Tolerance to Disturbance Regulated by Attractiveness of Resources: A Case Study of Desert Bighorn Sheep Within the River Mountains, Nevada

Lowrey, Christopher; Longshore, Kathleen M.

doi:10.3398/064.077.0109

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Natural selection should favor individuals that select and occupy home ranges that contain an optimal combination of elements necessary for survival and reproduction (Powell and Mitchell 2012). Selection of these areas involve trade‐offs between the benefits of obtaining critical resources (e.g., food, water, cover, and birthing sites) and minimizing costs of the biotic and abiotic factors that constrain their use (e.g., predation risk, competition, and exposure to disease, adverse weather, or anthropogenic disturbance; e.g., Festa‐Bianchet 1988, Mysterud et al 2007, Hoglander et al 2015), and this can have important fitness consequences (e.g., Lowrey and Longshore 2017, Abernathy et al 2019). Furthermore, species inhabiting highly variable environments must frequently cope with changes in environmental conditions by adjusting activity budgets, movement patterns, foraging behaviors, diet, or habitat selection (Seddon and Ismail 2002, Owen‐Smith and Cain 2007, Cain et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme drought and adaptive resource selection by a desert mammal

et al. 2020

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When animals select areas to occupy, decisions involve trade‐offs between the fitness benefits of obtaining critical resources and minimizing costs of biotic and abiotic factors that constrain their use. These processes can be more dynamic and complex for species inhabiting desert environments, where highly variable spatial and temporal distribution of precipitation can create high intra‐ and inter‐annual variability in forage conditions and water availability, and thermal constraints can differ significantly among seasons and diel periods. We examined resource selection in desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis mexicana) in Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona, USA, at multiple spatial and temporal scales to gain insight into how a desert mammal responds to variations in climatic conditions. We used resource selection functions to test topographic, forage, and environmental features among seasons and diel periods, and between non‐drought and drought conditions at the population and home‐range scale. When precipitation was average, sheep selected for topographic features that were beneficial for predator avoidance (i.e., escape terrain—steep, rugged areas with high visibility) and locations near perennial water. When drought occurred, they ranged further from preferred escape terrain and perennial water, perhaps seeking forage conditions suitable to meet their nutritional requirements. On early (April–June) and late (July–September) summer days, sheep selected for more northerly aspects and locations with lower solar radiation, and in some periods, selection for these cooler areas coincided with periods when forage covariates, proximity to perennial water, and several topographic features were uninformative in resource selection models. These choices may be necessary trade‐offs, foregoing good escape terrain and foraging areas, and access to water, for improved thermoregulation. This study highlights the importance of identifying resource selection at variable spatial and temporal scales when investigating the interrelationship between species and their environment. It provides insight into the dynamics of resource selection in desert mammals, and how they respond to constraints imposed on them by their environment. This work can serve to inform strategies for managing and conserving species living in arid environments when faced with climate change.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme drought and adaptive resource selection by a desert mammal

et al. 2020

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“…Oil and gas exploration and mining are also increasing industries in this area. Human disturbance has caused the abandonment of habitat by desert bighorn sheep (Etchberger et al, 1989;Lowrey and Longshore, 2017) and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Wiedmann and Bleich, 2014), decreased population performance (Wiedmann and Bleich, 2014), and interrupted metapopulation dynamics for these animals (Epps et al, 2005;Bleich et al, 2016). The UDWR now has over 300 GPS collared bighorn sheep in 15 herds across the state.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Management of bighorn sheep habitat remains an important issue across much of western North America (Gutierrez-Espeleta et al, 2001;Lowrey and Longshore, 2017;Bleich, 2018;Boyce and Krausman, 2018). Proximity of bighorn sheep to domestic livestock allotments on public land (Cahn et al, 2011;Carpenter et al, 2014;O'Brien et al, 2014), and proximity of those wild ungulates to areas occupied by domestic sheep (O. aries) and goats (Capra hircus) on private land (Turner et al, 2004;Shannon et al, 2014), are controversial issues in the western United States.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We calculated slope using the slope tool in the Spatial Analyst Tools extension. We calculated ruggedness using the Vector Ruggedness Measure Tool in the Terrain Tools extension in ArcGIS (Sappington et al, 2007;Lowrey and Longshore, 2017). That tool measures terrain ruggedness as the variation in three-dimensional orientation of grid cells within a neighborhood.…”

Section: Resource Selection Functionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Determining Timing of Births and Habitat Selection to Identify Lambing Period Habitat for Bighorn Sheep

et al. 2020

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“…Adaptation to disturbances is an attribute to survive in human-dominated landscapes (Johann et al 2020 ). Wild animals have the capacity to tolerate disturbances to certain levels (Lowrey and Longshore 2017 ; New et al 2020 ), but animals with low plasticity are under high risk of extirpation and extinction (Ciuti et al 2012a ). Prolonged exposure to disturbances may habituate some animals (Higham and Shelton 2011 ; Geffroy et al 2015 ), and makes them more susceptible to poaching (Bejder et al 2009 ) and predation risk (Geffroy et al 2015 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of disturbances and habitat fragmentation on an arboreal habitat specialist mammal using GPS telemetry: a case of the red panda

et al. 2021

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Context Habitat specialists residing in human-modified landscapes are likely to be more vulnerable to disturbance because of a functional reliance on very particular habitat features. However, there have been few studies designed to specifically address that issue. Objectives This study aimed to explore how the red panda, an iconic endangered habitat specialist, behaves when faced with disturbances and habitat fragmentation. In particular, we attempted to examine the effect of anthropogenic disturbances and fragmentation on home-range size, activity patterns, and recursion. Methods Using GPS telemetry we monitored 10 red pandas and documented disturbances using camera trapping for one year in eastern Nepal. We performed spatial analysis, analysed activity patterns and evaluated the effect of habitat fragmentation and disturbances on home-range size and residence time using Linear Mixed Models. Results Home-range size increased in areas with low availability of forest cover whilst home ranges were smaller in areas with a high road density. Red pandas spent more time in large habitat patches away from roads and cattle stations. Crossing rates suggested that roads acted as a barrier for movement across their habitat. Red pandas also partitioned their activity to minimize interactions with disturbances. Conclusions Red pandas seem to make a trade-off to co-exist in human-dominated landscapes which may have adverse long-term effects on their survival. This indicates that current patterns of habitat fragmentation and forest exploitation may be adversely affecting red panda conservation efforts and that landscape-scale effects should be considered when planning conservation actions. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-021-01357-w.

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Tolerance to Disturbance Regulated by Attractiveness of Resources: A Case Study of Desert Bighorn Sheep Within the River Mountains, Nevada

Cited by 13 publications

References 50 publications

Extreme drought and adaptive resource selection by a desert mammal

Extreme drought and adaptive resource selection by a desert mammal

Determining Timing of Births and Habitat Selection to Identify Lambing Period Habitat for Bighorn Sheep

Effect of disturbances and habitat fragmentation on an arboreal habitat specialist mammal using GPS telemetry: a case of the red panda

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