Identifying habitat characteristics to predict highway crossing areas for black bears within a human-modified landscape

Lewis, Jesse S.; Rachlow, Janet L.; Horne, Jon S.; Garton, Edward O.; Wakkinen, Wayne L.; Hayden, James A.; Zager, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2011.01.008

Cited by 120 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The topography is mountainous, with steep ridges and narrow valleys. Elevation ranges from 700 m to 2400 m. The area is heavily forested, with Abies lasiocarpa (subalpine fir) and Picea engelmannii (Engelmann spruce) codominant above 1300 m and a diverse mixed conifer forest dominating below 1300 m. For a further description of the study area, see [17]. …”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bears were trapped from June to mid-August in 2004-2006 in the Purcell Mountain range of northern Idaho and fitted with Lotek 3300L GPS programmed to record the location every 20 min from April (den emergence) to November (den entrance; Lewis et al 2011). The Brownian bridge movement model [18] was used to identify 56 highway crossing events for black bears along U.S. Highway 95 [17].…”

Section: Bear Highway Crossing Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Brownian bridge movement model [18] was used to identify 56 highway crossing events for black bears along U.S. Highway 95 [17].…”

Section: Bear Highway Crossing Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Why Did the Bear Cross the Road? Comparing the Performance of Multiple Resistance Surfaces and Connectivity Modeling Methods

2014

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There have been few assessments of the performance of alternative resistance surfaces, and little is known about how connectivity modeling approaches differ in their ability to predict organism movements. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of four connectivity modeling approaches applied to two resistance surfaces in predicting the locations of highway crossings by American black bears in the northern Rocky Mountains, USA. We found that a resistance surface derived directly from movement data greatly outperformed a resistance surface produced from analysis of genetic differentiation, despite their heuristic similarities. Our analysis also suggested differences in the performance of different connectivity modeling approaches. Factorial least cost paths appeared to slightly outperform other methods on the movement-derived resistance surface, but had very poor performance on the resistance surface obtained from multi-model landscape genetic analysis. Cumulative resistant kernels appeared to offer the best combination of high predictive performance and sensitivity to differences in resistance surface parameterization. OPEN ACCESSDiversity 2014, 6 845 Our analysis highlights that even when two resistance surfaces include the same variables and have a high spatial correlation of resistance values, they may perform very differently in predicting animal movement and population connectivity.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Bear Highway Crossing Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Why Did the Bear Cross the Road? Comparing the Performance of Multiple Resistance Surfaces and Connectivity Modeling Methods

2014

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“…Data on animal movements around roads in particular are lacking, and should be prioritised as this can potentially reveal road avoidance and/or attraction, road permeability, regular road crossing locations (where road-kills may not be prevalent, e.g. Lewis et al 2011;Neumann et al 2012), and quantification of road exposure (using time budgets).…”

Section: Research Gapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Roads and macropods: interactions and implications

Bond

Jones

2014

Aust. Mammalogy

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Abstract. Understanding the impacts of roads on wildlife and the natural environment is of increasing importance. Macropods (mostly kangaroos and wallabies) are a diverse and widespread taxon in Australia that has been significantly affected by the presence of roads in various ways. We reviewed the available literature on macropods and roads, assessing 60 scientific journal articles, reports and theses. Studies on road mortalities were the most prevalent (n = 29, with 12 on macropods only), revealing both spatial and temporal patterns in occurrence. Behavioural studies in relation to the road environment are limited (n = 2) yet could help our understanding of patterns of road-kill and other impacts. Some macropod populations are critically affected by the presence of roads (e.g. brush-tailed rock-wallaby, Petrogale penicillata) due to either proportionately high road mortalities and/or population fragmentation, and may face continued decline unless effective road-mitigation measures are implemented. Investigations of various types of road mitigation focussed on wildlife-exclusion fencing and road crossing structures as the most effective option, although the high cost of these measures appears to limit their implementation. Further research into several areas was identified, particularly on species where severe road impacts are likely to result in population declines.

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“…Wide-ranging, large-bodied carnivores that inhabit BNP, such as grizzly and black bears (Ursus americanus), are easily susceptible to road-caused fragmentation owing to their low densities and reproductive rates combined with large home range requirements [33]. Numerous studies have shown that roads can significantly reduce bear movements [16,34] or influence where bears cross busy highways [35]. Grizzly bears avoid roads with high traffic volumes [36,37], whereas black bears are more tolerant of human disturbance and willing to cross busy highways [38].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic connectivity for two bear species at wildlife crossing structures in Banff National Park

2014

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Roads can fragment and isolate wildlife populations, which will eventually decrease genetic diversity within populations. Wildlife crossing structures may counteract these impacts, but most crossings are relatively new, and there is little evidence that they facilitate gene flow. We conducted a three-year research project in Banff National Park, Alberta, to evaluate the effectiveness of wildlife crossings to provide genetic connectivity. Our main objective was to determine how the Trans-Canada Highway and crossing structures along it affect gene flow in grizzly (Ursus arctos) and black bears (Ursus americanus). We compared genetic data generated from wildlife crossings with data collected from greater bear populations. We detected a genetic discontinuity at the highway in grizzly bears but not in black bears. We assigned grizzly bears that used crossings to populations north and south of the highway, providing evidence of bidirectional gene flow and genetic admixture. Parentage tests showed that 47% of black bears and 27% of grizzly bears that used crossings successfully bred, including multiple males and females of both species. Differentiating between dispersal and gene flow is difficult, but we documented gene flow by showing migration, reproduction and genetic admixture. We conclude that wildlife crossings allow sufficient gene flow to prevent genetic isolation.

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Identifying habitat characteristics to predict highway crossing areas for black bears within a human-modified landscape

Cited by 120 publications

References 37 publications

Why Did the Bear Cross the Road? Comparing the Performance of Multiple Resistance Surfaces and Connectivity Modeling Methods

Why Did the Bear Cross the Road? Comparing the Performance of Multiple Resistance Surfaces and Connectivity Modeling Methods

Roads and macropods: interactions and implications

Genetic connectivity for two bear species at wildlife crossing structures in Banff National Park

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