Mapping human- and bear-centered perspectives on coexistence using a participatory Bayesian framework ...

Coexistence with wildlife is becoming a key challenge in Europe as populations of large carnivores recover in human-dominated landscapes. Modeling the spatial distribution of conditions for human-bear coexistence can help support conservation by identifying priority areas and measures to support coe...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mayer, Paula, Grêt-Regamey, Adrienne, Ciucci, Paolo, Salliou, Nicolas, Stritih, Ana
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: ETH Zurich 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000604873
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/604873
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Summary:Coexistence with wildlife is becoming a key challenge in Europe as populations of large carnivores recover in human-dominated landscapes. Modeling the spatial distribution of conditions for human-bear coexistence can help support conservation by identifying priority areas and measures to support coexistence, but existing models often only address risks either to humans or to large carnivores. In this study, we developed a participatory modeling process that incorporates both human-centered and large carnivore-centered perspectives on coexistence and applied it to a case study of coexistence between humans and the endangered Apennine brown bears (Ursus arctos marsicanus) in Italy. Local and expert knowledge, as well as available data on bear habitats and land use, were integrated into a spatially explicit Bayesian network. This model is used to predict and map the tolerance to bears from the human perspective and the risk of fitness loss from the bear perspective. We found that conditions for human-bear ... : Journal for Nature Conservation, 73 ...