Urban to Wild Project
This project aims to understand the factors that promote the colonization of developed areas by predators, and discover the ecological implications of these changes in predation dynamics.
Predators in North America are rebounding after the reduction of government control efforts, declining hunting pressure and successful reintroduction. As they recolonize wildlands in the last quarter century, predators have had direct and indirect effects on prey and smaller carnivores, with dramatic cascading effects on plant and animal communities. Research from these systems has emphasized the importance of mammalian predation processes for ecosystems, but has primarily related to wilderness areas. Recent apex predators appear to be expanding into urban areas as well although existing evidence is scattered and often anecdotal. Here we present a new framework to understand the factors that promote the colonization of developed areas by predators, and discover the ecological implications of these changes in predation dynamics.
Predators in North America are rebounding after the reduction of government control efforts, declining hunting pressure and successful reintroduction. As they recolonize wildlands in the last quarter century, predators have had direct and indirect effects on prey and smaller carnivores, with dramatic cascading effects on plant and animal communities. Research from these systems has emphasized the importance of mammalian predation processes for ecosystems, but has primarily related to wilderness areas. Recent apex predators appear to be expanding into urban areas as well although existing evidence is scattered and often anecdotal. Here we present a new framework to understand the factors that promote the colonization of developed areas by predators, and discover the ecological implications of these changes in predation dynamics.