Utilisation of Anthropogenic Food by Red Foxes ( Vulpes vulpes ) in Britain as Determined by Stable Isotope Analysis

作者：J. W. Fletcher, Simon Tollington, Ruth Cox, Bryony A. Tolhurst, Jason Newton, Rona A. R. McGill, Paul M. Cropper, Naomi Berry, Krishnaveni Illa, Dawn M. Scott · 发表于：Ecology and Evolution · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1002/ece3.70844 · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Isotope Analysis in Ecology、Marine animal studies overview、Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

ABSTRACT Dietary analyses utilising visual methods to identify stomach and faecal contents have shown that urban red foxes ( Vulpes vulpes ) in Britain consume human‐derived (anthropogenic) food to varying degrees. Anthropogenic foods have been implicated in poor health outcomes for synanthropic species that consume them; therefore, it is important to examine the degree of such foods in the British fox diet. We analysed the carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) stable isotope ratios of whiskers collected from 93 foxes from across Britain to determine: (1) if stable isotope analysis (SIA) distinguished a difference in δ 13 C and δ 15 N between rural and urban foxes, and whether any difference was suggestive of anthropogenic food use; (2) the proportion of anthropogenic food consumption in urban foxes compared to rural foxes using a Bayesian mixing model; (3) whether sex, age or season of collection influenced fox diet as assessed by SIA, in relation to anthropogenic food use. We found the following: (1) urban fox diet was significantly different to rural foxes; urban foxes demonstrated significantly higher δ 13 C and lower δ 15 N, a pattern consistent with anthropogenic food consumption. (2) Food provided either directly or indirectly by humans contributed an estimated 34.6% of urban fox diet compared to approximately 6% of rural fox diet. (3) Across rural and urban foxes combined, there were significant isotopic differences between males and females, with females demonstratin...