Grizzly bear habitat management in Canada's Rocky Mountain parks: Balancing visitor expectations with bear habitat requirements

• Main Author: Sarah Elmeligi
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Behavioural ecology; Conservation and biodiversity; Wildlife and habitat management; Ursus Arctos; Trail Survey; Interdisciplinary Research; Remote camera; Intercept survey; Human-bear encounter; Grizzly bear habitat use; Rocky Mountain National parks; Ursus arctos
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10018/1217006

Protected area managers are continually challenged to balance ecological integrity with human recreation needs and expectations. In Banff, Yoho, Kootenay, and Jasper National Parks in Canada’s Rocky Mountains, part of this challenge is centered on providing grizzly bears with adequate access to high quality habitats while ensuring safe and ample recreation opportunities for millions of annual visitors. Using an interdisciplinary approach, I investigated this complexity through biological and social methods to define a series of management recommendations that maintain grizzly bear habitat security and meet trail user expectations. I conducted field work in the spring, summer and fall from August 2013 to August 2015. I used remote cameras on trails of low, medium, and high human use to quantify grizzly bear and human use of randomly selected trails. I used movement and location data generated from GPS collars on 27 grizzly bears to examine habitat use. I employed an intercept survey to assess trail users expectations and support of various management options pertaining to grizzly bears. Remote cameras captured human activity across the study area in all hours of the day and night across the seasons, although human activity was highest during the day and the summer/fall. Grizzly bears were more likely to be detected by camera on trails during the spring; trail human use level was not a significant predictor of grizzly bear presence. Most grizzly bear camera detections occurred at night or before 8 human events occurred on the trail that day. The GPS data showed that grizzly bears consistently selected for high quality habitat across all seasons. Grizzly bears selected habitat closer to roads in the spring, and closer to roads and trails in the summer than in the fall. I used a Step Selection Function (SSF) analysis to examine grizzly bear movement and ii habitat selection in the study area. The results of the SSF showed a high level of individual variation in grizzly bear selected steps in relation to trails of ...