Baseline survey of furbearing mammals within the South Fork drainage Sun River, Montana
The relative abundance, distribution and habitat use of seven species of furbearing mammals and five additional species with fur or sport values were studied in the South Fork drainage of the Sun River, in north central Montana, from June through August of 1982 and January through June of 1983. Spec...
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Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science
1984
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ftmontanastateu:oai:scholarworks.montana.edu:1/6238 2023-05-15T15:51:19+02:00 Baseline survey of furbearing mammals within the South Fork drainage Sun River, Montana Tweten, Randall Guy Bob Marshall Wilderness (Mont.) Scapegoat Wilderness (Mont.) Sun River Game Preserve (Mont.) Sun River Watershed (Mont.) 1984 application/pdf https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/6238 en eng Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/6238 Copyright 1984 by Randall Guy Tweten Fur-bearing animals Mammal populations Wilderness areas Thesis 1984 ftmontanastateu 2022-08-13T22:40:34Z The relative abundance, distribution and habitat use of seven species of furbearing mammals and five additional species with fur or sport values were studied in the South Fork drainage of the Sun River, in north central Montana, from June through August of 1982 and January through June of 1983. Species investigated included: bobcat (Lynx rufus), Canadian lynx (Lynx canadensis), fisher (Martes pennanti), pine marten (Martes americana), wolverine (Gulp gulo), river otter (Lutjra canadensis), beaver (Castor canadensis),mountain lion, (Fells concolor), grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), black bear (Ursus americanus), coyote (Canis latrans) and wolf (Canis lupus). Small mammals were trapped at three locations during late summer 1982 to determine their availability and relative numbers during high prey population periods. A total of 94 small mammals were captured during 331 trap-nights resulting in a total efficiency of 28.4%. Approximately 1,207 km of transects within the 1,036 km2 study area were traversed during the 2 field seasons. A total of 4,154 incidences of sign were recorded from 10 landtypes within 6 subunits. Prey species (rodents, lagomorphs and grouse) contributed >80% of all sign encountered. Coyotes contributed 16% of all sign observed. There was was a significant positive correlation between coyotes and lagomorph signs for the different landtypes (r=0.864, p<0.05) and subunits (r=0.991, p<0.001). Signs from carnivorous species were positively correlated (p<0.001) with prey species for both landtypes (r=0.927 ) and subunits (r=0.990). Other species detected, which comprised 2% of all signs, included wolves, grizzly bears, black bears and mountain lions. Furbearer sign encountered consisted of 1 river otter, 5 lynx and 12 bobcats. Bear tracks encountered per transect kilometer traveled were 1/45 km and 1/13.4 km for grizzly and black bear, respectively. This number for grizzly bears is lower than reported in previous studies conducted in the vicinity. Trapping records show 14 bobcats, 4 lynx and 3 ... Thesis Canis lupus Martes americana Ursus arctos Lynx Montana State University (MSU): ScholarWorks South Fork ENVELOPE(161.250,161.250,-77.567,-77.567) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Montana State University (MSU): ScholarWorks |
op_collection_id |
ftmontanastateu |
language |
English |
topic |
Fur-bearing animals Mammal populations Wilderness areas |
spellingShingle |
Fur-bearing animals Mammal populations Wilderness areas Tweten, Randall Guy Baseline survey of furbearing mammals within the South Fork drainage Sun River, Montana |
topic_facet |
Fur-bearing animals Mammal populations Wilderness areas |
description |
The relative abundance, distribution and habitat use of seven species of furbearing mammals and five additional species with fur or sport values were studied in the South Fork drainage of the Sun River, in north central Montana, from June through August of 1982 and January through June of 1983. Species investigated included: bobcat (Lynx rufus), Canadian lynx (Lynx canadensis), fisher (Martes pennanti), pine marten (Martes americana), wolverine (Gulp gulo), river otter (Lutjra canadensis), beaver (Castor canadensis),mountain lion, (Fells concolor), grizzly bear (Ursus arctos), black bear (Ursus americanus), coyote (Canis latrans) and wolf (Canis lupus). Small mammals were trapped at three locations during late summer 1982 to determine their availability and relative numbers during high prey population periods. A total of 94 small mammals were captured during 331 trap-nights resulting in a total efficiency of 28.4%. Approximately 1,207 km of transects within the 1,036 km2 study area were traversed during the 2 field seasons. A total of 4,154 incidences of sign were recorded from 10 landtypes within 6 subunits. Prey species (rodents, lagomorphs and grouse) contributed >80% of all sign encountered. Coyotes contributed 16% of all sign observed. There was was a significant positive correlation between coyotes and lagomorph signs for the different landtypes (r=0.864, p<0.05) and subunits (r=0.991, p<0.001). Signs from carnivorous species were positively correlated (p<0.001) with prey species for both landtypes (r=0.927 ) and subunits (r=0.990). Other species detected, which comprised 2% of all signs, included wolves, grizzly bears, black bears and mountain lions. Furbearer sign encountered consisted of 1 river otter, 5 lynx and 12 bobcats. Bear tracks encountered per transect kilometer traveled were 1/45 km and 1/13.4 km for grizzly and black bear, respectively. This number for grizzly bears is lower than reported in previous studies conducted in the vicinity. Trapping records show 14 bobcats, 4 lynx and 3 ... |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Tweten, Randall Guy |
author_facet |
Tweten, Randall Guy |
author_sort |
Tweten, Randall Guy |
title |
Baseline survey of furbearing mammals within the South Fork drainage Sun River, Montana |
title_short |
Baseline survey of furbearing mammals within the South Fork drainage Sun River, Montana |
title_full |
Baseline survey of furbearing mammals within the South Fork drainage Sun River, Montana |
title_fullStr |
Baseline survey of furbearing mammals within the South Fork drainage Sun River, Montana |
title_full_unstemmed |
Baseline survey of furbearing mammals within the South Fork drainage Sun River, Montana |
title_sort |
baseline survey of furbearing mammals within the south fork drainage sun river, montana |
publisher |
Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science |
publishDate |
1984 |
url |
https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/6238 |
op_coverage |
Bob Marshall Wilderness (Mont.) Scapegoat Wilderness (Mont.) Sun River Game Preserve (Mont.) Sun River Watershed (Mont.) |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(161.250,161.250,-77.567,-77.567) |
geographic |
South Fork |
geographic_facet |
South Fork |
genre |
Canis lupus Martes americana Ursus arctos Lynx |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus Martes americana Ursus arctos Lynx |
op_relation |
https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/6238 |
op_rights |
Copyright 1984 by Randall Guy Tweten |
_version_ |
1766386482788958208 |