Activity Patterns of Wildlife at Crossing Structures as Measure of Adaptability and Performance

Wildlife in mountainous regions are affected by naturally and non-naturally fragmented habitats. Nonnatural habitat fragmentation is caused by human development and activities, which tend to be concentrated in biologically rich and easily accessible valley bottom habitats. Human activity can strongly influence wildlife behavior and activity patterns and can differentially alter large mammal distributions. Typically, national parks and other protected areas were created and are currently managed for preservation of natural heritage and conservation of biodiversity. However, recreation, tourism and human infrastructure within parks and protected areas may have demographic and genetic consequences on wildlife populations and alter wildlife behavior. The effects of transportation infrastructure on wildlife are well known. In addition to road-related mortality and habitat fragmentation, transportation infrastructure can also influence habitat selection and behavior. In response to the mortality and habitat fragmentation effects of roads wildlife managers have employed mitigation measures such as fencing and wildlife crossing structures. However, for these measures to be effective wildlife have to find them and eventually use them in a biologically significant way (e.g., they must maintain or improve levels of fitness). However, sensory disturbance from traffic noise may affect movements and habitat use of sensitive species in areas near or in transportation corridors. Wildlife behaviour may be used as an indicator of how well crossing structures restore movements and connect habitats. We argue that, if wildlife crossing structures are fully functional, then wildlife activity patterns at crossing structures should reflect baseline activity parameters in areas characterized by little or no human disturbance (i.e., away from transportation infrastructure). The purpose of our presentation is to describe diel (24-hour) activity patterns of a range of large mammal species at crossing structures as a measure of adaptation and performance, and contrast these patterns to baseline conditions. Specifically, we are interested in determining whether wildlife activity at crossing structures is different from control areas without effects of transportation corridors. We analyze a long-term dataset on large mammal activity patterns obtained from infrared-operated digital cameras (camera traps) at 40 wildlife crossing structures (n=48 cameras deployed) along the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) between 2005 and 2012. These data were compared with data obtained from camera traps (n=42) located in the backcountry of Banff National Park. The mean distance of backcountry cameras from TCH was 29.2 km (SD=11.7, min=9.3km, max=49.6km). Our results will provide an understanding of the activity patterns of wildlife at crossing structures as a measure of adaptation and performance evaluation. This is the first attempt we are aware of to utilize camera trap metadata at wildlife crossing structures other than for passage detections. Our results should assist transportation and land managers with mitigation evaluations and help devise sound attenuation strategies to enhance wildlife use of crossing structures.

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