Behavioural response to infrastructure of wildlife adapted to natural disturbances

Infrastructure is increasingly part of wildlife habitats. However, it is not clear how infrastructure affects habitat quality for wildlife adapted to natural disturbances. While potentially providing suitable habitat such as early-successional forest, infrastructure also enables human access, which may modify animal' movements, especially where hunted species are concerned. To investigated the effect of infrastructure for moose (Alces alces, n = 138), a heavily harvested species, we modelled circadian distances and movement rates over the year as a function of moose' distance to the nearest road, house and power line in different human-modified landscapes in Sweden (latitude 57-67). Distances between moose and roads followed a circadian pattern. Animals were more likely to be closer to roads between 18:00 in the evening and 6:00 in the morning (i.e., during times when traffic volumes are generally lower). Moose moved relatively faster when 125 m or closer to a road, or alternatively, were closer to roads when more active. We did not find these relationships between moose and houses or power lines. With respect to roads, our results suggest that moose may make a temporal adjustment. During hours when humans are less active, road-near habitats may be sought out. We suggest considering different resolutions to study the impact of different infrastructure types. We recommend future research to investigate animal movement and behaviour in relation to infrastructure to understand the utilization of human-modified habitats over time, and thus providing key information for wildlife management and conservation, particularly for species that are adapted to disturbed landscapes. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.