Camera‐traps and the city: Spatiotemporal adaptations of wildlife to urban environments

Urbanisation significantly reshapes ecosystems, affecting biodiversity and profoundly altering wildlife behaviour. Nonetheless, our understanding of the environmental drivers of behavioural changes, as well as the concurrent effects upon interspecific interactions, remains limited. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal adaptations of wildlife to urban environments, with a focus on predator–prey dynamics in response to urban-specific environmental characteristics, adopting a year-round camera-trapping campaign within the metropolitan area of Florence, Italy. Temporal and spatial activity patterns of predators, prey, humans and domestic animals, as well as their relative overlaps, were quantified, revealing a marked increase in nocturnal behaviour amongst most wildlife species compared to their conspecifics in rural areas. A wide temporal overlap was recorded between predators and most of their prey (70%–93%), yet limited to night hours. Contrary to more natural settings, the effects of moon phases were negligible upon urban mammals, and the occurrence of humans was a strong driver of wildlife spatiotemporal behaviour. Species richness was also shaped by environmental factors, with artificial light negatively impacting diversity, whereas the presence of herbaceous edges enhanced the diversity of local mammal assemblages. Suburban regions emerged as biodiversity hotspots, highlighting the critical role of green corridors and thoughtful urban planning in mitigating biodiversity loss. Practical implication: Our findings analysed the complex interface between human activity and wildlife in urban landscapes, showing how urbanisation reshapes predator–prey dynamics and ecological interspecific interactions. Camera trapping proved to be a fundamental tool, addressing observational challenges and providing an unbiased, detailed perspective on urban wildlife adaptations.