The role of urban habitats in the abundance of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris, L.) in Finland
Because the amount of urban areas has increased, it is important to investigate the abundance of wildlife species in relation to urban environments. Analyzing the impact of urbanization on the presence of forest-dwelling mammals is of interest due to the possible effects of urbanization on human-wil...
Published in: | Urban Forestry & Urban Greening |
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Language: | English |
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ELSEVIER GMBH, URBAN & FISCHER VERLAG
2019
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10138/307392 |
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ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/307392 2024-01-07T09:37:52+01:00 The role of urban habitats in the abundance of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris, L.) in Finland Jokimäki, Jukka Selonen, Vesa Lehikoinen, Aleksi Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki, Marja-Liisa Finnish Museum of Natural History Zoology 2019-11-25T13:14:01Z 9 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10138/307392 eng eng ELSEVIER GMBH, URBAN & FISCHER VERLAG 10.1016/j.ufug.2017.06.021 We thank all of the volunteers who participated in this nationwide survey; without their help, this large-scale work would not have been possible. AL was funded by the Academy of Finland (grant 275606). Ministry of Environment has supported winter bird censuses in Finland. The language usage in this article was checked by the Wiley Editing Service. Jokimäki , J , Selonen , V , Lehikoinen , A & Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki , M-L 2017 , ' The role of urban habitats in the abundance of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris, L.) in Finland ' , Urban Forestry & Urban Greening , vol. 27 , pp. 100-108 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2017.06.021 ORCID: /0000-0002-1989-277X/work/42687592 85022213816 bba621ef-29ed-4fd1-a7c9-35cd12b10fac http://hdl.handle.net/10138/307392 000418470600013 cc_by_nc_nd openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Winter feeding Mammals Monitoring Predation Urbanization Citizen science FOOD SUPPLEMENTATION ECOLOGY FOREST BIRDS POPULATIONS WILDLIFE BEHAVIOR FUTURE 1172 Environmental sciences 4112 Forestry 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology Article acceptedVersion 2019 ftunivhelsihelda 2023-12-14T00:10:14Z Because the amount of urban areas has increased, it is important to investigate the abundance of wildlife species in relation to urban environments. Analyzing the impact of urbanization on the presence of forest-dwelling mammals is of interest due to the possible effects of urbanization on human-wildlife relationships and urban biodiversity. The Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is a declining forest species, and its occurrence in urban environments has been inadequately studied. The loss and fragmentation of forests due to urbanization may be detrimental for squirrels, whereas the abundant and predictable food resources and the low number of natural predators in urban areas may encourage squirrels to invade towns. We used large-scale data collected by volunteer bird watchers along a 950 km south-north gradient to study whether the winter abundance of squirrels in Finland is dependent on urbanization, while controlling for effects of habitat type, food abundance (spruce cone crop; number of winter feeding sites), predator abundance (northern goshawk, Accipiter gentilis; feral cat Felis catus), season and latitude. We found that squirrel abundance increased with human population density, number of feeding sites and spruce cone crop and decreased with latitude and season. Feral cats showed weak negative connection with squirrel numbers, but there were no effect of goshawks. Relative squirrel abundance was approximately twice as high in urban habitats than in forests. Artificial feeding rather than a low number of predators may attract squirrels in urban environments. Planting spruce trees in urban environments will also benefit squirrels. Our results indicate that urban areas are an important habitat for the red squirrel even along the northern edge of their distribution range, where natural forest areas are still widespread. We conclude also that a citizen science - based bird survey protocol associated with mammal surveys seems to be a good large-scale monitoring method to study the urbanization of ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Accipiter gentilis Northern Goshawk HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository Watchers ENVELOPE(-56.115,-56.115,50.750,50.750) Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 27 100 108 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
HELDA – University of Helsinki Open Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivhelsihelda |
language |
English |
topic |
Winter feeding Mammals Monitoring Predation Urbanization Citizen science FOOD SUPPLEMENTATION ECOLOGY FOREST BIRDS POPULATIONS WILDLIFE BEHAVIOR FUTURE 1172 Environmental sciences 4112 Forestry 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology |
spellingShingle |
Winter feeding Mammals Monitoring Predation Urbanization Citizen science FOOD SUPPLEMENTATION ECOLOGY FOREST BIRDS POPULATIONS WILDLIFE BEHAVIOR FUTURE 1172 Environmental sciences 4112 Forestry 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology Jokimäki, Jukka Selonen, Vesa Lehikoinen, Aleksi Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki, Marja-Liisa The role of urban habitats in the abundance of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris, L.) in Finland |
topic_facet |
Winter feeding Mammals Monitoring Predation Urbanization Citizen science FOOD SUPPLEMENTATION ECOLOGY FOREST BIRDS POPULATIONS WILDLIFE BEHAVIOR FUTURE 1172 Environmental sciences 4112 Forestry 1181 Ecology evolutionary biology |
description |
Because the amount of urban areas has increased, it is important to investigate the abundance of wildlife species in relation to urban environments. Analyzing the impact of urbanization on the presence of forest-dwelling mammals is of interest due to the possible effects of urbanization on human-wildlife relationships and urban biodiversity. The Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is a declining forest species, and its occurrence in urban environments has been inadequately studied. The loss and fragmentation of forests due to urbanization may be detrimental for squirrels, whereas the abundant and predictable food resources and the low number of natural predators in urban areas may encourage squirrels to invade towns. We used large-scale data collected by volunteer bird watchers along a 950 km south-north gradient to study whether the winter abundance of squirrels in Finland is dependent on urbanization, while controlling for effects of habitat type, food abundance (spruce cone crop; number of winter feeding sites), predator abundance (northern goshawk, Accipiter gentilis; feral cat Felis catus), season and latitude. We found that squirrel abundance increased with human population density, number of feeding sites and spruce cone crop and decreased with latitude and season. Feral cats showed weak negative connection with squirrel numbers, but there were no effect of goshawks. Relative squirrel abundance was approximately twice as high in urban habitats than in forests. Artificial feeding rather than a low number of predators may attract squirrels in urban environments. Planting spruce trees in urban environments will also benefit squirrels. Our results indicate that urban areas are an important habitat for the red squirrel even along the northern edge of their distribution range, where natural forest areas are still widespread. We conclude also that a citizen science - based bird survey protocol associated with mammal surveys seems to be a good large-scale monitoring method to study the urbanization of ... |
author2 |
Finnish Museum of Natural History Zoology |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jokimäki, Jukka Selonen, Vesa Lehikoinen, Aleksi Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki, Marja-Liisa |
author_facet |
Jokimäki, Jukka Selonen, Vesa Lehikoinen, Aleksi Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki, Marja-Liisa |
author_sort |
Jokimäki, Jukka |
title |
The role of urban habitats in the abundance of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris, L.) in Finland |
title_short |
The role of urban habitats in the abundance of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris, L.) in Finland |
title_full |
The role of urban habitats in the abundance of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris, L.) in Finland |
title_fullStr |
The role of urban habitats in the abundance of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris, L.) in Finland |
title_full_unstemmed |
The role of urban habitats in the abundance of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris, L.) in Finland |
title_sort |
role of urban habitats in the abundance of red squirrels (sciurus vulgaris, l.) in finland |
publisher |
ELSEVIER GMBH, URBAN & FISCHER VERLAG |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/307392 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-56.115,-56.115,50.750,50.750) |
geographic |
Watchers |
geographic_facet |
Watchers |
genre |
Accipiter gentilis Northern Goshawk |
genre_facet |
Accipiter gentilis Northern Goshawk |
op_relation |
10.1016/j.ufug.2017.06.021 We thank all of the volunteers who participated in this nationwide survey; without their help, this large-scale work would not have been possible. AL was funded by the Academy of Finland (grant 275606). Ministry of Environment has supported winter bird censuses in Finland. The language usage in this article was checked by the Wiley Editing Service. Jokimäki , J , Selonen , V , Lehikoinen , A & Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki , M-L 2017 , ' The role of urban habitats in the abundance of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris, L.) in Finland ' , Urban Forestry & Urban Greening , vol. 27 , pp. 100-108 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2017.06.021 ORCID: /0000-0002-1989-277X/work/42687592 85022213816 bba621ef-29ed-4fd1-a7c9-35cd12b10fac http://hdl.handle.net/10138/307392 000418470600013 |
op_rights |
cc_by_nc_nd openAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
container_title |
Urban Forestry & Urban Greening |
container_volume |
27 |
container_start_page |
100 |
op_container_end_page |
108 |
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1787429572437868544 |