New research suggests that the Delmar Divide, a socioeconomic and racial dividing line in St. Louis, not only separates people, it segregates wildlife.
“We think of wildlife as removed from humans — because they’re wildlife — [but] they’re not, in fact, removed from humans,” said St. Louis scientist Elizabeth Carlen. “They’re living with us, alongside us, and the things that we are doing as humans are having impacts.”
{snip} Her study of some of St. Louis’ most common residents, eastern gray squirrels, demonstrates the phenomenon.
“We’re finding pretty significant [genetic] differences in north city squirrels versus south city squirrels,” Carlen said, adding that these are preliminary findings that are not yet published. {snip}
The way refuse is handled differently north and south of Delmar Boulevard could be a major factor in how life is different for squirrels on either side of the road. Squirrels are known dumpster divers, so the food that humans have access to affects the diets of squirrels.
“Where our food deserts are in St Louis — where we don’t have access to fresh food — that’s obviously having downstream effects on the wildlife,” Carlen said. {snip}
{snip}
The post Segregation Runs So Deep in St. Louis, It May Even Affect Squirrel DNA appeared first on American Renaissance.
American Renaissance
