Coyote Space-use

Photo credit: Alex Coombs

We are deploying GPS collars on coyotes throughout metro Atlanta. We will be looking at 1) where are coyotes, 2) how many are there, 3) why are they there, 4) when they are there, and 5) what are they doing. Not only will this information give us a deeper understanding of coyote space-use in Atlanta, but it will also allow us to focus our efforts on human-coyote conflict.

Preliminary Data

HOME RANGE MAP

In this figure, you can see home ranges for 13 of our collared coyotes. By accessing their home ranges, we are able to determine the resources they are selecting. You can see by the different shapes that home range size is quite variable from small (pink; 4km2) to large (NE light blue; 45km2).

IMPERVIOUS SURFACE

Many wildlife biologists use impervious surface as a measure of urbanization. High levels of impervious surface consist of roads, parking lots, industrial areas, businesses, and homes. Here we have a figure showing how home range size increases as the percent of impervious surface increases.

Check out some of our Previous Research