'Ripple effects' of urban environmental characteristics on cognitive performances in Eurasian red squirrels

Pizza Ka Yee Chow ^1,2,3, Kenta Uchida ^3,4, Itsuro Koizumi ³

⁰Division of Psychology, University of Chester, Chester, UK.

The Journal of Animal Ecology +

|

June 26, 2024

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

Urban environments stress wildlife, impacting cognitive abilities like problem-solving. This study shows human disturbance and green space influence Eurasian red squirrels

Area Of Science

Urban Ecology
Animal Behavior
Cognitive Ecology

Background

Urban expansion increases wildlife presence in human-dominated landscapes.
Urban environmental factors, including human disturbance, can induce stress and affect wildlife cognition.
The ripple effect hypothesis suggests urban stressors may impact related cognitive traits beyond problem-solving.

Purpose Of The Study

To test the ripple effect hypothesis in urban Eurasian red squirrels.
To investigate how direct human disturbance, indirect human disturbance, green coverage, and population size affect generalization and memory.
To determine direct and indirect influences of urban characteristics on cognitive performance.

Main Methods

Studied Eurasian red squirrels across 11 urban sites with varying environmental characteristics.
Assessed performance in generalization (applying learned solutions to novel problems) and memory (recalling solutions after a delay) tasks.
Correlated urban environmental factors with task success rates, solving efficiency, and latencies.

Main Results

Direct and indirect human disturbance negatively impacted generalization and memory success rates at the population level.
Increased direct human disturbance and reduced green coverage enhanced individual solving efficiency.
Indirect human disturbance showed an individual-level indirect effect on generalization performance by reducing initial problem-solving latency.

Conclusions

Urban environmental characteristics act as stressors, significantly shaping cognitive performance in Eurasian red squirrels.
Results partially support the ripple effect hypothesis, demonstrating broader impacts on cognition than previously understood.
Understanding these cognitive adaptations is crucial for wildlife persistence in urban ecosystems.

Keywords:

Eurasian red squirrels behavioural flexibility cognitive ecology domino effect urban ecology urban wildlife urbanisation wildlife behaviour