More mammals than expected live near people

Date:  October 2, 2018

Source:  North Carolina State University

It's a jungle out there in the suburbs, where many wild mammals are thriving near humans. That's the conclusion of a large-scale study using camera trap images from hundreds of citizen scientists in Washington, D.C., and Raleigh, North Carolina.

The study contradicts assumptions that developed areas have fewer mammals and less variety in mammal species, says lead author Arielle Parsons, researcher with the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and Ph.D. student at North Carolina State University.

"We found there wasn't a significant difference in mammal populations between the suburban areas and the wild areas in terms of how many species used them and the intensity with which they used those areas, which was very surprising to us," Parsons says. "That would seem to indicate that the impact of suburban areas in particular is less dire for many mammals than we previously thought and that perhaps there is a certain level of adaptation of mammals to humans."

Researchers worked with citizen scientists to monitor wildlife with camera traps placed at more than 1,400 locations along a continuum of development based on population density: wild, rural, exurban, suburban or urban sites. Their analysis included areas with large forests, small forest fragments, open areas and residential yards.

Backyard wildlife watchers often catch glimpses of what Parsons calls the "usual suspects" that showed up in images from the study: deer, raccoons, gray squirrels, opossums and the occasional fox. But the cameras also captured some surprising species.

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