Urban carnivores can be found all across the Bay Area, but determining where the are (i.e., their spatial niche) and when the are found there (i.e., their temporal niche) is an outstanding question in urban ecology. Cameras allow us to observe urban carnivores without disturbing their normal activities. Our trail cameras are motion-activated, so they begin taking photos whenever movement is detected within their field of vision.
A schell lab trail camera is placed in a park in san francisco
By placing cameras across neighborhoods that vary in social and ecological features, such as median household income (left) and pollution burden percentile (right), we are able to ask how human societal inequities affect the abundance and distribution of urban carnivores.
This research is in collaboration with the Urban Wildlife Information Network.
Carnivores can serve as key ecological agents that affect how other organisms are distributed across the landscape. Predation serves to shape top-down processes that emanate from carnivores, allowing for increased biodiversity in an ecosystem. Thus, carnivores generally provide a bevy of ecosystem services (i.e., the direct and indirect benefits that ecosystems provide to humans) that benefit society.
In urban ecosystems, understanding the factors that facilitate or reduce carnivore activity, presence, and occupancy is essential for ensuring that all neighborhoods in cities have sustained carnivore populations, that help to ensure access to the ecosystems services derived.
