Traits associated with novel foraging success in urban mesopredators
Abstract
Urbanization is transforming ecosystems worldwide, creating novel environmental conditions that wildlife must adjust to. Because urban species differ markedly in ecological strategies, functional traits, and societal perceptions, they experience divergent pressures that shape their responses to the challenges associated with city living. A comparative framework can therefore reveal how both individual and species-level differences influence behaviors such as risk-taking and problem solving, even among related taxa in the same habitat. Here, we challenged free-ranging mesopredators with a novel foraging task and predicted a gradient of species-specific behavioral responses, hypothesizing that boldness, exploration, and effort would influence problem-solving success within and across species. We collected data from 110 locations across the East Bay of California for five mesopredator species: raccoons, opossums, striped skunks, coyotes, and domestic cats. Individuals from all species solved the task multiple times, but raccoons and coyotes emerged as the most successful despite divergent approaches. Across species, effort was the strongest predictor of success, whereas within species, exploratory individuals were most likely to solve. In contrast, boldness did not predict success. These results illustrate how trait differences within and among a taxonomic guild shape behavioral responses to novel challenges, offering insights on the strategies that facilitate urban persistence.
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BibTeX
@article{stanton2026traits,
title = {{Traits associated with novel foraging success in urban mesopredators}},
author = {Lauren A. Stanton and Tal Caspi and Cesar O. Estien and Gretel E. Huber and Christopher J. Schell},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-71660-6},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-71660-6},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Traits associated with novel foraging success in urban mesopredators
AU - Lauren A. Stanton
AU - Tal Caspi
AU - Cesar O. Estien
AU - Gretel E. Huber
AU - Christopher J. Schell
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/20
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-71660-6
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-71660-6
AB - Urbanization is transforming ecosystems worldwide, creating novel environmental conditions that wildlife must adjust to. Because urban species differ markedly in ecological strategies, functional traits, and societal perceptions, they experience divergent pressures that shape their responses to the challenges associated with city living. A comparative framework can therefore reveal how both individual and species-level differences influence behaviors such as risk-taking and problem solving, even among related taxa in the same habitat. Here, we challenged free-ranging mesopredators with a novel foraging task and predicted a gradient of species-specific behavioral responses, hypothesizing that boldness, exploration, and effort would influence problem-solving success within and across species. We collected data from 110 locations across the East Bay of California for five mesopredator species: raccoons, opossums, striped skunks, coyotes, and domestic cats. Individuals from all species solved the task multiple times, but raccoons and coyotes emerged as the most successful despite divergent approaches. Across species, effort was the strongest predictor of success, whereas within species, exploratory individuals were most likely to solve. In contrast, boldness did not predict success. These results illustrate how trait differences within and among a taxonomic guild shape behavioral responses to novel challenges, offering insights on the strategies that facilitate urban persistence.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -