Laura E. Josler, Eckerd College, Environmental Studies Discipline 

Signe E. Renstrom, Eckerd College, Biology and Environmental Studies Disciplines

Madelyne E. Vashaw, Eckerd College, Marine Science and Economics Discipline 

Leo N. Dutkewych, Eckerd College, Environmental Studies Discipline

Sarrah E. Bristol, Eckerd College, Animal Studies Discipline 

Johnny E. Owens, Eckerd College, Environmental Studies Discipline

Finn Topham, Eckerd College, Animal Studies and Psychology Disciplines 

Timothy D. Bransford, Eckerd College, Animal Studies Discipline 

Elizabeth A. Forys, Eckerd College, Environmental Studies and Biology Disciplines 

Fort De Soto is a 260-hectare park in Pinellas County, Florida that consists of several barrier islands connected to the mainland by a road. Camera trapping is known to be an appropriate noninvasive method for species monitoring. We deployed 19 camera traps throughout various habitats in the park to determine if habitat and predator activity influenced species photographic rate. Cameras were active from sunset to sunrise between February 2022 and July 2023. Six species of mammals were photographed enough to be used in our analysis: coyote, marsh rabbit, nine-banded armadillo, raccoon, roof rat, and Virginia opossum. To quantify the habitat surrounding each camera we digitized aerial images, creating 50m buffers around each location, and calculated the amount of beach, mangrove, forest, and human-dominated landscape using ArcGIS. We used Generalized Linear Mixed Models to determine the relationship between habitat use, wet and dry season, and coyote presence on species photographic rates. No significant habitat associations were found for coyotes, armadillos, marsh rabbits, and roof rats. Raccoons had a significant association with mangroves in the dry season and opossums had a significant association with forest both in the wet and dry season. Coyotes influenced armadillo, marsh rabbit, and opossum photographic rates during the wet season, and marsh rabbits during the dry season. Our results suggest that the majority of mammal species at Fort De Soto use a variety of habitats with no observable specialization at this spatial scale, however have a nuanced association with predators. 

Signe E. Renstrom, Eckerd College, Environmental Studies, Biology, and Animal Studies Disciplines

Spencer A. Harris, Eckerd College, Animal Studies, Environmental Studies, and Economics Disciplines

Laura E. Josler, Eckerd College, Environmental Studies Discipline 

Ethan T. Chaipatanapong, Eckerd College, Environmental Studies Discipline 

Elizabeth A. Forys, Environmental Studies and Biology Disciplines

Timothy D. Bransford, Eckerd College, Animal Studies Discipline 

Predators in a habitat can have direct consequences on the activity patterns of both their prey species and other predators. Fort De Soto County Park in Pinellas County, Florida contains a rich ecosystem that is home to both predators like coyotes (Canis latrans) and potential prey mesomammals like raccoons (Procyon lotor) and Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana). The park receives millions of visitors a year and is open from sunrise to sunset, forcing many species to move their activity to the night. Therefore, we asked how much overlap is shared between coyotes, raccoons, and Virginia opossums. We deployed 20 camera traps throughout the park and captured both photos and videos from dusk till dawn between January 2022 and January 2023 (N=1653). To control for individual resampling, we filtered data using 30 minute intervals between captures for each species. We used the package overlap in R to analyze activity overlap between coyotes and both raccoons and opossums. We found an overlap coefficient of Δ = 0.879 for raccoons and coyotes, and Δ = 0.877 for opossums and coyotes. To test for any significant differences in activity patterns, we then performed a Watson’s two-sample test for homogeneity using the package CircStats. Both raccoons (p<0.001) and opossums (p<0.001) had significant differences in activity overlap when compared to coyotes. Overall, we see that while all three species have large degrees of overlap in activity, raccoons and opossums have significant time periods when they are much more active than coyotes. 

Aubree Fisher, Eckerd College, Animal Studies Discipline 

Laura Josler, Eckerd College, Environmental Studies Discipline 

Signe Renstrom, Eckerd College, Environmental Studies Discipline

Beth Forys, Eckerd College, Environmental Studies Discipline 

Timothy Bransford, Eckerd College, Animal Studies Discipline 

The Florida coast is made up of diverse ecosystems inhabited by a range of both native and non-native animal species. Ft. De Soto County Park, located at the mouth of Tampa Bay in Southwest Florida, is home to a complex ecosystem rich in biodiversity. It harbors a variety of plant, bird, sea, and animal life, all of which are vital for the preservation of its natural environment. As a public park that allows human recreation on trails and campgrounds, we asked what types of animals use different terrains throughout the grounds and how abundance and diversity may differ between man-made trails and natural landscape. To answer these questions, we used 10 camera traps placed at 5 locations throughout the park which captured movement of animals from dusk to dawn using infrared sensors. In each location, one camera was placed in a natural setting and the other along a man-made path. Every two weeks over a four month period, photo and video data were collected from each camera and sorted according to the location, date and time of capture, and animal species. Results captured more than twice as many average photos of animals using man-made trails than natural terrain and showed that raccoons were the most common species seen. With this research, we can implement better public education at the park, reminding guests about the importance of maintaining the trails that are utilized by the native species and their environments.