Den-Site Characteristics of Black Bears in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

We compared historic (1985-1992) and contemporary (2003-2006) black bear (Ursus americanus) den locations in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), Colorado, USA, for habitat and physiographic attributes of den sites and used maximum entropy modeling to determine which factors were most influential in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of wildlife management 2008-11, Vol.72 (8), p.1717-1724
Main Authors: Baldwin, Roger A, Bender, Louis C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
animal ecology
Animal populations
Bears
black bear
Black bears
Colorado
Contemporary periods
denning
Elevation
Entropy
Forest canopy
habitat
Habitats
Mammals
Management and Conservation
Maximum entropy
National parks
population distribution
Site selection
Sloping terrain
Snow depth
Studies
Topographical aspect
topography
Ursus americanus
Wildlife habitats
Wildlife management
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Summary:We compared historic (1985-1992) and contemporary (2003-2006) black bear (Ursus americanus) den locations in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), Colorado, USA, for habitat and physiographic attributes of den sites and used maximum entropy modeling to determine which factors were most influential in predicting den-site locations. We observed variability in the relationship between den locations and distance to trails and elevation over time. Locations of historic den sites were most associated with slope, elevation, and covertype, whereas contemporary sites were associated with slope, distance to roads, aspect, and canopy height. Although relationships to covariates differed between historic and contemporary periods, preferred den-site characteristics consistently included steep slopes and factors associated with greater snow depth. Distribution of den locations shifted toward areas closer to human developments, indicating little negative influence of this factor on den-site selection by black bears in RMNP.
ISSN:0022-541X
1937-2817
DOI:10.2193/2007-393