Supplementation of seasonal natural resources with year-round anthropogenic resources by coyotes in natural fragments within a high-density urban area

Coyotes (Canis latrans) in urban landscapes provide important food web functions and ecological services but can also trigger human-wildlife conflict when their diet includes anthropogenic resources or domestic pets. As adaptable omnivores, coyotes adjust their diet to their environment, routinely switching among food items to accommodate spatial and seasonal differences in availability. To evaluate coyotes’ potential impacts within the food web of urban Long Beach, California where human-wildlife conflict involving coyotes may occur, we analyzed 115 scat samples collected once every two weeks from two open space fragments inside the urban matrix. We hypothesized that differences in scat composition would correlate with seasonal and site differences, with greater use of anthropogenic resources during the dry season supplementing lower prey availability, and greater consumption of wild mammal prey during the wet season when rabbits and small mammals reproduce. We found coyote diet was pr..., ,