Despite the popular perception of protected areas as vestiges of remnant wilderness, the behavior and activity patterns of wildlife in these areas are still subject to many forms of anthropogenic disturbances, such as roads, recreation and resource extraction. In Banff National Park, Alberta, efforts to mitigate the effects of roads on wildlife using wildlife crossing structures (WC) have been successful for a number of large mammal species, when measured as a reduction in mortality from vehicle collisions or the restoration of population connectivity; however, a comprehensive view of mitigation success should also account for the restoration of animal behavior and activity patterns. We evaluated the general hypothesis that existing WC have mitigated the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on wildlife activity, and predicted that the activity patterns of wildlife at WC should be similar to those in areas characterized by little or no human disturbance. We collected data from a long‐term monitoring program of activity patterns, in an assemblage of large mammal species, using a network of camera traps throughout Banff National Park. We quantified the inter‐ and intra‐specific overlap of diel activity patterns at 39 engineered wildlife crossings, varying in design (e.g., over and underpasses) and age. We compared activity at WC to baseline conditions at 126 backcountry sites (BC). In general, activity patterns at WC were found to closely match those at BC. Of the eight species we examined, only elk and coyotes showed significantly different peaks in activity. Activity between WC depended on the time of day, the amount of human use and age of the crossing structure; however, the impact of these factors varied among carnivores and ungulates. Our work demonstrates that the impact of people on wildlife activity at WC is highly context dependent and that the restoration of native patterns of activity within protected areas will require management of human activity, even in relatively remote areas.
Range declines, habitat connectivity, and trapping have created conservation concern for wolverines throughout their range in North America. Previous researchers used population models and observed estimates of survival and reproduction to infer that current trapping rates limit population growth, except perhaps in the far north where trapping rates are lower. Assessing the sustainability of trapping requires demographic and abundance data that are expensive to acquire and are therefore usually only achievable for small populations, which makes generalization risky. We surveyed wolverines over a large area of southern British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, used spatial capture-recapture models to estimate density, and calculated trapping kill rates using provincial fur harvest data. Wolverine density averaged 2 wolverines/1,000 km 2 and was positively related to spring snow cover and negatively related to road density. Observed annual trapping mortality was >8.4%/year. This level of mortality is unlikely to be sustainable except in rare cases where movement rates are high among sub-populations and sizable untrapped refuges exist. Our results suggest wolverine trapping is not sustainable because our study area was fragmented by human and natural barriers and few large refuges existed. We recommend future wolverine trapping mortality be reduced by ≥50% throughout southern British Columbia and Alberta to promote population recovery.
Crossing structures (i.e., underpasses and overpasses) are becoming a widespread approach to promote movement of wildlife across roads. Studies have shown that species select for different crossing structure designs, yet little is known about intraspecific variation (i.e., differences among demographic classes) in crossing structure preference. Using data on grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) movement in Banff National Park (AB, Canada), we focused on selection by family groups (adult females travelling with young) and singleton (adult male or female) bears for 5 crossing structure designs distributed among 44 sites. Using data from the world's longest running monitoring program (1997-2014) on wildlife crossing structure use, we created an economic model to estimate demographic-specific cost-effectiveness for each crossing structure design. We found that all grizzly bears selected larger and more open structures (overpasses and open-span bridges). Use of these structures has generally increased with time at a rate that exceeds estimates of population growth. Family groups were more selective than singletons and strongly selected overpasses. In spite of singletons' selection for overpasses and open-span bridges, box culverts were comparable in costeffectiveness. Our results suggest that structure designs targeting the selection of grizzly bear family groups are effective at restoring population connectivity, but a systematic approach to designing highway mitigation also would consider the role of lesser used structures in reducing intraspecific predation and multispecies connectivity targets. Ó 2017 The Wildlife Society.
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