R. Gerald Wright

NATURE RESERVES: DO THEY CAPTURE THE FULL RANGE OF AMERICA'S BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY?

Less than 6% of the coterminous United States is in nature reserves. As- sessment of the occurrence of nature reserves across ranges of elevation and soil productivity classes indicates that nature reserves are most frequently found at higher elevations and on less productive soils. The distribution of plants and animals suggests that the greatest number of species is found at lower elevations. A preliminary assessment of the occurrence of mapped land cover types indicates that ;60% of mapped cover types have ,10% of their area in nature reserves. Land ownership patterns show that areas of lower elevation and more productive soils are most often privately owned and already extensively converted to urban and agricultural uses. Thus any effort to establish a system of nature reserves that captures the full geographical and ecological range of cover types and species must fully engage the private sector.

Assessment of current and proposed nature reserves of Mexico based on their capacity to protect geophysical features and biodiversity

Abstract Mexico currently has 144 nature reserves covering approximately 9.1% of its land area. These reserves were established for a variety of reasons—often unrelated to the protection of biodiversity. In 2000 in response to a growing concern about the lack of organized conservation reserve planning to protect the important threatened biological and physical features of Mexico, the Mexican Commission for Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO) proposed the establishment of 151 new reserves for Mexico covering 51,429,500 ha. We compiled a GIS analysis using digital thematic maps of physical and biological features to examine how the existing and proposed reserves serve to protect the biodiversity and physical features of the country. Using a conservation target of placing a minimum of 12% of the land area of each important biophysical feature in nature reserves, we found that the 144 existing nature reserves covering 18 million ha (9% of the country) only meet that target for elevation ranges >3000 m and areas with poor soils. These mountainous areas represent less than 1% of the country. The gaps in the existing nature reserves network occur mainly at lower and intermediate elevations (

Defining landscapes suitable for restoration of grizzly bears Ursus arctos in Idaho

Abstract Informed management of large carnivores depends on the timely and useful presentation of relevant information. We describe an approach to evaluating carnivore habitat that uses pre-existing qualitative and quantitative information on humans and carnivores to generate coarse-scale maps of habitat suitability, habitat productivity, potential reserves, and areas of potential conflict. We use information pertinent to the contemplated reintroduction of grizzly bears Ursus arctos horribilis into central Idaho to demonstrate our approach. The approach uses measures of human numbers, their estimated distribution, road and trail access, and abundance and quality of bear foods to create standardized indices that are analogues of death and birth rates, respectively; the first subtracted from the second indicates habitat suitability (HS). We calibrate HS to sightings of grizzly bears in two ecosystems in northern Idaho and develop an empirical model from these same sightings based on piece-wise treatment of the variables contained in HS. Depending on whether the empirical model or HS is used, we estimate that there is 14 800 km2 of suitable habitat in two blocks or 37 100 km2 in one block in central Idaho, respectively. Both approaches show suitable habitat in the current Evaluation Area and in an area of southeastern Idaho centered on the Palisades Reservoir. Areas of highly productive habitat are concentrated in northern and western Idaho and in the Palisades area. Future conflicts between humans and bears are most likely to occur on the western and northern margins of suitable habitat in central Idaho, rather than to the east, where opposition to reintroduction of grizzly bears is currently strongest.

Ecoregions as a level of ecological analysis

There have been many attempts to classify geographic areas into zones of similar characteristics. Recent focus has been on ecoregions. We examined how well the boundaries of the most commonly used ecoregion classifications for the US matched the boundaries of existing vegetation cover mapped at three levels of classification, fine, mid- and coarse scale. We analyzed ecoregions in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The results were similar among the two ecoregion classifications. For both ecoregion delineations and all three vegetation classifications, the patterns of existing vegetation did not correspond well with the patterns of ecoregions. Most vegetation types had a small proportion of their total area in a given ecoregion. There was also no dominance by one or more vegetation types in any ecoregion and contrary to our hypothesis, the level of congruence of vegetation patterns with ecoregion boundaries decreased as the level of classification became more general. The implications of these findings on the use of ecoregions as a planning tool and in the development of land conservation efforts are discussed.

Land use history at multiple scales: implications for conservation planning

Abstract To better understand the dynamics of development and to illustrate the transition of a region from a natural to an agricultural environment, we developed a regional land use history of the Palouse bioregion of southeastern Washington and westcentral Idaho. We traced the history of European–American settlement and changes in biodiversity in the region, used this to understand how human activities have altered land cover and ecological integrity of the Palouse bioregion, and illustrated how this can assist local managers. We compiled and interpreted available information on people, plants, animals and physical resources over a period of time. Multiple spatial and temporal scales incorporating both sociological and ecological data were used to examine changes in the bioregion as a result of agricultural development and human settlement. Understanding the biophysical changes that have occurred provides a useful starting point for outlining future research needs, establishing conservation goals and targeting ecological restoration efforts, and can be used immediately in local land use planning efforts.

Fix Success and Accuracy of Global Positioning System Collars in Old-Growth Temperate Coniferous Forests

Abstract Global Positioning System (GPS) telemetry is used extensively to study animal distribution and resource selection patterns but is susceptible to biases resulting from data omission and spatial inaccuracies. These data errors may cause misinterpretation of wildlife habitat selection or spatial use patterns. We used both stationary test collars and collared free-ranging American black bears (Ursus americanus) to quantify systemic data loss and location error of GPS telemetry in mountainous, old-growth temperate forests of Olympic National Park, Washington, USA. We developed predictive models of environmental factors that influence the probability of obtaining GPS locations and evaluated the ability of weighting factors derived from these models to mitigate data omission biases from collared bears. We also examined the effects of microhabitat on collar fix success rate and examined collar accuracy as related to elevation changes between successive fixes. The probability of collars successfully obtaining location fixes was positively associated with elevation and unobstructed satellite view and was negatively affected by the interaction of overstory canopy and satellite view. Test collars were 33% more successful at acquiring fixes than those on bears. Fix success rates of collared bears varied seasonally and diurnally. Application of weighting factors to individual collared bear fixes recouped only 6% of lost data and failed to reduce seasonal or diurnal variation in fix success, suggesting that variables not included in our model contributed to data loss. Test collars placed to mimic bear bedding sites received 16% fewer fixes than randomly placed collars, indicating that microhabitat selection may contribute to data loss for wildlife equipped with GPS collars. Horizontal collar errors of >800 m occurred when elevation changes between successive fixes were >400 m. We conclude that significant limitations remain in accounting for data loss and error inherent in using GPS telemetry in coniferous forest ecosystems and that, at present, resource selection patterns of large mammals derived from GPS telemetry should be interpreted cautiously.

Wildlife management in the national parks: questions in search of answers

The history of wildlife management in the national parks can be traced in the ungulate management policies of the National Park Service (NPS). These policies have, at various times, embraced total protection at the expense of other species, authorized culling to maintain explicit population levels, and since 1970 advocated natural regulation combined with limited human interference with park ecosystems. Current policy has had important ramifications for ungulate populations in parks as discussed in the preceding papers in this Invited Feature. This paper synthesizes those papers, interpreting the answers to three questions in relation to NPS wildlife management: (1) how does this management differ from other public resource managers; (2) can thresholds for management intervention be established for the species of concern; and (3) is scientific knowledge adequate to make and implement management decisions? The paper finds that NPS management does differ significantly from other federal land management and ...

Food habits of American black bears as a metric for direct management of human–bear conflict in Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California

Abstract The management of human–American black bear (Ursus americanus) conflict has been of significant concern for Yosemite National Park (YNP) personnel since the 1920s. Park managers implemented the YNP Human–Bear Management Plan in 1975 in an effort to reduce human–bear conflicts, especially in the extensively developed Yosemite Valley (YV). We used scat analysis to estimate annual and seasonal food habits of black bears in YV during 2001–02. We assessed the success of efforts to reduce the availability of anthropogenic foods, including garbage, by examining changes in the diet compared to a study from 1974–78 (Graber 1981). We also quantified consumption of non-native fruit to address its possible contribution to human–bear conflicts. The annual percent volume of human-provided food and garbage in black bear scats in YV decreased from 21% to 6% between 1978 and 2002, indicating YNP efforts have been effective. We found high use of non-native apples by bears throughout YV. Non-native food sources could be contributing to habituation and food conditioning, given their proximity to developed areas of YV. We recommend that YNP managers continue to (1) adapt and improve their management tools to address changing circumstances, (2) quantify the success of new management tools, and (3) reduce the availability of non-native food sources.

The influence of visitors on mountain goat activities in Glacier National Park, Montana

Abstract Information on human/wildlife interactions and wildlife viewing habits is essential to park management. To help fulfil this need, mountain goat behaviour and use of specially constructed highway underpasses and an adjacent mineral lick were monitored simultaneously with visitor activities at an observation area in Glacier National Park, Montana. We found that, although the site was very popular with park visitors, those using the observation area did not appear to have an adverse effect on mountain goat use of the mineral lick. Traffic on the highway and visitors standing above the underpasses did, however, influence behaviour of mountain goats crossing the highway, causing run backs, hesitation, and eliciting visual alarm responses. The relatively short time-period visitors spent at the site was also noted and suggestions are made for improving the education value of the area as well as minimising the problems which occur at the underpass.

Identifying unprotected and potentially at risk plant communities in the western USA

Abstract We analyzed the conservation status of 73 vegetation cover types distributed across a 1.76 million km2 region in 10 states of the western USA. We found that 25 vegetation cover types had at least 10% of their area in nature reserves. These were generally plant communities located at higher elevations and thus more commonly associated with national parks and wilderness areas. All but three of the remaining 48 cover types occurred with sufficient area on publically owned lands in the region to imply that transforming land management intent on these lands could also increase their protection. We also analyzed the level of protection afforded each cover type across its entire geographic distribution in the region. Most cover types that were at least minimally protected in total across the region were also at least minimally protected in most areas of their occurrence. Our results show that there is a realistic opportunity to design a system of biodiversity reserves in this region that represent the full range of environmental conditions in which the various plant communities occur. Conducting this type of broad-scale analysis is a necessary first step in that process and provides a database for others to work from.