Breakfast on the Marsh: Urban Wildlife

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Little River Wetlands Project hosts a public forum, Breakfast on the Marsh,  focused on nature every month. The forum takes place by the shores of Eagle Marsh at Indiana Wesleyan University Fort Wayne. On April 11th, 2024, the speaker was Jessica Merkling, Urban Wildlife Biologist for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Presently she is the only Urban Wildlife biologist for the DNR in Indiana. She is also a friend of LRWP. This was her fourth presentation at Breakfast on the Marsh.
 
Jessica spoke on Urban Wildlife. This is a timely presentation because the state, like much of the world, is losing green spaces. She estimated that 2/3s of the world population would be urban by 2050. Using statistics, maps, and illustrations she should how much the state of Indiana has been altered since the arrival of European settlers.  What was once mostly woodland, and wetlands is now mostly farmland and urban and industrial spaces.  While the federal government can steer environmental management in much of the West, Indiana, like most the eastern United States is privately owned. In fact, she stated Indiana is 97% privately owned. It is also home to 897 different animal species.
 
The result is that many animals are now successfully living in urban spaces. Biodiversity is important so the challenge is to find ways to accommodate wildlife and protect property and farmland.
 
Many of the successful urban wildlife species have exhibited multiple adaptations. This included being omnivorous and changing movement and activity. This includes becoming more nocturnal. Some species have increased reproduction due to increased environmental temperatures. Others have exhibited increased tolerance of humans. Finally, human environments also provide increased variety in nutrition and diet.
 
A number of species were discussed as examples of urbanization or increased tolerance of human activity. These included racoons, deer, robins, Canada Geese, beaver, and coyote.  Jessica pointed out that some of the human created habitats encourage increased wildlife populations. An example would be expansive grassland and water sources (think parks and golf courses) are inviting to Canada Geese. Urban settings are also inviting to racoons and the fringes or borderlands, deer, and coyote.
 
We are creating habitat. Habitat consists of water, food, shelter or cover, and space. The question is, are we going to do this in a way that encourages biodiversity or that increases damage to property and farm crops.  

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