RT Journal Article
T1 Hunting and outdoor recreation affect large herbivore activity patterns more than natural predators in a human‐dominated landscape
A1 Boer Cueva, Martín
A1 Bombieri, Giulia
A1 Centomo, Emma
A1 Partel, Piergiovanni
A1 Dorigatti, Enrico
A1 Ferraro, Enrico
A1 Greco, Ilaria
A1 Rovero, Francesco
A1 Salvatori, Marco
AB Across Europe, landscapes where large carnivores, large herbivores and human communities coexist are expanding, reflecting the widespread recovery of large mammal populations in recent decades. The influence of top-down effects of wolves on large herbivores has been extensively studied in areas with relatively little anthropogenic disturbance, but less is known about their effect in human-dominated landscapes. We systematically collected camera-trap data over five consecutive autumn hunting seasons in an area of the eastern Alps which is intensely frequented by tourists and trekkers, and partially open to ungulate hunting. We used a quasi-experimental design, with half of the sampling sites located within nonhunting areas and half outside. Applying generalised additive mixed models (GAMMs) with cyclic cubic splines we investigated the effect of wolf, as well as lethal (hunting) and nonlethal (recreational) human activities on red deer spatiotemporal activity pattern. Similarly, we analysed the effect of recreational activities and red deer site-use on the spatiotemporal activity pattern of wolves. Hunting was associated with overall lower red deer activity, as well as reduced dawn–dusk peaks and diurnality. Crucially, hunting interacted with outdoor recreation exacerbating its impact, with major changes to red deer activity curve. Wolf site-use did not have a significant effect on the shape of red deer temporal curve. Wolves were markedly more active in areas highly used by red deer, and remained strongly nocturnal even where human activity was scarce. Our results show that humans, through both lethal and nonlethal activities, elicit stronger responses in red deer than their natural predator. Behavioural constraints imposed by humans on red deer, coupled with the cursorial predatory strategy of wolves, likely limit the possibility of wolf avoidance by red deer. In human-dominated European landscapes, human disturbance can therefore override natural predator–prey dynamics, reshaping behavioural landscapes and potentially increasing predator and prey spatiotemporal co-occurrence.
PB Wiley
YR 2026
FD 2026-02
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/134982
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/134982
LA eng
NO Boer-Cueva, M., G. Bombieri, E. Centomo, et al. 2026. “ Hunting and Outdoor Recreation Affect Large Herbivore Activity Patterns More Than Natural Predators in a Human-Dominated Landscape.” Ecology and Evolution 16, no. 2: e73033. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.73033.
NO Funding:This work was supported by the Wildlife Service of the Autonomous Province of Trento, MUSE - Museo delle Scienze and Parco Naturale Paneveggio Pale di San Martino. M.S. was also funded by Biodiversa+, the European Biodiversity Partnership, in the context of the Big_Picture project under the 2022-2023 BiodivMon joint call. It is co-funded by the European Commission (GA No. 101052342) and the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research.
NO European Commission
NO Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca (Italia)
NO Provincia Autonoma di Trento
NO Museo delle Scienze
NO Parco Naturale Paneveggio Pale di San Martino
NO Biodiversa+
DS Docta Complutense
RD 27 abr 2026