Coyotes Go “Bridge and Tunnel”: A Narrow Opportunity to Study the Socio-ecological Impacts of Coyote Range Expansion on Long Island, NY Pre- and Post-Arrival

Authors

Mark Weckel, American Museum of Natural HistoryFollow
Daniel A. Bogan, Siena CollegeFollow
Russel L. Burke, Hofstra UniversityFollow
Christopher Nagy, Mianus River GorgeFollow
William F. Siemer, Cornell UniversityFollow
Timothy Green, Brookhaven National LaboratoryFollow
Numi Mitchell, The Conservation AgencyFollow

Currently, Long Island, NY is without a breeding population of northeastern coyote (Canis latras var.), yet recent evidence of dispersing individuals on the island, coupled with the “dogged” momentum of coyote range expansion across North America, suggests a Long Island coyote population is close at hand. We highlighted the fleeting opportunity to takes advantage of this natural experiment by developing a multidisciplinary research framework to investigate the ecological and social impacts of the coyote, pre- and post- range expansion. We reviewed coyote spatial ecology, community ecology, and human dimensions research and identified three components of future investigation: predicting future occupancy, monitoring colonization, testing hypotheses of trophic cascades by leveraging and expanding existing ecological data, and exploring attitudes towards coyotes to better understand and mitigate human-wildlife conflicts. Each proposed component will integrate for a comprehensive investigation to advance theory and applied management of northeastern coyotes.

Recommended Citation

Weckel, Mark; Bogan, Daniel A.; Burke, Russel L.; Nagy, Christopher; Siemer, William F.; Green, Timothy; and Mitchell, Numi (2015) "Coyotes Go “Bridge and Tunnel”: A Narrow Opportunity to Study the Socio-ecological Impacts of Coyote Range Expansion on Long Island, NY Pre- and Post-Arrival," Cities and the Environment (CATE): Vol. 8: Iss. 1, Article 5.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cate/vol8/iss1/5