Data from: Temporal road closures improve habitat quality for wildlife

Increasing levels of human activity threaten wildlife populations through
direct mortality, habitat degradation, and habitat fragmentation. Area
closures can improve habitat quality for wildlife, but may be difficult to
achieve where tourism or other economic drivers are a priority. Temporal
closures that limit human use during specific times of day have potential
to increase habitat quality for wildlife, while continuing to provide
opportunities for human use. However, the effectiveness of daily temporal
closures has not been tested. We assessed how implementation of a temporal
road closure affected wildlife movements in Banff National Park. Parks
Canada closed a popular 17 km stretch of road between 2000 and 0800 hours
to improve habitat quality for wildlife. We assessed the effectiveness of
the closure on nine mammal species using three sets of data: remote
cameras, road surveys, and grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) GPS data. In all
three analyses, wildlife detection rates on the road doubled during the
closure while remaining unchanged in reference areas. Our strong and
consistent results suggest temporal closures are an important conservation
tool that can increase habitat quality for wildlife while minimizing
effects on people.