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1. “I don’t feel safe sitting in my own yard”: Chicago resident experiences with urban rats during a COVID-19 stay-at-home order

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11095-y  

   Murray, Maureen H.; Byers, Kaylee A.; Buckley, Jacqueline; Magle, Seth B.; Maffei, Dorothy; Waite, Preeya; German, Danielle (December 2021, BMC Public Health)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract Background Encounters with rats in urban areas increase risk of human exposure to rat-associated zoonotic pathogens and act as a stressor associated with psychological distress. The frequency and nature of human-rat encounters may be altered by social distancing policies to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, restaurant closures may reduce food availability for rats and promote rat activity in nearby residential areas, thus increasing public health risks during a period of public health crisis. In this study, we aimed to identify factors associated with increased perceived exposure to rats during a stay-at-home order, describe residents’ encounters with rats relevant to their health and well-being, and identify factors associated with increased use of rodent control. Methods Urban residents in Chicago, a large city with growing concerns about rats and health disparities, completed an online questionnaire including fixed response and open-ended questions during the spring 2020 stay-at-home order. Analyses included ordinal multivariate regression, spatial analysis, and thematic analysis for open-ended responses. Results Overall, 21% of respondents ( n  = 835) reported an increase in rat sightings around their homes during the stay-at-home order and increased rat sightings was positively associated with proximity to restaurants, low-rise apartment buildings, and rat feces in the home ( p  ≤ 0.01). Many respondents described feeling unsafe using their patio or yard, and afraid of rats entering their home or spreading disease. Greater engagement with rodent control was associated with property ownership, information about rat control, and areas with lower incomes ( p  ≤ 0.01). Conclusions More frequent rat encounters may be an unanticipated public health concern during periods of social distancing, especially in restaurant-dense areas or in low-rise apartment buildings. Rat presence may also limit residents’ ability to enjoy nearby outdoor spaces, which otherwise might buffer stress experienced during a stay-at-home order. Proactive rat control may be needed to mitigate rat-associated health risks during future stay-at-home orders. 

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2. Neighborhood ethnicity is related to mammal occupancy and activity across a desert metropolitan area

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4902  

   Cocroft, Alexandreana; Lewis, Jesse_S; Clark, Jeffrey; Haight, Jeffrey; Lerman, Susannah_B; Snyder, Zachary; Hall, Sharon_J (June 2024, Ecosphere)

   Abstract Cities support abundant human and wildlife populations that are shaped indirectly and directly by human decisions, often resulting in unequal access to environmental services and accessible open spaces. Urban land cover drives biodiversity patterns across metropolitan areas, but at smaller scales that matter to local residents, neighborhood socio‐cultural factors can influence the presence and abundance of wildlife. Neighborhood income is associated with plant and animal diversity in some cities, but the influence of other social variables is less well understood, especially across desert ecosystems. We explored wildlife distribution across gradients of neighborhood ethnicity in addition to income and landscape characteristics within residential areas of metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Utilizing data from 38 wildlife cameras deployed in public parks and undeveloped open spaces within or near suburban neighborhoods, we estimated occupancy and activity patterns of common mammal species, including species native to the Sonoran Desert (coyote [Canis latrans] and desert cottontail rabbit [Sylvilagus audubonii]), and non‐native domestic cat (Felis catus). Neighborhood ethnicity (percentage of Latino residents) appeared to exhibit a negative relationship with occupancy for coyotes and cottontail rabbits. Additionally, daily activity patterns of coyotes occurred later in the evenings and mornings in neighborhoods with higher proportions of Latino residents, but activity was unaffected by differences in neighborhood income. This study is one of the first to show that social‐ecological mechanisms associated with patterns of neighborhood ethnicity as well as income may help to shape wildlife distribution in cities. These findings have implications for equitable management and provisioning of ecosystem services for urban residents and highlight the importance of considering a range of social covariates to better understand biodiversity outcomes in urban and urbanizing areas. 

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3. Inclusive Urban Mining: An Opportunity for Engineering Education

   https://doi.org/10.3390/mining3020018  

   Schlezak, Sofia L.; Styer, Jaime E. (June 2023, Mining)

   With the understanding that the mining industry is an important and necessary part of the production chain, we argue that the future of mining must be sustainable and responsible when responding to the increasing material demands of the current and next generations. In this paper, we illustrate how concepts, such as inclusiveness and the circular economy, can come together in new forms of mining—what we call inclusive urban mining—that could be beneficial for not only the mining industry, but for the environmental and social justice efforts as well. Based on case studies in the construction and demolition waste and WEEE (or e-waste) sectors in Colombia and Argentina, we demonstrate that inclusive urban mining could present an opportunity to benefit society across multiple echelons, including empowering vulnerable communities and decreasing environmental degradation associated with extractive mining and improper waste management. Then, recognizing that most engineering curricula in this field do not include urban mining, especially from a community-based perspective, we show examples of the integration of this form of mining in engineering education in first-, third- and fourth-year design courses. We conclude by providing recommendations on how to make inclusive urban mining visible and relevant to engineering education. 

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4. Resident Perceptions of Mosquito Problems Are More Influenced by Landscape Factors than Mosquito Abundance

   https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011533  

   Brown, Jeffrey A.; Larson, Kelli L.; Lerman, Susannah B.; Cocroft, Alexandreana; Hall, Sharon J. (October 2021, Sustainability)

   Mosquitoes and the pathogens they carry are increasingly common in urban areas throughout the globe. With urban landscapes, the need to manage mosquitoes is driven by the health risks and nuisance complaints associated with mosquitoes. Controlling the number of mosquitoes may reduce the overall risk of disease transmission but may not reduce nuisance complaints. This study focuses on Maricopa County in Arizona, USA, to investigate the relationship between mosquito abundance and landscape-level and sociodemographic factors on resident perceptions of mosquitoes. We used boosted regression trees to compare how mosquito abundance, collected from Maricopa Vector Control, and landscape factors and social factors, assessed through the Phoenix Area Social Survey, influence survey respondents’ reporting of mosquitoes as a problem. Results show that the landscape and sociodemographic features play a prominent role in how individuals perceive mosquitoes as a problem; specifically, respondents’ perception of their local landscape as messy and the distance to landscape features such as wetlands have more substantial roles in shaping perceptions. This work can highlight how potential mosquito and non-mosquito-related communications and management efforts may improve residents’ satisfaction with mosquito control or other wildlife management efforts, which can help inform best practices for vector control agencies. 

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5. Network dynamics revealed from eDNA highlight seasonal variation in urban mammal communities

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70082  

   Hallam, Jane; Harris, Nyeema_C (June 2025, Journal of Animal Ecology)

   Abstract Urban ecosystems are expanding rapidly, significantly altering natural landscapes and impacting biodiversity.Here we explore seasonal variation in mammal diversity using environmental DNA (eDNA) from soil samples collected during winter and summer across 21 urban parks in Detroit, Michigan. We estimated gamma (regional), alpha (local) and beta (compositional change) diversity to determine if seasonal shifts, reflecting winter scarcity and summer abundance in mammal community composition and human activity, could be detected using eDNA. We expected that larger parks would exhibit greater diversity and higher seasonal turnover, consistent with the species‐area relationship (SAR) and hypothesised that increased summer resource availability would lead to decreased network density as species disperse more broadly.We found that urban parks show subtle, park‐specific changes in community composition influenced by both ecological and anthropogenic factors, with species including striped skunk, brown rat and groundhog responsible for the observed seasonal variation. Consistent with the SAR, larger parks supported higher species richness and diversity. Ecological network analysis, focusing on metrics such as clustering coefficient and network density, revealed a decrease in the overall connectivity and cohesiveness of species interactions from winter to summer, supporting our hypothesis of broader species dispersal during resource‐rich periods. Notably, human DNA was prevalent in all parks, alongside detections of pig and cow eDNA, potentially reflecting human disturbance and anthropogenic food inputs.Our findings underscore the efficacy of eDNA analysis in capturing urban mammal community dynamics, the impact of human activities on biodiversity and its potential as a valuable tool for urban ecological research. Ultimately, enhancing monitoring capacity aids in conservation and urban planning efforts that will promote human‐wildlife coexistence and preserve the socio‐ecological benefits stemming from biodiversity across cityscapes. 

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