advance knowledge and to improve the ability to plan and manage cities to support biodiversity.

Time is a fundamental component of ecological processes. How animal behavior changes over time has been explored through well-known ecological theories like niche partitioning and predator–prey dynamics. Yet, changes in animal behavior within the shorter 24-hr light–dark cycle have largely gone unstudied. Understanding if an animal can adjust their temporal activity to mitigate or adapt to environmental change has become a recent topic of discussion and is important for effective wildlife management and conservation. While spatial habitat is a fundamental consideration in wildlife management and conservation, temporal habitat is often ignored. We formulated a temporal resource selection model to quantify the diel behavior of 8 mammal species across 10 US cities. We found high variability in diel activity patterns within and among species and species-specific correlations between diel activity and human population density, impervious land cover, available greenspace, vegetation cover, and mean daily temperature. We also found that some species may modulate temporal behaviors to manage both natural and anthropogenic risks. Our results highlight the complexity with which temporal activity patterns interact with local environmental characteristics, and suggest that urban mammals may use time along the 24-hr cycle to reduce risk, adapt, and therefore persist, and in some cases thrive, in human-dominated ecosystems.

Resource distribution, habitat structure, and predators greatly influence spatial and temporal landscape use by prey species. The “risky places” hypothesis establishes prey will proactively respond to predators' presence based on habitat cues, whereas the “risky times” hypothesis predicts prey will reactively respond by increasing vigilance in the presence of predators regardless of habitat cues. We fit a multiscale, Bayesian species interaction occupancy model with detection/non‐detection data to evaluate black‐tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) and eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus) habitat use in the presence and absence of coyotes (Canis latrans), American badgers (Taxidea taxus), and swift foxes (Vulpes velox). We also evaluated how species‐specific predator presence modified temporal activity patterns of prey. Jackrabbits decreased habitat use in areas with greater forage and opted to use areas with greater visibility when coyotes or swift foxes were present. However, cottontails used habitat in open areas with greater visibility when American badgers were present and all other predators absent, suggesting dissimilar habitat‐use patterns dictated by predator‐specific risks. Both lagomorph species are nocturnal with segregated peaks of activity compared with predators, suggesting fine‐scale temporal use partitioning. Our results provide insights into predator–prey dynamics across heterogenous landscapes in a multi‐predator system.

Recent studies have documented benefits of small, prescribed fire and wildfire for grassland‐dependent wildlife, such as lesser prairie‐chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicintus), but wildlife demographic response to the scale and intensity of megafire (wildfire >40,000 ha) in modern, fragmented grasslands remains unknown. Limited available grassland habitat makes it imperative to understand if increasing frequency of megafires could further reduce already declining lesser prairie‐chicken populations, or if historical evolutionary interactions with fire make lesser prairie‐chickens resilient. To evaluate lesser prairie‐chicken demographic response to megafires, we compared lek counts, nest density, and survival rates of adults, nests, and chicks before (2014–2016) and after (2018–2020) a 2017 megafire in the mixed‐grass prairie of Kansas, USA (Starbuck fire ~254,000 ha). There was a 67% decline in attending males on leks post‐fire and a 57% decline in occupied leks post‐fire. Despite population declines as indicated by lek counts, adult female breeding season survival (Ŝ $$ \\hat{\\mathrm{S}} $$ ) was similar pre‐ (Ŝ $$ \\hat{\\mathrm{S}} $$  = 0.65 ± 0.08 [SE]) and post‐fire (0.61 ± 0.08), as was chick survival (pre‐fire: 0.23 ± 0.07; post‐fire: 0.27 ± 0.11). Nest survival appeared lower post‐fire (pre‐fire: 0.38 ± 0.06; post‐fire: 0.20 ± 0.06), but did not differ at the 95% confidence interval. Nest density of marked females declined 73% in areas burned by megafire. Although lesser prairie‐chickens persisted in the study area and we documented minimal effects on most demographic rates, reduced lesser prairie‐chicken abundance and reproductive output suggests full recovery may take >3 years. Increased propensity for megafire resulting from suppression of smaller fires, compounded by climate change and woody encroachment, may impose a short‐term (3–5 year) threat to already declining lesser prairie‐chicken populations. Megafires are increasing globally and in the Great Plains, USA, potentially threatening grassland dependent wildlife in the region. We examined short‐term lesser prairie‐chicken demographic response to megafire and found minimal impacts to vital rates; however, reproductive output and the overall population declined. While evolutionary interaction with fire likely provided lesser prairie‐chickens some resilience to megafire, increased megafire potential still poses a threat to this declining species.

Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of droughts and intensity of seasonal precipitation in many regions. Semiaquatic mammals should be vulnerable to this increased variability in precipitation, especially in human-modified landscapes where dispersal to suitable habitat or temporary refugia may be limited. Using six years of presence-absence data (2007-2012) spanning years of record-breaking drought and flood conditions, we evaluated regional occupancy dynamics of American mink (Neovison vison) and muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) in a highly altered agroecosystem in Illinois, USA. We used noninvasive sign surveys and a multiseason occupancy modeling approach to estimate annual occupancy rates for both species and related these rates to summer precipitation. We also tracked radiomarked individuals to assess mortality risk for both species when moving in terrestrial areas. Annual model-averaged estimates of occupancy for mink and muskrat were correlated positively to summer precipitation. Mink and muskrats were widespread during a year (2008) with above-average precipitation. However, estimates of site occupancy declined substantially for mink (0.56) and especially muskrats (0.09) during the severe drought of 2012. Mink are generalist predators that probably use terrestrial habitat during droughts. However, mink had substantially greater risk of mortality away from streams. In comparison, muskrats are more restricted to aquatic habitats and likely suffered high mortality during the drought. Our patterns are striking, but a more mechanistic understanding is needed of how semiaquatic species in human-modified ecosystems will respond ecologically in situ to extreme weather events predicted by climate-change models.

Muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus) are native to North America and widely distributed across the continent. Recent evidence and anecdotal reports suggest that muskrat populations may be declining; however, this assumption has not been rigorously evaluated. We used 42 years of muskrat harvest data (1970–2012) from 37 states to examine trends in muskrat populations across the United States. Annual harvest data are highly correlated with annual pelt prices, which must be controlled for prior to analysis. After adjusting harvest data for the effects of current-year and 1-year-lagged pelt prices, we found strong support that muskrat populations have declined during this period. The slope of decline appeared stronger in the southeastern states and less pronounced in the midwestern states. Our results suggest that wildlife managers should consider active management programs for muskrat populations in regions where declines are observed. Along with recording annual muskrat harvest data, managers should also use rigorous surveys to identify changes in muskrat population abundances. Additionally, our study highlights the need for future research directed at revealing mechanistic explanations for synchronous muskrat declines across this large spatiotemporal scale.

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.

Anthropogenic activities since the European colonization of the North American Great Plains have drastically altered landscape composition and configuration, subsequently affecting native biodiversity. These contemporary human-modified landscapes may affect mammal species’ distributions, diel activity patterns, habitat use, and interspecific interactions, though a better understanding of these effects on mammals occurring in remaining prairie landscapes is needed. To fill this gap, we surveyed 381 randomly selected sites in 2018, 2019, and 2020 using motion-sensing camera traps across the western part of the US state of Kansas (7,160,077 ha). Sites were separated by ≥2 km (x = 8.16 km, SD = 3.61), and cameras were secured to a metal post 40 cm above ground and randomly oriented toward the north or south. We placed an olfactory attractant (mixture of skunk essence and petroleum jelly) on a wooden stake 3 m in front of each camera. Cameras were in place at each site for 28 consecutive days for each year. We manually identified all mammal species detected at each site, collating these data into a database that included taxonomic information for 14 families of mammals (Antilocapridae, Bovidae, Canidae, Cervidae, Cricetidae, Dasypodidae, Didelphidae, Erethizontidae, Felidae, Heteromyidae, Leporidae, Mephitidae, Mustelidae, Procyonidae, Sciuridae, and Muridae) comprising 28 total species. We recorded 31,178 mammal photographs (nonindependent events) over 27,954 camera trap nights during 2018 (n = 10,351), 2019 (n = 9478), and 2020 (n = 8125). Additionally, we included the time and date of each photocapture. Moreover, we gathered survey-specific data useful for modeling species-specific detection along with site-level habitat composition data taken at each site each year. These data will be useful for examining habitat use, species distributions, diel activity patterns, and spatiotemporal interactions between species and across guilds of mammals occurring in a rapidly changing agro-prairie ecosystem. There are no copyright restrictions, but we ask researchers to cite this paper when using these data for publication.

The Flint Hills ecoregion is the largest remaining tract of native tallgrass prairie in North America. Contemporary landscape change (e.g., urbanization, agricultural production) in this region is likely affecting native biodiversity; however, we have a limited understanding of how these changes might affect carnivores. We used camera traps distributed across urban-rural land-use gradients, and multiseason occupancy models, to investigate the influence of landscape structure and composition on habitat occupancy dynamics of 3 native carnivores (coyote [Canis latrans]; bobcat [Lynx rufus]; and striped skunk [Mephitis mephitis]) and 1 nonnative carnivore (domestic cat) in the Flint Hills, Kansas, USA, during 2016–2017. Additionally, we assessed the potential for coyotes, the apex predator in the Flint Hills, to mediate habitat occupancy of domestic cats. We also examined the relative influence of landscape factors on native carnivore species richness and diversity. As predicted, coyotes were less likely to occupy and colonize sites, and more likely to leave sites, surrounded by urban landcover. Habitat occupancy by bobcats was positively associated with forest landcover and edge densities; however, bobcats seemed insensitive to urban landcover. Additionally, bobcats were more likely to colonize sites with more grassland and row-crop agriculture landcover. Surprisingly, striped skunk occupancy and colonization rates at sites were negatively related to urban landcover. As expected, domestic cats were more likely to occur at and colonize sites with increased urban landcover and less likely at sites with high coyote occupancy probabilities. Carnivore species diversity and richness were negatively related to the urban landcover. Our results suggest that urban landcover may limit the spatial distributions of some native carnivores in the Flint Hills and contribute to reduced carnivore diversity. Moreover, urban landcover in the Flint Hills may provide domestic cats with refugia from intraguild pressures by coyotes. Our results provide wildlife managers with insights into how contemporary landscape change in this imperiled ecosystem may affect biodiversity conservation and maintenance.