Fear at the top - risks discernment and mitigation by an apex predator in a cityscape

Cities are highly heterogeneous landscapes of risks and rewards for wildlife, a duality that can induce changes in animal behavior. Species navigating urban environments may benefit from reduced natural competitors and food subsidies, but they must also mitigate heightened anthropogenic pressures (e.g., roads, lights). Despite the burgeoning field of urban ecology and a surge of research on the behavioral ecology of fear, these works almost exclusively focus on predation or competition in subordinate species.

The dearth of studies on fear in apex predators in urban environments limits our understanding of coexistence strategies and our capacity to anticipate ecosystem ramifications caused by behavioral consequences of urbanization. The central goal of this proposal is to test fundamental theories of fear on risk management in coyotes, a common and newly ascended apex mammalian predator in North American cities.

Specifically, this work includes: a) non-invasive camera surveys to obtain population-level data on the coupled distributions of risks and rewards; b) collaring an apex predator in the city to obtain individual-level, fine-scale data on risk management and implications of rewards; and c) experimental manipulation of perceived threat and food quality to characterize effects on behavioral adaptations and tradeoffs. Project outcomes will lead to enhanced understanding of risk-aversion foraging and its association with fitness by testing expectations from risk allocation theory.

This project partners with the Detroit Zoological Society and will involve public engagement opportunities through the production of a multi-lingual children book on fear and a middle-school adopt-a-coyote program as well as video series showcasing scholars of color doing science in urban environments.

Cities have emerged as a unique and risky habitat for wildlife, as urbanization and land cover conversion rates continue to increase worldwide. To date, the science of risk management remains largely disjointed across theories, outside urban environments, and narrowly focused on subordinate species, which constrains application to species “at the top” of the food web.

By using coyotes as a model system that exhibit high levels of behavioral plasticity, this research will inform how an apex predator discriminates with risk-specific behavioral responses and how resource availability mediates the type and strength of such responses. This research integrates non-invasive camera surveys to estimate changes in temporal overlap and occupancy with human pressures across 25 urban parks as well as environmental DNA (eDNA) and isotopic ratios to assess diet at the population-level in Detroit, Michigan.

To account for individual variation, differences in home-range, movement, and activity budgets will be determined from radio-collar data obtained from 12 adult coyotes. The project also involves two experiments to determine how threat frequency and resource availability influences the management and response of coyotes to risks. This project partners with the Detroit Zoological Society and will involve public engagement opportunities through the production of a multi-lingual children book on fear and a middle-school adopt-a-coyote program as well as video series showcasing scholars of color doing science in urban environments.

Ultimately, this research is at the frontier of behavioral and urban ecology, and will elucidate risk assessment, discrimination, and mitigation strategies of apex predators in cities – a newly emerging environment where 81% of America’s population reside.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.