Zepeda Emily, Sih Andrew, Schell Christopher J, Gehrt Stanley D
School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
Sci Rep. 2025 Aug 27;15(1):31597. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-16323-8.
The tendency of wildlife to associate with humans spatially and temporally, i.e., to overlap with humans, is a key factor mediating human-wildlife coexistence in cities. While direct human influence (e.g., food subsidies) is recognized as a mechanism of wildlife overlap with humans, the role of broader urban ecosystem characteristics (e.g., habitat availability, human sociodemographics) in shaping this behavior is a burgeoning area of research. We analyzed the relationship between environmental and societal characteristics and overlap with humans in coyotes, a species of management concern due to emerging human-coyote conflicts in cities across North America. Using high-resolution GPS data from coyotes in the Chicago metropolitan area, we estimated overlap by quantifying coyotes' spatial selection for human population density during periods of temporal overlap, i.e., periods when coyotes and humans were active. On average, coyotes exhibited high overlap, evidenced by their selection for areas of high human population density during periods of temporal overlap, but with substantial individual variation in this selection. Importantly, the mean level of overlap depended on environmental characteristics. Selection for human population density was negatively associated with the level of impervious surface cover and positively associated with the presence of land uses containing natural habitat features (e.g., parks, golf courses, vacant lots). Coyote selection for human population density was not significantly associated with median income or the proportion of white residents. Our results suggest that natural habitat features in densely populated areas may be hotspots for human-coyote interactions. Efforts to manage human-coyote interactions should focus on these areas and identify individual traits that heighten coyote overlap with humans.
野生动物在空间和时间上与人类关联的趋势，即与人类重叠，是城市中人类与野生动物共存的一个关键因素。虽然人类的直接影响（如食物补贴）被认为是野生动物与人类重叠的一种机制，但更广泛的城市生态系统特征（如栖息地可用性、人类社会人口统计学）在塑造这种行为方面所起的作用是一个新兴的研究领域。我们分析了环境和社会特征与郊狼与人类重叠之间的关系，由于北美各城市出现的人类与郊狼冲突，郊狼是一种受到管理关注的物种。利用芝加哥大都市区郊狼的高分辨率GPS数据，我们通过量化郊狼在时间重叠期间（即郊狼和人类都活跃的时期）对人口密度的空间选择来估计重叠情况。平均而言，郊狼表现出高度重叠，这体现在它们在时间重叠期间对高人口密度区域的选择上，但在这种选择上存在很大的个体差异。重要的是，重叠的平均水平取决于环境特征。对人口密度的选择与不透水表面覆盖水平呈负相关，与包含自然栖息地特征的土地利用（如公园、高尔夫球场、空地）的存在呈正相关。郊狼对人口密度的选择与中位数收入或白人居民比例没有显著关联。我们的结果表明，人口密集地区的自然栖息地特征可能是人类与郊狼互动的热点。管理人类与郊狼互动的努力应集中在这些区域，并识别出加剧郊狼与人类重叠的个体特征。
