Abstract

Urbanization and habitat fragmentation have altered wildlife distributions by favoring species with traits suited to human-modified environments. The fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) and eastern gray squirrel (S. carolinensis) provide a valuable model for understanding how habitat structure and ecological filtering influence coexistence among similar species. This study compared the relative abundance of these two species across suburban landscapes in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and contrasted those patterns with long-term data from Wooster, Ohio, collected by Lehtinen et al. (2020). Squirrel detections were recorded through driving surveys, walking surveys, and motion-triggered cameras between June and July 2025. A total of 600 detections were collected in Cuyahoga County—202 fox squirrels (33.7%) and 397 gray or melanistic squirrels (66.2%). Canopy cover values did not differ significantly between species (p = 0.85), suggesting that local canopy variation alone does not explain abundance differences. However, a two-proportion z-test comparing the two regions revealed a highly significant difference in fox squirrel frequency (p < 0.0001), with fox squirrels much more common in Cuyahoga County than in Wooster. These results indicate that both species persist in suburban environments but in unequal proportions, likely influenced by a combination of habitat structure, historical land use, and interspecific competition. Overall, the findings support the concept of competitive exclusion operating in urban landscapes, where gray squirrels dominate densely wooded habitats while fox squirrels persist in more open, fragmented environments.

Advisor

Lehtinen, Richard Dr.

Department

Biology

Publication Date

2025

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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Available for download on Thursday, May 15, 2031

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© Copyright 2025 Alex Mina Daoud