Large carnivore response to human road use suggests a landscape of coexistence

Kautz, Todd M.; Fowler, Nicholas L.; Petroelje, Tyler R.; Beyer, Dean E.; Svoboda, Nathan J.; Belant, Jerrold L.

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01772

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 80 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Though diel activity is only one of many aspects of carnivore niche, our results indicate the functional diversity of diel activity among carnivores using roads was remarkably low and predictable. Concurrent with our study, GPS‐collared carnivores in our study area were primarily nocturnal near roads, but in areas farther from roads bobcats, coyotes, and wolves had roughly equal activity during day and night while bears were mostly diurnal (Kautz et al, 2021 ). We did not have a measure of how proximity to road affected fawn activity, but if fawns temporally avoided human activity near roads, it was evidently to a much lesser degree than carnivores did.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

White‐tailed deer exploit temporal refuge from multi‐predator and human risks on roads

Kautz

Fowler

Petroelje

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although most prey have multiple predator species, few studies have quantified how prey respond to the temporal niches of multiple predators which pose different levels of danger. For example, intraspecific variation in diel activity allows white‐tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) to reduce fawn activity overlap with coyotes (Canis latrans ) but finding safe times of day may be more difficult for fawns in a multi‐predator context. We hypothesized that within a multi‐predator system, deer would allocate antipredation behavior optimally based on combined mortality risk from multiple sources, which would vary depending on fawn presence. We measured cause‐specific mortality of 777 adult (>1‐year‐old) and juvenile (1–4‐month‐old) deer and used 300 remote cameras to estimate the activity of deer, humans, and predators including American black bears ( Ursus americanus ), bobcats ( Lynx rufus ), coyotes, and wolves ( Canis lupus ). Predation and vehicle collisions accounted for 5.3 times greater mortality in juveniles (16% mortality from bears, coyotes, bobcats, wolves, and vehicles) compared with adults (3% mortality from coyotes, wolves, and vehicles). Deer nursery groups (i.e., ≥1 fawn present) were more diurnal than adult deer without fawns, causing fawns to have 24–38% less overlap with carnivores and 39% greater overlap with humans. Supporting our hypothesis, deer nursery groups appeared to optimize diel activity to minimize combined mortality risk. Temporal refuge for fawns was likely the result of carnivores avoiding humans, simplifying diel risk of five species into a trade‐off between diurnal humans and nocturnal carnivores. Functional redundancy among multiple predators with shared behaviors may partially explain why white‐tailed deer fawn predation rates are often similar among single‐ and multi‐predator systems.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

White‐tailed deer exploit temporal refuge from multi‐predator and human risks on roads

Kautz

Fowler

Petroelje

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…4th order of habitat selection 14 ), even if not avoided at a larger scale. To understand at which scale animals respond to recreation is therefore important for coexistence of humans and wildlife, as the ability to respond to recreation at the local scale 19 may mitigate disturbance effects at the home range scale.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smartphone app reveals that lynx avoid human recreationists on local scale, but not home range scale

Thorsen

Bischof

Mattisson

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Outdoor recreation is increasing and affects habitat use and selection by wildlife. These effects are challenging to study, especially for elusive species with large spatial requirements, as it is hard to obtain reliable proxies of recreational intensity over extensive areas. Commonly used proxies, such as the density of, or distance to, hiking paths, ignore outdoor recreation occurring on other linear feature types. Here we utilized crowdsourced data from the Strava training app to obtain a large-scale proxy for pedestrian outdoor recreation intensity in southeast Norway. We used the proxy and GPS-tracking data from collared Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) to investigate how recreation affects habitat selection at the home range scale and local scale by lynx during summer. We fitted resource selection functions at the two scales using conditional logistic regression. Our analysis revealed that lynx avoided areas of recreational activity at the local scale, but not at home range scale. Nonetheless, lynx frequently used areas associated with recreation, and to a greater degree at night than during the day. Our results suggest that local-scale avoidance of recreation and temporal adjustments of habitat use by lynx mitigate the need for a home range-scale response towards recreation. Scale-dependent responses and temporal adjustments in habitat use may facilitate coexistence between humans and large carnivores.

show abstract

“…within 100 m of the center point to identify locations that may increase the probability of capturing wildlife images. In some instances (n = 8), for example, because wildlife are known to use human trails and roads for travel 5 , 35 cameras were placed near or in the direction of recreational dirt roads and old overgrown conservation roads that are occasionally utilized by vehicles. Cameras were strapped 0.5 m 40 above the base of trees ± 30° of north to reduce direct sunlight 41 , and when possible, along linear features (e.g., river, trail, etc.)…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, increasing temperatures and expanding urbanization have been postulated to reduce the time of hibernation, further increasing the number of bear-human conflicts along the urban-wildland interface 27 . Increased presence of human features on the landscape (e.g., roads) has resulted in bears increasing nocturnal activity, thus as humans drift farther into remote wild areas, particularly during annual bear hunting seasons, larger circadian shifts in black bear temporal activity may be expected 8 , 9 , 35 . Human hunters acting as top predators are restricted in their predation to specific areas and times of the day and year in which hunting is allowed, thus black bears may respond with spatial and temporal variation 8 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human recreation impacts seasonal activity and occupancy of American black bears (Ursus americanus) across the anthropogenic-wildland interface

Hubbard

Cove

Lafferty

2022

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Protected areas serve an important role in wildlife conservation, yet most wildlife occur outside these areas, subject to varying degrees of human disturbance. In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, American black bears (Ursus americanus), a highly mobile, opportunistic species, are common despite an extensive outdoor recreation industry with the potential to affect black bear spatial and temporal activity. We investigated how environmental and anthropogenic factors influence black bear occupancy, detection, and diel activity patterns across the anthropogenic–wildland interface before and after hibernation. Using 30 camera traps deployed across a rural–wildland interface, we captured black bears at 23 camera sites (~ 77%), which exhibited co-occurrence with humans at 10 sites (~ 33%), revealing that human presence and human population density exert negative effects on black bear seasonal occupancy. Bears were more nocturnal during the hunting season, before hibernation. Human recreational activity increased ~ 38% after hibernation, but bear diurnal activity also increased ~ 36%, except when cubs were present. Our results suggest bears prioritize avoiding humans spatially, rather than temporally, except during the hunting season and when cubs are present. Understanding black bear responses to human recreation patterns and environmental variation is essential for minimizing human-mediated disturbance, and fueling conservation efforts of large, charismatic carnivores.

show abstract

Large carnivore response to human road use suggests a landscape of coexistence

Cited by 19 publications

References 80 publications

White‐tailed deer exploit temporal refuge from multi‐predator and human risks on roads

White‐tailed deer exploit temporal refuge from multi‐predator and human risks on roads

Smartphone app reveals that lynx avoid human recreationists on local scale, but not home range scale

Human recreation impacts seasonal activity and occupancy of American black bears (Ursus americanus) across the anthropogenic-wildland interface

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About