Trapped by trails: How different types of recreational trails influence seasonal space use of wildlife in a densely visited national park

Protected areas face the challenge of balancing conservation goals with increasing recreational use, which can strongly influence behavioural changes of wildlife and, consequently, affect ecosystem functioning. Understanding the impacts of various recreational activities on wildlife behaviour is essential for guiding targeted management strategies and supporting sustainable conservation practices. In the 60 km2, highly visited Hoge Kempen National Park (Belgium), we assessed habitat preferences and the seasonal impact of hiking, mountain biking, and tarmac cycling trail densities on the land use of roe deer, wild boar, and red fox. From May 2018 until May 2019, camera traps were used to monitor wildlife. Since individual animals could not be uniquely identified and the detection is imperfect, we used N-mixture models to estimate spatial variation in their land use, given their detection probability. We revealed species-specific seasonal differences in the impact of recreational trails and habitats. From all recreational trail types, hiking had the most negative impact on land use of roe deer and wild boar, while the impact of cycling and mountain biking trails was only negative in Spring. Furthermore, hiking and cycling trails had a more negative impact on land use of roe deer during the day than at night. In contrast, red fox selected areas with high recreational trail density in multiple seasons. These findings underscore the difference and seasonality in the impact of various recreation types on wildlife land use, highlighting the need for recreation monitoring and adaptive management strategies to mitigate or leverage recreational pressures on wildlife.