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Understanding mammalian responses to anthropogenic disturbance is challenging, as ecological processes and the patterns arising therefrom notoriously change across spatial and temporal scales, and among different landscape contexts. Responses to local scale disturbances are likely influenced by landscape context (e.g., overall landscape-level disturbance, landscape-level productivity). Hierarchical approaches considering small-scale sampling sites as nested holons within larger-scale landscapes, which constrain processes in lower-level holons, can potentially explain differences in ecological processes between multiple locations. We tested hypotheses about mammal responses to disturbance and interactions among holons using collected images from 957 camera sites across 9 landscapes in Alberta from 2007 to 2020 and examined occurrence for 11 mammal species using generalized linear mixed models. White-tailed deer occurred more in higher disturbed sites within lower disturbed landscapes (β = -0.30 [-0.4 to -0.15]), whereas occurrence was greater in highly disturbed sites within highly disturbed landscapes for moose (β = 0.20 [0.09-0.31]), coyote (β = 0.20 [0.08-0.26]), and lynx (β = 0.20 [0.07-0.26]). High disturbance sites in high productivity landscapes had higher occurrence of black bears (β = -0.20 [-0.46 to -0.01]), lynx (β = -0.70 [-0.97 to -0.34]), and wolves (β = -0.50 [-0.73 to -0.21]). Conversely, we found higher probability of occurrence in low productivity landscapes with increasing site disturbance for mule deer (β = 0.80 [0.39-1.14]), and white-tailed deer (β = 0.20 [0.01-0.47]). We found the ecological context created by aggregate sums (high overall landscape disturbance), and by subcontinental hydrogeological processes in which that landscape is embedded (high landscape productivity), alter mammalian responses to anthropogenic disturbance at local scales. These responses also vary by species, which has implications for large-scale conservation planning. Management interventions must consider large-scale geoclimatic processes and geographic location of a landscape when assessing wildlife responses to disturbance., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Funding for this synthesis was provided by the Oil Sands Monitoring Program; this does not represent the views of the program., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Camera traps or acoustic recorders are often used to sample wildlife populations. When animals can be individually identified, these data can be used with spatial capture-recapture (SCR) methods to assess populations. However, obtaining animal identities is often labor-intensive and not always possible for all detected animals. To address this problem, we formulate SCR, including acoustic SCR, as a marked Poisson process, comprising a single counting process for the detections of all animals and a mark distribution for what is observed (eg, animal identity, detector location). The counting process applies equally when it is animals appearing in front of camera traps and when vocalizations are captured by microphones, although the definition of a mark changes. When animals cannot be uniquely identified, the observed marks arise from a mixture of mark distributions defined by the animal activity centers and additional characteristics. Our method generalizes existing latent identity SCR models and provides an integrated framework that includes acoustic SCR. We apply our method to estimate density from a camera trap study of fisher (Pekania pennanti) and an acoustic survey of Cape Peninsula moss frog (Arthroleptella lightfooti). We also test it through simulation. We find latent identity SCR with additional marks such as sex or time of arrival to be a reliable method for estimating animal density., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The International Biometric Society.)

Outdoor recreation is widespread, with uncertain effects on wildlife. The human shield hypothesis (HSH) suggests that recreation could have differential effects on predators and prey, with predator avoidance of humans creating a spatial refuge 'shielding' prey from people. The generality of the HSH remains to be tested across larger scales, wherein human shielding may prove generalizable, or diminish with variability in ecological contexts. We combined data from 446 camera traps and 79,279 sampling days across 10 landscapes spanning 15,840 km 2 in western Canada. We used hierarchical models to quantify the influence of recreation and landscape disturbance (roads, logging) on ungulate prey (moose, mule deer and elk) and carnivore (wolf, grizzly bear, cougar and black bear) site use. We found limited support for the HSH and strong responses to recreation at local but not larger spatial scales. Only mule deer showed positive but weak landscape-level responses to recreation. Elk were positively associated with local recreation while moose and mule deer responses were negative, contrary to HSH predictions. Mule deer showed a more complex interaction between recreation and land-use disturbance, with more negative responses to recreation at lower road density or higher logged areas. Contrary to HSH predictions, carnivores did not avoid recreation and grizzly bear site use was positively associated. We also tested the effects of roads and logging on temporal activity overlap between mule deer and recreation, expecting deer to minimize interaction with humans by partitioning time in areas subject to more habitat disturbance. However, temporal overlap between people and deer increased with road density. Our findings highlight the complex ecological patterns that emerge at macroecological scales. There is a need for expanded monitoring of human and wildlife use of recreation areas, particularly multi-scale and -species approaches to studying the interacting effects of recreation and land-use change on wildlife., Competing Interests: None to declare., (© 2023 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Most research on boreal populations of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) has been conducted in areas of high anthropogenic disturbance. However, a large portion of the species' range overlaps relatively pristine areas primarily affected by natural disturbances, such as wildfire. Climate-driven habitat change is a key concern for the conservation of boreal-dependent species, where management decisions have yet to consider knowledge from multiple ecological domains integrated into a cohesive and spatially explicit forecast of species-specific habitat and demography. We used a novel ecological forecasting framework to provide climate-sensitive projections of habitat and demography for five boreal caribou monitoring areas within the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada, over 90 years. Importantly, we quantify uncertainty around forecasted mean values. Our results suggest habitat suitability may increase in central and southwest regions of the NWT's Taiga Plains ecozone but decrease in southern and northwestern regions driven by conversion of coniferous to deciduous forests. We do not project that boreal caribou population growth rates will change despite forecasted changes to habitat suitability. Our results emphasize the importance of efforts to protect and restore northern boreal caribou habitat despite climate uncertainty while highlighting expected spatial variations that are important considerations for local people who rely on them. An ability to reproduce previous work, and critical thought when incorporating sources of uncertainty, will be important to refine forecasts, derive management decisions, and improve conservation efficacy for northern species at risk., (© 2023 His Majesty the King in Right of Canada and The Authors. Ecological Applications published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Ecological Society of America. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Natural Resources.)

Aim: Macroecological studies that require habitat suitability data for many species often derive this information from expert opinion. However, expert-based information is inherently subjective and thus prone to errors. The increasing availability of GPS tracking data offers opportunities to evaluate and supplement expert-based information with detailed empirical evidence. Here, we compared expert-based habitat suitability information from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with habitat suitability information derived from GPS-tracking data of 1,498 individuals from 49 mammal species., Location: Worldwide., Time Period: 1998-2021., Major Taxa Studied: Forty-nine terrestrial mammal species., Methods: Using GPS data, we estimated two measures of habitat suitability for each individual animal: proportional habitat use (proportion of GPS locations within a habitat type), and selection ratio (habitat use relative to its availability). For each individual we then evaluated whether the GPS-based habitat suitability measures were in agreement with the IUCN data. To that end, we calculated the probability that the ranking of empirical habitat suitability measures was in agreement with IUCN's classification into suitable, marginal and unsuitable habitat types., Results: IUCN habitat suitability data were in accordance with the GPS data (> 95% probability of agreement) for 33 out of 49 species based on proportional habitat use estimates and for 25 out of 49 species based on selection ratios. In addition, 37 and 34 species had a > 50% probability of agreement based on proportional habitat use and selection ratios, respectively., Main Conclusions: We show how GPS-tracking data can be used to evaluate IUCN habitat suitability data. Our findings indicate that for the majority of species included in this study, it is appropriate to use IUCN habitat suitability data in macroecological studies. Furthermore, we show that GPS-tracking data can be used to identify and prioritize species and habitat types for re-evaluation of IUCN habitat suitability data., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare., (© 2022 The Authors. Global Ecology and Biogeography published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Making predictions from ecological models-and comparing them to data-offers a coherent approach to evaluate model quality, regardless of model complexity or modelling paradigm. To date, our ability to use predictions for developing, validating, updating, integrating and applying models across scientific disciplines while influencing management decisions, policies, and the public has been hampered by disparate perspectives on prediction and inadequately integrated approaches. We present an updated foundation for Predictive Ecology based on seven principles applied to ecological modelling: make frequent Predictions, Evaluate models, make models Reusable, Freely accessible and Interoperable, built within Continuous workflows that are routinely Tested (PERFICT). We outline some benefits of working with these principles: accelerating science; linking with data science; and improving science-policy integration., (© 2022 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Natural Resources Canada.)

Biologging data allow animal ecologists to directly measure species' fine-scale spatiotemporal responses to environments, such as movement - critical for our understanding of biodiversity declines in the Anthropocene. Animal movement between resource patches is a behavioral expression of multiple ecological processes that affect individual fitness. Protected area (PA) networks are a tool used to conserve biodiversity by sustaining habitat patches across vast heterogeneous landscapes. However, our ability to design PA networks that conserve biodiversity relies on our accurate understanding of animal movement and functional connectivity; this understanding is rarely tested in real-world situations due to the large geographic expanse of most PA networks. Using a tractable PA network mesocosm, we employ cutting-edge biologging technology to analyze animal movement decisions in response to a highly heterogeneous landscape. We analyze these data to test, in a novel way, three common hypotheses about functional connectivity - structural corridors, least cost paths, and stepping stones. Consistently, animals moved along structurally self-similar corridors. In reference to the Aichi 2020 Biodiversity Targets, relying on species to "stepping stone" across habitat remnants may not achieve protected area network conservation objectives.