Comparing the level of human disturbance in 2009 and 2018 at yellow-bellied marmot (<i>Marmota flaviventer</i>) colonies

Abstract

Natural areas and the animal communities within them are inevitably affected by human disturbance. Human disturbance can occur through tourism, ecotourism, and simply human presence. The effect of a human on an animal can be detrimental, and has even been shown to cause increases of stress response, result in animals spending less time foraging and taking care of young and more time foraging, and influence development of habituation, or decreased sensitivity, to human presence (Frid & Dill, 2002; Maréchal et al., 2016, Knapp et al., 2013). In order to understand any effects human disturbance may have on yellow-bellied marmot colonies (Marmota flaviventer), human disturbance must first be documented. In 2009, a study documented the level of human disturbance occurring within 300m of five marmot colonies along the East River Valley in the form of light and heavy vehicles, bicycles, dogs, and pedestrians. By revisiting those methods of disturbance documentation, we produced a dataset measuring the level of human disturbance at the same five marmot colonies in 2018. Through comparison of the 2009 average rates of disturbance at each colony to the average rates in 2018, the correlation of rank order of total and light vehicles was significant, as well as the difference in average rates of heavy vehicles. This means that the colonies that experienced the highest vehicle traffic in 2009 still experience the most in 2018, while rates of heavy vehicles changed significantly from 2009 to 2018. Flight initiation distance of marmots did not change significantly in response to the beginning of the tourist season, indicating marmots may not change behavior for a short-term disturbance. Coupled with the documentation of human disturbance, this data can be used to further track human disturbance in the future and apply the documentation to studies that help understand the behavior and development of species in affected communities.

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