Wintering mallard survival is unaffected by brief anthropogenic disturbance on protected areas

Human activities in natural areas can impose both lethal and non-lethal impacts on animals. Furthermore, anthropogenic disturbance is analogous to predation risk and can cause animals to adjust their behaviors to avoid humans. Quantifying if disturbance-induced behavioral shifts affect individual fitness or population dynamics is needed to guide science-based conservation and management decisions. We experimentally disturbed GPS-marked mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) on sanctuaries weekly to evaluate the effects of brief pulses (1 hr) of non-lethal anthropogenic disturbance on individual survival. We used Cox proportional hazard models to examine how single and cumulative disturbance affected survival and tested whether body mass or hunting season mediated the effects of disturbance. One hundred and eighty-eight mallards were disturbed ≥1 time resulting in 629 disturbance encounters. Only 3 individuals died immediately following disturbance, representing <0.5% of encounters. Collective..., Study area
Our study took place in northwestern Tennessee, USA (~6,000 km2) which encompassed 3 federally owned and 7 state-owned sanctuaries (Figure 1). Agriculture was the dominant land use in the region, and the majority of agricultural fields were harvested in late summer and autumn; however, intensive wetland management designed to attract waterfowl for recreational or conservation purposes were commonplace on both federally and state-owned sanctuaries, public hunted areas, and private property throughout our study area (Gray et al. 2021, Masto et al. 2024a, Highway et al. 2025). Managed wetlands were impounded and often had water control structures that allowed managers and landowners to produce and then flood annual seed-producing moist-soil vegetation and/ or planted crops (e.g., corn [Zea mays], millet [Echinochloa spp.; Urochloa spp.], and rice [Oryza sativa]; Gray et al. 2021). Our study area contained abundant food resources for wintering waterfowl across public and private ..., # Wintering mallard survival is unaffected by brief anthropogenic disturbance on protected areas

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.2547d7x3h](10.5061/dryad.2547d7x3h)

## Description of the data and file structure

We experimentally disturbed GPS-marked mallards (*Anas platyrhynchos*) on sanctuaries weekly to evaluate the effects of brief pulses (1 hr) of non-lethal anthropogenic disturbance on individual survival. We used Cox proportional hazard models to examine how single and cumulative disturbance affected survival and tested whether body mass or hunting season mediated the effects of disturbance.

### Files and variables

#### File: surv\_datum.csv

**Description:** Dataset with all variables needed for analyses testing the effects of disturbance, sanctuary use, and individual characteristics on winter survival.

##### Variables

* trackId: individual mallard identification information
* time1: time (in seconds) of start of day
* time2: time (in seconds) of end of day
* date: date of ob...,