Data for: Industrial energy development decouples ungulate migration from the green wave

The ability to freely move across the landscape to track the emergence of
nutritious spring green-up (termed “green-wave surfing”), is key to the
foraging strategy of migratory ungulates. Across the vast landscapes
traversed by many migratory herds, habitats are being altered by
development with unknown consequences for surfing. Using a unique
long-term tracking dataset, we found that when energy development occurs
within mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) migration corridors, migrating
animals become decoupled from the green wave. During the early phases of a
coalbed natural gas development, deer synchronized their movements with
peak green-up. But faced with increasing disturbance as development
expanded, deer altered their movements by holding up at the edge of the
gas field and letting the green wave pass them by. Development often
modified only a small portion of the migration corridor but had
far-reaching effects on behavior before and after migrating deer
encountered it, thus reducing surfing along the entire route by 38.65%
over the 14-year study period. Our study suggests that industrial
development within migratory corridors can change the behavior of
migrating ungulates and diminish the benefits of migration. Such
disruptions to migratory behavior present a common mechanism whereby
corridors become unprofitable and could ultimately be lost on highly
developed landscapes.