BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

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Summary Conserving viable large carnivore populations requires managing their interactions with humans in increasingly anthropogenic landscapes. Faced with declining budgets and escalating wildlife conflicts, agencies in North America continue to grapple with uncertainty surrounding the efficacy of socially divisive management actions such as harvest to reduce conflict. We used multistate capture–reencounter methods to estimate cause‐specific mortality for a large sample (>3500) of American black bears Ursus americanus in north‐western New Jersey, USA over a 33‐year period. Specifically, we focused on factors that might influence the probability of bears being harvested, lethally managed, or dying from other causes. We further analysed temporal correlations between >26 000 human–black bear incidents reported between 2001 and 2013 and estimates of total mortality rates, and specifically, rates of harvest from newly implemented public hunts and lethal management. Adult females were twice as likely (0·163 ± 0·014) as adult males (0·087 ± 0·012) to be harvested during the study period. Cubs (0·444 ± 0·025) and yearlings (0·372 ± 0·022) had a higher probability of dying from other causes, primarily vehicle strikes, than adults (0·199 ± 0·008). Reports of nuisance behaviours in year t + 1 declined with increasing mortality resulting from harvest plus lethal management in year t (P = 0·028, R2 = 0·338). Adult bears previously designated as a nuisance and/or threat were more likely to be harvested (0·176 ± 0·025) than those never identified as a problem (0·109 ± 0·010). Across age classes, individuals assigned problem status, were significantly more likely to be lethally controlled. Synthesis and applications. Given continuing failures in conserving exploited carnivores, their recreational harvest and lethal management remain polarizing. Within this social‐ecological system, the well‐regulated harvest of carefully monitored black bear populations represents a pragmatic approach to achieve population objectives. Furthermore, the integration of harvest and incident‐response management (both lethal and non‐lethal practices) with educational programmes aimed at reducing anthropogenic attractants can result in subsequent reductions in problem behaviours reported.

The spatiotemporal resolution of observations should match the level of the ecological process under study to yield reliable insights. We present a concept of designing ecological studies that integrates three axes: temporal resolution of the study, spatial resolution of the study, and the resolution of the ecological process addressed. Focusing on the integration of the temporal axis in landscape ecology, we provide two examples from our long-term research on black bears (Ursus americanus) where erroneous selection of temporal resolution yields inaccurate results. In both examples, we incorporate temporal dynamics into spatial phenomena to understand complex systems. We synthesize demographic and behavioral results from our bear research and invoke hierarchy theory to understand the effects of timber harvesting on habitat quality for bears. We propose that the temporal scales at which different vital rates are manifested in a bear population may differ, which may affect the way perturbations (e.g., clear-cuts, roads, etc.) affect habitat quality for bears.

Camera or genetic data are increasingly used to estimate wildlife abundance and density. We integrated video camera data with genetic data over 7 years to estimate annual age‐structured apparent survival of American black bears (Ursus americanus). We identified 70 individuals through meticulous scrutiny of 7531 video captures, cross‐referenced with 721 genetic captures from hair samples concurrently collected from stations in view of cameras. We used the Cormack–Jolly–Seber model in Program Mark to estimate annual age‐structured apparent survival for yearling males, yearling females, 2+ year‐old males, and 2+ year‐old females. We manually calculated cub survival. We compared parameter estimates based on combined video and genetic data with those based on only genetic data. Combining video and genetic data provided a means to test video‐based identification accuracy, which was highest for females (97%–100%). Annual apparent survival was highest for yearling females (φ = 0.92, SE = 0.07), followed by 2+ year‐old females (φ = 0.88, SE = 0.05), 2+ year‐old males (φ = 0.84, SE = 0.06), and yearling males (φ = 0.80, SE = 0.14). Annual cub survival (φ = 0.86, SE = 0.07) was likely biased because we could not account for mortality that occurred in‐den through early spring. Annual apparent survival and recapture probabilities derived from only genetic data were lower than those derived from combined video and genetic data. Our finding that noninvasive data can be used to estimate annual age‐structured apparent survival of a species with relatively indistinct traits is broadly relevant to wildlife research and conservation.