Data from: Human impacts on mammals in and around a protected area before, during, and after COVID‐19 lockdowns

The dual-mandate for many protected areas (PAs) to simultaneously promote
recreation and conserve biodiversity may be hampered by negative effects
of recreation on wildlife. However, reports of these effects are not
consistent, presenting a knowledge gap that hinders evidence-based
decision-making. We used camera traps to monitor human activity and
terrestrial mammals in Golden Ears Provincial Park and the adjacent
Malcolm Knapp Research Forest near Vancouver, Canada, with the objective
of discerning relative effects of various forms of recreation on cougars
(Puma concolor), black bears (Ursus americanus), black-tailed deer
(Odocoileus hemionus), snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus), coyotes (Canis
latrans), and bobcats (Lynx rufus). Additionally, public closures of the
study area associated with the COVD-19 pandemic offered an unprecedented
period of human-exclusion through which to explore these effects. Using
Bayesian generalized mixed-effects models, we detected negative effects of
hikers (mean posterior estimate = -0.58, 95% credible interval (CI) -1.09
to -0.12) on weekly bobcat habitat use and negative effects of motorized
vehicles (estimate = -0.28, 95% CI -0.61 to -0.05) on weekly black bear
habitat use. We also found increased cougar detection rates in the PA
during the COVID-19 closure (estimate = 0.007, 95% CI 0.005 to 0.009), but
decreased cougar detection rates (estimate = -0.006, 95% CI -0.009 to
-0.003) and increased black-tailed deer detection rates (estimate = 0.014,
95% CI 0.002 to 0.026) upon reopening of the PA. Our results emphasize
that effects of human activity on wildlife habitat use and movement may be
species- and/or activity-dependent, and that camera traps can be an
invaluable tool for monitoring both wildlife and human activity,
collecting data even when public access is barred. Further, we encourage
PA managers seeking to promote both biodiversity conservation and
recreation to assess trade-offs between these two goals in their PAs.