Associations between human non-motorized recreational activity on nest box occupation, exploratory behaviour, and breeding success in a passerine bird

Anthropomorphic activities have a large impact on ecosystems in many ways, one of which is how animals behave. Non-motorised nature recreation is a popular human activity of which the impacts on nature are largely unknown. These activities, which include hiking, biking, pet walking and horseback riding, tend to increase during the commencement of the breeding activity for most passerine forest birds in temperate zones. We here investigated whether variation in recreational activity associates with patterns of nest box occupation and reproductive success in a long-term study of personality-typed great tits (Parus major). We measured human disturbance in the area by recording the frequency of non-motorised recreational activities by observations. We were particularly interested in the relationship between disturbance levels and nest box occupancy as well as the relationship between disturbance levels of occupied nest boxes and exploratory scores of the great tits that occupied them. We al..., Data Collection The disturbance data is an observational data. To measure the disturbance caused by recreational activities, we counted the number of people we encountered on the 12 path junctions in the study area. The activities that were considered recreational activities were hiking, walking, cycling, pet walking and horseback riding. On each junction, the measurements were taken the same number of times in two separate time periods that we pre-determined morning (9-12h) and afternoon (12-15h). A kernel interpolation was performed using ArcGis Pro version 3.1.0 to estimate the disturbance levels of each nest box in the study area. Kernel values were calculated by taking into account the number of visitors on the paths and the distance of nest box to all paths around it. The nest occupancy data was extracted from the nest box breeding occupancy data that were collected during breeding seasons (April-June) from 2012 to 2021. In order to determine the individuals that occupie the nest ..., , # Data from: Associations between human non-motorized recreational activity on nest box occupation, exploratory behaviour, and breeding success in a passerine bird [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.79cnp5j5k](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.79cnp5j5k) ## Description of the data and file structure This dataset contains the data and codes to replicate the results that were presented in the paper Urhan et al. (2025) paper in the Journal of Avian Biology. All data was collected in in Westerheide forest (Groot Warnsborn, 52.01633, 5.84114), near Arnhem, the Netherlands. The disturbance data is an observational data. To measure the disturbance caused by recreational activities, we counted the number of people we encountered on the 12 path junctions in the study area. The activities that were considered recreational activities were hiking, walking, cycling, pet walking and horseback riding. On each junction, the measurements were taken the same number of times in two separate time periods tha...人类活动对生态系统具有多维度的显著影响，其中之一便是对动物行为的塑造。非机动化自然休闲活动是一类广受欢迎的人类活动，但其对自然的影响在很大程度上仍未明晰。此类活动涵盖徒步旅行、骑行、遛宠及马术骑行，且在温带地区多数雀形目森林鸟类的繁殖活动起始阶段，这类活动的参与频次往往会显著提升。本研究针对经性格分型的大山雀（Parus major）开展长期监测研究，旨在探究休闲活动强度的变化是否与巢箱占用模式及繁殖成功率之间存在关联。我们通过实地观测记录非机动化休闲活动的发生频次，以此量化研究区域内的人为干扰程度。本研究尤为关注两类关联：其一为干扰水平与巢箱占用率之间的关系，其二为已占用巢箱周边的干扰水平与占据该巢箱的大山雀探索行为得分之间的关联。我们还…… 数据收集 本研究的干扰数据为观测数据集。为衡量休闲活动带来的人为干扰，我们对研究区域内12处道路交叉口偶遇的行人数量进行计数。本次纳入统计的休闲活动包括徒步、散步、骑行、遛宠及马术骑行。在每个交叉口，我们均在预先设定的两个独立时段（上午9-12时与下午12-15时）开展同等频次的观测。我们使用ArcGIS Pro 3.1.0版本进行核插值分析，以估算研究区域内每个巢箱的干扰水平：核插值的计算依据为路径上的访客数量以及巢箱至周边所有路径的距离。 巢箱占用数据提取自2012年至2021年繁殖季（4-6月）期间收集的巢箱繁殖占用数据集。用于确定占据巢箱的个体相关数据…… # 数据来源：《雀形目鸟类巢箱占用、探索行为与人类非机动化休闲活动及繁殖成功率之间的关联》[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.79cnp5j5k](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.79cnp5j5k) ## 数据与文件结构说明 本数据集包含可复现Urhan等人2025年发表于"Journal of Avian Biology"（《鸟类生物学杂志》）论文的全部数据与代码。所有数据均采集于荷兰阿纳姆附近的Westerheide森林（Groot Warnsborn，地理坐标52.01633, 5.84114）。 干扰数据为观测数据集。为量化休闲活动引发的人为干扰，研究人员对研究区域内12处道路交叉口偶遇的行人数量进行统计。本次纳入统计的休闲活动包括徒步、散步、骑行、遛宠及马术骑行。在每个交叉口，研究人员均在预先设定的两个时段（上午9-12时与下午12-15时）开展同等频次的观测……