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Tali Caspi

@talicaspi.bsky.social

850 followers 1.3K following 52 posts

NSF PRFB postdoc @ Schell Lab, UC Berkeley | PhD from @ the MECU, UC Davis🧬| urban wildlife ecologist studying carnivores in San Francisco 🐺🌉🐾 | https://talicaspi.weebly.com/

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Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · 23d

📢I’m excited to share that my second dissertation chapter has now been published in Ecology Letters! We used stable isotope analysis to examine if urbanization influences individual dietary specialization 🧪 🧵

Read it here: doi.org/10.1111/ele.... #OpenAccess #UrbanEcology #UrbanWildlife

Urbanisation Facilitates Intrapopulation Dietary Niche Diversity in a Generalist Carnivore

We compared stable isotope profiles of urban and nonurban coyote populations to test whether urbanisation fosters niche diversification among individuals. Urban coyotes had narrower dietary niches an...

Reposted by Tali Caspi

Heather Gaya @heathergaya.bsky.social · 8d

Seeing your own research in the news is a crazy experience! We found that lethal control is not an effective strategy and coyotes are probably just the new normal. Amazing how an article can turn a lengthy study into a sound bite 😅

www.wsbtv.com/news/local/a...

Coyote populations rebound faster than can be removed, UGA study says

Coyotes in the Atlanta metro? Removing them permanently may not be possible.

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · 15d

Thank you @amandabartlett.bsky.social and @sfgate.com for this wonderful piece about my recently published research on San Francisco #coyotes. Read it to learn more about how studying the diet of urban animals can help us learn to better coexist with them 🐾

Grant Marek @grantmarek.bsky.social · 15d

"But the staggering majority — 72 of them — were found dead, with vehicle strikes serving as the leading cause of mortality in 94.4% of that group."

via @amandabartlett.bsky.social
www.sfgate.com/local/articl...

What's killing coyotes in San Francisco?

"It's pretty jarring."

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · 20d

Congrats!!

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · 20d

Thanks so much!

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · 20d

Thank you!!

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · 23d

In sum, urbanization was associated with greater among-individual niche variation and individual dietary specialization in coyotes, a pattern we propose reflects the effects of abundant anthropogenic food subsidies and spatial variation in env. conditions within cities. Photo by @sfacc.bsky.social

Photo of a coyote in San Francisco standing next to a whole chicken on a front lawn of a residence

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · 23d

Taken together, while each urban individual eats a narrow diet, individuals in the city eat quite different diets from one another, especially with regard to human food consumption. But like our scat study, individuals living in the same territories had relatively similar diets 🍗

Stable isotope δ13C and δ15N ratios in vibrissae from coyotes in San Francisco color-coded by territorial affiliations.

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · 23d

Within-individual differences in ratios of both isotopes contributed far less to total niche variation in the urban than the nonurban coyote population, providing strong evidence for greater individual diet specialization in the urban population 🌇👤🍽️

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · 23d

We found that individual urban coyotes had dietary niches almost 3x narrower than nonurban coyotes. Similarly, urban individuals had more consistent diets (smaller residual intraindividual variabilities). That means each urban coyote was consuming a smaller “menu” of food types.

Stable isotope δ13C and δ15N ratios in vibrissae from coyotes including mean ratios and standard errors across vibrissa segments for each individual urban coyote from San Francisco and nonurban coyote from Marin County, California, USA.

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · 23d

Coyote whiskers grow gradually over several months, so we cut each whisker into small segments. Each segment gave us a isotopic “snapshot” of diet from a different point in time, letting us measure how consistent (or variable) an individual’s diet was ✂️🐾

Diagram depicting a coyote whisker being subsampled in 0.2mg segments from base to tip

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · 23d

Cities are very heterogeneous & food availability varies across neighborhoods. So, does urbanization create conditions favorable for individual specialization? We tested this hypothesis by comparing the diets of an urban pop of #coyotes in #SanFrancisco to a nonurban pop in Marin County.

Photo of coyote in SF overlooking the city skyline

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · 23d

The niche variation hypothesis posits that intrapopulation niche differentiation arises because generalist populations include relatively specialized individuals that use different resources. Diet variation among individuals is expected to increase with spatial variation in resource availability.

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · 23d

📢I’m excited to share that my second dissertation chapter has now been published in Ecology Letters! We used stable isotope analysis to examine if urbanization influences individual dietary specialization 🧪 🧵

Read it here: doi.org/10.1111/ele.... #OpenAccess #UrbanEcology #UrbanWildlife

Urbanisation Facilitates Intrapopulation Dietary Niche Diversity in a Generalist Carnivore

We compared stable isotope profiles of urban and nonurban coyote populations to test whether urbanisation fosters niche diversification among individuals. Urban coyotes had narrower dietary niches an...

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · Sep 2

After a long posting break, it’s time for a big life update! 🎓 I graduated from @ucdavis.bsky.social in June, and today I'm starting as an NSF PRFB postdoc in Chris Schell’s lab at @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social. Though SF coyotes will always have my heart, I'm pivoting from coyotes to raccoons 🦝

Reposted by Tali Caspi

TWS Urban Wildlife Working Group @tws-uwwg.bsky.social · May 30

🌆🐾 The International Urban Wildlife Conference kicks off this weekend in Atlanta! We’re bringing together researchers and practitioners to explore the ecology and evolution of cities. Stay tuned for updates, session highlights, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of #IUWC2025! 🌇🦝🧬🌳

Reposted by Tali Caspi

TWS Urban Wildlife Working Group @tws-uwwg.bsky.social · May 21

Ready to connect with urban ecologists and wildlife managers from around the world? The International Urban Wildlife Conference starts June 1st in Atlanta! 🦝🎡🌎

Workshops, field trips, plenaries & more: www.urban-wildlife.org/about

#IUWC2025 #UrbanWildlife #UrbanEcology #UrbanEvolution

IUWC 2025 — International Urban Wildlife Conference

www.urban-wildlife.org

Reposted by Tali Caspi

Christine Wilkinson, PhD 🌈 @scrappynaturalist.bsky.social · May 21

It was great being part of this longform @nytimes.com article about the San Francisco coyotes- with @talicaspi.bsky.social, Chris Schell, & @drpheebs.bsky.social . Loren Elliott's photos are incredible! Check it out.
🧪🌎

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/u...

The Coyotes of San Francisco

www.nytimes.com

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · May 19

SF coyotes in the @nytimes.com! Feat. the most incredible photography by Loren Elliot (@lorenelliotphoto).

"After a long absence from the city, the animals have become ubiquitous again. Some residents find them delightful, but others view them with disdain."

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/u...

The Coyotes of San Francisco

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Tali Caspi

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · Apr 23

I'm just going to keep telling you to look at our zine because this shit is cute and maybe you'd want to make one for your city too 👀

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · Apr 22

We're celebrating Earth Day 2025 by releasing The Philly Biodiversity Zine!

6 Philly artists collaborated to put together a cute, bright, educational zine all about how we can support the wildlife we share Philly with.

We're distributing 3000 copies across the city!

Philly Biodiversity Zine

Philly biodiversity zine educational zine

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · Apr 21

I wrote a piece for The Academic Minute! Listen to learn more about our work on San Francisco #coyote diets 🎧

academicminute.org/tali-caspi-u...

#UrbanWildlife #UrbanEcology

Tali Caspi, University of California, Davis - How Cities Shape What Animals Eat - The Academic Minute

What do animals eat when they live in urban spaces? Tali Caspi, urban ecologist and Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Davis, takes off the lid. Tali’s work on urban wildlife focuses on ...

academicminute.org

Reposted by Tali Caspi

Wilson Sherman @wilsonsherm.bsky.social · Apr 14

"The wildlife Nextdoor: Socioeconomics and race predict social media carnivore reports" is out in Science of the Total Environment. @scrappynaturalist.bsky.social, Christopher Schell, and I looked at how people post about coyotes and black bears on Nextdoor.

doi.org/10.1016/j.sc...

Reposted by Tali Caspi

Ferris Jabr @ferrisjabr.bsky.social · Apr 7

🧵🐺🧬 An important point is getting lost in the discussion abt today's "deextinction" news: Colossal is not just claiming to have created something akin to a dire wolf. They claim they've made new/unpublished genetic discoveries that would rewrite our understanding of dire wolf evolution & anatomy 🧪

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · Mar 31

Happy to answer any questions about #IUWC2025 if you have them! See you in Atlanta!

TWS Urban Wildlife Working Group @tws-uwwg.bsky.social · Mar 31

Don't forget to register for #IUWC2025! Peep our updated conference website to learn more about the workshops, fieldtrips, and speaker line-up that await you in Atlanta 🎡

www.urban-wildlife.org/about

#UrbanEcology #UrbanWildlife

About — International Urban Wildlife Conference

www.urban-wildlife.org

Reposted by Tali Caspi

TWS Urban Wildlife Working Group @tws-uwwg.bsky.social · Mar 24

We are excited to share that we have THREE incredible plenary speakers presenting at #IUWC2025 this year! They will give talks that fit with our theme of Urban Reflections: What We’ve Learned About Nature, Our Communities and Ourselves. Stay tuned as we announce our speakers over the next few days 👀

Tali Caspi @talicaspi.bsky.social · Mar 18

Bay Area peeps! If you like art and coyotes, come check out this collab in Bernal on April 5th! I'll be giving a talk on SF coyotes and artist Frances Berriman will be showing her beautiful paintings showcasing the city's most iconic carnivores 🎨🐺🐾

#UrbanEcology #UrbanWildlife #SciComm #EcoArt

Alex Russell @infrequently.org · Mar 18

Frances isn't on bsky, but she's doing a show April 5th on Courtland Ave in SF in conjunction with @talicaspi.bsky.social. If you like urban animals and ecology, this is for you. You can also check out the rest of her art here:

art.fberriman.com

"Coyotes of San Francisco" showing April 5th, 2025 at 301 Courtland. Frances Berriman and Tali Caspi presenting art and ecology.