Grizzly bears and forestry I. Selection of clearcuts by grizzly bears in west-central Alberta, Canada

摘要

We examined if clearcuts were selected as habitats by grizzly bears (Ursus arctos L.) in west-central Alberta during three seasons: hypophagia, early hyperphagia, and late hyperphagia. Our objectives were to describe seasonal habitat selection of clearcuts using resource selection functions at two scales. At the first scale, we assessed patch or third-order selection by comparing use (radiotelemetry) with study area-wide random locations and a dummy variable identifying whether locations occurred within or outside of clear-cut boundaries. At the second scale, we assessed within-patch or fourth-order selection by comparing locations (use and random) found within clearcuts and environmental covariates of terrain, silviculture, and landscape metrics. Finally, we examined diurnal versus crepuscularocturnal use of clearcuts by comparing the two with an expected 50:50 ratio.