Stewart W. Breck

Spatiotemporal Distribution of Black Bear-Human Conflicts in Colorado, USA

Abstract Management and conservation of large carnivores increasingly includes conflicts with humans. Consequently, a greater understanding of spatiotemporal trends of conflicts is needed to efficiently allocate resources and apply targeted management. Therefore, we examined spatial and temporal distribution of American black bear (Ursus americanus; hereafter, bear)–human conflicts in Colorado, USA, related to 3 conflict types (agriculture operations, human development, and road kills). We used the Getis–Ord spatial clustering statistic to describe location and assess magnitude of bear–human conflicts in Colorado during 1986–2003 and investigated temporal trends of bear–human conflicts by type. Bear–human conflicts showed distinct spatial clustering by type, and areas of high clustering overlapped conflict types. Clustering for agriculture operations conflicts had the largest overall value and overlapped counties with high sheep production. Both human development and road-kill conflict clusters were high in areas of high-quality oak (Quercus spp.)–shrub habitat in the central and southern portions of Colorados Front Range region and near the city of Durango in southwestern Colorado. Bear–human conflicts varied by year and type but overall increased during the 18 years. Summed across years, most conflicts were related to agriculture (32%), followed by road kills (27%) and human development (24%). The greatest proportion of agriculture operations–related conflicts (76%), human development–related conflicts (36%), and road kills (47%) occurred in 1988, 1999, and 2003, respectively. Considering that bear–human conflicts in Colorado increased over time and will likely continue to increase, we suggest wildlife managers improve data collection by obtaining detailed location data, categorizing conflict types uniformly, and applying conflict regulations consistently to strengthen inference of similar analyses. We also suggest that managers target efforts to mitigate damage by focusing on areas with high clustering of conflicts.

Evaluation of fecal DNA preservation techniques and effects of sample age and diet on genotyping success

ABSTRACT Optimal collection and preservation protocols for fecal DNA genotyping are not firmly established. We evaluated 3 factors that influence microsatellite genotyping success of fecal DNA extracted from coyote (Canis latrans) scats: 1) age of scat, 2) preservative, and 3) diet content. We quantified genotyping success by comparing rates of allelic dropout, false alleles, and failed amplifications among consensus genotypes. We used a panel of 6 microsatellite loci to genotype 20 scat samples, each of which was subjected to 3 age (1 day, 5 days, and 10 days post-deposition) and 3 preservation (DET buffer, 95% ethanol [EtOH], and lysis buffer) treatments. Both sample age and storage buffer had a significant effect on success and reliability. Ethanol and DET buffer preserved fecal samples with similar efficiency, and both were superior to lysis buffer. Our analysis of DNA degradation rates revealed that samples collected as early as 5 days of age yielded DNA that was highly degraded relative to samples collected on day 1. We tested the influence of dietary remains on microsatellite genotyping by using scat samples consisting predominantly of insect prey (n = 5), mammalian prey (n = 9), or the remains of juniper (Juniperus spp.) berries (n = 6) and compared EtOH and DET buffer preservation efficacy. We observed a significant interaction effect between storage buffer and diet for the probability of a false allele in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR), suggesting that the optimal preservation technique depended on the food remains comprising the scat. Scats comprised of juniper berry remains were more reliably genotyped when preserved in DET than EtOH. Mammalian preybased scats were more reliable when stored in EtOH than DET buffer. Insect-predominant scats were preserved in EtOH and DET buffer with similar efficiency. Although accurate and reliable results can be obtained from scats collected at ≥5 days of age, we suggest sampling design to include collection of scats <5 days of age to minimize field and laboratory expenses. We suggest EtOH preservation for scats of obligate carnivores and of facultative carnivores with a diet consisting primarily of mammals. We suggest DET buffer preservation for animals with a diet consisting of plant-derived foods. Lysis buffer protocols that we employed should not be used for fecal DNA preservation.

Stochasticity in Natural Forage Production Affects Use of Urban Areas by Black Bears: Implications to Management of Human-Bear Conflicts

The rapid expansion of global urban development is increasing opportunities for wildlife to forage and become dependent on anthropogenic resources. Wildlife using urban areas are often perceived dichotomously as urban or not, with some individuals removed in the belief that dependency on anthropogenic resources is irreversible and can lead to increased human-wildlife conflict. For American black bears (Ursus americanus), little is known about the degree of bear urbanization and its ecological mechanisms to guide the management of human-bear conflicts. Using 6 years of GPS location and activity data from bears in Aspen, Colorado, USA, we evaluated the degree of bear urbanization and the factors that best explained its variations. We estimated space use, activity patterns, survival, and reproduction and modeled their relationship with ecological covariates related to bear characteristics and natural food availability. Space use and activity patterns were dependent on natural food availability (good or poor food years), where bears used higher human density areas and became more nocturnal in poor food years. Patterns were reversible, i.e., individuals using urban areas in poor food years used wildland areas in subsequent good food years. While reproductive output was similar across years, survival was lower in poor food years when bears used urban areas to a greater extent. Our findings suggest that bear use of urban areas is reversible and fluctuates with the availability of natural food resources, and that removal of urban individuals in times of food failures has the potential to negatively affect bear populations. Given that under current predictions urbanization is expected to increase by 11% across American black bear range, and that natural food failure years are expected to increase in frequency with global climate change, alternative methods of reducing urban human-bear conflict are required if the goal is to prevent urban areas from becoming population sinks.

Predator and heterospecific stimuli alter behaviour in cattle.

Wild and domestic ungulates modify their behaviour in the presence of olfactory and visual cues of predators but investigations have not exposed a domestic species to a series of cues representing various predators and other ungulate herbivores. We used wolf (Canis lupus), mountain lion (Puma concolor), and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) stimuli (olfactory and visual), and a control (no stimuli) to experimentally test for differences in behaviour of cattle (Bos taurus) raised in Arizona. We measured (1) vigilance, (2) foraging rates, (3) giving up density (GUD) of high quality foods and (4) time spent in high quality forage locations in response to location of stimuli treatments. In general, we found a consistent pattern in that wolf and deer treatments caused disparate results in all 4 response variables. Wolf stimuli significantly increased cattle vigilance and decreased cattle foraging rates; conversely, deer stimuli significantly increased cattle foraging rate and increased cattle use of high quality forage areas containing stimuli. Mountain lion stimuli did not significantly impact any of the 4 response variables. Our findings suggest that domestic herbivores react to predatory stimuli, can differentiate between stimuli representing two predatory species, and suggest that cattle may reduce antipredatory behaviour when near heterospecifics.

Vigilance in Cattle: The Influence of Predation, Social Interactions, and Environmental Factors

Abstract Vigilant behavior in wild ungulates is critical to guard against predation. However, few studies have examined vigilant behavior in domesticated ungulates. Considering the expansion of large predator populations, understanding vigilant behavior and factors that influence it will help with the management of livestock. We observed adult female cattle (Bos taurus L.) in open-range conditions where large predators (wolves [Canis lupus L.] and mountain lions [Puma concolor (L.).]) were common threats during summers of 2005 and 2006 in eastern Arizona. This study was designed to determine 1) to what extent cattle exhibit vigilant behavior compared to published data on wild ungulates, 2) whether predation events influence vigilance rates of cattle, and 3) whether social and environmental factors affect vigilance of cattle. Cattle exhibited vigilant behavior (3% ± 0.19%) during peak foraging periods, but at a lower rate than wild ungulates. Cows with calves were more than twice as vigilant (4.5% ± 0.46%) as those without calves (2.0% ± 0.27%). Single cattle and groups of two to five exhibited higher vigilance rates (4.2% ± 0.79%) than groups of six to 20 (2.5% ± 0.32%) and groups of > 20 (3.0% ± 0.41%). Cattle in groups of > 20 increased vigilance as visual obstruction increased. Mother cows whose calves were preyed upon (n = 5) exhibited a 3% to 48% increase in vigilance within 3 d after their calves were killed; this rate returned to near baseline levels after 10 d. Conversely, mother cows reduced foraging after their calves were killed from 88.5% ± 1.69% to 43.5% ± 11.4%; foraging rate also returned to near baseline levels after 10 d. Cattle exhibit vigilance at lower levels compared to wild ungulates, but this behavior appears to be at least partially an antipredatory behavior. Our findings provide support that predators can influence cattle behavior.

Foraging ecology of black bears in urban environments: guidance for human‐bear conflict mitigation

Urban environments offer wildlife novel anthropogenic resources that vary spatiotemporally at fine scales. Property damage, economic losses, human injury, or other human-wildlife conflicts can occur when wildlife use these resources; however, few studies have examined urban wildlife resource selection at fine scales to guide conflict mitigation. We studied black bears (Ursus americanus) in the urban area of Aspen, Colorado, USA from 2007 to 2010 to quantify bear foraging on natural and...

A Reappraisal of the Evidence for Regulation of Wolf Populations

ABSTRACT The dogma that gray wolf (Canis lupus) population densities in naturally occurring systems are limited almost solely by available ungulate biomass is based upon studies that fit straight line linear regressions (Type 1 numerical response) to data collected at 32 sites across North America. We fit Type 1,2, and 3 response functions to the data using linear and nonlinear regression as appropriate and found that the evidence supported wolf population regulation by density-dependence as much as limitation by prey availability. When we excluded 4 of 32 points from the original data set because those points represented exploited or expanding wolf populations the data suggested that wolf populations are self regulated rather than limited by prey biomass by at least a 3:1 margin. In establishing goals for sustainable wolf population levels, managers of wolf reintroductions and species recovery efforts should account for the possibility that some regulatory mechanism plays an important role in wolf population dynamics.

USING GENETIC RELATEDNESS TO INVESTIGATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONFLICT BEHAVIOR IN BLACK BEARS

Abstract The acquisition of behavior in animals is a function of both inheritance and learning, where learning can occur asocially (independent of other animals), socially (by observing other animals), or both. For species that have a prolonged parent–offspring relationship and that live solitary adult lives, social learning between parents and offspring may be a dominant form of learning. If parent–offspring learning is a dominant avenue for acquiring behavior or if behavior is inherited, then behaviors that confer significant fitness advantages should lead to subpopulations of genetically related individuals with similar behavioral patterns. We investigated whether food-conditioning behavior in black bears (Ursus americanus) is inherited or learned via parent–offspring social learning. We combined genetic data with behavioral data for 116 black bears from Lake Tahoe Basin, Nevada, and Yosemite National Park, California. We categorized individual bears as food-conditioned or non–food-conditioned based on their behavior over a several-year period of intensive study at each site. We compared levels of relatedness, based on microsatellite DNA genotyping, within and between these groups and compared behavior between 9 mother–offspring pairs determined through genetic analysis of maternity. Based on 4 separate analyses of the data there was little evidence that food-conditioning behavior in black bears partitioned along related lineages, indicating that the acquisition of food conditioning behavior was not solely a function of social learning or inheritance.

GENETIC METHODS IMPROVE ACCURACY OF GENDER DETERMINATION IN BEAVERS

Abstract Gender identification of sexually monomorphic mammals can be difficult. We used analysis of zinc-finger protein (Zfx and Zfy) DNA regions to determine gender of 96 beavers (Castor canadensis) from 3 areas and used these results to verify gender determined in the field. Gender was correctly determined for 86 (89.6%) beavers. Incorrect assignments were not attributed to errors in any one age or sex class. Although methods that can be used in the field (such as morphological methods) can provide reasonably accurate gender assignments in beavers, the genetic method might be preferred in certain situations.

Interface between black-footed ferret research and operational conservation

Questions and problems that emerged during operational conservation of black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) have been addressed by a wide variety of studies. Early results from such studies often were communicated orally during meetings of recovery groups and in written form using memoranda, unpublished reports, and theses. Typically, implementation of results preceded their publication in widely distributed journals. Many of these studies eventually were published in journals, and we briefly summarize the contents of 8 volumes and special features of journals that have been dedicated to the biology of ferrets and issues in ferret recovery. This year marks the 30th anniversary of rediscovery of the black-footed ferret, and the 7 papers of the following Special Feature summarize data collected over nearly that span of time.