The effects of urbanization on population density, occupancy, and detection probability of wild felids
Item Metadata
Dublin Core
Title
The effects of urbanization on population density, occupancy, and detection probability of wild felids
Description
Urbanization is a primary driver of landscape conversion, with far-reaching effects on landscape pattern and process, particularly related to the population characteristics of animals. Urbanization can alter animal movement and habitat quality, both of which can influence population abundance and persistence. We evaluated three important population characteristics (population density, site occupancy, and species detection probability) of a medium-sized and a large carnivore across varying levels of urbanization. Specifically, we studied bobcat and puma populations across wildland, exurban development, and wildland–urban interface (WUI) sampling grids to test hypotheses evaluating how urbanization affects wild felid populations and their prey. Exurban development appeared to have a greater impact on felid populations than did habitat adjacent to a major urban area (i.e., WUI); estimates of population density for both bobcats and pumas were lower in areas of exurban development compared to wildland areas, whereas population density was similar between WUI and wildland habitat. Bobcats and pumas were less likely to be detected in habitat as the amount of human disturbance associated with residential development increased at a site, which was potentially related to reduced habitat quality resulting from urbanization. However, occupancy of both felids was similar between grids in both study areas, indicating that this population metric was less sensitive than density. At the scale of the sampling grid, detection probability for bobcats in urbanized habitat was greater than in wildland areas, potentially due to restrictive movement corridors and funneling of animal movements in landscapes influenced by urbanization. Occupancy of important felid prey (cottontail rabbits and mule deer) was similar across levels of urbanization, although elk occupancy was lower in urbanized areas. Our study indicates that the conservation of medium- and large-sized felids associated with urbanization likely will be most successful if large areas of wildland habitat are maintained, even in close proximity to urban areas, and wildland habitat is not converted to low-density residential development.
Bibliographic Citation
Lewis, J. S., K. A. Logan, M. W. Alldredge, L. L. Bailey, S. VandeWoude, and K. R. Crooks. 2015. The effects of urbanization on population density, occupancy, and detection probability of wild felids. Ecological Applications 25:1880–1895. https://doi.org/10.1890/14-1664.1
Creator
Lewis, Jesse S.
Logan, Kenneth A.
Alldredge, Mathew W.
Bailey, Larissa L.
VandeWoude, Sue
Crooks, Kevin R.
Subject
Bobcat
Detection probability
Exurban landscape
Lynx rufus
Mark–resight
Mountain lion
Occupancy
Population density
Puma concolor
Urbanization
Wildland–urban interface
Extent
16 pages
Date Created
2015-10-01
Type
Article
Format
application/pdf
Language
English
Is Part Of
Ecological Applications
Collection
Citation
Lewis, Jesse S. et al., “The effects of urbanization on population density, occupancy, and detection probability of wild felids,” CPW Digital Collections, accessed April 25, 2024, https://cpw.cvlcollections.org/items/show/97.