Data from: Captures do not affect escape response to humans in Alpine marmot
Data files
May 23, 2024 version files 44.46 KB
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Data_Giari.et.al.2024.Wildlife.Biology2.csv
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README.md
Abstract
Capture and manipulation are an integral part of wildlife research and management. These practices, however, can affect animals either directly or indirectly, and studies should generally evaluate the consequences of captures to ensure animal welfare and reduce sampling bias. Here, we investigated the indirect, behavioural effects of live-capture on escape response to humans in Alpine marmot Marmota marmota within the Stelvio National Park (central Italian Alps) over three seasons (2021- 2023). We used flight initiation distance (FID) as a measure of escape response and tested it in relation to capture status using linear mixed modelling. Captures did not have any detectable effect on escape response, and FID was best explained by covariates such as starting distance, distance to nearest burrow, current behaviour during the observation and year of observation. It might be that, in marmots, escape response to humans is a rather inert behaviour. As such, although we cannot rule out unmeasured effects, capture may not represent an excessively traumatic experience which could trigger immediate behavioural modification. In turn, capture is unlikely to compromise animal welfare or cause scientific bias in studies investigating escape response in this species, at least over the short term.
README: Data from: Captures do not affect escape response to humans in Alpine marmot
In this publication, we investigated the indirect, behavioural effects of live-capture on escape response to humans in Alpine marmot Marmota marmota within the Stelvio National Park (central Italian Alps) over three seasons (2021- 2023). We used flight initiation distance (FID) as a measure of escape response and tested it in relation to capture status and factors related to FID using linear mixed modeling.
This README file describes the data accompanying the publication.
The dataset used for the final version of the manuscript is named "Data_Giari.et.al.2024.Wildlife.Biology2.csv".
Files descriptions:
Data_Giari.et.al.2024.Wildlife.Biology2.csv: This file contains all the data on the FID test carried out during 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons in the Stelvio National. The dataset contains all the information required for the statistical analysis. Following are the definitions of the terms and abbreviations used to name the variables for the analysis:
id_fid:fid test identity (*= sequential number of the test);
jdate: Julian date counting from the 1st day of January 2021, 2022 and 2023;
day_hr: time of day;
year: year of observation (i.e., 2021, 2022 and 2023);
uid: the identity of the focal individual;
family: the identity of the family group membership associated with the focal individual;
tourism_level: level of tourism intensity associated with family group (low-medium-high);
capture: capture status (binary variable: captured / non-captured) of the focal individual;
cum_capt_tot: cumulative number of captures of the focal individual before the observation;
cum_capt_year: cumulative number of captures during the year of the focal individual before the observation;
walker: identity of the person who approached the focal individual during the observation;
clouds_pct: cover clouds percentage before the observation (from 0% = "no clouds" to 100% = "fully covered";
age_class: age class of the focal individual (1 year old; adult);
start_distance: distance (in m) from the walker initial position and the point where the animal first fled;
fid.1: distance (in m) from the walker position to the focal individual position when the latter fled;
burrow_distance: distance (in m) from the focal individual position to the escape burrow;
ac.consp: alarm calls from conspecifics within 5 m radius (binary status);
consp.5tot: cumulative number of conspecifics within 5 m radius at the beginning of the test;
behaviour2: displayed behaviour at the beginning of the test ( i.e. forage and “others”).
Comments and requests should be addressed to Chiara Giari: chiara.giari21@gmail.com. All material is free to use, but we would appreciate being told, and this dataset and the matching paper cited.