Where forage meets safety: The role of forest disturbances in red deer adaptation to human pressure

As a result of climate change, forest disturbances such as windthrows and insect outbreaks are increasing, reshaping forest structure and altering the habitat of forest-dependent wildlife. After disturbance, forest floor vegetation provides abundant forage, while deadwood and complex structures offer shelter. For ungulates, these combined features may help to resolve the forage-safety trade-off by providing both elements in one location, reducing the need to compromise fitness by moving between spatially separated feeding and resting sites. We investigated how canopy openings from disturbance affect habitat selection, behavior, and energy expenditure of female red deer ( Cervus elaphus ) in Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany, and how these effects vary across areas with different human pressure. Using integrated step-selection functions, we found that disturbed forests were consistently selected throughout the day, unlike closed forests or grasslands, where selection varied diurnally. A hidden Markov model identified three behavioral states related to energy demand, representing a gradient from low- to high-cost behavior. All behaviors occurred with similar frequency across the day in disturbed forests, whereas low-cost behaviors dominated during the day in closed forests, and high-cost behaviors occurred at night in grasslands. Red deer reduced their daily energy expenditure the longer they used disturbed forests, especially in areas with high human pressure. Overall energy expenditure was highest where human pressure was high. Our findings highlight that disturbed forests offer a unique habitat that satisfies both forage and safety needs. They provide particular advantages in areas of high human pressure, minimizing risky movements between foraging and resting sites. • Disturbed forests can mitigate the forage-safety trade-off for red deer • Red deer use disturbed forest across behaviors, daytimes and levels of human pressure • Greater use of disturbed forests reduces energy expenditure of red deer • Red deer energy costs increase with human pressure • Disturbed forests may serve as key refuges in human-dominated landscapes