DOI: 10.5061/dryad.zgmsbccm9
title: Mallard response to experimental human disturbance on sanctuary areas is mediated by hunting

description: Wildlife managers often provide spatial sanctuaries for wildlife to escape
 both lethal (e.g., hunting) and non-lethal (e.g., non-consumptive
 recreation) human disturbance. However, as societal interest in outdoor
 recreation continues to climb, many areas face added pressure to allow
 recreation, yet studies increasingly demonstrate negative effects of
 outdoor recreation on wildlife. As such, an understanding of how wildlife
 respond to human activities is essential to develop sustainable outdoor
 recreation guidelines to preserve multiple benefits for humans, while
 simultaneously protecting wildlife populations and fitness. We examined
 GPS-marked mallard responses to three experimental disturbances meant to
 mimic recreation that could theoretically occur on waterfowl sanctuaries
 during 1 November–28 February 2019–2022. We evaluated effects on movement,
 space use, and site fidelity and expected that repeated disturbance would
 result in habituation. We further evaluated predictions of the
 risk-disturbance hypothesis, whereby we predicted greater behavioral
 responses during the hunting period and to more intense stimuli. We
 conducted 140 covered vehicle (e.g., truck), 40 pedestrian, and 43
 uncovered vehicle (e.g., ATV) disturbances across 10 sanctuaries, exposing
 195 mallards to ≥1 disturbance (median=2, range=1–12). Diurnal sanctuary
 use exceeded 83% of proportional use regardless of period; however,
 mallards only decreased sanctuary use when disturbed before the hunting
 period with an uncovered vehicle. Besides immediate increases in hourly
 movements on mornings mallards received pedestrian and uncovered vehicle
 disturbances, disturbed mallards displayed minimal changes in hourly
 movements. At the diel-scale, pedestrians elicited the greatest responses;
 space use doubled for disturbed birds during pre-hunt and early-hunt
 periods. In contrast, vehicle disturbances decreased movement but only
 outside the hunting period. Repeated disturbance caused gradual declines
 in space use: mallards used 12% less space with each additional
 disturbance during hunting. Constrained behavioral responses and unchanged
 sanctuary fidelity after disturbance during hunting season suggests the
 limited availability of alternative safe areas constrained mallard
 responses to disturbances.
description: # Data for: Mallard response to experimental human disturbance on
 sanctuary areas is mediated by hunting. GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Title of
 Dataset: Data for: Mallard response to experimental human disturbance on
 sanctuary areas is mediated by hunting 2. Author Information: Abigail G.
 Blake-Bradshaw, School of Environmental Studies, Tennessee Tech
 University, Cookeville, TN 38505, USA Nicholas M. Masto, School of
 Environmental Studies, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505,
 USA Cory J. Highway, Department of Biology, Tennessee Tech University,
 Cookeville, TN 38505, USA Allison C. Keever, Department of Biology,
 Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505, USA Jamie C. Feddersen,
 Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Nashville, TN 37211, USA Heath M.
 Hagy, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Bismarck, ND 58501, USA
 Bradley S. Cohen, Department of Biology, Tennessee Tech University,
 Cookeville, TN 38505, USA 3. Date of Collection 2019-2022 4. Geographic
 Location of data collection: Tennessee, USA 5. Information about funding
 sources that supported the collection of the data: This project was funded
 by Wildlife Restoration Grants administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
 Service, Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program: Partnering to fund
 conservation and connect people with nature and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
 Service National Wildlife Refuge System, Southeast Region. DATA & FILE
 OVERVIEW 1. Description of dataset: These data were collected from GPS
 marked mallards to examine individual responses to experimental
 disturbance on sanctuary areas including hourly and diel movements, diel
 space use, and hourly and diel sanctuary site fidelity. 2. File List:
 mdat_hr.csv: Hourly movements of individual GPS marked mallards with
 variables used in analysis associated with each hourly data point.
 mdat_diel.csv: diel (day/night) movements, space use, and proportion of
 locations on sanctuary and variables used in analysis. METHODOLOGICAL
 INFORMATION We captured male and female mallards from November through
 January 2019–2022 at state and federal waterfowl refuges. We placed
 individually marked United States Geological Survey aluminum leg bands on
 all captured waterfowl. We also affixed solar rechargeable and remotely
 programmable, OrniTrack-20 Global Positioning System-Global System for
 Mobile (GPS-GSM) transmitters (Ornitela, UAB Švitrigailos, Vilnius,
 Lithuania) on mallards of all age and sex classes. We took GPS locations
 at 1- to 2-hour intervals depending on transmitter battery level. We
 censored the first 4 days of GPS fixes to allow ducks to recover from
 capture and handling. We monitored ducks from first capture until
 transmitters failed to report GPS fixes (i.e., battery malfunction), ducks
 were harvested by hunters, or GPS fixes and tri-axial accelerometry
 sensors indicated mortality. DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: mdat_hr.csv 1.
 Number of Variables: 6 2. Variable List: 1. trackId: individual mallard
 identification 2. refuge: what sanctuary a mallard was located on
 (including "none"): BB = Black Bayou Refuge, BS = Bean Switch
 Refuge, CNWR = Chickasaw National Wildlife Refuge, HB = Horns Bluff, HI =
 Hop-in Refuge, LL = Lake Lauderdale Refuge, LINWR = Lake Isom National
 Wildlife Refuge, M = Manness Swamp Refuge, RLNWR = Reelfoot Lake National
 Wildlife Refuge, WL = White Lake Refuge 3. hour: hour of day 0600 - 1500
 4. hunt_seas: hunting period representing ~month periods (pre-hunt,
 early-hunt, late-hunt, post-hunt) 5. sl_km: step lengths in km 6. on_ref:
 binary variable whether an individual mallard was located on a sanctuary
 (1) or not located on a sanctuary (0) at that location DATA-SPECIFIC
 INFORMATION FOR: mdat_diel.csv 1. Number of Variables: 11 2. Variable
 List: 1. trackId: individual mallard identification 2. date_adj: date of
 record 3. hunt_seas2: hunting period representing ~month periods
 (pre-hunt, early-hunt, late-hunt, post-hunt) 4. dist_type_day: disturbance
 type (none, covered vehicle, pedestrian, uncovered vehicle) 5. pref:
 proportion locations on sanctuary area during the diel date combination 6.
 num_locs: number of locations for diel period date combination on
 sanctuary 7. total_locs: total number of locations for diel period date
 combination on or off sanctuary 8. daily_dist_km: diel distance moved
 calculated by summing hourly or bi-hourly step lengths (km) 9. UD_50: 50%
 utilization distribution from dynamic Brownian Bridge Movement Models
 representing diel core area used 10. tod: time of day (day or night) 11.
 refuge: what sanctuary a mallard was located on (including
 "none"): BB = Black Bayou Refuge, BS = Bean Switch Refuge, CNWR
 = Chickasaw National Wildlife Refuge, HB = Horns Bluff, HI = Hop-in
 Refuge, LL = Lake Lauderdale Refuge, LINWR = Lake Isom National Wildlife
 Refuge, M = Manness Swamp Refuge, RLNWR = Reelfoot Lake National Wildlife
 Refuge, WL = White Lake Refuge 12. hour: hour of day 0600 - 1500 13.
 hunt_seas: hunting period representing ~month periods (pre-hunt,
 early-hunt, late-hunt, post-hunt) 14. sl_km: step lengths in km 15.
 on_ref: binary variable whether an individual mallard was located on a
 sanctuary that location