Data for: Body mass mediates spatio-temporal responses of mammals to human frequentation across Italian protected areas

Protected areas (PAs) networks are a pivotal tool to fight biodiversity loss, yet they often need to balance the mission of nature conservation with the socio-economic need of giving opportunity for outdoor recreation. Recreation in natural areas is important for human health in an urbanised society, but can prompt behavioural modifications in wild animals. Rarely, however, have these responses being studied across multiple PAs and using standardized methods. We deployed a systematic camera trapping protocol at over 200 sites to sample medium and large mammals in four PAs within the European Natura 2000 network to assess their spatio-temporal responses to human frequentation, proximity to towns, amount of open habitat, and topographical variables. By applying multi-species and single-species models on the number of diurnal, crepuscular, and nocturnal detections, and a multi-species model on nocturnality index, we estimated both species-specific and meta-community level effects, finding ..., In 2020 we surveyed one national park and three regional protected areas in northern and central Italy. The study areas (Figure 1) include: (1) Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta (Area 1; 46° 6' N, 10° 56' E), a regional protected area of 620 km2 in the central Italian Alps, with highest elevation of 3558 m a. s. l., surveyed between the first day of June and the last of August. One third of Area 1 is covered by forest, dominated by broadleaved species at lower elevation, which are gradually replaced by conifers from 1000 to 2000 m a.s.l. Above the tree line the landscape is characterized by extensive grasslands and pastures, which precede steep slopes and cliffs of dolomite rocks. (2) Parco Naturale Paneveggio Pale di San Martino (Area 2; 46° 12' N, 11° 48' E), a regional protected area of 197 km2 in the eastern Italian Alps, with the highest peak at 3192 m a.s.l, surveyed between early September and late November. This area is characterized by a vast coniferous forest, bordering a high an..., All data have been created through R programming environment., This README file was generated on 2024-02-28 by Marco Salvatori.

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Title of Dataset: Body mass mediates responses of mammals to human frequentation across Italian protected areas

2. Author Information
A. Principal Investigator Contact Information
Name: Marco Salvatori
Institution: University of Firenze, Dipartimento di Biologia
Address: via Madonna del Piano 6, Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy
Email: [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

B. Associate or Co-investigator Contact Information
Name: Ilaria Greco
Institution: University of Firenze, Dipartimento di Biologia
Address: via Madonna del Piano 6, Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy
Email: [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

3. Date of data collection (single date, range, approximate date): 2020

4. Geographic location of data collection: Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta, Parco Naturale Paneveggio Pale di San Martino, Parco Regionale dell...