Do innate food preferences and learning affect crop raiding by American black bears?

Ditmer, Mark A.; Burk, Tammie; Garshelis, David L.

doi:10.2192/ursus-d-14-00028.1

Cited by 49 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…crops), compared to females. However, after exposure to novel foods, females will eventually preferentially seek out those food sources (Ditmer et al, 2015a). Our results also suggest that such individual differences in foraging preferences could predict the likelihood of conflict.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

The diet of black bears tracks the human footprint across a rapidly developing landscape

Kirby

Alldredge

Pauli

2016

Biological Conservation

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

The diet of black bears tracks the human footprint across a rapidly developing landscape

Kirby

Alldredge

Pauli

2016

Biological Conservation

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“…Though the predicted range including human‐modified areas was low for both sexes, the total area for males was considerably larger and males were more likely to use them, supporting with our predictions. Male black bears are more likely to use human‐modified landscapes (Ditmer et al, ), use anthropogenic resources (Merkle et al, ) and are the primary crop depredators (Garshelis, ; Ditmer, Burk, et al, ). Female black bears could occupy smaller areas and areas with adequate, but poorer, resources than males because of high dietary and physiological plasticity (Hilderbrand et al, ; McDonald & Fuller, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As sex ratio can strongly influence population growth (Caughley, ; Milner, Nilsen, & Andreassen, ), quantifying the occurrence of sex‐specific distribution would be key in developing state‐wide strategies to manage female black bear establishment, reproduction and recolonization. In addition, as male bears are more likely to occur in human‐modified areas (Ditmer, Noyce, Fieberg, & Garshelis, ; Merkle, Robinson, Krausman, & Alaback, ) and involved in human‐bear conflicts (Ditmer, Burk, & Garshelis, ; Ditmer, Garshelis, et al, ), by mapping male distribution we can better inform decision‐makers concerning locations for outreach and conflict prevention.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation implications of sex‐specific landscape suitability for a large generalist carnivore

Gantchoff

Conlee

Belant

2019

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim: Terrestrial mammal distribution models typically do not differentiate between sexes when making spatial predictions, which could have important conservation implications. As male carnivores are usually more risk tolerant and travel longer distances, male potential range should be larger and include more human-modified areas than female range. To evaluate if differences between females and males could influence their conservation planning, we quantified sex-specific suitable range for a recolonizing population of American black bears (Ursus americanus). Location:We applied this method in Missouri, USA. Methods:We collected telemetry data from 57 females and 43 male bears from 2010 to 2018. We used three machine-learning methods (generalized boosted regression, random forest and maximum entropy) to develop sex-specific distribution models, which were combined into a weighted average ensemble model and converted into a binary (presence/absence) model using an optimized threshold. We used 80% of individuals for each sex as training data, and 20% as evaluation data. Results:All models had high predictive performance; the greatest uncertainty in model predictions corresponded with the periphery of the distributions, whereas there was high agreement in the core distribution. Male suitable range was 66% larger than female range, and males were predicted to occur in more human-modified areas and more likely to be present in developed land and agriculture.Main conclusions: Distribution models based on data from both sexes, or that is male-biased, could overestimate the female (i.e., reproductive) range and potentially misrepresent the biologically relevant species distribution. This bias can potentially lead to misguided decisions and suboptimal use of resources. By improving models when sex-specific data are available, we can better focus resources in areas where there is reproductive potential, leading to more accurate assessments of species' conservation status and better identifying areas vital for species persistence. K E Y W O R D Scarnivore, habitat suitability, mammal, range, sex-specific, spatial ecology, species distribution model, ursid | 1489 GANTCHOFF eT Al.

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“…This may reveal the number of maize consumers at risk of being killed by lethal control. Combined with kill records for bears, we will be able to evaluate population growth, survival rate and the effect of lethal control on the viability of the bear population more accurately, although we will also have to take into account the consumption of high‐quality foods such as maize that may support increased population growth by providing substantial caloric benefits for the bears (Ditmer et al ., , ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Agricultural crop depredation has been reported as a source of human–bear conflict in various countries (Narita et al ., ; Shivik et al ., ; Can et al ., ; Ditmer et al ., ). Crop fields can provide a favorable environment for bears that allows them to consume high‐quality anthropogenic foods efficiently (Sato, ; Ditmer, Burk & Garshelis, ). However, bears feeding in crop fields can be exposed to high mortality risk because lethal control is often used to prevent agricultural damage (Linnell et al ., ; Schwartz, Miller & Haroldson, ; Sato & Endo, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable isotope and DNA analyses reveal the spatial distribution of crop‐foraging brown bears

et al. 2017

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We investigated maize (Zea mays) consumption by brown bears (Ursus arctos) in a subpopulation of eastern Hokkaido, Japan, using carbon stable isotope analysis of hair samples to better understand the pattern and scale of movement of the bears' crop-foraging behavior. We identified a total of 30 individuals (19 males and 11 females) using DNA analysis of the hair samples. Stable isotope analysis suggested that female bears that were more likely to consume maize lived closer to agricultural crop fields. Our statistical model also estimated that the relative maize consumption of female bears decreased rapidly as the distance to crop fields increased to 3-4 km, similar to the radius of the annual home range of female bears. In contrast, male bears that were more likely to consume maize lived both in forested areas and near crop fields. Even if male bears live in a forested area except during the maize harvest period, they appeared to be at risk of being killed by lethal control because they can move from forested areas to crop fields during the maize harvest period. Collecting hair samples of many bears in the population over several years may allow the effect of lethal control on population viability to be estimated non-invasively.

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Do innate food preferences and learning affect crop raiding by American black bears?

Cited by 49 publications

References 61 publications

The diet of black bears tracks the human footprint across a rapidly developing landscape

The diet of black bears tracks the human footprint across a rapidly developing landscape

Conservation implications of sex‐specific landscape suitability for a large generalist carnivore

Stable isotope and DNA analyses reveal the spatial distribution of crop‐foraging brown bears

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