Deer weren’t as bothered, most likely using “human shield” to deflect potential predators
Trail use in the Upper Gunnison Basin can be heavy at times, with plenty of hikers out well after dark. And new research finds that the influx of humans in this particular area affects elk more than deer – with elk being displaced from the landscape by 57.5%, according to The Daily Sentinel.
Deer, on the other hand, seem to appreciate the human traffic, gravitating toward popular trails. Researcher Chloe Beaupré says that could be “due to a kind of a human shield effect” as fewer predators will be in these areas, so high foot traffic can be a sort of refuge for deer.
“Most studies target trails or try to measure recreation and wildlife in the same location,” said Beaupré. “We were interested in how animals behave on and off-trail in response to human activity happening on a trail, and in understanding how far those effects extend.”
Beaupré and her team set up 118 game cameras set in 59 pairs with one facing the trail and the other set up 100 to 1,800 meters away from the same trail to measure both the “impacts of recreation use from various distances” and the impacts of different levels of recreational traffic, according to The Daily Sentinel.
The team collected data for 160 days during late 2020, collecting about 22,000 mule deer photos and 10,000 elk photos. They also tallied up the number of motorized recreationists – more than 71,000 – and counted more than 59,000 nonmotorized ones.
“There’s just a lot of people out there on ATVs, UTVs, driving trucks on two-track roads,” said Beaupré.
The findings show the importance of seasonal closures and staying on designated trails as humans do impact animal behavior. Beaupré has a few other suggestions:
Beaupré’s research was sparked by the U.S. Forest Service’s interest in understanding how recreation affects deer and elk as it updates its forest management plan for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests. Funding for the study came from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and the Margie and John Haley Fund.
The peer-reviewed study, which was published in the journal Ecosphere, can be found here.
Decommissioning single trails that cross through prime elk habitat;
Restricting trail traffic numbers; and
Planning new trails in areas where another trail is already disturbed.
