The San Gabriel Valley of California is nestled between the San Gabriel Mountains and state and regional parks and is home to approximately 1.3 million people while straddled between two major cities (Los Angeles and San Bernardino). The valley is intersected by freeways going north to south and east to west but with undeveloped land existing to the north and south. The mountains and hillsides are places in which wildlife can thrive and, with neighboring wildlands, can come increased human-wildlife interactions.

The goal of UWIN SGV is to establish a remote camera monitoring program in San Gabriel Valley, CA to document the urban wildlife community composition from an urban to rural gradient. In collaboration with the Urban Wildlife Information Network (UWIN), we are implementing a standardized study design that has been replicated in multiple urban centers to compare urban wildlife presence, distribution, and seasonality as it relates to landscape composition and configuration. 

This project utilizes remote camera traps, photo analysis, and spatial analysis of the landscape to determine the relationships between urban wildlife species and landscape patterns. This will be a student-based conservation project, which will culminate in presentations at local and national meetings. Results will inform city biologists, state and federal wildlife agencies, community members, and local organizations of the presence of particular species and the landscape features that influence their presence.  This information will help mitigate negative human-wildlife interactions and identify landscape features that are needed to maintain the San Gabriel Valley’s unique wildlife such as wildlife corridors.