Insights from a 31-year study demonstrate an inverse correlation between recreational activities and red deer fecundity, with body weight as a mediator

Human activity is omnipresent in our landscapes. Animals can perceive risk from humans similar to predation risk, which could affect their fitness. We assessed the influence of the relative intensity of recreational activities on body weight and pregnancy rates of red deer (Cervus elaphus) between 1985 and 2015. We hypothesized that stress, as a result of recreational activities, affects pregnancy rates of red deer directly and indirectly via a reduction in body weight. Furthermore, we expected non-motorized recreational activities to have a larger negative effect on both body weight and fecundity, compared to motorized recreational activities. The intensity of recreational activities was recorded through visual observations. We obtained pregnancy data from female red deer that were shot during the regular hunting season. Additionally, age and body weight were determined through post-mortem examination. We used two generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) to test the effect of different t..., Study site
The Veluwe area (1250 km2) is designated as a protected area (i.e., Natura 2000) in the Netherlands (52° 5′ N, 5° 48′ E). It has a temperate maritime climate and its geology mainly consists of ice-pushed ridges, fluvioglacial deposits, and wind-blown sands. The area is elevated 50-100m above sea level, holding a large freshwater aquifer. Dry coniferous forest (i.e., mainly Scots pine (Pinus silvestris)), deciduous forest (i.e., mainly oak (Quercus sp.) and beech (Fagus sp.)) make up the majority of the habitat, interspersed with dry to moist heathland, containing common heather (Calluna vulgaris) and grasses (Ten Houte de Lange, 1977). Apart from red deer, three other ungulate species occur on the Veluwe, namely: wild boar (Sus scrofa), fallow deer (Dama dama), and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) (Broekhuizen et al., 2016). Hunting levels in the Veluwe area can be up to 9.48 ungulates.km-2.year-1 (Ramirez et al., 2021).
Data collection and preparation
We performed a quantitati..., , # Data from: Insights from a 31-year study demonstrate an inverse correlation between recreational activities and red deer fecundity, with body weight as a mediator

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0rxwdbs7t](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.0rxwdbs7t)

Date of data collection: 1985-2015

Geographic location of data collection: Netherlands, Western Europe

Recommended citation for this dataset: Weterings et al. (2024), Data from: Insights from a 30-year study demonstrate an inverse correlation between recreational activities and red deer fecundity, with body weight as a mediator. Dryad.

## DATA & FILE OVERVIEW

#### File 1: Database\_Annual

#### File 2: Database\_Animal

In **database annual**, all variables are presented per year (e.g., mean temperature in degrees Celsius). In database_animal, each row represents an individual red deer. Variables are presented on an annual level, in the year the red deer was shot.

Names used in the manuscript might differ slightly from the names use...