Download Urbanized: Outline

L&CS 122: Final Paper Outline
1. Title and Introduction
a. Title: Urbanized: the forced urbanization of carnivores and its negative affect of
animal behavior and survival in the greater Los Angeles area
b. 1st paragraph: Thesis statement
c. 2nd paragraph: Introduction
i. Urbanization
1. What is an urban city?
a. “Currently, an estimated 3 billion people reside in urban area and will
increase to 5 billion by 2030” (Gehrt 4).
b. Characteristics of an urban area
i. large cities that are developed
1. pavement and building are more prevalent than grass and
trees
a. the only grass and trees are conserved parks and
recreation centers
i. landscaped wildlife
2. a metropolitan area surrounded by suburbs and near a
water source
3. “Most urban areas of cities worldwide with 250,000 to 10
million people have a radius of about 70-80 km” (Gehrt 5)
4. “anthrosphere: represents human influences on the
ecosystem through socio-political-economic actions”
(Gehrt 5).
5. Climate
a. “heat island effect” – “impervious surfaces that
absorb sunlight and release heat combined with the
energy from combustible fuels, results in an island of
raised temperatures in and around the urban core”
(Gehrt 6)
i. can be a 6-12 degree Celsius difference in
temperature between the city and rural
surrounding areas
b. affects plant productivity affects omnivores, the
carnivores’ prey
6. “urban glow” or artificial light pollution (Gehrt 7)
a. street lights, vehicle lights, etc.
b. can change predator prey relationships making one
animal adapt and become more dominant
c. most carnivores are repelled by artificial light, prefer
to hunt on darker nights
7. noise
8. Habitat fragmentation
a. modified versus natural habitats
b. humans have changed the habitat and species native
to the area
i. carnivores might take notice of that
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L&CS 122: Final Paper Outline
c. Dangers
i. highways often separate habitats, a huge killer
of carnivores, they must adapt to crossing
these roads to survive
ii. pollutants in the air, ground, and water
iii. immune system
iv. exposure to posions
v. parasites: mange and heartworm
ii. What is a carnivore?
1. “organisms that kill and eat another animal species” (Fuller, DeStefano,
& Warren 13).
a. can be plants, insects, mammals, reptiles, etc.
b. “270 living species in 11 families classified as Carnivora” (Fuller,
DeStefano, & Warren 14).
c. breeding age ranges, but many start at a year old
i. from one offspring per litter to 14
d. some are also omnivores
e. have specific home ranges and breeding times
i. different for male and females of the same species
2. General effect of urbanization on carnivores
a. small to medium sized animals
i. larger ones outside the urban area (i.e. mountain lions)
b. “fast reproducing species” (Fuller, DeStefano, & Warren 18)
c. flexibility in eating habits
i. scraps of human food
d. tolerance of humans
e. evolutionary changes
i. genetic isolation
iii. Los Angeles area
1. How does urbanization and LA correlate
a. intro of carnivores
2. Describe
a. How does urbanization affect animals?
b. Mountain lion
c. Bobcats
d. Coyotes
i. often confused with domestic dogs
ii. “coyotes live in packs even in urban areas..with eclusive territories across the
landscape, with solitary individuals of both sexes inhabiting large home ranges
that overlap one another and the smaller group territories” (“Coyotes”).
1. smaller packs in cities
a. one alpha male and females and then two or three other couples
b. very hierarchal coyotes either stayed in the group or wandered to
other groups
iii. coyotes are more densely populated than rural coyotes because
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L&CS 122: Final Paper Outline
iv.
e. Condors
i. How condors almost became extinct—a warning and a lead into the next section
3. Examine
a. Band-aid
b. Systemic
4. Conclusion.
a. Long term implications
b. Ecological impacts
i. “…include a carnivore’s valued effects on speices and ecosystems, and the
value humans place on sustaining viable carnivore populations” (Decker,
Siemer, & Wieczorek-Hudenko 23).
1. what value do humans place on wildlife is shown in laws, policies,
regulations
2. Endangered Species Act of 1973
a. “declares that economic growth and development can contribute to
the extinction of plant and animal species that have ecological and
other values to the nation and its people” Decker, Siemer, &
Wieczorek-Hudenko 23).
i. conservation of Yellowstone Gray Wolf
3. Conservation through game hunting or listing them as non-game,
threatened, or endangered
c. Economic Impact
i. “Revenue generated from tourism, National Parks, wildlife viewings, etc.”
Decker, Siemer, & Wieczorek-Hudenko 23).
ii. Negative: eating livestock and animal habitats take up space that could be
urbanized/industrialized for money
d. Health and Safety
i. diseases transmitted from carnivores to humans are very rare as well as injuries
or death
1. caused by the carnivore populations expanding their home range because
their populations are increasing, start going into urban areas
ii. news coverage focuses mainly how carnivores have harmed humans rather than
how humans are harming carnivores (Decker, Siemer, & Wieczorek-Hudenko
25)
iii. place the blame of human injury in car accidents on animals in the road
e. Psychological Impacts
i. Variation over different genders, ages, and socio-economic groups about
various carnivores
1. “A few studies have provided insights about the relation between
psychological impacts and carnivore acceptance, indicating that higher
levels of fear about a particular carnivore are correlated with lower
overall acceptance of the species” (Decker, Siemer, & WieczorekHudenko 25).
f. Social Impact
i. “Far-reaching consequences”
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L&CS 122: Final Paper Outline
1. all the other impacts play into the social impact
a. if local population fears coyotes and the coyotes are harming them
financially the locals aren’t going to want to help!
b. opposite effect: positive coalition
i. Louisiana black bear after it was listed as threatened
1. “The coalition is credited with creating a landowner
information and training network that built support for the
bear and encouraged the creation of suitable habitat. The
black bear population noticeably recovered” (Decker,
Siemer, & Wieczorek-Hudenko 25)
ii. Wildlife Acceptance Capacity
1. basically how much of the wildlife’s behavior humans are willing to
tolerate
2. “Studies often find that many people believe wilfelife agencies should be
allowed to take lethal action to protect human safety…” (Decker, Siemer,
& Wieczorek-Hudenko 29).
3. Risk perception
a. In Zimmerman’s 2001 study negative attitudes increased as
carnivores home ranges increased
iii. Supporting Carnivore Conservation: Decker, Siemer, & Wieczorek-Hudenko 31
1. researchers need to understand “impact dependency”
2. identifying interest or concern with humans and apply those to impacts
3. risk-perception
4. “Co-tolerance”
a. food conditioning
i. carnivores coming into urban areas
b. habituation
i. increases homelands leads to interaction with humans
ii. but should not lead to “overtolerance” that could harm humans
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