Factors affecting the distribution of large spotted genets (Genetta tigrina) in an urban environment in South Africa

Widdows, Craig D.; Ramesh, Tharmalingam; Downs, Colleen T.

doi:10.1007/s11252-015-0449-5

Cited by 30 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Remote cameras are a relatively novel technology for monitoring wildlife in urban environments. Remote cameras have great potential to further our understanding of topical research including invasive species, human-wildlife conflicts (Kahle, Flannery, and Dumbacher 2016;Murray et al 2016), animal behaviour (Widdows, Ramesh, and Downs 2015) and trophic dynamics (Inger et al 2016) in cities. Improvements in the capabilities of the cameras (Hobbs and Brehme 2017) and gradual decrease in equipment costs (Nazir et al 2017) will continue to facilitate the use of remote cameras to better understand relationships between fauna, people and the urban landscape.…”

Section: Efficiency Of Citizen Scientistsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, participation experience (Kelling et al 2015), expertise (Pocock et al 2015), age (Delaney et al 2008) and how confident citizen scientists are with their prediction (Crall et al 2011) have previously been linked with the ability of citizen scientists to correctly identify animal species in similar projects. Due to the lower suite of mammalian species compared to urban ecosystems elsewhere (Baker and Harris 2007;Morgan, Waas, and Innes 2009;Widdows, Ramesh, and Downs 2015;Anton, Hartley, and Wittmer 2018), remote camera data collected in urban New Zealand are well suited to investigate algorithms for citizen scientists to reach the same levels of classification accuracy as professionals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Monitoring the mammalian fauna of urban areas using remote cameras and citizen science

Anton¹,

Hartley²,

Geldenhuis³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press. Remotely activated cameras are increasingly used worldwide to investigate the distribution, abundance and behaviour of animals. The number of studies using remote cameras in urban ecosystems, however, is low compared to use in other ecosystems. Currently, the time and effort required to classify images is the main constraint of this monitoring technique. To determine whether, or not, citizen science might help overcome this constraint, we investigated the engagement, accuracy and efficiency of citizen scientists providing crowd-sourced classifications of animal images recorded by remote cameras in Wellington, New Zealand. Classifications from individual citizen scientists were in 84.2% agreement with the classifications of professional ecologists. Aggregating the classifications from three citizen scientists per image, and excluding false triggers and unclassifiable classifications increased their overall accuracy to 97.6%. Classifications by citizen scientists also improved if animal movement was highlighted in the images. The likelihood of citizen scientists correctly classifying images was influenced by their previous accuracy, their self-assessed confidence, and the species reported. Weighting the citizen scientist classifications based on their ability to correctly identify animals reduced from 3 to 2 the number of classifications required per sequence to classify >95% of the photographs containing cats. Citizen science is an accurate and efficient approach for classifying remote camera data from urban areas, where most of the animals are familiar to the participants. We demonstrated how appropriate tools and accounting for the accuracy of citizen scientists, allows project managers to maximise the effort of citizen scientists while ensuring high-quality data.

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Section: Efficiency Of Citizen Scientistsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring the mammalian fauna of urban areas using remote cameras and citizen science

Anton¹,

Hartley²,

Geldenhuis³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…However, despite significant loss of biodiversity, urban expansion offers various high-calorie resource options to the generalist species who have higher dietary as well as foraging plasticity, and therefore, can adjust more readily to the altered habitat in contrast to the specialists (Vázquez and Simberloff, 2002 ; Fisher and Owens, 2004 ). Moreover, such anthropogenic food sources remain available throughout the year, thus providing a risky yet reliable and easily accessible resource option which is thought to be one of the major driving forces behind human-animal co-existence within urban settlements (Bateman and Fleming, 2012 ; Lowry et al, 2013 ; Widdows et al, 2015 ; Thabethe and Downs, 2018 ). In some cases, urban-dwelling free-ranging animals have been shown to acquire a preference toward anthropogenic food items to minimize their foraging activities, so that could invest more energy and time in nurturing social relationships which is essential to attain better fitness benefits (Saj et al, 1999 ; Hoffman and O'Riain, 2012 ; Sha and Hanya, 2013 ; Bryson-Morrison et al, 2016 , 2017 ; Thatcher et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altered Food Habits? Understanding the Feeding Preference of Free-Ranging Gray Langurs Within an Urban Settlement

et al. 2021

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Urbanization affects concurrent human-animal interactions as a result of altered resource availability and land use pattern, which leads to considerable ecological consequences. While some animals have lost their habitat due to urban encroachment, few of them managed to survive within the urban ecosystem by altering their natural behavioral patterns. The feeding repertoire of folivorous colobines, such as gray langur, largely consists of plant parts. However, these free-ranging langurs tend to be attuned to the processed high-calorie food sources to attain maximum benefits within the concrete jungle having insignificant greenery. Therefore, besides understanding their population dynamics, the effective management of these urbanized, free-ranging, non-human primate populations also depends on their altered feeding habits. Here, we have used a field-based experimental setup that allows gray langurs to choose between processed and unprocessed food options, being independent of any inter-specific conflicts over resources due to food scarcity. The multinomial logit model reveals the choice-based decision-making of these free-ranging gray langurs in an urban settlement of West Bengal, India, where they have not only learned to recognize the human-provisioned processed food items as an alternative food source but also shown a keen interest in it. However, such a mismatch between the generalized feeding behavior of folivorous colobines and their specialized gut physiology reminds us of Liem's paradox and demands considerable scientific attention. While urbanization imposes tremendous survival challenges to these animals, it also opens up for various alternative options for surviving in close proximity to humans which is reflected in this study, and could guide us for the establishment of a sustainable urban ecosystem in the future.

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“…However, despite significant loss of biodiversity, urban expansion offers various high-calorie resource options to the generalist species who have higher dietary as well as foraging plasticity, and therefore, can adjust more readily to the altered habitat in contrast to the specialists (Fisher & Owens, 2004; Vázquez & Simberloff, 2002). Moreover, such anthropogenic food sources remain available throughout the year, thus providing a risky yet reliable and easily accessible resource option which is thought to be one of the major driving forces behind human-animal co-existence within urban settlements (Bateman & Fleming, 2012; Lowry et al, 2013; Thabethe & Downs, 2018; Widdows et al, 2015). In some cases, urban-dwelling free-ranging animals have been shown to acquire a preference toward anthropogenic food items to minimize their foraging activities, so that could invest more energy and time in nurturing social relationships which is essential to attain better fitness benefits (Bryson-Morrison et al, 2016, 2017; Hoffman & O’Riain, 2012; Saj et al, 1999; Sha & Hanya, 2013; Thatcher et al, 2019).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Altered food habits? Understanding the feeding preference of free-ranging Grey langur (Semnopithecus entellus) within an urban settlement

Dasgupta

Banerjee

Karar

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Urbanization affects concurrent human-animal movements as a result of altered resource availability and land use pattern, which leads to considerable ecological consequences. While some animals find themselves adrift, homeless with the uncertainty of resources resulting from the urban encroachment, few of them manage to survive by altering their natural behavioural patterns, and co-exist with humans. Folivorous colobines, such as grey langur, whose feeding repertoire largely consists of plant parts, tend to be more attuned to the urban high-calorie food sources to attain maximum fitness benefits within the concrete jungle having an insignificant green cover. However, such a mismatch between their generalized feeding behaviour and specialized gut physiology reminds us of the Liem's paradox and demands considerable scientific attention which could tell us the story behind colobines' successful co-existence within human settlements. Besides understanding their population dynamics, the effective management of these urbanized, free-ranging, non-human primate populations also depends on their altered feeding preferences, altogether which could lead us to the development of an ecologically sound urban ecosystem. Here, we have used a field-based experimental set up which allows langurs to choose between natural and urban food options, being independent of any inter-specific conflicts over resources due to food scarcity. The multinomial logit model reveals the choice-based decision making of these free-ranging grey langurs in an urban settlement of West Bengal, India, where they have not only learned to approach the human-provisioned urban food items but also shown a keen interest in it. While urbanization imposes tremendous survival challenges to these animals, it also opens up for various alternative options for human-animal co-existence which is reflected in this study, and could guide us for the establishment of a sustainable urban ecosystem in the future.

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Factors affecting the distribution of large spotted genets (Genetta tigrina) in an urban environment in South Africa

Cited by 30 publications

References 40 publications

Monitoring the mammalian fauna of urban areas using remote cameras and citizen science

Monitoring the mammalian fauna of urban areas using remote cameras and citizen science

Altered Food Habits? Understanding the Feeding Preference of Free-Ranging Gray Langurs Within an Urban Settlement

Altered food habits? Understanding the feeding preference of free-ranging Grey langur (Semnopithecus entellus) within an urban settlement

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