Red deer exhibit spatial and temporal responses to hiking activity

Marion, S.; Demšar, U.; Davies, A.; Stephens, P.A.; Irvine, R.J.; Long, J.A.

Abstract

Outdoor recreation has the potential to impact the spatial and temporal distribution of animals. We explore interactions between red deer (Cervus elaphus) and hikers along a popular hiking path in the Scottish Highlands. We placed camera traps in transects at different distances (25, 75 and 150 metres) from the path to study whether distance from hiker activity influences the number of deer detected. We compared this with the detection of red deer in an additional, spatially isolated area (one km away from any other transects and the hiking path). We collected count data on hikers at the start of the path and explored hourly (red deer detection during daytime), daily, diurnal (day vs night), and monthly spatial distributions of red deer. Using Generalized Linear Mixed Models with forward model selection, we found that the distribution of deer changed with the hiking activity. We found that fewer red deer were detected during busy hourly hiking periods. We found that during daytime, more red deer were detected at 150m than at 25m. Moreover, during the day, red deer were detected at a greater rate in the isolated area than around the transects close to the path and more likely to be found close to the path at night. This suggests that avoidance of hikers by red deer, in this study area, takes place over distances greater than 75m and that red deer are displaced into less disturbed areas when the hiking path is busy. Our results suggest that the impact of hikers is short-term, as deer return to the disturbed areas during the night.

Citation

Marion, S., Demšar, U., Davies, A., Stephens, P., Irvine, R., & Long, J. (2021). Red deer exhibit spatial and temporal responses to hiking activity. Wildlife Biology: A journal for wildlife science, 2021(3), https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00853

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 1, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Oct 8, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Oct 6, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 11, 2021
• Journal: Wildlife Biology
• Print ISSN: 0909-6396
• Publisher: Nordic Society Oikos
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2021
• Issue: 3
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00853
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1237148