The Effects of Developments and Primary Roads on Grizzly Bear Habitat Use in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Mattson, David J.; Knight, Richard R.; Blanchard, Bonnie M.

doi:10.2307/3872633

Cited by 68 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…1998). The increase in sightings may result from consistent observations of females with young near the road in recent years (see Mattson et al, 1987;McLellan and Shackleton, 1988). We observed few adverse responses to traffic, and there was no change in the distance at which bears were seen from the road.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

The Effect of Vehicle Traffic on Wildlife in Denali National Park

Burson¹,

Belant²,

Fortier³

et al. 2000

ARCTIC

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ABSTRACT. We recorded observations of caribou (Rangifer tarandus), grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), Dall sheep (Ovis dalli) and moose (Alces alces) along the Denali National Park and Preserve road corridor during 1995-97. We compared these observations to similar data from previous studies to evaluate the effect of an increase in traffic on the number of animals sighted and their behavior. Between 1972 and 1997, annual visitation to Denali National Park increased from about 45 000 to 350 000, with attendant increases in traffic on the park road. The mean number of caribou, grizzly bear, and Dall sheep observed did not decline (p > 0.301) from 1973 to 1997. The number of moose observed declined by more than 50% (R 2 = 0.529, p < 0.001). The estimated population of moose also declined over the same period (R 2 = 0.374, p = 0.002). The distance from the park road at which caribou and grizzly bears were sighted did not change (p > 0.787), but fewer moose (p < 0.031) were observed within 100 m of the road and fewer sheep (p < 0.011) were observed between 400 and 500 m from the road. Adverse behavioral responses to traffic (e.g., running from vehicles) occurred in less than 1.3% of observations for each species. Increased traffic on the park road apparently has not caused significant changes in abundance, distribution, or behavior of caribou, grizzly bear, Dall sheep, and moose in the park road corridor.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 70%

The Effect of Vehicle Traffic on Wildlife in Denali National Park

Burson¹,

Belant²,

Fortier³

et al. 2000

ARCTIC

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“…Albert and Bowyer (1991) hypothesized that bears not habituated to humans are displaced into backcountry areas by high levels of human activity in the front country. Similarly, Mattson et al (1987) reported reduced grizzly bear occupancy of habitat near human facilities as the more dominant cohorts displaced subordinate and securityconscious bears into these habitats. In 1997, grizzly bear densities in the backcountry areas of Denali did not appear and stratum was not significant (F = 0.01, d.f.…”

Section: Grizzly Bearsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Moose, Caribou, and Grizzly Bear Distribution in Relation to Road Traffic in Denali National Park, Alaska

Yost¹,

Wright²

2001

ARCTIC

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ABSTRACT. Park managers are concerned that moose (Alces alces), caribou (Rangifer tarandus), and grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) may be avoiding areas along the 130 km road through Denali National Park as a result of high traffic volume, thus decreasing opportunities for visitors to view wildlife. A wildlife monitoring system was developed in 1996 that used 19 landscape level viewsheds, stratified into four sections based on decreasing traffic along the road corridor. Data were collected from 22 samplings of all viewsheds during May-August in 1996 and 1997. In 1997, nine backcountry viewsheds were established in three different areas to determine whether density estimates for each species in the backcountry were higher than those for the same animals in similar road-corridor areas. Densities higher than those in the road corridor were found in one backcountry area for moose and in two backcountry areas for grizzly bears. None of the backcountry areas showed a higher density of caribou. We tested hypotheses that moose, caribou, and grizzly bear distributions were unrelated to the road and traffic. Moose sightings were lower than expected within 300 m of the road. More caribou and grizzly bears than expected occurred between 601 and 900 m from the road, while more moose and fewer caribou than expected occurred between 900 and 1200 m from the road. Bull moose in stratum 1 were distributed farther from the road than bulls and cows in stratum 4; cows in stratum 1 and bulls in stratum 2 were distributed farther from the road than cows in stratum 4. Grizzly bears in stratum 2 were distributed farther from the road than bears in stratum 3. The distribution of moose sightings suggests traffic avoidance, but the spatial pattern of preferred forage may have had more of an influence. Caribou and grizzly bear distributions indicated no pattern of traffic avoidance.Key words: Alaska, caribou (Rangifer tarandus), Denali, grizzly bears (Ursus arctos), moose (Alces alces), road traffic, viewsheds RÉSUMÉ. Les gérants du parc s'inquiètent du fait que l'orignal (Alces alces), le caribou (Rangifer tarandus) et le grizzli (Ursus arctos) pourraient éviter les zones bordant les 130 km de la route qui traverse le parc national Denali, en raison du volume élevé de circulation, ce qui diminue aussi pour les visiteurs les chances de voir la faune. Un système de surveillance de la faune a été mis sur pied en 1996, système qui faisait appel à 19 cabanes d'observation installées de niveau avec le paysage, réparties en quatre sections déterminées selon la décroissance de circulation le long du corridor routier. En 1996 et 1997, on a collecté les données de mai à août provenant de 22 échantillons prélevés à toutes les cabanes. En 1997, neuf cabanes d'arrière-pays ont été installées dans trois zones différentes, afin de déterminer si les estimations des densités pour chaque espèce étaient plus élevées dans l'arrière-pays que dans des zones semblables agissant comme corridors routiers. On a trouvé des densités plus élevées que celles dans le corrido...

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“…Sympatric black and brown bears also exhibit widely different activity patterns, presumably as a means for the smaller black bear to avoid brown bear encounters (77). Anthropogenic influences on bear activity patterns vary on both a daily and an annual basis, often in relation to food accessibility (26,43,50,54,55,84). While these studies have contributed greatly to our understanding of the putative influences on bear activity patterns, a major gap remains in our knowledge of the basic physiological mechanisms responsible for the generation of daily and seasonal activity cycles in bears.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal organization of activity in the brown bear (Ursus arctos): roles of circadian rhythms, light, and food entrainment

Ware¹,

Nelson

Robbins

et al. 2012

American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comp

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September 12, 2012; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00313.2012.-Seasonal cycles of reproduction, migration, and hibernation are often synchronized to changes in daylength (photoperiod). Ecological and evolutionary pressures have resulted in physiological specializations enabling animals to occupy a particular temporal niche within the diel cycle leading to characteristic activity patterns. In this study, we characterized the annual locomotor activity of captive brown bears (Ursus arctos). Locomotor activity was observed in 18 bears of varying ages and sexes during the active (Mar-Oct) and hibernating (Nov-Feb) seasons. All bears exhibited either crepuscular or diurnal activity patterns. Estimates of activity duration (␣) and synchronization to the daily light:dark cycle (phase angles) indirectly measured photoresponsiveness. ␣ increased as daylength increased but diverged near the autumnal equinox. Phase angles varied widely between active and hibernating seasons and exhibited a clear annual rhythm. To directly test the role of photoperiod, bears were exposed to controlled photoperiod alterations. Bears failed to alter their daily activity patterns (entrain) to experimental photoperiods during the active season. In contrast, photic entrainment was evident during hibernation when the daily photocycle was shifted and when bears were exposed to a skeleton (11:1:11:1) photoperiod. To test whether entrainment to nonphotic cues superseded photic entrainment during the active season, bears were exposed to a reversed feeding regimen (dark-fed) under a natural photocycle. Activity shifted entirely to a nocturnal pattern. Thus daily activity in brown bears is highly modifiable by photoperiod and food availability in a stereotypic seasonal fashion. entrainment; food-entrainable oscillator; hibernation; phase shift; brown bear ACTIVITY PATTERNS are a useful behavioral measure to inform ecological and conservation studies. By examining these patterns, the impact of habitat destruction, food availability, and conspecific interactions can be revealed. Furthermore, a large body of literature has revealed that rather than merely being stimulated or suppressed by light and dark, many activity patterns are generated by a clock-like mechanism (17,60). This biological clock is highly conserved because it enables animals to accurately and reliably perform functions integral to survival due to the predictable nature of the earth's rotation and seasonal changes in daylength (5). The biological clock thus serves as both a timekeeper and calendar.Considerable research has characterized activity patterns of wild brown (Ursus arctos) and black bears (Ursus americanus), although much less is known about the physiological mechanisms that generate them. Both brown and black bears are capable of exhibiting a wide variety of activity patterns depending on season, geographic location, food availability, and human influences, just to name a few (22,27,34,41,49,54,77). Bears exhibit distinct seasonal timing of activities such as reproduction and hyperphagia ...

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The Effects of Developments and Primary Roads on Grizzly Bear Habitat Use in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Cited by 68 publications

References 10 publications

The Effect of Vehicle Traffic on Wildlife in Denali National Park

The Effect of Vehicle Traffic on Wildlife in Denali National Park

Moose, Caribou, and Grizzly Bear Distribution in Relation to Road Traffic in Denali National Park, Alaska

Temporal organization of activity in the brown bear (Ursus arctos): roles of circadian rhythms, light, and food entrainment

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