DOI: 10.5061/dryad.gxd2547qz
title: Walking the line: Investigating biophysical characteristics related to wildlife use of linear features

description: Habitat restoration is a necessary component of wildlife conservation in
 anthropogenic landscapes. To ensure restoration initiatives achieve the
 desired effects on wildlife communities, it is useful to investigate how
 animals use landscape features. Understanding the relationships between
 wildlife use and ecological cues provides specific and measurable targets
 that can be used to measure restoration success. In western Canada, linear
 feature networks formed by seismic lines, pipelines, and roads have
 altered the boreal forest landscape and resulted in population declines
 for woodland caribou. Restoration is aimed at supporting caribou recovery
 by deterring linear feature use by caribou predators and ungulate
 competitors. Information on how linear feature characteristics facilitate
 or deter wildlife use supports restoration initiatives by providing
 specific targets for restoration. Here, we used wildlife track and sign
 data to investigate biophysical characteristics related to the use of
 linear features by canines, bears, deer, elk, and moose in caribou ranges
 of west-central and north-western Alberta and British Columbia. We built
 generalized linear mixed models consistent with three hypotheses that
 could explain likely mechanisms for use: 1) ease of movement, 2) risk
 avoidance, and 3) resource availability (prey and forage). Moose, deer,
 elk, and bears were more likely to use linear features with either human
 or game trails. Bears and canines were less likely to use seismic lines
 with greater lateral vegetation cover and taller vegetation, respectively.
 Moose, deer, and elk were more likely to use linear features with greater
 cover of ungulate forage taxa such as willow, birch, sedges, and forbs.
 These results suggest that restoration focusing on trails, online
 vegetation structure, and online vegetation type should deter predators
 and ungulate prey species to the overall benefit of caribou. Our study
 corroborates the findings of other research recommending structural and
 functional restoration utilizing high-intensity line blocking and
 vegetative regeneration. We provide specific targets for linear feature
 restoration to assist in prioritization according to restoration
 objectives, which translates to a broader goal of linking local-level
 restoration actions to landscape-level conservation goals. This approach
 to restoration has implications for any major system experiencing
 anthropogenic landscape change.
description: The study areas consisted of caribou ranges in
 west-central and north-western Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. The
 west-central area included four caribou ranges – Little Smoky, A la Peche,
 and the Alberta portions of Redrock-Prairie Creek and Narraway outside of
 protected areas (-117˚ W to -120˚ W, 53˚ N to 55˚ N). The north-western
 area included the Chinchaga range on both sides of the provincial border
 (-117˚ W to -122˚ W, 56˚ N to 58˚ N; Fig. 1). The areas totaled 47,100 km2
 and contained over 92,943 km of linear features, including seismic lines,
 pipelines, and inactive forestry
 roads. The primary goal of field data collection was to
 collect information on human use of linear features. Using a geographic information system (GIS)
 and a random number generator, we selected linear features that
 intersected access roads. We created a unique identifier for each linear
 feature (<em>LineID</em>) and established three plots at 0m,
 100m, and 500m away from the intersecting access road. We visited all
 west-central and north-western seismic line sampling sites in June–October
 2014, 2015, and north-western pipeline sites in August 2017 to record
 wildlife and human linear feature use, collect field measurements of
 linear feature and surrounding forest characteristics, and identify
 vegetation taxa. On the linear feature (‘online’), we identified tracks,
 scat, and any other wildlife and human sign. We classified canines (wolves
 and coyotes, <em>C. latrans</em>), bears (black bears,
 <em>U. americanus</em>, and grizzly bears, <em>U.
 arctos</em>), and deer (white-tailed deer, <em>O.
 virginianus</em>, and mule deer, <em>O. hemonius</em>)
 at the genus level and caribou, moose, and elk at the species
 level.
 To account for weather
 impacts on tracks and signs, we assigned a confidence level to each
 observation, and only included observations assigned confidence levels of
 ‘reasonably certain’ and ‘certain’ in statistical modelling. We measured
 an average online lateral vegetation cover from cover board measurements
 taken in both directions from the plot, measured average vegetation height, recorded
 soil moisture, and the presence/absence of human and game trails (see
 Pigeon et al.,
 2016 for details). In the
 surrounding forest (‘offline’, 15m from the linear feature), we again
 measured lateral vegetation cover and average tree height. To record
 vegetation composition data, we established online
 10m<sup>2</sup> and 1m<sup>2</sup> subplots at the
 plot 100m from the access road; we only recorded vegetation composition
 data within this plot because of limited time and resources for field data
 collection. Within these subplots, we identified and recorded the percent
 ground cover of vegetation taxa used as forage by bears and caribou
 alternate competitors. We standardized and scaled
 continuous and percent variables prior to modelling.
description: All data were processed using R programming software (R Core
 Team, 2019).