Response of Elk to Human Recreation at Multiple Scales

Response of Elk to Human Recreation at Multiple Scales

Led By

Eric Bergman, Nathaniel Rayl

Study Areas

• Avalanche Creek elk herd (DAU E-15)
• Bear’s Ears elk herd (DAU E-2) 

Project Status
Ongoing

Research Objectives

• To assess how elk respond to human recreation
• To evaluate the influence of human recreation on elk distribution
• To estimate calf and adult female survival and cause-specific mortality rates
• To quantify pregnancy rates and nutritional condition
• To evaluate factors influencing survival, pregnancy rates, and nutritional condition

Project Description
In Colorado, outdoor recreation contributes 511,000 jobs, $62.5 billion in economic output, and $9.4 billion in local, state, and federal tax revenue. Thus, the economies of Colorado, its counties, and its communities, rely on managing the landscape for a multitude of outdoor recreational opportunities.

The sensitivity of elk to human presence and human activity has been a topic of interest for many decades. In Colorado, increasing public concerns over human recreational use have coincided with declines in elk productivity, but a direct relationship to this activity in Colorado remains unaddressed. This research aims to better understand the influence of human recreation on elk behavior and distribution.

Reports

Response of elk to human recreation at multiple scales: demographic shifts and behaviorally mediated fluctuations in local abundance (2019-current)

Publications

Crews, S., N.D. Rayl, M.W. Alldredge, E.J. Bergman, C.R. Anderson Jr., E.H. VanNatta, J.D. Holbrook, and G. Bastille-Rousseau. 2025. Hierarchy in structuring of resource selection: understanding elk selection across space, time, and movement strategies. Ecology and Evolution 15:e71097.

Crews, S., N. D. Rayl, M. W. Alldredge, E. J. Bergman, C. R. Anderson Jr., and G. Bastille-Rousseau. 2025. Drivers of spring migration phenology in Rocky Mountain elk. Scientific Reports 15:7807

Egan, M. E., N. T. Gorman, S. Crews, M. W. Eichholz, D. Skinner, P. E. Schlichting, N. D. Rayl, E. J. Bergman, E. H. Ellington, and G. Bastille-Rousseau. 2024. Estimating encounter-habitat relationships with scale-integrated resource selection functions. Journal of Animal Ecology 93:1036-1048. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.14133

Bastille-Rousseau, G., S. A. Crews, E. B. Donovan, M. E. Egan, N. T. Gorman, J. B. Pitman, A. M. Weber, E. M. Audia, M. R. Larreur, H. Manninen, S. Blake, M. W. Eihholz, E. Bergman, and N. D. Rayl. 2024. A multi‐property assessment of intensity of use provides a functional understanding of animal movement. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 15:345-357. doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.14274​