Experimental recreationist noise alters behavior and space use of wildlife

The dataset is the input data for analyses associated with the paper, "Experimental recreationist noise alters behavior and space use of wildlife". We designed a field-based experiment to both isolate and quantify the effects of recreation noise on several mammal species and test the effects of different recreation types and group sizes. Animals entering our sampling arrays triggered cameras to record video and a recreation noise treatment to broadcast. This allowed us to observe and classify behaviors of wildlife as they were exposed to different noises. We found wildlife were 3.1-4.7× more likely to flee and were vigilant for 2.6-3.8× longer upon hearing recreation noise compared with controls (nature sounds and no noise). Local relative abundance of wildlife was 1.5× lower the week following recreation noise deployments. Noise from larger groups of vocal hikers and mountain bikers caused the highest probability of fleeing (6-8× more likely to flee compared with controls). Of species sampled in our study, elk were the most sensitive to recreation noise, and large carnivores were the least sensitive. Our findings indicate that recreation noise alone caused anti-predator responses from wildlife and, as outdoor recreation continues to increase in popularity and geographic extent, may result in degraded or indirect habitat loss for wildlife.