Open Collections

Clarke, Mackenzie Jaden

University of British Columbia

Wildlife conservation requires timely information on the availability and use of key habitats and resources by a species. Among large terrestrial carnivores in North America, grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) are experiencing substantial reductions in range and population size due to habitat loss and anthropogenic activities. To support grizzly bear conservation, this research will quantify the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance and habitat characteristics on grizzly bear habitat selection for an essential seasonal resource, buffaloberry (Sheperdia canadensis). Using grizzly bear telemetry data across southern British Columbia, Canada, this research first develops a resource selection function to predict buffaloberry selection based on the influence of disturbance and habitat characteristics. Grizzly bear recursive movements were then quantified using a revisitation analysis to test competing hypotheses related to the influence of buffaloberry availability, resource availability and disturbance conditions on foraging behaviour during the buffaloberry ripe period. The probability of selection for habitat with buffaloberry was widely distributed throughout southern BC, with notable clusters of high probabilities. Six variables influenced the probability of selection: available kilocalories of buffaloberry, elevation, distance to roads, aspect, terrain ruggedness index, and canopy height. Selection for habitat with buffaloberry generally increased as available kilocalories increased, between 400 – 1500m and 2500 – 2700m elevation, occurred near roads but increased as the distance from a road increased, was highest on northern and southern aspects, in habitat with low terrain ruggedness, and moderate canopy height. The number of revisits to a site increased as the percent cover of fruiting buffaloberry increased. This work has several direct and indirect applications to the management of grizzly bears in southern BC. Our research identified that the most important factors influencing grizzly bear habitat selection for buffaloberry was iv buffaloberry productivity (i.e., moderate to high available kilocalories of buffaloberry and high percent cover of fruiting buffaloberry), highlighting the need to create more areas that foster understory growth and encourage buffaloberry production. Analyzing the drivers of grizzly bear habitat selection for buffaloberry provides a better understanding of the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance and habitat quality on behaviour helping to inform pro-active and adaptive grizzly bear conservation.

Text

2022-05-03

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/81464

Earth and Environmental Sciences

University of British Columbia

UBCO

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/