Predation risk and prey responses exhibit fluctuations in space and time. Seasonal ecological disturbances can alter landscape structure and permeability to influence predator activity and efficacy, creating predictable patterns of risk for prey (seasonal risk landscapes). This may create corresponding seasonal shifts in antipredator behaviour, mediated by species ecology and trade-offs between risk and resources. Yet, how human recreation interacts with seasonal risk landscapes and antipredator behaviour remains understudied. In South Florida, we investigated the impact of a seasonal ecological disturbance, specifically flooding, which is inversely related to human activity, on interactions between Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). We hypothesized that human activity and ecological disturbances would interact with panther-deer ecology, resulting in the emergence of two distinct seasonal landscapes of predation risk and the corresponding antipredator responses. We conducted camera trap surveys across southwestern Florida to collect detection data on humans, panthers and deer. We analysed the influence of human site use and flooding on deer and panther detection probability, co-occurrence and diel activity during the flooded and dry seasons. Flooding led to decreased panther detections and increased deer detections, resulting in reduced deer-panther co-occurrence during the flooded season. Panthers exhibited increased nocturnality and reduced diel activity overlap with deer in areas with higher human activity. Supporting our hypothesis, panthers' avoidance of human recreation and flooding created distinct risk schedules for deer, driving their antipredator behaviour. Deer utilized flooded areas to spatially offset predation risk during the flooded season while increasing diurnal activity in response to human recreation during the dry season. We highlight the importance of understanding how competing risks and ecological disturbances influence predator and prey behaviour, leading to the generation of seasonal risk landscapes and antipredator responses. We emphasize the role of cyclical ecological disturbances in shaping dynamic predator-prey interactions. Furthermore, we highlight how human recreation may function as a 'temporal human shield,' altering seasonal risk landscapes and antipredator responses to reduce encounter rates between predators and prey.

Context Predation-risk and ecological disturbance regimes can both influence behavioral decisions by prey, yet few studies have simultaneously considered responses to these ecological pressures. Elucidating relationships between predation risk and the costs and benefits associated with multiple natural disturbances can contribute to a better understanding of how prey adapt to varied predator and disturbance regimes. Objectives We quantified spatial variation in predation risk and resource selection strategies of female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) with different fate outcomes during the fawning season across a landscape with poor-quality, heterogeneous food resources. Methods We quantified resource selection relative to ecological disturbance regimes and vulnerability to Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) predation and linked these behavioral patterns to mortality outcomes. Results We found that female deer that were killed by panthers selected flooded areas that contained higher quality forage, but these areas also conferred higher relative predation risk. Females that survived the fawning season selected frequently and recently burned areas that had both high-quality forage and lower panther predation risk. Conclusions The interplay between predation risk and ecological disturbance regimes appeared to drive behavioral strategies by deer. Females exhibited different strategies relative to the forage-predation risk trade-off, which led to different fitness outcomes. These behavioral strategies may affect maternal care, adding additional complexity to tradeoffs involving adult survival and recruitment.

Extreme climatic events (ECEs) are increasing in frequency and intensity and this necessitates understanding their influence on organisms. Animal behaviour may mitigate the effects of ECEs, but field studies are rare because ECEs are infrequent and unpredictable. Hurricane Irma made landfall in southwestern Florida where we were monitoring white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus seminolus) with GPS collars. We report on an opportunistic case study of behavioural responses exhibited by a large mammal during an ECE, mitigation strategies for reducing the severity of the ECE effects, and the demographic effect of the ECE based on known-fate of individual animals. Deer altered resource selection by selecting higher elevation pine and hardwood forests and avoiding marshes. Most deer left their home ranges during Hurricane Irma, and the probability of leaving was inversely related to home range area. Movement rates increased the day of the storm, and no mortality was attributed to Hurricane Irma. We suggest deer mobility and refuge habitat allowed deer to behaviourally mitigate the negative effects of the storm, and ultimately, aid in survival. Our work contributes to the small but growing body of literature linking behavioural responses exhibited during ECEs to survival, which cumulatively will provide insight for predictions of a species resilience to ECEs and improve our understanding of how behavioural traits offset the negative impacts of global climate change.

Populations of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) have declined since the early 1900s due to large-scale land use changes and habitat destruction. In southern pine stands land managers have used a variety of treatments to control hardwood encroachment, a major contributing factor to the loss of optimal quail habitat. We compared the use of the herbicide Arsenal (imazapyr) and traditional mechanical treatments with and without fire to control hardwood stem encroachment on 2 study areas. On Tall Timbers Research Station, hardwood stem density decreased on herbicide and herbicide + burn plots, but increased on all mechanically treated plots between years. Herbicide and herbicide + burn plots resulted in a 3-fold increase in forb coverage between years, whereas mechanically treated plots did not increase forb coverage. On Foshalee Plantation, hardwood stem density decreased and forb coverage increased between years on chemically treated plots. A one-time application of Arsenal can control hardwood encroachment in pine forests and stimulate herbaceous species growth. Following treatment, vegetative communities likely can be maintained for prolonged periods by using traditional, less expensive, methods of management such as prescribed fire.