A case for human mobility data applications in wildlife management

Human activities have significantly altered terrestrial ecosystems,
leading to biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation. Traditional
methods for measuring human impacts often lack the precision required for
localized assessments, fail to capture temporal dynamics, or are
scale-limited. Human mobility data (HMD) from GPS-enabled smartphone
applications offers a valuable approach to understanding human movement
patterns, overcoming many of these limitations.  We present case
studies that demonstrate the use of HMD in assessing human activity within
ecologically sensitive habitats (e.g., winter ranges and breeding grounds)
and in evaluating where human-wildlife interactions are likely to occur to
inform proactive conflict management. We also discuss how HMD can improve
inference from habitat connectivity analyses and provide detailed, timely
insights on how HMD can broadly support conservation and wildlife
management goals.  HMD revealed patterns of recreational use in
bighorn sheep's (Ovis canadensis) winter range and helped inform the
timing and scope of protective measures for sheep. HMD also allowed us to
quantify the frequency and timing of potential wildlife-human
interactions, such as cougar (Puma concolor) proximity to human activity,
identifying high human-wildlife conflict areas and opportunities to
mitigate mortality risks (e.g., road crossings).  We discussed
how future uses of HMD can improve conservation and connectivity, allowing
managers to assess barriers to movement, identify critical thresholds of
human disturbance, and refine strategies for mitigating impacts on species
sensitive to human disturbance. We provided a simple example by
highlighting differences in human use of a migration corridor for
pronghorn (Antilocapra americana).  Synthesis and applications:
HMD provides a transformative tool for wildlife management by offering
scalable, dynamic insights into human activity that traditional methods
cannot fully capture. These data enable managers to prioritize
intervention areas, improve compliance with management zones, mitigate
conflict risks, and enhance connectivity for sensitive species, supporting
effective conservation strategies in a human-dominated world.