Effects of resource extraction industries on behaviour and population dynamics of grizzly bears in the Flathead drainage, British Columbia and Montana ...

• Main Author: McLellan, Bruce Norman
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2010
• Subjects: Ursus arctos
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0098353; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0098353

The range and numbers of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos L.) have been greatly reduced since Europeans settled North America and there is concern that various human activities threaten many of the remaining bears. In this thesis I examine relationships between resource extraction industries and grizzly bear ecology, behaviour, and population dynamics in an area undergoing timber harvest and gas exploration. The major hypothesis investigated was that the industrial activities in the study area would be detrimental to the grizzly population and I predicted either a low density of bears compared to other interior populations, or at least a negative rate of increase. To determine specific causes for any observed population response, I monitored behavioural reactions of grizzly bears to industrial activities and habitats modified by these activities. The selection of seasonal home ranges and use of habitat components, elevation, and aspects by grizzly bears from these ranges are presented. Based on 4872 relocations ...