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A new study from the University of Calgary has suggested that human activity displaces predators more than prey.
It found that while predatory animals like wolves, cougars, and bears tend to stay away when humans are in the area, prey like elk, moose, and deer are more likely to stick around.
The team deployed 43 digital camera traps at random locations along roads and trails on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Alberta from April to November 2008 to examine how predator-prey interactions and use of space were influenced by human activity.
Large predator animals in the study area consisted of wolves, black bears, grizzly bears and cougars, while the large herbivore species monitored were moose, elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer and cattle.
They found that humans and prey co-occurred together more often than humans and predators at camera sites, and that predators and prey were less likely to be in the same area if there was heavy human traffic.
Their results showed that prey were three times more abundant on roads and trails used by more than 32 humans a day, but predators were less abundant on roads and trails used by more than 18 humans a day.
"The research shows that humans might displace large mammalian predators," said Tyler Muhly, corresponding author of the paper.
"This provides a positive indirect effect on large mammalian prey species that are less sensitive to humans," he added.
The research suggested that limiting human use of roads and trails in wildlife areas to less than 18 people a day might reduce the effects on the large mammalian food web, but a growing human population means that the effects on wildlife food webs will likely increase.
The study has been published on March 4 in PLoS ONE.
A new study from the University of Calgary has suggested that human activity displaces predators more than prey.
It found that while predatory animals like wolves, cougars, and bears tend to stay away when humans are in the area, prey like elk, moose, and deer are more likely to stick around.
The team deployed 43 digital camera traps at random locations along roads and trails on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Alberta from April to November 2008 to examine how predator-prey interactions and use of space were influenced by human activity.
Large predator animals in the study area consisted of wolves, black bears, grizzly bears and cougars, while the large herbivore species monitored were moose, elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer and cattle.
They found that humans and prey co-occurred together more often than humans and predators at camera sites, and that predators and prey were less likely to be in the same area if there was heavy human traffic.
Their results showed that prey were three times more abundant on roads and trails used by more than 32 humans a day, but predators were less abundant on roads and trails used by more than 18 humans a day.
"The research shows that humans might displace large mammalian predators," said Tyler Muhly, corresponding author of the paper.
"This provides a positive indirect effect on large mammalian prey species that are less sensitive to humans," he added.
The research suggested that limiting human use of roads and trails in wildlife areas to less than 18 people a day might reduce the effects on the large mammalian food web, but a growing human population means that the effects on wildlife food webs will likely increase.
The study has been published on March 4 in PLoS ONE.
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