Determining the spatial scale for conservation purposes – an example with grizzly bears

Nams, Vilis O.; Mowat, Garth; Panian, Michael A.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2005.09.020

Cited by 48 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The use of sampling windows of varying sizes has proven effective in determining habitat use of different species (martens-Mowat 2006; grizzly bears [Ursus arctos]- Nams et al 2006) and should provide an appropriate sampling strategy for this investigation. We used the camera location as the sampling point for the site-specific scale.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution, Occupancy, and Habitat Correlates of American Martens (Martes americana) in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Baldwin

Bender

2008

Journal of Mammalogy

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A clear understanding of habitat associations of martens (Martes americana) is necessary to effectively manage and monitor populations. However, this information was lacking for martens in most of their southern range, particularly during the summer season. We studied the distribution and habitat correlates of martens from 2004 to 2006 in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) across 3 spatial scales: site-specific, home-range, and landscape. We used remote-sensored cameras from early August through late October to inventory occurrence of martens and modeled occurrence as a function of habitat and landscape variables using binary response (BR) and binomial count (BC) logistic regression, and occupancy modeling (OM). We also assessed which was the most appropriate modeling technique for martens in RMNP. Of the 3 modeling techniques, OM appeared to be most appropriate given the explanatory power of derived models and its incorporation of detection probabilities, although the results from BR and BC provided corroborating evidence of important habitat correlates. Location of sites in the western portion of the park, riparian mixed-conifer stands, and mixed-conifer with aspen patches were most frequently positively correlated with occurrence of martens, whereas more xeric and open sites were avoided. Additionally, OM yielded unbiased occupancy values ranging from 91% to 100% and 20% to 30% for the western and eastern portions of RMNP, respectively.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution, Occupancy, and Habitat Correlates of American Martens (Martes americana) in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Baldwin

Bender

2008

Journal of Mammalogy

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“…Moreover, the strong overlap between the AHR and areas already recognised as potentially important (Pippard & Malcolm 1978, Michaud 1993 underlines that these areas likely serve special purposes for this population. The approach developed here also defined AHR according to scales and cell sizes that are meaningful in the context of conservation or definition of management units (Nams et al 2006). Identifying areas where individuals spent time, such as the AHR, could further be important in understanding and measuring the effects of factors limiting population growth.…”

Section: îLe Du Bicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying high residency areas of the threatened St. Lawrence beluga whale from fine-scale movements of individuals and coarse-scale movements of herds

Lefebvre¹,

Michaud²,

Lesage³

et al. 2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The development of high-performance tracking and analytical tools has greatly facilitated the study of animal movements, which, in turn, are increasingly employed to study habitat use. However, data on individual movements are rarely available at both broad spatial and temporal scales, limiting their utility for the study of habitat use at population levels. In this study, we propose a novel approach to investigate habitat profitability and population residency patterns by combining the analysis of fine-scale tracking data from individual animals with coarser, shortterm movement patterns of herds. We used this approach to identify areas of high residency (AHR) for the St. Lawrence beluga whale Delphinapterus leucas, a population classified as 'threatened' under the Canadian Species At Risk Act. We used radio telemetry and a first passage time approach to study the fine-scale daily movements of 30 belugas. Information obtained from these animals on variation of search effort during displacements, scales at which area-restricted search (ARS) occurred, and associated swimming speeds was used to grid our study area and define a criterion for high residency of beluga herds. The beluga herd database used to identify AHR was composed of 772 visual 'herd follows' covering a large portion of the beluga population summer distribution. Thirty-three ARS zones were identified at 2 different spatial scales (~500 m and ~1500 m). Using these scales and the swimming speeds associated with ARS to study the residency of herds resulted in the identification of 28 AHRs used by beluga within their summer distribution.

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“…Recognizing the scale dependency of variables on species fitness is important for conservation planning. Since species' fitness needs may differ with scale, investigations limited to a singular scale may fail to recognize the importance of key habitat components (Nams, Mowat & Panian, 2006). For instance, Ciarniello, Boyce, Seip & Heard (2007) demonstrated how delineating protected areas for grizzly bears, Ursus arctos, based on habitat selection at the third-order would have excluded important landscape features whose importance only became evident at the home-range scale.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Prey, Pastoralism and Poaching on the Hierarchical Use of Habitat by an Apex Predator

Everatt¹,

Andresen²,

Somers³

2015

African Journal of Wildlife Research

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As an apex predator, habitat selection by African lions, Panthera leo, is primarily determined by bottom-up processes; however, increasing anthropogenic pressures may alter these relationships. Using camera traps and track surveys in the Limpopo National Park, Mozambique, we collected detection/non-detection data of lions and their prey and combined these with occurrence data on bushmeat poaching activities and spatial data on agro-pastoralist land use and other landscape features. We used hierarchical modelling within an occupancy framework to determine the relative influences of ecological variables on resource use and non-use by lions at two spatial scales. Habitat use by lions was most strongly influenced by the occurrence of their preferred prey across both spatial scales. However, lions were strongly negatively predicted by bushmeat poaching at the finer spatial scale and generally negatively predicted by agro-pastoralist activities at the coarser scale. Restricting our analysis to the home-range scale would have greatly underestimated the impact of bushmeat poaching on the ecology of lions. The results of our study illustrate the trophic dependency of prey resources to lions and the importance of considering scale when investigating species habitat use. Importantly, our study also demonstrates the limiting influence of bushmeat poaching on the use of habitat by an apex predator.

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Determining the spatial scale for conservation purposes – an example with grizzly bears

Cited by 48 publications

References 37 publications

Distribution, Occupancy, and Habitat Correlates of American Martens (Martes americana) in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Distribution, Occupancy, and Habitat Correlates of American Martens (Martes americana) in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Identifying high residency areas of the threatened St. Lawrence beluga whale from fine-scale movements of individuals and coarse-scale movements of herds

The Influence of Prey, Pastoralism and Poaching on the Hierarchical Use of Habitat by an Apex Predator

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