Finished! Looks like this project is out of data at the moment!
Hooray, Season 3 is now complete! To our many volunteers, thank you for all your efforts.
Stay tuned - SEASON 4 will launch in August 2021 with images from Detroit metro parks before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the meantime, feel free to contact us at wildlifeneighbor@gmail.com with any questions!
Results
Thanks to all your help in the data processing of images from our surveys, we are learning more about Michigan's carnivore community. Below we have provided some examples of preliminary data from OUR work together.
Do species prefer to use specific areas?
Each site in our survey has specific attributes that support carnivores, but there are sub-areas that create distinctions in habitat quality. At Huron Mountain Club (northern-most site) where gray wolves are present, coyotes heat maps show there are locations with low and high activity.
How do species affect the behavior of each other?
Often the most antagonistic interaction occur between species of the same guild as they have similar diets and behavior. So in order for carnivores to co-exist in the same area, the subordinate species may have to adjust their behavior. We have compared what time of day differ pairs of carnivores are activity to assess temporal partitioning.
How well are YOU doing in identifying images?
From season 1 data, we compared identifications from the public and professionals of images from our survey. Professionals represented researchers from the Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) Lab at Yale University. Overall, we found 97% accuracy, though there were significant differences among species.
