Data for: Behavioral responses of migratory caribou to semi-permeable roads in Arctic Alaska

Migration conveys many benefits to species, ecosystems, and people, but relies upon connected landscapes. Anthropogenic development can present barriers for migrants, but many barriers are semi-permeable, allowing unhindered or delayed passage. We use a modified version of the Barrier Behavior Analysis (BaBA) to investigate movement responses and permeability of roads in northwestern Alaska by adult female Western Arctic Herd caribou (Rangifer tarandus) from 2009–2024. These data include the BaBA results that we used to reveal behavioral responses to roads by study caribou. Our analyses revealed movement responses to all five focal roads. We found that the roads were semi-permeable barriers to movement, with altered behaviors including bouncing away, moving back-and-forth, and tracing along roads. Overall, 63.1% of collared animals encountered (entered a road-specific buffer) at least one focal road. Of these, 61.5% displayed altered movements. At the scale of individual encounters with..., , # Data for: Behavioral responses of migratory caribou to semi-permeable roads in Arctic Alaska

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.8sf7m0d1n](10.5061/dryad.8sf7m0d1n)

## Description of the data and file structure

We investigated movement responses to roads for caribou (*Rangifer tarandus*) in northwestern Alaska. We ran GPS telemetry data for 366 adult female caribou through a modified version of the Barrier Behavior Analysis (BaBA) tool, resulting in this dataset. The BaBA compares movement parameters near a potential barrier with those away from barriers to identify altered movement behavior. We heavily modified the original BaBA methodology for this analysis. The resulting dataset indicates interactions with roads at the encounter and altered burst scales, including information about timing and behavioral responses.

### Files and variables

#### File: WAH_BaBA_Data_2025-05-09.csv

**Description:** Behavioral responses of adult female caribou of the Western Arctic Herd to roads in northwe...,