Data from: Human presence and infrastructure impact wildlife nocturnality differently across an assemblage of mammalian species

Wildlife species may shift towards more nocturnal behavior in areas of
higher human influence, but it is unclear how consistent this shift might
be. We investigated how humans impact large mammal diel activities in a
heavily recreated protected area and an adjacent university-managed forest
in southwest British Columbia, Canada. We used camera trap detections of
humans and wildlife, along with data on land-use infrastructure (e.g.,
recreation trails and restricted-access roads), in Bayesian regression
models to investigate impacts of human disturbance on wildlife
nocturnality. We found moderate evidence that black bears (Ursus
americanus) were more nocturnal in response to human detections (mean
posterior estimate = 0.35, 90% credible interval = 0.04 to 0.65), but no
other clear relationships between wildlife nocturnality and human
detections. However, we found evidence that coyotes (Canis latrans)
(estimates = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.46 to 1.17) were more nocturnal and snowshoe
hares (Lepus americanus) (estimate = -0.87, 95% CI = -1.29 to -0.46) were
less nocturnal in areas of higher trail density. We also found that
coyotes (estimate = -0.87, 95% CI = -1.29 to -0.46) and cougars (Puma
concolor) (estimate = -1.14, 90% CI = -2.16 to -0.12) were less nocturnal
in areas of greater road density. Furthermore, coyotes, black-tailed deer
(Odocoileus hemionus), and snowshoe hares were moderately more nocturnal
in areas near urban-wildland boundaries (estimates and 90% CIs: coyote =
-0.29, -0.55 to -0.04, black-tailed deer = -0.25, -0.45 to -0.04, snowshoe
hare = -0.24, -0.46 to -0.01). Our findings imply anthropogenic landscape
features may influence medium to large-sized mammal diel activities more
than direct human presence. While increased nocturnality may be a
promising mechanism for human-wildlife coexistence, shifts in temporal
activity can also have negative repercussions for wildlife, warranting
further research into the causes and consequences of wildlife responses to
increasingly human-dominated landscapes.