Detecting short-term responses to weekend recreation activity: Desert bighorn sheep avoidance of hiking trails

Longshore, Kathleen M.; Lowrey, Chris H.; Thompson, Daniel

doi:10.1002/wsb.349

Cited by 19 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Understanding the behavioral response of wildlife to people is an information gap with critical conservation and management implications (Buchholz 2007, Caro 2007, Blumstein and Fernandez-Juricic 2010. Previous studies have shown that large mammals can adjust their location and timing of certain behaviors to avoid interacting with people, including hikers (Rogala et al 2011, Longshore et al 2013, skiers (Ferguson andKeith 1982, Cassirer et al 1992), aircraft (Weisenberger et al 1996, Krausman et al 1998) and vehicles (Burson et al 2000, Brown et al 2012. Some of these behaviors generate cascading effects on other human-wildlife interactions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…; McLellan and Shackleton 1988, Gibeau et al 2002, Moen et al 2012) and bighorn sheep (Ovis sp. ; Longshore et al 2013). At the same time, wildlife can become habituated to such disturbances and adjust their behavior to minimize encounters with people (Schultz and Bailey 1978, Burson et al 2000, Brown et al 2012; perhaps with little consequence to the demographic vital rates of wildlife populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Anthropogenic effects on activity patterns of wildlife at crossing structures

2014

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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.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic effects on activity patterns of wildlife at crossing structures

2014

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“…Thus, Canada lynx were neutral or exhibited a slight proclivity to use roaded areas similar to lynx populations in the northern Rockies (Squires et al 2010). In contrast to bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelson) that adjusted space-use near high-use recreation trails (Longshore and Thompson 2013), Canada lynx also exhibited little behavioral response to backcountry ski trails as evidenced by their increased probability of use near (<250 m) trails and no diel pattern in their association with trails despite varying levels of human disturbance during day (high disturbance) vs. night (no disturbance, Olson et al 2018). Thus, we believe the proclivity of Canada lynx to associate with roads and trails was due to their patterns of resource selection in forested landscapes with associated road and trail infrastructures rather than responding to human activity present along these linear structures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…). In contrast to bighorn sheep ( Ovis canadensis nelson ) that adjusted space‐use near high‐use recreation trails (Longshore and Thompson ), Canada lynx also exhibited little behavioral response to backcountry ski trails as evidenced by their increased probability of use near (<250 m) trails and no diel pattern in their association with trails despite varying levels of human disturbance during day (high disturbance) vs. night (no disturbance, Olson et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Winter recreation and Canada lynx: reducing conflict through niche partitioning

Squires

Olson

Roberts³

et al. 2019

Ecosphere

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Outdoor recreationists are important advocates for wildlife on public lands. However, balancing potential impacts associated with increased human disturbance with the conservation of sensitive species is a central issue facing ecologists and land managers alike, especially for dispersed winter recreation due to its disproportionate impact to wildlife. We studied how dispersed winter recreation (outside developed ski areas) impacted a reintroduced meso‐carnivore, Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), at the southern periphery of the species’ range in the southern Rocky Mountains. On a voluntary basis, we distributed global positioning system (GPS) units to winter recreationists and documented 2143 spatial movement tracks of recreationists engaged in motorized and nonmotorized winter sports for a total cumulative distance of 56,000 km from 2010 to 2013. We also deployed GPS radio collars on adult Canada lynx that were resident in the mountainous topography that attracted high levels of dispersed winter recreation. We documented that resource‐selection models (RSFs) for Canada lynx were significantly improved when selection patterns of winter recreationists were included in best‐performing models. Canada lynx and winter recreationists partitioned environmental gradients in ways that reduced the potential for recreation‐related disturbance. Although the inclusion of recreation improved the RSF model for Canada lynx, environmental covariates explained most variation in resource use. The environmental gradients that most separated areas selected by Canada lynx from those used by recreationists were forest canopy closure, road density, and slope. Canada lynx also exhibited a functional response of increased avoidance of areas selected by motorized winter recreationists (snowmobiling off‐trail, hybrid snowmobile) compared with either no functional response (hybrid ski) or selection for (backcountry skiing) areas suitable for nonmotorized winter recreation. We conclude with a discussion of implications associated with providing winter recreation balanced with the conservation of Canada lynx.

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“…Although such studies are expensive and difficult to implement (Beale ), effects of disturbance or cumulative perturbations have implications for the fitness of individuals (Ciuti et al ), with resultant population‐level consequences (Stockwell et al , Bleich et al , Côté ). For example, animals with habitat of similar quality nearby may be able to avoid disturbances because they have alternate sites to occupy (Longshore et al ), but such is not always the case. Indeed, if animals abandon habitat in response to disturbance and move to areas that are less suitable in terms of forage or cover, it is likely that individual fitness will suffer, which could translate into population‐level impacts.…”

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confidence: 99%

Demographic responses of bighorn sheep to recreational activities: A trial of a trail

Wiedmann

Bleich

2014

Wildl. Soc. Bull.

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Long‐term effects of anthropogenic disturbance to wildlife, and whether such effects have population‐level consequences, often are difficult to determine. In 1996, a recreational hiking trail (Maah Daah Hey Trail [Trail]) was constructed by the U.S. Forest Service through 4 geographic areas, each occupied by a distinct sub‐population of bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), in western North Dakota, USA. From 2001 to 2012, we monitored distribution, recruitment rates, and abundance of female bighorn sheep in the sub‐populations to investigate responses to activities associated with the Trail, and whether demographic consequences occurred. Female bighorn sheep at Sully Creek were displaced from, and eventually abandoned, lambing habitat subjected to intensive recreational use that was erratic and unpredictable. Consequently, females inhabiting Sully Creek had lower fidelity to lambing areas than did other sub‐populations, all of which realized 100% fidelity. Further, females inhabiting Sully Creek achieved lower recruitment of young, exhibited a substantial downward trend in recruitment rate, and a decline in abundance of females compared with the other sub‐populations also exposed to the Trail, but where perturbation was less severe and human activities were consistent, predictable, and spatial separation existed between recreationists and lambing habitat. Metapopulations of bighorn sheep occurring in fragmented habitat having minimal vertical relief may be especially susceptible to sources of disturbance, which should be a consideration when recreational facilities are developed. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.

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Detecting short-term responses to weekend recreation activity: Desert bighorn sheep avoidance of hiking trails

Cited by 19 publications

References 41 publications

Anthropogenic effects on activity patterns of wildlife at crossing structures

Anthropogenic effects on activity patterns of wildlife at crossing structures

Winter recreation and Canada lynx: reducing conflict through niche partitioning

Demographic responses of bighorn sheep to recreational activities: A trial of a trail

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