Climbing the urban canopy: Camera trap insights into mammal activity and habitat use

Abstract Urbanization profoundly impacts wildlife behavior and habitat use. While the effects of urbanization on diel activity patterns and mammal interactions have been well studied at the ground level, little is known about spatiotemporal patterns above the ground. Here, we assessed scansorial mammals and their diel activity patterns in the canopy, as well as the effectiveness of different camera trap orientations in tree crowns. We deployed 16 camera traps across ground and canopy strata at 5 sampling points in an urban green space and a residential neighborhood in a well‐arbored town in the southeastern United States. From September 2024 to January 2025, we recorded 3,723 independent detections over 11,856 trap days, identifying 12 mammal species from 6 orders. Four scansorial species were observed using the canopy: eastern gray squirrels ( Sciurus carolinensis ) and fox squirrels ( S. niger ), which exhibited diurnal activity, and southern flying squirrels ( Glaucomys volans ) and raccoons ( Procyon lotor ), which were primarily nocturnal. The 4 scansorial species differed in their patterns of canopy and ground use; for example, southern flying squirrels and fox squirrels were mainly found in the canopy, while eastern gray squirrels showed a balanced use of both vertical strata, in contrast to raccoons which were found mainly on the ground. Notably, Virginia opossums ( Didelphis virginiana ), gray foxes ( Urocyon cinereoargenteus ), and domestic cats ( Felis catus ), despite their climbing ability, were detected exclusively on the ground. Detection rates were related to camera orientation and species. Cameras mounted on trunks and oriented downward (vertically) detected more southern flying squirrels, while cameras facing along branches (horizontally) showed a nonsignificant trend in detecting more fox squirrels, suggesting how species behavior and camera configuration jointly influence detection probability. Our results suggested the need to incorporate vertical strata into urban ecological research to enhance wildlife monitoring and management strategies. Future studies should investigate how specific urbanization‐driven factors influence climbing behavior and canopy use for well‐studied species such as eastern gray and fox squirrels, as well as for southern flying squirrels, whose ecology remains poorly understood.