DOI: 10.5061/dryad.n8pk0p36b
title: Deer vigilance and movement behavior in response to edge density and connectivity

description: Animal behavior is an important component of individual, population, and
 community responses to anthropogenic habitat alteration.  For
 example, antipredator behavior (e.g., vigilance) and animal movement
 behavior may both be important behavioral responses to the increased
 density of habitat edges and changes in patch connectivity that
 characterize highly modified habitats. Importantly, edge density and
 connectivity might interact, and this interaction is likely to mediate
 animal behavior: linear, edge-rich landscape features often provide
 structural connectivity between patches, but the functional connectedness
 of patches for animal use could depend upon how edge density modifies
 animal vigilance and movement. Using remote cameras in large-scale
 experimental landscapes that manipulate edge density (high- vs.
 low-density edges) and patch connectivity (isolated or connected patches)
 we examined the effects of edge density and connectivity on the
 antipredator behavior and movement behavior of white-tailed deer
 (Odocoileus virginianus).  Deer vigilance was 1.38 times greater
 near high-density edges compared to low-density edges, regardless of
 whether patches were connected or isolated.  Deer were also more
 likely to move parallel to connected high-density edges than all other
 edge types, suggesting that connectivity promotes movement along
 high-density edges. These results suggest that increases in edge density
 that accompany human fragmentation of existing habitats may give rise to
 large-scale changes in antipredator behavior of deer. These results also
 suggest that conservation strategies that simultaneously manipulate edge
 density and connectivity (i.e., habitat corridors) may have multiple
 effects on different aspects of deer behavior: linear habitat corridors
 were areas of high vigilance, but also areas where deer movement behavior
 implied increased movement along the habitat edge.
description: # Deer vigilance and movement behavior in response to edge density and
 connectivity
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.n8pk0p36b](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.n8pk0p36b) ## Description of the data and file structure **File: Corridor_vigilance.csv** **Description:** These are raw data quantifying deer behavior in photos of deer captured by remote camera traps. Each row is a photo of a white-tailed deer with scores for the behavior exhibited by the individual captured in the photo. ##### Variables * site: unique name of the experimental block where the camera trap was located * Patch: type of patch where the camera trap was located (patch with a connected corridor or patch with unconnected wings) * Edge_Type: type of edge where the camera trap was located. "Patch" means low-density edge, central to the patch. "Wing" means high-density edge along a wing or corridor.  * photo_number: unique number of the photo associated with the file name. Photo numbers are unique identifiers for the observations for the sake of data processing and analysis. Future users interested in accessing the associated photos should contact Savannah Bartel ([slynnbartel@gmail.com](mailto:slynnbartel@gmail.com)) directly, as uploading the images conflicts with federal USDA Forest Service policies regarding the publication of photos taken on a secure nuclear facility. * date: date when the photo was captured (mm/dd/yyyy) * time: time when the photo was captured (hh:mm:ss) * species: species captured ("odvi" means white-tailed deer) * foraging: binary score of whether the individual was visibly foraging (head below the body midline)  * direction: direction the individual was moving relative to the patch edge * angle: movement direction of individual relative to the edge at four general angles * facing: direction the individual was facing in the photo ("edge" means toward the patch edge, "center" means the patch center) * from: general location from where the individual entered the photo frame * sex: sex of the individual * group: binary score for whether the individual was in a group (&gt;1 individuals captured in the independent detection) * group_size: number of individuals in group * member: number identifier of individual in group  * site_type: name of camera location based on its patch type (first letter) and edge type (second letter).  * boutID: unique name of independent foraging bout ## Code/software R script (DeerCorridor_ActivityVigilance.R) to run analyses and models described in associated manuscript.