Data from: Supplementation of seasonal natural resources with year-round anthropogenic resources by coyotes in natural fragments within a high-density urban area
Data files
Apr 19, 2023 version files 9.31 KB
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README.md
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Reed_wb_data.csv
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Abstract
Coyotes (Canis latrans) in urban landscapes provide important food web functions and ecological services but can also trigger human-wildlife conflict when their diet includes anthropogenic resources or domestic pets. As adaptable omnivores, coyotes adjust their diet to their environment, routinely switching among food items to accommodate spatial and seasonal differences in availability. To evaluate coyotes’ potential impacts within the food web of urban Long Beach, California where human-wildlife conflict involving coyotes may occur, we analyzed 115 scat samples collected once every two weeks from two open space fragments inside the urban matrix. We hypothesized that differences in scat composition would correlate with seasonal and site differences, with greater use of anthropogenic resources during the dry season supplementing lower prey availability, and greater consumption of wild mammal prey during the wet season when rabbits and small mammals reproduce. We found coyote diet was predominately composed of natural prey and vegetation year-round. Mammals made up more of the coyote diet in the wet season than the dry, while arthropods and vegetation occurred more in dry season scats. Coyotes relied on rabbits as their main prey year-round across all sites. Domestic cats (Felis catus) were the third most common individual prey species found in coyote scats; we did not find evidence of domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) consumption. The overall frequency of mammalian remains did not differ across sites but did differ across sites for other prey types. While there is a potential for human-wildlife conflict in coyote’s consumption of feral or domestic cats, coyotes may also be providing an ecological service by reducing cats in natural habitat fragments.