Sugar addicted in the city: impact of urbanisation on food choice and diet composition of the Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)

Abstract

Urban wildlife faces a great variety of human-induced habitat alterations, among others changes in resource availability and composition, often resulting in serious declines in biodiversity. Nevertheless, Eurasian red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) occur in high densities in urban areas and seem to benefit from supplementary feeding. However, we still lack knowledge about consequences of urbanisation on mammalian foraging behaviour and nutrient intake. Thus, we investigated body mass, food choice and diet composition in squirrels from an urban core area versus a forest population in a cafeteria experiment. Urban individuals were lower in initial body mass and condition, but consumed significantly more g and kJ per day and significantly gained weight over the course of the experiment (around 2 weeks); nevertheless, the difference in body mass and condition persisted. All squirrels preferred hazelnuts, but urban squirrels had a wider dietary range and consumed more non-natural food items. Both groups prioritised fat and there was no difference in protein intake. Urban squirrels though had a significantly higher sugar intake, mainly by eating biscuits. Our results demonstrate clear effects of urbanisation on foraging behaviour and preferences, which has the potential for nutritional mismatch or negative side effects due to consumption of non-natural food items. Our findings show that highly supplemented urban core fragments might not serve as adequate refuge for wildlife.