Waiting for the snow to melt…
Human development is expanding rapidly into wildlands to keep up with exponential population growth, forcing wildlife to either emigrate or adapt to increased disturbance. Species that adapt often exhibit behavioral changes that can have subsequent survival consequences. Despite a strong focus on urbanization's impact on species behavior, there is increasing evidence of behavioral shifts occurring at a low-density, rural scale. In particular, changes in antipredator behavior and sociality may be altered by small-scale anthropogenic development. Antipredator vigilance and flight initiation distance can directly affect survival-related behaviors such as foraging or reproduction. Social structure and individual social relationships have been found to have complex impacts on species survival. While both vigilance and sociality have been studied extensively, little is known about how built structures may alter these behaviors by impeding an animal's visibility of a landscape. The yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventer), a social, behaviorally adaptable rodent, is an ideal model species to analyze the relationship between rural human disturbance and behavior. Previous studies have determined that marmot behaviors, such as vigilance and mating, influence their survival, which may impact their demography. Marmots can acclimate to humans, which may also have long-term survival consequences. My study goals are to: 1) determine whether there are significant differences in antipredator behaviors in disturbed versus undisturbed areas; 2) determine whether there are significant differences in social behaviors in disturbed versus undisturbed areas; and 3) use statistical models to pinpoint any underlying mechanisms that may influence species demography in response to human disturbance. I aim to fill a crucial knowledge gap in how wildlife are influenced by rural anthropogenic development through changes in landscape visibility. My results can be useful for future studies on how disturbance influences wildlife behavior and may create novel insights for the conservation management of social species in human-modified environments.