Data from: Steep and deep: Terrain and climate factors explain brown bear (Ursus arctos) alpine den site selection to guide heli-skiing management
Winter recreation and tourism continue to expand worldwide, and where these activities overlap with valuable wildlife habitat, there is greater potential for conservation concerns. Wildlife populations can be particularly vulnerable to disturbance in alpine habitats as helicopters and snowmachines a...
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ftzenodo:oai:zenodo.org:4069411 2023-05-15T18:41:59+02:00 Data from: Steep and deep: Terrain and climate factors explain brown bear (Ursus arctos) alpine den site selection to guide heli-skiing management Crupi, Anthony Gregovich, David White, Kevin 2020-09-22 https://zenodo.org/record/4069411 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dr7sqv9vm unknown https://zenodo.org/communities/dryad https://zenodo.org/record/4069411 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dr7sqv9vm oai:zenodo.org:4069411 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode info:eu-repo/semantics/other dataset 2020 ftzenodo https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dr7sqv9vm 2023-03-11T00:23:27Z Winter recreation and tourism continue to expand worldwide, and where these activities overlap with valuable wildlife habitat, there is greater potential for conservation concerns. Wildlife populations can be particularly vulnerable to disturbance in alpine habitats as helicopters and snowmachines are increasingly used to access remote backcountry terrain. Brown bears (Ursus arctos) have adapted hibernation strategies to survive this period when resources and energy reserves are limited, and disturbance could negatively impact fitness and survival. To help identify areas of potential conflict between helicopter skiing and denning brown bears in Alaska, we developed a model to predict alpine denning habitat and an associated data-based framework for mitigating disturbance activities. Following den emergence in spring, we conducted three annual aerial surveys (2015–2017) and used locations from three GPS-collared bears (2008–2014) to identify 89 brown bear dens above the forest line. We evaluated brown bear den site selection of land cover, terrain, and climate factors using resource selection function (RSF) models. Our top model supported the hypothesis that bears selected dens based on terrain and climate factors that maximized thermal efficiency. Brown bears selected den sites characterized by steep slopes at moderate elevations in smooth, well-drained topographies that promoted vegetation and deep snow. We used the RSF model to map relative probability of den selection and found 85% of dens occurred within terrain predicted as prime denning habitat. Brown bear exposure to helicopter disturbance was evident as moderate to high intensities of helicopter flight tracking data overlapped prime denning habitat, and we quantified where the risk of these impact was greatest. We also documented evidence of late season den abandonment due to disturbance from helicopter skiing. The results from this study provide valuable insights into bear denning habitat requirements in subalpine and alpine landscapes. Our quantitative ... Dataset Ursus arctos Alaska Zenodo |
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Open Polar |
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ftzenodo |
language |
unknown |
description |
Winter recreation and tourism continue to expand worldwide, and where these activities overlap with valuable wildlife habitat, there is greater potential for conservation concerns. Wildlife populations can be particularly vulnerable to disturbance in alpine habitats as helicopters and snowmachines are increasingly used to access remote backcountry terrain. Brown bears (Ursus arctos) have adapted hibernation strategies to survive this period when resources and energy reserves are limited, and disturbance could negatively impact fitness and survival. To help identify areas of potential conflict between helicopter skiing and denning brown bears in Alaska, we developed a model to predict alpine denning habitat and an associated data-based framework for mitigating disturbance activities. Following den emergence in spring, we conducted three annual aerial surveys (2015–2017) and used locations from three GPS-collared bears (2008–2014) to identify 89 brown bear dens above the forest line. We evaluated brown bear den site selection of land cover, terrain, and climate factors using resource selection function (RSF) models. Our top model supported the hypothesis that bears selected dens based on terrain and climate factors that maximized thermal efficiency. Brown bears selected den sites characterized by steep slopes at moderate elevations in smooth, well-drained topographies that promoted vegetation and deep snow. We used the RSF model to map relative probability of den selection and found 85% of dens occurred within terrain predicted as prime denning habitat. Brown bear exposure to helicopter disturbance was evident as moderate to high intensities of helicopter flight tracking data overlapped prime denning habitat, and we quantified where the risk of these impact was greatest. We also documented evidence of late season den abandonment due to disturbance from helicopter skiing. The results from this study provide valuable insights into bear denning habitat requirements in subalpine and alpine landscapes. Our quantitative ... |
format |
Dataset |
author |
Crupi, Anthony Gregovich, David White, Kevin |
spellingShingle |
Crupi, Anthony Gregovich, David White, Kevin Data from: Steep and deep: Terrain and climate factors explain brown bear (Ursus arctos) alpine den site selection to guide heli-skiing management |
author_facet |
Crupi, Anthony Gregovich, David White, Kevin |
author_sort |
Crupi, Anthony |
title |
Data from: Steep and deep: Terrain and climate factors explain brown bear (Ursus arctos) alpine den site selection to guide heli-skiing management |
title_short |
Data from: Steep and deep: Terrain and climate factors explain brown bear (Ursus arctos) alpine den site selection to guide heli-skiing management |
title_full |
Data from: Steep and deep: Terrain and climate factors explain brown bear (Ursus arctos) alpine den site selection to guide heli-skiing management |
title_fullStr |
Data from: Steep and deep: Terrain and climate factors explain brown bear (Ursus arctos) alpine den site selection to guide heli-skiing management |
title_full_unstemmed |
Data from: Steep and deep: Terrain and climate factors explain brown bear (Ursus arctos) alpine den site selection to guide heli-skiing management |
title_sort |
data from: steep and deep: terrain and climate factors explain brown bear (ursus arctos) alpine den site selection to guide heli-skiing management |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://zenodo.org/record/4069411 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dr7sqv9vm |
genre |
Ursus arctos Alaska |
genre_facet |
Ursus arctos Alaska |
op_relation |
https://zenodo.org/communities/dryad https://zenodo.org/record/4069411 https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dr7sqv9vm oai:zenodo.org:4069411 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dr7sqv9vm |
_version_ |
1766231580029747200 |