2022/12/02 by Cameron, Sophie Marie, Daley, Samuel John, Peralta, Gabriela +1
#American black bear (Ursus americanus) #forest thinning #habitat selection #lodgepole #montane forest #trails
paper · doi:10.21973/n33m3k
Anthropogenic land alteration is affecting the ways that vertebrates are interacting with their environments. In montane forest ecosystems, Ursus americanus, the American black bear, is one such species that lives in a habitat that is increasingly being changed by human development. Black bears frequently use human settlements for food and are known to alter their habitat preference to be near these settlements. Previous research has shown that black bears use human-made trails to travel, and therefore often use the trees near these trails for foraging and territorial marking. It is also known that forest thinning can result in an increased amount of bear markings on trees. However, the effect that forest thinning has on bears’ usage of trails is unknown. Here, we show that in a small habitat surrounded by human settlement, bears do not mark trees near trails as expected, nor do they alter their frequency of off trail marking of trees in response to forest thinning. This disagrees with previous studies done in large, forested areas, that observe a higher frequency of marks on trees near trails and in cleared areas. This suggests that black bears may behave differently depending on forest density and the size of the reserves they inhabit; forest managers in smaller areas should consider these findings when carrying out future forest management in bear-inhabited areas.