Camera traps Red deer exhibit spatial and temporal responses to hiking activity

Outdoor recreation has the potential to impact the spatial and temporal
distribution of animals. We explore interactions between red deer (Cervus
elaphus) and hikers along a popular hiking path in the Scottish Highlands.
We placed camera traps in transects at different distances (25, 75 and 150
metres) from the path to study whether distance from hiker activity
influences the number of deer detected. We compared this with the
detection of red deer in an additional, spatially isolated area (one km
away from any other transects and the hiking path). We collected count
data on hikers at the start of the path and explored hourly (red deer
detection during the day), daily, diurnal (day vs night), and monthly
spatial distributions of red deer. Using Generalized Linear Mixed Models
with forward model selection, we found that the distribution of deer
changed with the hiking activity. We found that fewer red deer were
detected during busy hourly hiking periods. We found that during the day,
more red deer were detected at 150m than at 25m. Moreover, during the day,
red deer were detected at a greater rate in the isolated area than around
the transects close to the path and more likely to be found close to the
path at night. This suggests that avoidance of hikers by red deer, in this
study area, takes place over distances greater than 75m and that red deer
are displaced into less disturbed areas when the hiking path is busy. Our
results suggest that the impact of hikers is short-term, as deer return to
the disturbed areas during the night.