Network dynamics revealed from eDNA highlight seasonal variation in urban mammal communities.

ABSTRACT: Urban ecosystems are expanding rapidly, significantly altering natural landscapes and impacting biodiversity. Here we explore seasonal variation in mammal diversity using environmental DNA (eDNA) from soil samples collected during winter and summer across 21 urban parks in Detroit, Michigan. We estimated gamma (regional), alpha (local) and beta (compositional change) diversity to determine if seasonal shifts, reflecting winter scarcity and summer abundance in mammal community composition and human activity, could be detected using eDNA. We expected that larger parks would exhibit greater diversity and higher seasonal turnover, consistent with the species-area relationship (SAR) and hypothesised that increased summer resource availability would lead to decreased network density as species d

SUBMITTER: Hallam J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12326062 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature