Context matters for black bears : evaluating spatially explicit density estimators and trade-offs in resource selection
"Widespread urbanization, habitat fragmentation, and climate change drive significant, multi-scale variation in wildlife populations and their habitat use. As a result, effective management of wildlife require fine-scale quantification of population density and resource selection, particularly for wide-ranging species. In this thesis I address these needs for the American black bear (Ursus americanus) in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, USA. In my first chapter, I evaluated factors affecting spatially explicit density estimates from repurposed black bear hair snare data. I fit these data to a spatial capture-recapture model and simulated outcomes under a suite of parameter scenarios. Results indicated that while this method produced cost-effective bear density estimates, the accuracy of the estimates depended on scenario parameters. In my second chapter, I quantified functional relationships in black bear use of agriculture. I estimated a resource selection function from GPS telemetry data of 12 black bears. Both male and female bears were less likely to use agriculture as it increased in the landscape, and when they were located close to developed land covers. The odds of male bears using agriculture declined with increasing bear density. Comparatively, the odds of females using agriculture increased in areas of higher density. These relationships reflect the influence of environmental context on the trade-offs involved in black bears using agricultural habitat."--Page ii.
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- In Collections
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Electronic Theses & Dissertations
- Copyright Status
- In Copyright
- Material Type
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Theses
- Authors
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Smith, Jennifer B.
- Thesis Advisors
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Williams, David
- Committee Members
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Winterstein, Scott
Roloff, Gary
- Date
- 2018
- Program of Study
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Fisheries and Wildlife - Master of Science
- Degree Level
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Masters
- Language
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English
- Pages
- xvi, 111 pages
- ISBN
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9780355711523
0355711524
- Permalink
- https://doi.org/doi:10.25335/r3j2-ry91