Data from: Den site selection by male brown bears at the population’s expansion front ...

• Main Authors: Eriksen, Ane, Wabakken, Petter, Maartmann, Erling, Zimmermann, Barbara
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2019
• Subjects: Population Expansion; Ursus arctos; non-invasive; Population periphery; Denning behavior; Expansion front; brown bear; Den sites; Scandinavia; Norway
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.cb4jv4b; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.cb4jv4b

Brown bears (Ursus arctos) spend about half of the year in winter dens. In order to preserve energy, bears may select denning locations that minimize temperature loss and human disturbance. In expanding animal populations, demographic structure and individual behavior at the expansion front can differ from core areas. We conducted a non-invasive study of male brown bear den sites at the male-biased, low-density western expansion front of the Scandinavian brown bear population, comparing den locations to the available habitat. Compared to the higher-density population core in which intraspecific avoidance may affect den site selection of subordinate bears, we expected resource competition in the periphery to be low, and all bears to be able to select optimal den sites. In addition, bears in the periphery had access to free-ranging domestic sheep during summer. We found that males in the periphery denned on high-elevation slopes, probably providing good drainage, longer periods of consistent, insulating snow ... : DenDataDen sites used by brown bear (Ursus actos) males in Hedmark, Norway, at the male-biased, low-density expansion front of the Scandinavian brown bear population. Den sites were located non-invasively. The data file includes characteristics such as cover type, topographic parameters and distance to human structures. ...