Title of Poster
Effects of Timber Harvest on American Black Bear Space Use
Name of Conference
The Wildlife Society Annual Conference
Location of Conference
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date of Poster Session
10-2014
Document Type
Poster Session
Department
Biology
Abstract
Timber harvest can influence the composition and abundance of foods for American black bears (Ursus americanus). Also, variation in food availability can strongly influence seasonal changes in black bear space use. However, the effects of timber harvest on black bear space use are variable and have not been sufficiently investigated. We predicted that black bears would use timber harvested areas in proportion to their quality as bear habitat. We used black bear locations in the Escanaba River State Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, USA, to address the hypothesis that black bear space use in response to available forage is proportional to habitat quality. Generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) were used to estimate seasonal black bear space use and included combinations of sex, season, distance from road, land cover, timber harvest method, extent of harvest, forest type, and time since harvest as fixed effects and number of black bear locations during each season as the response variable. Identifying the effects that certain timber harvest characteristics have on black bear space use will be beneficial to forest and wildlife managers developing management strategies for black bears.
Recommended Citation
Norton, D. Cody; Belant, Jerrold L.; Beyer, Dean E. Jr; Bruggink, John G.; and Svoboda, Nathan J., "Effects of Timber Harvest on American Black Bear Space Use" (2014). Poster Sessions. 6.
https://commons.nmu.edu/facwork_postersessions/6