Data for: Social-ecological predictors of spotted hyena navigation through a shared landscape
Description
Human-wildlife interactions are increasing in severity due to climate change and proliferating urbanization. Regions where human infrastructure and activity are rapidly densifying or newly appearing constitute novel environments in which wildlife must learn to coexist with people, thereby serving as ideal case studies with which to infer future human-wildlife interactions in shared landscapes. As a widely reviled and behaviorally plastic apex predator, the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is a model species for understanding how large carnivores navigate these human-caused 'landscapes of fear' in a changing world. Using high-resolution GPS collar data, we applied resource selection functions and step selection functions to assess spotted hyena landscape navigation and fine-scale movement decisions in relation to social-ecological features in a rapidly developing region comprising two protected areas: Lake Nakuru National Park and Soysambu Conservancy, Kenya. We then used camera trap imagery and Barrier Behavior Analysis (BaBA) to further examine hyena interactions with barriers. Our results show that environmental factors, linear infrastructure, human-carnivore conflict hotspots, and human tolerance were all important predictors for landscape-scale resource selection by hyenas, while human experience elements were less important for fine-scale hyena movement decisions. Hyena selection for these characteristics also changed seasonally and across land management types. Camera traps documented an exceptionally high number of individual spotted hyenas (234) approaching the national park fence at 16 sites during the study period, and BaBA results suggested that hyenas perceive protected area boundaries' semi-permeable electric fences as risky but may cross them out of necessity. Our findings highlight that the ability of carnivores to flexibly respond within human-caused landscapes of fear may be expressed differently depending on context, scale, and climatic factors. These results also point to the need to incorporate societal factors into multiscale analyses of wildlife movement to effectively plan for human-wildlife coexistence.
Notes
Methods
Spotted hyena GPS data were collected from February 2019-December 2021 in Nakuru County, Kenya.
Human perception and experience raster data were derived from participatory mapped data collected in 2018-2019 from residents of 16 sub-villages in Nakuru County, Kenya (see Wilkinson et al. 2021; https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2021.681769).
The "distance to roads" raster data were derived from Open Street Maps and by hand tracing roads prior to rasterization.
The "distance to boundaries" raster data were derived from in-person mapping via driving and walking the boundaries of the study region's two protected areas: Lake Nakuru National Park and Soysambu Conservancy.
All raster data were derived at 30m spatial resolution.
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Additional details
Related works
- Is cited by
- 10.22541/au.169788434.48207147/v1 (DOI)
- 10.3389/fcosc.2021.681769 (DOI)