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IMPACT OF URBANIZATION, HABITAT STRUCTURE, AND FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY ON SCAVENGER BEHAVIOR IN MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA AND CENTRAL GEORGIA**

Abstract

Scavengers play a crucial role in ecosystems and urbanization introduces complex gradients in landscapes and their food availability. Our study explored scavenger behavior along a rural-to-urban gradient in Mobile County, Alabama and Central Georgia (CG) using trail cameras at bait stations. Data from Mobile County, collected from 2015-2017, served as pilot and comparison data for CG, which included counties south of Interstate 20 and north of Highway 280. We also evaluated how habitat structure, including the arrangement of plant communities and other physical features that affect habitat suitability, can impact scavenger behavior. Additionally, we examined how functional connectivity, which encompasses environmental elements like storm water systems and greenspaces that influence a population's ability to move through the landscape to find food, shelter, and mates, affects scavenger behavior within levels of urbanization. We hypothesized that urbanization would affect scavenger behavior by: 1) Increasing the diversity of species acting as scavengers from rural to urban areas; 2) Changing the succession of species at bait sites across urban, suburban, and rural areas based, in part, on habitat structure; and 3) Influencing species composition based on functional connectivity within levels of urbanization. Preliminary data from Mobile County indicated that while species diversity was not significantly impacted, the succession of species at bait stations was. Avian scavengers (e.g., turkey vultures) arrived first in rural areas where habitat structures were more open, whereas small mammals (e.g., opossums, raccoons, domestic cats) arrived first in urban sites with less open spaces. Further investigation across more diverse sites is necessary. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyses were conducted to confirm urbanization levels and examine land connectivity. This research sought to deepen our understanding of ecosystem health and guide future studies on animal behavior and cognition.

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