DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Dietary Ecology of Coastal Coyotes (Canis latrans): Marine-Terrestrial Linkages from Holocene to Present

郊狼在北美蓬勃发展，并扩大了它们的活动范围。在沿海地区，海豹或鲑鱼等海洋食物可能会助长它们的成功。这个项目将探索这些类型的食物在多大程度上被沿着加州中部海岸的郊狼使用，以及不断增长的郊狼种群如何影响其他捕食者和他们的猎物。 为了评估这些类型的影响是否是近期的，是否可能是由人类活动或历史促成的，将对数千年前同一地区的样本与最近收集的材料进行比较。 从海洋开始的沿着样带采集的样本？科学家们将通过多种方式对这一探测系统进行测试，包括对稳定同位素和遗传物质的分析。 到目前为止的数据表明，海洋食物对现代郊狼确实很重要，但对2000年前生活在同一地区的郊狼来说并不重要。如果这种模式成立，这将表明当代土狼使用海洋资源是一种新的行为。对土狼使用资源的更长远的看法可能对理解和管理现代土狼的生态影响具有重要意义，特别是在它们获得海洋和其他类型的“额外”食物的地区，包括人类无意中提供的食物-垃圾和道路杀戮，例如。 本科生将参与研究，获得宝贵的实地和实验室技能，并在职业发展中得到指导，使他们能够帮助解决未来的环境问题。 此外，这项研究的结果将通过在进行研究的州立公园的演讲以及通过访问当地学校向公众提供。

Coyotes are flourishing and expanding their range in North America. In coastal settings, it is possible that marine foods, such as seals or salmon, may be fueling their success. This project will explore the extent to which these types of foods are used by coyotes along the central coast of California, and how growing populations of coyotes impact other predators and their prey. To assess whether these types of effects are recent and perhaps facilitated by human activity or historical, samples from the same area thousands of years ago will be compared with recently-collected materials. Samples collected along transects that start at the ocean?s edge and penetrate kilometers inland will be tested in a variety of ways, including analyses of stable isotopes and genetic material. Data thus far suggest that marine foods are indeed important to modern coyotes, but not to coyotes living in the same area 2000 years ago. If this pattern holds, it would suggest that use of marine resources by contemporary coyotes is a new behavior.A longer perspective on resource use by coyotes may have important implications for understanding and managing the ecological impacts of modern coyotes, especially in areas where they receive marine and other types of "extra" food, including food inadvertently provided by humans -- garbage and road kill, for example. Undergraduate students will be involved in the research, gaining valuable field and laboratory skills and being mentored in career development so that they can help solve environmental problems of the future. In addition, results of this research will be made available to the public through presentations at state parks where the research takes place, as well as through visits to local schools.