How do recreational activities alter spatiotemporal species interactions networks, and can this knowledge assist in promoting pro-environmental

[title cont.] behaviour?

Recreational activity is widespread throughout the Cairngorms Connect region, with over 1.9 million people visiting the Cairngorms National Park annually to enjoy hikes, bike rides and immersion in nature. However, such activities can disturb animals causing impacts similar to the non-lethal effects of predation. This can alter individual fitness and may have consequences for species activity, distributions and interspecific interactions. Working in collaboration with the Centre of Research into Environmental and Ecological Modelling, this PhD research aims to understand and predict the responses of ecological communities to recreational disturbance.

This will be achieved through the monitoring of avian and mammalian communities using remote sensing techniques deployed across gradients of anthropogenic disturbance. Camera traps will be used to assess the activity and interactions among species of mammals and ground dwelling birds. Further, AudioMoths will be deployed to collect bioacoustic data and survey the wider avian community.

This research will take a coupled socio-ecological systems approach, conducting surveys in parallel to assess and better understand the behavioural motivations and tolerance of landscape users. This will provide evidence to make informed management recommendations based on factors identified to increase willingness to change, marrying the benefits for the landscape users and ecological communities.