Hunting and Outdoor Recreation Affect Large Herbivore Activity Patterns More Than Natural Predators in a...

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Wildlife Conservation
• Behavioral Ecology

Background:

• Large carnivore and herbivore populations are recovering across Europe, leading to increased human-wildlife coexistence in shared landscapes.
• Understanding predator-prey dynamics in human-dominated environments is crucial, yet less studied than in pristine areas.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of wolf presence, hunting, and recreational activities on red deer spatiotemporal activity.
• To analyze how recreational activities and red deer presence influence wolf activity patterns.

Main Methods:

• Systematic camera-trapping over five autumn hunting seasons in the eastern Alps.
• Quasi-experimental design comparing hunting and non-hunting areas.
• Generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) to analyze activity patterns.

Main Results:

• Hunting significantly reduced red deer activity and diurnal patterns, interacting with recreation to amplify these effects.
• Wolf presence did not significantly alter red deer temporal activity curves.
• Wolves remained nocturnal and were more active in areas with high red deer use, irrespective of human activity levels.

Conclusions:

• Human activities (lethal and nonlethal) exert a stronger influence on red deer behavior than wolves in these landscapes.
• Human disturbance can override natural predator-prey dynamics, potentially increasing predator-prey co-occurrence in human-dominated ecosystems.