Potential range and corridors for brown bear in the Eastern Alps, Italy
Although several techniques have been used to explore the spatial features of brown bear (Ursus arctos) range (e.g., potential distribution ranges, linkages between isolated sub-populations, and analyses of habitat suitability), quality and quantity of data have often constrained the usefulness of t...
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United States: International Association for Bear Research and Management.
1999
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ftunivromairis:oai:iris.uniroma1.it:11573/104953 2024-02-04T10:05:06+01:00 Potential range and corridors for brown bear in the Eastern Alps, Italy BOITANI, Luigi CIUCCI, Paolo F. CORSI E. DUPRE' Boitani, Luigi Ciucci, Paolo F., Corsi E., Dupre' 1999 STAMPA http://hdl.handle.net/11573/104953 eng eng United States: International Association for Bear Research and Management. volume:11 firstpage:123 lastpage:130 numberofpages:8 journal:URSUS http://hdl.handle.net/11573/104953 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-0037924440 Alp brown bear geographic information system GIS habitat suitability Italy Mahalanobis statistic potential distribution Ursus arctos info:eu-repo/semantics/article 1999 ftunivromairis 2024-01-10T18:06:35Z Although several techniques have been used to explore the spatial features of brown bear (Ursus arctos) range (e.g., potential distribution ranges, linkages between isolated sub-populations, and analyses of habitat suitability), quality and quantity of data have often constrained the usefulness of the results. We used 12 environmental variables to identify potentially suitable areas for bears in the Italian part of the Eastern Alps. We used Mahalanobis distance statistic as a relative index of the environmental quality of the study area by calculating for each pixel (250 meters) the distance from the centroid of the environmental conditions of 100 locations randomly selected within known bear ranges. We used different levels of this suitability index to identify potential optimal and sub-optimal areas and their interconnecting corridors. The model identified 4 major areas of potential bear presence having a total size of about 10,850 km2. Assuming functional connectivity among the areas and mean density for west European countries, the Eastern Alps could support 108-325 bears. Potential ranges were also compared with existing protected areas to evaluate gaps between bear range with adequate protection and range needing protection. Only 31 % of existing protected areas was found suitable for bears. We suggest that bear conservation will depend more on establishing and managing effective corridors than other protected areas. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ursus arctos Sapienza Università di Roma: CINECA IRIS |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Sapienza Università di Roma: CINECA IRIS |
op_collection_id |
ftunivromairis |
language |
English |
topic |
Alp brown bear geographic information system GIS habitat suitability Italy Mahalanobis statistic potential distribution Ursus arctos |
spellingShingle |
Alp brown bear geographic information system GIS habitat suitability Italy Mahalanobis statistic potential distribution Ursus arctos BOITANI, Luigi CIUCCI, Paolo F. CORSI E. DUPRE' Potential range and corridors for brown bear in the Eastern Alps, Italy |
topic_facet |
Alp brown bear geographic information system GIS habitat suitability Italy Mahalanobis statistic potential distribution Ursus arctos |
description |
Although several techniques have been used to explore the spatial features of brown bear (Ursus arctos) range (e.g., potential distribution ranges, linkages between isolated sub-populations, and analyses of habitat suitability), quality and quantity of data have often constrained the usefulness of the results. We used 12 environmental variables to identify potentially suitable areas for bears in the Italian part of the Eastern Alps. We used Mahalanobis distance statistic as a relative index of the environmental quality of the study area by calculating for each pixel (250 meters) the distance from the centroid of the environmental conditions of 100 locations randomly selected within known bear ranges. We used different levels of this suitability index to identify potential optimal and sub-optimal areas and their interconnecting corridors. The model identified 4 major areas of potential bear presence having a total size of about 10,850 km2. Assuming functional connectivity among the areas and mean density for west European countries, the Eastern Alps could support 108-325 bears. Potential ranges were also compared with existing protected areas to evaluate gaps between bear range with adequate protection and range needing protection. Only 31 % of existing protected areas was found suitable for bears. We suggest that bear conservation will depend more on establishing and managing effective corridors than other protected areas. |
author2 |
Boitani, Luigi Ciucci, Paolo F., Corsi E., Dupre' |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
BOITANI, Luigi CIUCCI, Paolo F. CORSI E. DUPRE' |
author_facet |
BOITANI, Luigi CIUCCI, Paolo F. CORSI E. DUPRE' |
author_sort |
BOITANI, Luigi |
title |
Potential range and corridors for brown bear in the Eastern Alps, Italy |
title_short |
Potential range and corridors for brown bear in the Eastern Alps, Italy |
title_full |
Potential range and corridors for brown bear in the Eastern Alps, Italy |
title_fullStr |
Potential range and corridors for brown bear in the Eastern Alps, Italy |
title_full_unstemmed |
Potential range and corridors for brown bear in the Eastern Alps, Italy |
title_sort |
potential range and corridors for brown bear in the eastern alps, italy |
publisher |
United States: International Association for Bear Research and Management. |
publishDate |
1999 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11573/104953 |
genre |
Ursus arctos |
genre_facet |
Ursus arctos |
op_relation |
volume:11 firstpage:123 lastpage:130 numberofpages:8 journal:URSUS http://hdl.handle.net/11573/104953 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-0037924440 |
_version_ |
1789974059565449216 |