Wolverines ( Gulo gulo luscus) on the Rocky Mountain slopes: natural heterogeneity and landscape alteration as predictors of distribution
A species’ occurrence can be influenced by natural and anthropogenic factors; disentangling these is a precursor to understanding the mechanisms of distribution. Anthropogenic factors may be especially important at contracting range edges. We test this premise for wolverines (Gulo gulo luscus L., 17...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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Language: | English |
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2013
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2013-0022 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2013-0022 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2013-0022 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjz-2013-0022 2024-09-15T18:10:29+00:00 Wolverines ( Gulo gulo luscus) on the Rocky Mountain slopes: natural heterogeneity and landscape alteration as predictors of distribution Fisher, J.T. Bradbury, S. Anholt, B. Nolan, L. Roy, L. Volpe, J.P. Wheatley, M. 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2013-0022 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2013-0022 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2013-0022 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 91, issue 10, page 706-716 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 2013 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2013-0022 2024-08-01T04:10:00Z A species’ occurrence can be influenced by natural and anthropogenic factors; disentangling these is a precursor to understanding the mechanisms of distribution. Anthropogenic factors may be especially important at contracting range edges. We test this premise for wolverines (Gulo gulo luscus L., 1758) at the edge of their Rocky Mountain range in Alberta, Canada, a mosaic of natural heterogeneity and extensive landscape development. As wolverines have a suspected negative response to human activity, we hypothesized their occurrence on the Rockies’ slopes is predicted by a combination of natural and anthropogenic features. We surveyed wolverines at 120 sites along a natural and anthropogenic gradient using hair trapping and noninvasive genetic tagging. We used abundance estimation, generalized linear, and hierarchical models to determine whether abundance and occurrence was best predicted by natural land cover, topography, footprint, or a combination. Wolverines were more abundant in rugged areas protected from anthropogenic development. Wolverines were less likely to occur at sites with oil and gas exploration, forest harvest, or burned areas, even after accounting for the effect of topography. The relative paucity of wolverines in human-impacted portions of this range edge suggests that effective conservation requires managing landscape development, and research on the proximal mechanisms behind this relationship. Article in Journal/Newspaper Gulo gulo Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Zoology 91 10 706 716 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
A species’ occurrence can be influenced by natural and anthropogenic factors; disentangling these is a precursor to understanding the mechanisms of distribution. Anthropogenic factors may be especially important at contracting range edges. We test this premise for wolverines (Gulo gulo luscus L., 1758) at the edge of their Rocky Mountain range in Alberta, Canada, a mosaic of natural heterogeneity and extensive landscape development. As wolverines have a suspected negative response to human activity, we hypothesized their occurrence on the Rockies’ slopes is predicted by a combination of natural and anthropogenic features. We surveyed wolverines at 120 sites along a natural and anthropogenic gradient using hair trapping and noninvasive genetic tagging. We used abundance estimation, generalized linear, and hierarchical models to determine whether abundance and occurrence was best predicted by natural land cover, topography, footprint, or a combination. Wolverines were more abundant in rugged areas protected from anthropogenic development. Wolverines were less likely to occur at sites with oil and gas exploration, forest harvest, or burned areas, even after accounting for the effect of topography. The relative paucity of wolverines in human-impacted portions of this range edge suggests that effective conservation requires managing landscape development, and research on the proximal mechanisms behind this relationship. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fisher, J.T. Bradbury, S. Anholt, B. Nolan, L. Roy, L. Volpe, J.P. Wheatley, M. |
spellingShingle |
Fisher, J.T. Bradbury, S. Anholt, B. Nolan, L. Roy, L. Volpe, J.P. Wheatley, M. Wolverines ( Gulo gulo luscus) on the Rocky Mountain slopes: natural heterogeneity and landscape alteration as predictors of distribution |
author_facet |
Fisher, J.T. Bradbury, S. Anholt, B. Nolan, L. Roy, L. Volpe, J.P. Wheatley, M. |
author_sort |
Fisher, J.T. |
title |
Wolverines ( Gulo gulo luscus) on the Rocky Mountain slopes: natural heterogeneity and landscape alteration as predictors of distribution |
title_short |
Wolverines ( Gulo gulo luscus) on the Rocky Mountain slopes: natural heterogeneity and landscape alteration as predictors of distribution |
title_full |
Wolverines ( Gulo gulo luscus) on the Rocky Mountain slopes: natural heterogeneity and landscape alteration as predictors of distribution |
title_fullStr |
Wolverines ( Gulo gulo luscus) on the Rocky Mountain slopes: natural heterogeneity and landscape alteration as predictors of distribution |
title_full_unstemmed |
Wolverines ( Gulo gulo luscus) on the Rocky Mountain slopes: natural heterogeneity and landscape alteration as predictors of distribution |
title_sort |
wolverines ( gulo gulo luscus) on the rocky mountain slopes: natural heterogeneity and landscape alteration as predictors of distribution |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2013-0022 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2013-0022 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2013-0022 |
genre |
Gulo gulo |
genre_facet |
Gulo gulo |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 91, issue 10, page 706-716 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2013-0022 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
91 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
706 |
op_container_end_page |
716 |
_version_ |
1810448083280986112 |