Ecol Evol. 2016 Feb 9. doi: 10.1002/ece3.1921. [Epub ahead of print]
- 1School of Environmental Studies University of Victoria 3800 Finnerty Rd. Victoria BC Canada V8W 2Y2.
- 2Western Transportation Institute Montana State University PO Box 174250 Bozeman Montana 59717.
- 3Alberta Environment and Parks Parks Division Kananaskis Region, Suite 201 800 Railway Avenue Canmore AB Canada T1W 1P1.
- 4School
of Environmental StudiesUniversity of Victoria3800 Finnerty
Rd.VictoriaBCCanadaV8W 2Y2; Ecosystem Management UnitAlberta
Innovates-Technology Futures3-4476 Markham St.VictoriaBCCanadaV8Z 7X8.
Abstract
Understanding
a species' behavioral response to rapid environmental change is an
ongoing challenge in modern conservation. Anthropogenic landscape
modification, or "human footprint," is well documented as a central
cause of large mammal decline and range contractions where the proximal
mechanisms of decline are often contentious. Direct mortality is an
obvious cause; alternatively, human-modified landscapes perceived as
unsuitable by some species may contribute to shifts in space use through
preferential habitat selection. A useful approach to tease these
effects apart is to determine whether behaviors potentially associated
with risk vary with human footprint. We hypothesized wolverine (Gulo gulo)
behaviors vary with different degrees of human footprint. We quantified
metrics of behavior, which we assumed to indicate risk perception, from
photographic images from a large existing camera-trapping dataset
collected to understand wolverine distribution in the Rocky Mountains of
Alberta, Canada. We systematically deployed 164 camera sites across
three study areas covering approximately 24,000 km2, sampled
monthly between December and April (2007-2013). Wolverine behavior
varied markedly across the study areas. Variation in behavior decreased
with increasing human footprint. Increasing human footprint may
constrain potential variation in behavior, through either restricting
behavioral plasticity or individual variation in areas of high human
impact. We hypothesize that behavioral constraints may indicate an
increase in perceived risk in human-modified landscapes. Although
survival is obviously a key contributor to species population decline
and range loss, behavior may also make a significant contribution.
KEYWORDS:
Camera trapping; Gulo gulo; Mustelidae; human footprint; landscape of fear; neophobia
