Human recreation influences activity of a large carnivore in an urban landscape

Abstract

Human recreation influences the diel activity of animals and elucidating these responses informs management of species of conservation concern. We studied how mountain lions (Puma concolor) persisting in greater Los Angeles, California, USA adjust diel activity patterns in response to spatial and temporal variation in human recreation by combining publicly available data on recreation with GPS telemetry and accelerometer data. Mountain lions reduced diurnal activity, shifted timing of dawn activity, and became more nocturnal in areas with high recreation. There were differences in temporal responses between the sexes that might reflect behavioral shifts by females to avoid potentially dangerous male conspecifics. We found no evidence that mountain lions modified their behavior based on differences in recreation between weekdays and the weekend. The lack of a weekend effect may be a function of mountain lions being mostly nocturnal, which may be sufficient to avoid most recreation regardless of intraweek variation. Mountain lions have persisted within greater Los Angeles despite being limited spatially in this human-dominated landscape. Our work suggests that mountain lions are also constrained temporally through shifts in their diel activity.