Abstract The rapid expansion of wild pigs ( Sus scrofa ) is a critical conservation concern. Managers often use baited traps to remove wild pigs, and the attractiveness of bait may improve the probability of capture. Anecdotal observations suggest inoculated peanuts ( Arachis hypogaea ) may be a superior bait relative to whole‐kernel corn ( Zea mays )—a commonly used bait for wild pigs. We used camera trapping to determine wild pig bait preference at 8 plots, each with 4 baits (peanuts [PN], inoculated peanuts [IP; peanuts inoculated with fungicide prior to planting], whole‐kernel corn [CN], and inoculated corn [IC; corn treated with peanut fungicide]) in southwestern Georgia, USA. We assessed the number of first visits by wild pigs to bait sites after placing bait and repeated this assessment for white‐tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ), a nontarget species that commonly visits wild pig bait sites. We performed 3 analyses to account for possible competition or exclusion of either species. In all cases, wild pigs preferred IP while white‐tailed deer preferred CN. We saw no evidence of interspecific competition at baits. Our data suggest that IP may be a superior bait for wild pigs while being less attractive to white‐tailed deer. Peanuts are an important crop in southwestern Georgia. In areas where peanuts are not grown, wild pigs may be neophobic to peanuts, warranting further research in these areas. Furthermore, future research should consider having plots with only one bait site relative to multiple bait sites to assess effects of multiple bait sites on competitive exclusion.
With the proliferation of acoustic sampling to investigate bat distribution and ecology, researchers have implemented a myriad of statistical modeling approaches to interpret findings. Bats are taxa of high conservation concern; therefore, ensuring the accuracy of species-level habitat association models is critical for informing management. We sought to determine prediction differences among statistical approaches to modeling counts of acoustic detections, using generalized linear mixed models with 8 acoustic data-handling techniques. We applied each approach or combination of approaches to a rare species, the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis), and a common species, the eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis), from summer survey results on a landscape in south-central Pennsylvania, USA, 2024. We evaluated the accuracy of habitat association models of bat acoustic activity at the species level using cross-validation and compared resulting predictions of models using spatial correlations. We determined that filtering data by automated identification software (Kaleidoscope Pro), the maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) P-value thresholds reduced relative mean absolute error (rMAE) in cross-validation of northern long-eared bat models. Using the MLE-retained data produced the most accurate predictions over using raw data or the overly conservative match ratio data. However, for the eastern red bat, the results from the most conservative approach of only retaining data with at least a 90% match ratio from software development training sets had the lowest rMAE. We have provided evidence that the current standard of filtering data by nightly MLE can result in more accurate and informative habitat-use acoustic activity models for rare bat species.
Winter Severity Indices (WSIs) are especially important for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), a species for which population dynamics often are tied to winter conditions throughout much of their range. However, existing WSIs often oversimplify environmental variability, limiting their ability to support effective management decisions. To address this, we developed a data-driven WSI Vaughan that uses fine-scale weather data to better reflect the spatial and temporal variability of winter conditions across Alberta. Our model generates region-specific indices that can support tailored management strategies within Alberta's distinct ecoregions. Using publicly available temperature and precipitation data, we modeled winter severity for each of 5 ecoregions in Alberta and compared multiple WSI formulations using information-theoretic methods. We found that temperature patterns were broadly consistent across large areas, whereas snow-related variables were more spatially localized. We used route regression with the wildlife management unit (WMU) as the unit of replication, estimating autoregressive models to include the previous year's maternal effects. We found significant regional variation in winter severity, e.g., with the Northern Boreal ecoregion experiencing harsher conditions than the Prairie region. Among all models tested, our WSI Vaughan best explained year-over-year changes in hunter success, a proxy for deer abundance, outperforming widely used threshold-based indices. These findings support the value of localized, ecologically-relevant models for informing adaptive wildlife management.
Elephant management in South Africa remains entangled in legal, ethical, and ecological complexity. Despite the adoption of the 2008 Norms and Standards for Elephant Management and the 2016 Norms and Standards for the Management of Damage-Causing Animals in South Africa, governance and management challenges persist across fenced reserves, open landscapes, and transboundary areas. The significance of elephants is considerable as they are ecological keystone species that shape biodiversity. They, however, also pose potential risks to ecosystems, property, and livelihoods, whilst being viewed as iconic animals based on their stature and sentience. Existing management frameworks rely on assumptions equating elephant impact with numbers or on narrow culprit animal approaches, producing interventions such as translocation, contraception, culling, fencing, or water manipulation that struggle to demonstrate a rational and proportionate connection to intended outcomes. Ethical framings, which frequently conflate welfare, wellbeing, and rights, further entrench paralysis by privileging perception-based assessments over objective, ecological outcome-driven measures. Drawing on constitutional principles of rationality and proportionality, as articulated in key Constitutional Court jurisprudence and given effect through the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, here we evaluate the potential legal vulnerabilities of current approaches. We argue that management strategies grounded in magic numbers or rigid prohibitions risk being both ecologically ineffective and administratively unlawful. Interventions should define their purposes and objectives explicitly, focus on ecological mechanisms of elephant impact, and manage risks through duty of care, while creating opportunities for resilience and coexistence where feasible. We advocate reform of the current regime by shifting Norms and Standards into guiding principles supported by flexible, process-based guidelines that emphasize ecological drivers, stakeholder co-development, and lawful rationality and proportionality. Such reforms would ensure elephant management that is scientifically credible, ethically defensible, and constitutionally compliant.
Recent declines among some mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) populations have heightened concern about their current status and ability to cope with future challenges. We conducted a range-wide assessment of the status of mountain goats across their distribution to understand the extent and patterns of change in recent years. We queried states, provinces, National Parks, and Indigenous governments with territories and reserves containing local wild populations, requesting updates on estimated mountain goat abundance and trends over time, as well as qualitative assessments of conservation challenges. We supplemented the questionnaires with existing literature (both published and available from agency websites). We subjected a subset of mountain goat population time-series to exploratory meta-analyses, examining covariates associated with rates of change. Respondents identified 203 units within which estimates were documented, a majority of which were raw counts from aircraft; fewer jurisdictions used site-specific sightability models, mark-recapture statistics, or other approaches to account for imperfect detection. Jurisdictions updated unit-specific estimates on average every 4.0 years (SD = 2.9, Min-Max = 1-24 years). Among 152 qualitative estimates of trends of native populations, 3% were reported as having increased substantially, 10% as having increased slightly, 24% as having declined slightly, and 14% as having declined substantially (49% reported either no detectable trend or insufficient data to identify a trend). Among 133 estimates of trends of introduced or pioneering populations, 5% increased substantially, 24% increased slightly, 20% declined slightly, and 11% declined substantially (40% reported no detectable trend). Jurisdiction-wide abundance estimates were lower than those previously published in all jurisdictions except Colorado and Oregon, and in Alaska, where trends were unclear. Intrinsic rates of increase (r) were positively associated with the population being introduced or pioneering, negatively associated with heavy snow and, to a lesser extent, with drought, but were not associated with abundance or presence of hunter harvest. Existing evidence suggested that many local populations, especially native populations, have declined, but understanding of specific causes has been constrained by limited monitoring capacity. Greater spatiotemporal monitoring effort and detailed studies would inform appropriate strategies to address threats and future challenges to mountain goats.
Abstract The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Relevancy Roadmap urges wildlife agencies to engage nontraditional audiences in activities such as hunting, yet little research has examined young Black Americans’ perceptions of and participation in hunting. We partnered with 5 historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) across 4 Southeastern states to survey Black students ( n = 662) and ask about their hunting behaviors and perceptions, comparing them to White students from predominantly White institutions (PWI; n = 4,763) in the same region. Black HBCU students reported lower past hunting participation than White PWI students (11% vs. 35%), but a greater proportion were classified as potential hunters (38% vs. 21%). Compared to White students, Black students cited greater structural and social barriers, including discomfort with a lack of diversity in the outdoors (Cohen's d = 1.06), negative outdoor experiences ( d = 0.78), and less social support for hunting (Cohen's h = –0.61). Addressing these disparities requires inclusive outreach, mentorship, and culturally relevant hunter recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) programming.
Abstract Small mammals play vital roles across trophic levels and are highly sensitive to habitat disturbances, making them ideal indicators of grassland ecosystem health. A variety of passive and active survey methods exist to monitor mammalian communities, but their effectiveness can vary due to differences in species’ body size, behavior, and activity patterns. As such, identifying the most effective survey techniques is critical for improving species detection and strengthening monitoring efforts. In this study, we compared several methods, live trapping, bucket camera traps, and airborne environmental DNA (eDNA), to assess small mammal species richness across 10 restored prairie sites in north‐central Illinois and western Indiana in 2023. Our results showed limited overlap in species detections among the methods. Bucket cameras recorded the highest species richness, detecting 8 species, while both airborne eDNA and live trapping identified 5 species each. Live trapping yielded the most precise species identifications, whereas bucket cameras provided the broadest representation of community composition across sites. No single method captured the full extent of community diversity, highlighting the importance of a multi‐method approach. These findings offer valuable insights for optimizing small mammal monitoring strategies in restored grassland ecosystems.
Abstract Limited engagement between Black Americans and wildlife is often treated as cultural disinterest rather than the outcome of historical exclusion, racialized trauma, or persistent structural barriers. This perspective obscures the long‐standing relationships Black communities have had with land, agriculture, and conservation, and constrains efforts to broaden participation in wildlife stewardship. We argue that the disconnect between Black Americans and wildlife has deep historical roots that continue to shape contemporary access to nature, environmental education, and conservation career pathways. Drawing on historical context, educational research, and contemporary examples of culturally grounded conservation initiatives, we illustrate how intentional engagement, representation, and trust‐building can repair these relationships. We conclude that university wildlife programs, government agencies, and nongovernmental organizations must move beyond passive diversity goals and actively embed culturally‐sensitive conservation into education, outreach, and workforce development. Such efforts are essential for fostering a more inclusive land ethic, strengthening public trust, and ensuring the long‐term relevance and effectiveness of wildlife conservation in an increasingly diverse society.
The Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937 (PR) and the Dingell-Johnson Act of 1950 (DJ) provide states with substantial capacity to manage fish and wildlife by directing revenue from federal excise taxes on hunting and fishing equipment to states. The precise scope of state and federal wildlife management authority has been a topic of debate among scholars and in courts. To evaluate the extent to which the passage of PR and DJ constituted a Congressional endorsement of states as the primary managers of wildlife, we first evaluated the legal context in which both laws were deliberated and passed. We next reviewed the PR and DJ Congressional Record for discussion of state versus federal wildlife authority. Finally, we examined the Congressional Record to determine motivating factors for Congress in passing PR and DJ. We found that contemporary jurisprudence regarding the Public Trust Doctrine likely made states' relative authority over wildlife a non-contentious issue for Congress at the time. Although the PR Congressional Record acknowledged primary state authority, Congress spent minimal time considering relative state and federal authority over wildlife. Instead, Congress appeared to be motivated to form a joint federal-state response to a perceived wildlife crisis amplified by President Franklin Roosevelt.
Many waterfowl species and closely related congeners are shared across the Holarctic, and are culturally and economically important in both North America and Europe. Accordingly, both continents have developed science and management frameworks in an attempt to establish evidence-based conservation practices for this guild of birds. However, the 2 continents have approached this shared challenge from surprisingly different angles, wherein there is much to be learned from each other via increased collaboration across the Pond. In the United States and Canada, there is relatively strong alignment of conservation values, and the role of hunters in the science and management of waterfowl has a deeply embedded cultural and financial legacy. This differs markedly from Europe, where there is much more discordance among countries and constituents, resulting in regulatory policies that are uneven and generally rely on the precautionary principle. Here, we describe key differences in the waterfowl science and management enterprises in North American and Europe, and highlight key avenues for increased collaboration for mutual benefit.
In the United States, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and other ungulates cause millions of dollars in annual crop losses, posing a substantial challenge for producers. Although chemical and physical deterrents exist, many are ineffective, lack empirical evidence, or are impractical for large-scale use. Condensed quebracho tannins (CQT), a naturally occurring secondary plant metabolite, are used in ruminant feeding trials and may deter foraging. Prior research has shown that CQT reduced intake rate and consumption probability in captive white-tailed deer. Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of CQT sprayed on soybeans as a white-tailed deer repellent in a natural field setting near Black Creek, North Carolina, USA. Twenty 0.2-hectare plots were randomly assigned to treatment (n = 10) or control (n = 10). Treated plots received one application of a 10% CQT solution at 93.5 liters per hectare. Camera traps recorded deer presence and foraging, and weekly measurements tracked soybean height and browsing damage. Results showed a single CQT application reduced deer browsing, particularly during weeks 2 to 4 post-treatment. Compared to control plots, CQT-treated plots saw a significant 72.9% reduction in browsing. Soybean height in CQT-treated plots was similar to plants protected in fenced enclosures during the first 2 weeks, indicating suppression of browsing pressure. However, repellency effects declined over time, and final yield (bushels/hectare) estimates did not differ between treatments. No significant differences in observed deer behavior were detected, suggesting that one application may not produce lasting avoidance or improve yield. Repellent effectiveness appeared to diminish along with visual evidence of tannin residue on soybeans after two weeks post application. Future research should explore more frequent applications, alternative delivery systems to maximize contact with treated plants, and integration with broader management strategies.
Abstract Studies on the earliest life stages are essential to our ecological understanding of avian demography; however, monitoring technologies that allow tracking of small birds are still limited in a variety of ways. One critical limitation, until recently, has been the development of methods for attaching transmitters to young birds with precocial development (e.g., Galliformes, Charadriiformes, etc.). The modified suture technique offers a means to attach transmitters to precocial chicks while accommodating rapid growth characterized by birds with precocial young. Although the sutured transmitter method was developed for northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) chicks, there remain key unknowns regarding best practices for use in the field. One key consideration with transmitters attached to birds is understanding the impacts of tag weight on individual demography. Herein, we quantified daily survival rates (DSR) for 263 11‐to‐13 day‐old northern bobwhite chicks monitored from 2022 to 2024 in Brunswick County, NC, USA, and assessed the effect of transmitter weight (1.2 g vs 0.8 g) on DSR. We observed mortality of 167 (62%) radio‐tagged chicks during our study. Estimated DSR from mixed effects linear regression analysis was 0.957 (95% CI = 0.946–0.966). Daily survival rate also varied with ordinal date (β = −0.02), but transmitter weight did not explain variation in DSR. Our results suggested that researchers may be better served by a 1.2‐g transmitter as it yields greater detectability and longevity with no survival consequence. Our results provide insights into the factors driving natural variation in survival for bobwhite chicks (i.e., ordinal date) while also providing guidance on transmitter size to inform future work on early life stages in a declining species.
Prioritization is a central component of natural resource management because conservation needs routinely exceed available resources. Waterfowl and wetland conservation programs in North America are at the forefront of landscape-scale prioritization and transboundary management decisions due to the migratory nature of ducks, geese, and swans. The growing availability of geographic information systems (GIS) and geospatial technologies has accelerated the development of multi-objective landscape prioritization models, including applications of structured decision making and multi-criteria decision analysis to spatial planning for waterfowl and wetlands at the continental scale. However, regional managers and conservationists could benefit from flexibility in downscaling continental tools, selecting objectives, and assigning weights for rapid production of spatial prioritization models at smaller spatial scales without extensive computer coding or GIS analysis. We developed a spatial value model that prioritizes landscapes at sub-continental scales (e.g., states and provinces, bird conservation regions, etc.) and provides flexibility for users to select waterfowl conservation objectives of interest and weights. Our model can be used for direct downscaling of an existing continental geospatial model or further customized with region-specific geospatial data. We illustrate how regional prioritization can vary with the spatial scale selected by the user. The spatial value modeling framework and the downscaling tool presented here could increase the use of multi-criteria decision analysis and linear value modeling in spatial landscape prioritization, while also providing flexibility for selecting scales, objectives, and weights. Our spreadsheet tool was developed specifically for use by regional biologists, conservationists, and managers and does not require knowledge of GIS software (although results can be exported from the spreadsheet for spatial analysis using GIS). Together, the model outputs and the accompanying spreadsheet tool provide a bridge between continental waterfowl conservation and regional implementation, enabling rapid, stakeholder-driven, value-explicit prioritization.
Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal disease that affects deer (Odocoileus spp.) and other cervids, is caused by infectious proteins transmitted through fluids such as saliva. Chronic wasting disease poses a challenge to wildlife managers because it threatens to destabilize ecosystems and species populations. Further, because substantial wildlife management funding originates from an excise tax on firearms, ammunition, and archery equipment, and cervids are hunted species, there is pressure on managers to maintain healthy populations for hunting activities. We use public policy theory to assess the responses of wildlife management agencies in states and provinces with CWD-positive cases in the United States and Canada to alleviate public concerns and manage the spread of CWD. Specifically, we apply the Multiple Streams Framework, which states that when problems, policies, and politics (the 3 streams) converge, a policy window opens, facilitated by actors pushing for policy changes. Using qualitative document review (including newspapers, agency websites, and legislative documents), we illustrate the problems, policy responses, and political factors involved in CWD management. We found that the policy window may open at the problem or policy stages when facilitated by clear communication and collaborative responses between agency staff and stakeholders. However, when information is not communicated clearly by wildlife agencies, the politics stream can influence the policy window. Specifically, our analysis illustrates how politician-led interventions often undermine management efforts when they disregard the best available science. Our research emphasizes the importance of communicating complex scientific topics to the public, such as expert detection of CWD spread through surveillance, addressing elevated public concern by communicating on new regulations, and providing opportunities to engage with state agency experts and managers.
Management of feral equids in the American West is hindered by the lack of a formal habitat map and monitoring system. To address this shortcoming, we developed a method based on annual metrics of water accessibility and forage availability to map the dynamic rangelands where free-roaming equids (FRE) are found in the western United States. Usable space, defined here as an area that provides the necessary forage and water to sustain a population of free-roaming equids annually, was mapped for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered Herd Management Areas (HMA), an area covering 107,434 km2 across 10 western states. We ranked usable space in 3 simple categories representing low, moderate, and high-quality habitats annually during 1984-2021. The resulting maps displayed a high temporal correlation with the FRE locations derived from aerial population surveys conducted by BLM at triennial intervals across the distribution of FRE. Resultant maps can be used for monitoring changes in habitat, and detection of degradation/enhancement for each individual HMA on an annual basis. Lastly, we ranked mapping units based on their resilience to changes in precipitation and, therefore, the ability to maintain greater proportions of high-quality habitats through time. From high to low, rankings for HMAs that retained the most high-quality usable space were found in Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, whereas most of the low-quality rankings were found in Oregon and Idaho. The approach described herein has utility for planning aerial surveys, establishing long-term range monitoring stations, identifying areas for manipulating water availability, or siting habitat restoration activities.
Live capturing of wildlife is important for research and conservation, but is rife with challenges including animal welfare concerns, resource commitments (e.g., time and effort), and low capture success rates. Such challenges may be especially apparent for species listed under the Endangered Species Act and species whose ecology impacts capture success. Thus, it is important to investigate and implement strategies that can improve the capture success of endangered carnivores while reducing human effort and risk to animals. In the United States, ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) are a federally endangered species. To minimize risk to ocelots, capture efforts for research in Texas are limited to box trapping, but capture success is generally low. We tested whether visual and scent lures can increase capture success of ocelots and other co-occurring mesocarnivores with box traps baited with a live bird on a private ranch in the Texas-Tamaulipan thornscrub ecosystem. From December 2023 through April 2024, we used a randomized design and placed visual (hanging compact disc [CD] or shiny ribbon) and scent (civet musk or ocelot urine) lures at a total of 20 box traps and established 5 control traps across 3 temporally and geographically discrete trapping sessions for 75 trapping locations. We used linear regression to assess 2,900 trap nights and found that none of the lures (scent nor visual) impacted capture success of ocelots, bobcats (Lynx rufus), or coyotes (Canis latrans). Further, lures did not increase or decrease capture of non-target animals. Based on our findings, we cannot recommend the use of CDs, ribbon, civet musk, or ocelot urine as lures to increase ocelot box trapping success, as they did not increase capture success of ocelots or other target carnivores nor decrease captures of non-target species. We suggest that researchers prioritize other strategies to increase capture success (e.g., setting additional traps) rather than the addition of lures we tested.
Avian populations have experienced widespread declines with mortality attributable to a range of factors. Carcass surveys have been employed to document and quantify avian mortality in both infrastructure-related and non-infrastructure-related scenarios. To improve the accuracy of mortality estimates obtained from carcass surveys, correction factors can be used to control for sources of bias such as the removal of carcasses by scavengers. However, given differences in how carcasses appear on the landscape between infrastructure-related mortality and non-infrastructure-related mortality events it is possible that estimates of carcass persistence from infrastructure-focused studies may not be relevant for all mortality monitoring. We conducted a study of carcass persistence on White Sands Missile Range in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico, USA, simulating mortality unrelated to infrastructure. We placed and monitored 214 avian carcasses over 2 seasons, determined how long each carcass persisted prior to being scavenged, and examined the influence of habitat, temporal, and scavenger guild variables using Weibull survival models. We found that 211 of the 214 placed carcasses were scavenged and median persistence time was 1.53 days. Our analysis showed that the null model was the most competitive, and the 85% confidence intervals for all predictor variables overlapped zero, indicating none were informative for carcass persistence times. Overall, our findings suggested that persistence times in a non-infrastructure-related mortality scenario are similar to those associated with infrastructure, underscoring the need to account for rapid scavenger removal when designing mortality monitoring programs.
Abstract Conflicts between humans and avian species protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act regularly occur. As such, there is a need to sustainably manage negative effects caused by birds (e.g., economic loss, risks to human health and safety) in a manner that allows protected species to increase population size or achieve stable levels. Human‐wildlife conflicts involving great blue herons (Ardea herodias) in the northeastern United States have increased in recent years, creating a need to assess whether the level of lethal take authorized under U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) migratory bird depredation permits is sustainable. We used the Prescribed Take Level (PTL) framework to assess the sustainability of take levels and determine allowable take for great blue herons. Prescribed Take Level models suggested that lethal take in the Northeast Region of the USFWS is sustainable and that cumulative authorized regional take should not exceed 2,650 individuals per year (95% Bayesian Credible Interval [283, 4,988]). Future great blue heron take assessments would benefit from more robust and contemporary estimates of population size and vital rates. We recommend further research examining great blue heron populations and demographics be conducted in this area across multiple scales (e.g., state, Bird Conservation Region, and continental) to better inform future management.
For many animals, visual information is crucial for detecting mates, competitors, and predators, selecting and defending territories, and finding resources. Established field methods for estimating visibility, such as use of profile boards, produce estimates constrained to a limited set of directions and distances that do not account for the continuous and multidirectional nature of visual information. The limitations of profile boards have recently been overcome by estimating visibility from terrestrial lidar data; however, gathering data requires intensive field efforts and data processing that limits application to studies of free-ranging animals. Our goal was to demonstrate an approach for estimating fine-scale, 3-dimensional (3D) visibility in the field based on single scans from a terrestrial laser scanner and to compare results with the profile board method. We gathered data from 25 forest plots from 3 vantage points representing different animal eye heights (25 cm, 75 cm, and 155 cm) using 2 methods: 1) segmented 3D viewsheds estimated using single scans from terrestrial laser scanners (ssTLS) and 2) profile boards. Estimates of visibility increased with eye height but did not differ significantly (P = 0.501) between methods when the viewsheds were segmented to the region of the profile boards. However, the profile boards could not provide the comprehensive and flexible information associated with viewsheds. We demonstrated how single-scan viewsheds can be segmented to characterize ecologically relevant portions of spherical viewsheds and provide a comparison of the 2 methods. The ssTLS approach is an efficient method for collecting fine-scale information on viewsheds in the field that can produce comprehensive estimates of 3D visibility, advancing the assessment of a key but often overlooked property of wildlife habitat measurement.
Urbanization profoundly impacts wildlife behavior and habitat use. While the effects of urbanization on diel activity patterns and mammal interactions have been well studied at the ground level, little is known about spatiotemporal patterns above the ground. Here, we assessed scansorial mammals and their diel activity patterns in the canopy, as well as the effectiveness of different camera trap orientations in tree crowns. We deployed 16 camera traps across ground and canopy strata at 5 sampling points in an urban green space and a residential neighborhood in a well-arbored town in the southeastern United States. From September 2024 to January 2025, we recorded 3,723 independent detections over 11,856 trap days, identifying 12 mammal species from 6 orders. Four scansorial species were observed using the canopy: eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) and fox squirrels (S. niger), which exhibited diurnal activity, and southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans) and raccoons (Procyon lotor), which were primarily nocturnal. The 4 scansorial species differed in their patterns of canopy and ground use; for example, southern flying squirrels and fox squirrels were mainly found in the canopy, while eastern gray squirrels showed a balanced use of both vertical strata, in contrast to raccoons which were found mainly on the ground. Notably, Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana), gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), and domestic cats (Felis catus), despite their climbing ability, were detected exclusively on the ground. Detection rates were related to camera orientation and species. Cameras mounted on trunks and oriented downward (vertically) detected more southern flying squirrels, while cameras facing along branches (horizontally) showed a nonsignificant trend in detecting more fox squirrels, suggesting how species behavior and camera configuration jointly influence detection probability. Our results suggested the need to incorporate vertical strata into urban ecological research to enhance wildlife monitoring and management strategies. Future studies should investigate how specific urbanization-driven factors influence climbing behavior and canopy use for well-studied species such as eastern gray and fox squirrels, as well as for southern flying squirrels, whose ecology remains poorly understood.
